Bob Hiller's (lengthy) 2015 Hawaii 70.3 Race Report
Bob Hiller’s 2015 Hawai’i 70.3 Race Report
This was my 60th Triathlon since my first in 1983. I was planning to finish higher in my AG, but ended up 19/48. I’ll be moving up to 65-69 next season and my time this year would have been 3rd in that AG, and only one minute behind 2nd. So there’s hope!
[I realize my Report is somewhat lengthy. A good report can help others in their training and racing planning, but I also think an important benefit is forcing the triathlete to thoughtfully and fully analyze her or his recent athletic experience.]
Thanks in advance for reading my Report. Our teammate, Trish Marshall, may be doing this race next year, so I want to give her and anyone else some extra detail.
Background
I swam and played water polo in college. I could get by doing less than the swim WKO’s Coach Rich gives me, but I probably do 90% as written. I do add 300y kicking to my WU each practice. The WKO’s are challenging and I think prepare me well for OWS’s. My Race Rehearsal swims this season (30:46 & 30:56) were about 2 minutes faster than my first season last year with EN, so the proof is in the pudding.
Race Prep – Modified Run Training
I have had 2 surgeries on my left knee and one on my right. The right knee is fine, but the left knee started acting up last fall. My run training changed drastically during the OS. I stopped running outside and started “running” on my bike on my trainer. I followed the Run WKO’s by focusing on time and HR. Distance was irrelevant because of the gears. The high water mark was in late February when I “ran” 1:45 standing on my bike. I know I said distance was irrelevant, but to put that time in context, I went 30 miles. I still did the regular bike WKO’s.
My quads were definitely getting stronger, but I knew there wouldn’t be total transfer to actual running. After speaking to Coach P, I decided to give running on a TM a shot. The year before I had problems running on a TM because of pain from my low back down into my left thigh from spinal stenosis. (I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining. I’m just trying to explain why and how I have dealt with my challenges.)
In late March I started at 3x1 mile on a TM, building that up to 12.4 miles straight. Not the same as running outside, but pretty close. My only outdoor run since last November before this HIM was the 6 miles in my last RR, which went very well.
BTW, I think the “running” on my bike caused a big bump in my FTP, which went from 257w in September to 276w at the beginning of March. Last season it was 248w.
Race Week
My wife Mean Jean and I arrived in Kona on Saturday, a week before the race the following Saturday. We stayed in a place about 6 miles south of Kailua, which meant we were about 50 minutes from Mauna Lani to the north where the Fairmont Orchid Hotel is located. The Fairmont Orchid is sort of the heart of it all. Registration, mandatory meeting, Ironman Expo, T2 and the run is on the Fairmont Orchid golf course and Mauni Lani roads. The swim is at beautiful Hapuna Beach, about 7 miles north of Mauna Lani.
We don’t necessarily recommend staying so far from the racing venues, but we are vacationing on the Big Island 2 weeks and there’s a lot to do, etc down near Kailua-Kona. Ironically, our condo is right next door to the Sheraton Hotel off Ali’I Drive. In 1989, when I did the Ironman at age 37, the Sheraton was called the Kona Surf Hotel and was the location of T2. Every day we drive up KaleioPapa St, which was the short, steep beginning of the ’89 Ironman marathon!
Race week training
On Sunday, we drove up to Hapuna Beach in the afternoon and I swam the first part of the race swim, then road some waves into the beach. Then I ran along the beach back to MJ. About 13’ of swimming, but felt really good. The water a bit rough, but I assumed it would be calmer on race morning.
Monday, I biked on Ali’I Dr. into Kailua, rode up Palani Rd. to the Queen K Hwy. I took a right and rode back south starting my MS of 3x8’ @Z3. I was trying to maintain my watts going up and down which I knew would be so important in the upcoming race. Later, no a brick, I ran about 30’ from our condo. I went south on Ali’I Dr. and encountered a mile long 7-9% uphill. Felt really strong going up and my MS was 3x3’ @z2. Very hot, but felt good.
Tuesday, my left knee felt sore when I woke up from run the day before. Probably the going downhill part. Drove up to the Fairmont where the local bike shop, Bike Works, was set up for tech support. I paid $40 for a pre-race check and adjustment. It was good to get this done early in the week. There were only a couple of bikes ahead of mine. (When I checked Bike Works area the day before the race, it looked like there were 80-100 bikes lined up to bikes to be worked on.)
While they were fiddling around with my bike, I drove up towards Hawi, to get a feel for the ups and downs of the lower part of the bike course. I was reminded again how important it was going to be to keep my watts down going up hills and concentrate on keeping my watts up on the long downhills.
Wednesday, with my bike in tip top shape, I rode to and from Kailua on Ali’I Dr. Again, legs felt really good. MS 2x8’ @ z3. Skipped the run.
Thursday, registered and then MJ and I drove up beyond Hawi to Pololu Valley. Stunning views of huge valley at north end of the island. Decided to walk down steep path to ocean at mouth of valley. Using my 910, I measured the walk which was 0.36 miles each way. Took 18’ to get back up, but stopped a couple of times to take photos and rest a bit. Exercise, but nothing detrimental. Had a nice lunch at a historic restaurant in Hawi named Bamboo. Otherwise a rest day. Started my 2 days of low fiber diet and hydration.
Friday, was another rest day, but admin stuff required. Attended a mandatory athlete meeting at 11:00am at Fairmont Orchid and dropped off Run bag. I brought my big lunch of spaghetti, chicken and red sauce with me to make sure I had a proper lunch at the proper time. Hydrating with Gatorade Endurance throughout the day. From the Fairmont, I drove to Hapuna Beach to drop off Bike and Helmet beginning at 1:00. Bikes were racked based on when turned in so mine was at the bottom of the transition area closer to the swim finish. I let some air out of my tires since they will be in the sun all day. To help you remember where your bike was located, they named the several areas of bikes after famous winners of the Hawaii Ironman and Hawaii 70.3. I was able to rack my bike in the Mark Allen section!
Race Morning
Because we were so far away, I got up at 3:30am. Hit the bathroom (successfully), ate 3 cups of applesauce with a big scoop of Whey Protein and 2 bananas. As expected, not much traffic on the Queen K until we got close to Mauna Lani. Arrived just before 5:00am. Of course, the swim is at Hapuna Beach, but you park at Mauna Lani. They shuttle you and your entourage to Hapuna. Filled my Vittoria Corsa tires to 105 psi rear, 100 psi front. Lots of pumps available.
You are not allowed to put anything on the ground by your bike before the swim. So, I hung my bag with my shoes from my saddle and put my helmet with sunglasses on my aero bars. You will put your swim stuff (cap, goggles, speed suit) in the same bag and you can leave that on the ground when you leave with your bike. That bag ends up at Fairmont after the race, so you don't have to come back to Hapuna.
About an hour before my swim start, I had drank a bottle of G-ade Endurance and eaten a Power Bar. Hit the Port-o-let (successfully), and walked down to the beach.
There was no pro division, so there were 5 AG waves starting at 6:44am, leaving every 4’. Waves as follows: Men under 40, Men 40-49, Men over 50 (mine), Women under 40, Women 40 and over.
Absolutely, beautiful, morning. The announcer pointed out that we could see Maui and its dormant volcano Haleakela to the north. It looked so close; I thought it was part of the Big Island. The rough surf I swam in on Sunday was replaced by relatively calm waters and very small waves close to shore. I warmed up about 8’-10’ about 30’ before my start time. Felt very good.
SWIM – 34:28 2nd in AG
The swim is counter-clockwise in the shape of a rhombus. 3 turns and head for home. Since I am a relatvely good swimmer, I know I will be picking my way through slower swimmers after the first few minutes. Since there were about 10 men who started in my wave who had faster swims, I suppose I could have made more of an effort to try and do some drafting. But I decided just to swim my race. I encountered men from the second wave by the first red buoy and men from the first wave by the first yellow buoy (first turn). It would have been difficult to follow someone else through all these people.
It was pretty crowded along the lengthy backside of the course, but that was okay. I was able to maintain my pace and stroke for the most part. Sighting buoys was easy until making the last left turn. Then, I was looking directly into the rising sun and could not see the next red or final yellow buoy or the finish arch. So I just trusted that the men swimming around me were going the right way and just kept going in the direction of the people I was passing.
As I got close to the shore, I was hoping a wave would bring on in. One did, but I wasn’t ready for it and got a bit of salt water up my nose and in my mouth. Oh well, free speed. I stood up in about 2 feet of water, and ran to the swim finish. Put my goggles on my forehead and started to unzip my speed suit as I ran up to T-1. There were about 4 hanging hoses part way up and I stopped for no more than 5” to rinse salt water off my face and the top of my body with water. The climb from the beach is pretty steep, but I jogged up at a reasonable pace. I found Mark Allen and my bike and I think I had a smooth and fast transition. I had to run up the entire length of the paved transition area to the bike mount. I didn’t want to do that with my bike shoes on. I got to the little road and a volunteer held my bike as I put on my shoes. I ran a few more feet to the mount line and a volunteer offered to give me a push up the short but steep hill. I accepted. And I was off for a good ride.
T1 – 3:45
(Men in my AG who finished 1-2-3 were 3:43, 6:27, 4:11)
Bike – 3:04:xx, 15th AG.
18.2-37.5mph, 180w, VI 1.05, IF 0.69, HR 117-132, TSS 142.4
One of my primary goals in my training for this race was to really be disciplined in keeping my watts down going up hills and keep them up going down hills. Although my FTP is 276w, I decided to be conservative in my race plan. Essentially, I planned to hit about 182w in the first 20’, then 188w or so the rest of the ride. I set my Garmin to show me Watts, Grade, Cadence and HR. The Grade was very helpful, as several times I didn’t realize I was going up, going down or on level. Also, I had given myself permission to take my hands off my aero bars and use my handlebars for stability when going downhill above 5%. I would still stay low and pedal if I had the gears. This only happened twice. I have a compact on the front and 11-28 on the rear. I didn't use 28 too much, but glad I had it.
Right off the bat and throughout the entire ride, I was constantly reminded of Coach Rich’s podcasts: "90% of the people are riding the hills the wrong way. Powering up hills and easing off the gas going down." I was very gratified in the first mile of the run when a man running along side said: “Hey you were really good on the downhills.” (I think I passed him about 5 or 6 times going downhill coming back from Hawi.) I said, “Thanks, I’ve been working on that.”
The bike begins by leaving the Hapuna Beach State Park with a short upgrade to the Queen K. You turn right and head south, back towards Mauna Lani and away from Hawi to the north. At the entrance to Mauna Lani, you do a U-turn and head north on the Queen K, past Hapuna on your way up to Hawi. The Queen K is also the main Highway 19. After a few miles, you turn left onto Highway 270, which is the majority of the bike course. There is a lot of climbing on the way to up to Hawi, but it seems like the majority of the inclines are 2-3%. As you go up, you start to see the leaders zooming down on their way back and you realize what goes up, gets to come down. The turn around is before the town itself. The first Penalty tent is right after that turn and there looked to be about 6 men milling around who had been caught being naughty.
Coming back from Hawi, the motorcycle with one of the Bike Marshals pulled up beside me and the Marshall flashed me the EN gang sign! She actually flashed NE, but I can read a bit of Hebrew, so right to left worked. She then said: “Did you see Coach Patrick crushed Texas?” I said, “Yeah, I re-read his Race Report last night. And you just made me spike my watts up to 355.” Great pick me up. Does anyone know who was she was? On the way up to Hawi, she had gone by and showed me the Hawaii hand wiggle with the thumb and little finger. I thought that might be because I was not drafting or she saw me motion to the guy behind me that there was glass on the shoulder. I now suspect it was because I was wearing my EN race top.
Just as RnP promised, I was passing people like crazy coming down from Hawi. It is very fast and fun for several miles. I was aero, holding my watts pretty well, passing people who were either not pedaling or soft-pedaling.
The numbers: (I apologize in advance if this is too much detail, but this may help Trish.) 
I have my Garmin Edge set to give me a split every 14 miles.
1. 46:30 2. 52:18 3. 39:55 4. 43:58*
181w 184w 180w 175w
IF 0.69 0.70 0.69 0.66
VI 1.07 1.03 1.06 1.08
HR 121-132 118-128 116-129 114-128
MPH 18.1-37.5 16.1-34.6 21.0-37.5 18.4-36.6
ELAV +573’ -580’ +646’ -227’ +277’ -575’ +455’ -585’
TEMP 86-88 90-93 93-97 99-102**
* 13.5 miles according to Garmin.
** Does Garmin record temp accurately? It was hot!
T2 – 2:53
(Men in my AG who finished 1-2-3 were 3:54, 4:22, 3:54) Smooth, and minimal moving parts, was fast.
I had taken my feet out of my shoes about a third of a mile from the finish. The last mile or so of the bike is a no passing zone, so not too fast. I good time to ease up for run to come. In T2, I sat down and put on socks and shoes, then ran with Ziploc with EN visor, Race best with Fuel Belt pouch, and 2-8 oz FB bottles that fit in pockets on my tri shorts. I had prefilled bottles with correct amount of Infinite Go Far powder.
Run – 2:46:xx 33rd AG (ouch)
Did I mention the run was hot? Of course, it was the same for everyone, so no sympathy or excuse there.
Pre-race plan had me starting at 9:13-9:20 for first 3 miles, drop to 8:50-9:00 for next 3-7 miles and last 3 miles at 8:30. As I started running, my confidence in my bike nutrition and hydration was good and I felt like I had the bike I should have had. But as we encountered the heat during the week and saw the forecast, I thought it might be wise to pay more attention to HR than pace.
The run is on the Fairmont Orchid golf course fairways and cart paths, as well as, some of the paved roads around the Mauna Lani resort property. Not much shade at all. Many places for side hill lies on course and some of the cart paths are extremely steep ups and downs. A couple of the roads are longish gradual up hills and down hills.
The recommended EN use of a Ziploc proved to be a God’s send with the heat. I had a quart size with the little blue zipper thing. That made it easy to open and close. I had volunteers pour 3-4 cups of ice in the bag. It only takes them a few seconds if you let them know what you want as you approach. I would then put the bag of ice down my front. I could tuck in the front of my shirt and it felt good. Not much weight. Occasionally I shifted it to one side or the other or held it on the back of my neck for a little while. When it melted, I had extra water to either drink out of the bag or pour on top of my head.
My first mile was 9:30 with HR of 128-140. As you can tell from my bike, my HR is typically pretty low. When I did my final RR Brick, my last 3 miles running were 9:00, 9:01 and 8:20 and my avg HR was 127 with a high of 134. The avg on the 8:20 was only 129. (BTW, my resting HR is usually 37.)
So I re-decided I would focus on HR and check pace occasionally. I was doing a good job of staying in my Box. I wasn’t looking at other people to see what they were wearing or doing.
Second mile, 9:54, but up to 134-140.
Third, 11:11, still 134-140, but doing okay, just not running as fast as I had planned.
Fourth, 10:52, 133-140.
Fifth, 10:59, 128-133. Lower HR when i was checking was somewhat encouraging.
Sixth, 11:21, 122-128. This was finally the HR range I had planned at this point, but it apparently required slowing up. I was rarely paying attention to pace at this point.
Seventh, 11:54, 119-127. I decided early on in the run I would not do the math calculations to the finish. I put this outside my Box too. With my HR going down I felt good about running all the way to the finish line.
Eighth & ninth, 12:24 & 12:46, 120-127. Plodding and slowing down.
Tenth, 14:09, 113-122. Walked just before 10mile marker for first time outside Aid Stations. Even in some AS’s, I only slowed down to get ice in Ziploc.
Eleventh, 16:36, 100-114. I noticed when I ran I was only going about 15:30, when I walked I wasn't much slower. I was getting very sore and I think my wimpy half was reminding me how few miles I had in the last 6 months on real roads.
Twelfth, 18:21, 90-102. The road was somewhat up hill, and now I wasn’t walking very fast. Getting very sore. When I would try to jog, feeling twinges in various areas of lower legs. But I didn’t stop.
Thirteenth, 15:51, 93-106. Picked up walking pace a bit, then “Ran” last half mile or so. Somehow, I can always run to the finish. Hmmm.
Conclusion: I wasn’t pleased with my run, but I was pleased with my race. No regrets. I continue to improve my bike and even my run. I ran to mile 10, which is better than my last 3 long course races. I’m still one of the leaders in the swim and my execution on my bike has improved greatly and closer to where I think RnP are trying to teach me. I am also getting better in the bike portion compared to the others in my AG without burning too many matches.
The rest of my season: I am doing the Choo Camp in August and then the USAT AG Nat’l LC championships in Oklahoma City at the end of September. It will be the qualifier for the ITU World LC Championships in 2016 on the same course in OK. The top 18, rolling down to 25, will make the US Team. It would be fun to make that team. I’m not sure how you qualify this year at age 64 for a race next year when you’re 65? I’ll just work on my run and things will work out. 
Comments
i have a Q for u: what do u mean by running on your bike? (don't want to hijack your RR though)
very nice RR, i'll try and do mine by the end of next week.
enjoy the rest of your vacation and the aloha spirit
@David, I just stand up as if I'm going up a steep hill on my bike. Hands on the handlebars and standing up. It gets the forearms and hands strong too. An incidental benefit.
Hey Bob,
Great report. Thanks for sharing. Just like its big sister in October, the more I hear/read about this Kona race makes me less inclined to race it. Sounds like a painful way to spend valuable vacation time. Swim was great, as expected. And your bike seemed well executed. Your VI at the beginning and end may have been a bit high, but that course has plenty of up and down. I know you mentioned in your RP that most of your running had been on a TM, but I don't think you mentioned build volume. How many miles/week were you consistently getting in over the last 3+ months? Did you do a full-13 run race rehearsal? Based on your history, your quality bike, and your solid plan, I'm curious to see what may have caused the run slow-down. Then again, it's 70.3 miles in heat . . . there are never any guarantees.
Enjoy the rest of the trip (hard not to in Hawaii). And good luck in your build to Redman. It's a great course, well organized. Super-fast, mildly-rolling bike, flat run. I PR'd there a few years ago when it was also the Worlds' qualifier, so I have fond memories of that place.
Mike
Bob - you sound as if you enjoyed yourself, tough as that race is. Transitions - wow, screaming! Your bike was well in control. The run was probably an issue of cooking yourself (pun intended) a little too much in the early miles. You may have been better served by trying to keep your HR in the range of 118-124 at the start, then letting it build towards 135/7 by the end. That might have given you more "endurance". A good rule of thumb for this race, pace wise: run @ your MP, effort and HR-wise, which means your actual pace will probably be 70-90 seconds/mile slower in the heat/noon-day sun.
The lady on the bike may have been Lynn Johnson, who was with EN in the past (don't know if she still is) and lives on the Big Island. In 2012, she surprised me (in the dark) by calling out my name at the turnaround in the energy lab, where she was stationed as a marshall.
@Mike, thanks for reading my report and taking time to give your input. I had a somewhat gradual build back up to double digit miles on the TM. When it was time to do my RR 13 miler, I didn't think I was ready and only did 11. (if I say "only 11" to most of the people I know, they would give me a strange look.) It was a good run and at the time I felt good about my progress. I will definitely work with RnP to do a run durability plan that works for me the rest of the summer. e.g., P's split long runs sounds like a helpful option.
@Al, Thanks. I did enjoy this race a lot. It was an absolutely beautiful day and I was so happy to be able to be doing what I was doing in such a place. For me, and maybe you, some days you really appreciate the ability to physically and financially do all we do. And to have a spouse/partner/family that not only allows this, but supports it.
As you suggest, the HR #'s probably should have been reversed, i.e., start low to high, especially with the lack of long runs in my HIM buildup. Given the heat, which I anticipated, and the end of the bike reminded me of, should have prompted me to run "wicked slow" to start as Coach R would say. I started out at my pre-race planned pace. In addition to generally running better, I plan to concentrate on executing the bricks Rich puts into my WKO's. I was a decent runner when I was younger, and of course I'm not as fast anymore, but I know I can improve a lot from where I am now. Thanks again and I hope your training towards Kona and your other races is going well.