Hawaii 70.3 and Haena to Hanalei 8 mile
The idea for the 70.3 was born last May! And Nikki as usual, talked me into it. I never had that race on my list, hot and humid, conditions where I wither and die. I hate warm weather for racing, and coming from running my idea of hot is 60. 
And then it is hilly and I am a total weenie when it comes to hills. But I decided it could be a fun training race and you get to ride some if the IM bike course, which would be cool, and then followed by a vacation. It was our twentieth anniversary so seemed a nice way to celebrate. And once I signed up for IMLou that plan made more sense. (in some stupid way 
)
We reached Kona late evening at 5ish, and were met at the airport by a friend The drive down is quite something with lava rocks and dry grass, unreal sort of landscape. We then checked into our spiffy condo Dinner out and made a detailed plan for the next day which wou ld be busy
Pre-race:
Next morning a shakeout run to a beach nearby, breakfast then off to Hapuna beach state park to check out the swim course. We walk there and there are big waves crashing on to the shores. "Oh its breakers nothing to worry" Say what? I did not want to do the swim or the race, felt completely terrified. I stood there in the crashing waves trying to come up with a good non weenie sounding excuse to bail, when we saw Clean. He is a teammate, and an awesome photographer and he was there taking pics. He'd done IMFL and had some calming words and encouraged us to go swim and that he regretted not signing up, it was so beautiful.
So I took a deep breath, told my self I should be grateful and off I went. Holy wow they weren't kidding about the buoyancy of the ocean. Like a wetsuit, without the death grip on your chest. Felt better, N did a short swim, we splashed around in the water for a bit and went back feeling much better. The rest of the day was a whirlwind.. We were heading to Kauai after the race, so I did not want to have a bike bag and it wasn't a oal race, so we decided to rent bikes. Headed off to pick up rental bikes, we had been a bit late to reserve and didn't get the bikes we would have wanted, but N was happy his bike is similar to what he has, mine well not so much, but the fit seemed okay and really not like there was a choice. Then the athlete checkin, bike checkin, prep for next morning etc etc.
Race morning:
Next morning up early and got to the transition bright and early. I borrow a pump and start to pump air, the thing deflates and will not inflate again. Ack WTF? A bike tech nearby helped me and it was not a flat. Phew. The joys of a rented bike. 
Set up everything and then off to the start.
Swim:
Walked into the water for a practice swim, okay I am terrified again even as I giggle nervously as a wave knocks me over. When our group was called, most people were out near the start treading,another woman and I were near the beach, dawdling and getting clobbered by the breakers. Anyway, canon goes boom (no kidding I jumped every time that goddamn thing went off) and I look off and for the first time ever had no panic whatsover at the start. I've not had full on panic ever, but there are those first few moments when you have to tell your brain things are fine and you won't drown today. Being able to see underwater such a wonderful thing, will be hard to do lake swims now. I saw a turtle at one point which was very cool. I could see the buoy tied into the floor. Saw school of prety green fish. So these are the joys of slow pokedom, none of the faster folks saw this.I was swimming with a small group that split at the turn buoy then it was me and another woman, we swam together part of the way, then she drafted behind me rest of the way. The race photographer has a pic of her giving me a quick hug to say thanks when we finished. Very cool.
Bike:
On the bike my first thought was, uh oh the seat feels too low. Shit! Shit shit. On a hilly course that can just kill your knees. The bike includes the 19 miles out to Hawi which is considered the toughest part of the IM bike course, so plenty hills. But that fit turned out to not be an issue at all. Instead it was the saddle, i was a wide one and around mile twenty I started to feel it dig into my inner thigh. Crap. And somewhere along the way my garmin bike computer had fallen off the bike. So bummed, pricey thing. I did have the wrist one on for the run, so had access to HR data, but not the same as having it right on the handle. And I did not have my drink and eat reminders that were programmed onto the bike computer, I sort of guessed but I did screw up a bit on hydration. Anyway, I kept my HR in low to mid zone 2 determined to ride easy and I did, my avg was ~15 (14.99) and I am very pleased with how easy and great that felt on that course. Rode steady up to Hawi, the ride back down from Hawi was spectacular with lots of views of the ocean.
And we were very lucky not to have any of the infamous cross winds. After the ocean swim that was the other thing I had been terrified about. My bike handling skills are piss poor and being a smaller rider I tend to get thrown around in wind, so I was really scared of what wind gusts when speeding downhill would do. But the beautiful day meant I was really in a happy place the entire swim and bike and appreciated every moment and how lucky I was to have the experience.Towards the end the saddle was really bugging me and I kept having to get out of the saddle to get a break. Saw Rick here cheering which was awesome. Came off the bike feeling good, a bit hot but ready for the run
Run:
I started off everything felt okay, except the inside of the thighs were sore from the wide bike seat and the upper part of the hammies especially on the left. The price on not having your own bike. But on the flats I didn't notice it, then we hit the first uphill, really it's a golf cart hill and ouch, could not run up it. I also noticed my HR was sky high for the pace. This has happened at my other tri and Ken had mentioned dehydration which I think was spot on. Anyway, given how much I needed to walk at every speed bump, HR never was an issue. The course is brutal because you run on the golf course, on the grass and sometimes on the path,. Why could we not just run on the path thoughout? 
grass easy on your joints but so hard on tired legs. And it was hot. No wind makes for a fabulous swim and bike, but then the run kills you.
Saw Rick here again which was great, you so need to see friendly faces on this course. Miles 8-12 are through this dreary beat up road near a parking lot that had lava fields on either side. I heard it called "Highway to Hell" and the pit. . It was sort of surreal in its starkness, dried grass and lava rocks that is all you saw and a beat up ugly gravel road.. And the heat off the lava rocks. Have I mentioned how much I hate the heat? If I were in a better mood I might have appreciated the starkness of it, but I was just grumpy. I forgot to appreciate the fact that I was doing this really cool race at an amazing destination. I was annoyed at the course, the heat, my hamstring. It was a good lesson in humility for me.
Finally saw the finish. Very pretty finish line, arch of flowers. Loved it and you finish by the ocean. And each person gets three beer tickets. Can't complain about that.
7:29:xx
I was over an hour slower than my first HIM. But thrilled with it. The thing I have loved about triathlon is that it has constantly challenged me to face my fears. This one was no wetsuit and an occean swim. With all the rain we have had I had only two swims in the lake which is a poor sub for the sea but at least it would be something. I learnt to swim as an adult in my thirties and lack that comfort most people have. I am still afraid, but a little less so than I was and with each race I am less weenier. And feel a bit stronger in every other thing I try to tackle.
Ha'ena to Hanlei 8 mile:
So we were listening to the radio and heard of this race. 10 minutes from our condo.Point to point race. Hellz yeah. We checked out the course. double yeah. Mountains on one side and ocean on the other. So pretty. We ignored some serious hills. Registration was 35 bucks included a pancake breakfast, chip time and shuttling us to the start. Plus for the first time in 35 years of the race they were shutting down that road to traffic. and with there being only one road in that area that was huge.
Race morning we go there at 5:15. off on the shuttles which turn out to be 12 person vans! We were wondering how long that would take. But they got everyone in about 7:20 ish (race was to start at 7 but never mind, island time). On the way there the woman behind us offered us all bananas, she had extra. yeah sure why not. Front seat were a bunch of guys who were part of a club they said was a drinking club with a running problem. Anyway, fun chill atmosphere, listening to all the chatter. They dropped us off at the beach. Started chatting with an guy in the 70.3 shirt, he was a runner turned triathlete so we yammered away about all the races we'd done. I love that instant bond you form with fellow runners and you spend a half hour chatting with a stranger like you've known them forever.
The race did not have a start line, You all sort of mill around seeding yourself and someone yells go, and off you go. The start is half a mile flat then a small hill. Then more hills, but the views kept me going and they had a water stop almost every mile! Which is nice in that weather. Also some folks had come out to cheer. One guy and his wife on a mountain bike kept us going. While the hills were tough, long inclines the views take your mind off, though I did walk one particularly steep section, my hammies were still a tad grumpy.
I'd seen a bunch of high school kids who looked fast, instead they pooped out mile 4ish, after blasting out too fast no doubt. I was surprised to already be at mile 5, it's a nice long downhill and I was feeling pretty good. Then the course flattens but there is no more shade on the course, sun glaring down but after the lava fields this was nothing. Finished by the beautiful Hanalei pier. They had coconut water at the finish which was so much better than gatorade. And then headed into the ocean. One last look at the mountains and ocean and then it was time to head back to check out and head home. Really memorable race, I am so glad we ran it
Comments
Anu, sorry I missed meeting you, as I did this race too. Congratulations on finishing. If you rent a bike at another race, you may want to consider bringing your own saddle, pedals and aero bars, if they are clip ons. Also, you may want to take some measurements on your bike to help you set up your rental. These would be from the center of your bottom bracket to the top of your saddle and the tip of your saddle to the middle of the handle bars. You may even want to bring your own tires and tubes and replace the ones that come with the bike. That may give you confidence in your rubber for the race. You can then just remove your tires after the race. Of course, bring all the little tools you'll need to add all these to your new ride. Just some thoughts.
Thanks Bob! Sorry I missed you too, it got somewhat hectic for us on Friday.
And thanks those are good ideas. I had my own pedals and tools and did at one point consider taking my saddle. but with it being a train through race ir just seemed more things to lug around. The measurements I accidentally deleted a note from the phone with the measurements and we had to eyeball it. You are right in hindsight I was lucky that the only issue I had was some muscle soreness! But typically I always have my own bike, so you don't think about all the things that go into making it perfect.Thanks Doug, I normally could not imagine it either, but I ended up walking a lot during the HIM which meant I needed less recovery.
The Hawaii 70.3 is definitely a very cool race and there is the added benefit of driving around and geeing out over Ali'i drive, seeing the energy lab etc.