Hawaii 70.3 recap

I woke up 3 minutes before the alarm went off. I set up all my stuff the night before, so I could maximize sleep time. We were out the door at 4:35AM. We waited 15-20 minutes for the buses to take us to the swim sight.

PRE-RACE
I pumped up the tires, set my shoes, placed the OAKLEYS in the SPIUK, and started to set up my water bottles. I left the strap to keep the aerocup in place at the condo. DOH #1. Luckily, Lisa had black tape. I secured the cup after several wrap arounds of the cup. I applied lots of body glide and Vaseline to make sure I would have no chafing issues. I learned my lesson from Kona last October.

SWIM - 31:01
The water was very calm. After putting on my XTERRA swim skin, I waded into the water to get a short warm up. I felt good and saw a crab. I lined up at the line. Everyone starts at the same time including the pros. I felt good during the swim. My pace seemed to be increasing as I continued to pass people. Some dude decided to use me as a wall on a turn buoy.

T1 - 2:22
I started peeling my XTERRA skin suit off during the run-up to my LYNSKEY. This was a tough transition. It was all uphill.

BIKE - 2:55.23
I was glad I started my gearing in the small chain ring. It was uphill for the next 0.7 miles. I did not want to start too hard. I passed Karen in the first mile. I was passed by several people on the first few hills. I would pass them right back on the downhill. Somewhere near Hawi, I heard an interesting noise. It sounded like a tire lever was bouncing on the ground. At the start, I moved my salt container into my back pocket and forgot to close the aero bag. DOH #2. I remember seeing several people on the side of the road and thinking that would suck if it was me. I was feeling strong coming back from Hawi. I saw Scott and Julie, OOMPH, after the Hawi turn-around. I make a right back onto the Queen K and start to notice my front tire bobbing. I have a slow leak. I have no tire lever. My only option was to re-inflate and cross my fingers. It was only 5 miles to T2. No dice. It was flat again 1.5 miles later. UGH. I started walking my bike. I wanted to ask for a tire lever. It wasn't an option with riders going down the hill at 25+mph. A guy threw me a Pitstop. That didn't work at all. Foam was everywhere and now my hands were sticky. I saw a race vehicle on the other side of the road. They called in tech support. A rider stopped to offer me his wheel. He said his legs were toast. I told him he couldn't quit. I think he was looking for a way out. As I was walking uphill a girl asked me what I needed. I said everything. She threw me a ziploc bag full with 2 tire levers, CO2, tube, and inflator. I hope she had a great race as I did see her later. Tech support arrives within seconds of me pulling off the front tire. There ended up being a piece of metal in my tire. Ross and Karen go flying by me. Bike Works crew saved my butt again. After giving up 25 minutes, I was back in the race.

T2 - 1:32
I passed off the LYNSKEY to the bike catcher. I ran to my bag. The volunteer gave me the wrong bag. We looked for my bag. I had no idea where to go and almost ended up in the women's tent. I slipped on my NEWTONS, grabbed my visor &water bottle, and headed out.

RUN - 1:59.21
At this point, I was looking forward to the rest of the trip. I caught Karen in the first mile. She was not doing well. I decided to run with her. We saw Ross, Jared, and Lisa several times throughout the course.We thought it would be so cool if we crossed the line together. After 10 miles, I knew Ross was 6 minutes up the road. I asked Karen if she was good for the last 5k. She was and now my goal was to hunt Ross down. I saw him 600 meters ahead at mile 11.5. I knew it was going to be close. I ran up next to him at mile 12.5. I didn't say anything and he didn't notice me. He finally realizes it's me and we run together to the finish.