Ironman Hawaii 70.3 race report
So I joined EN in Oct 2009 with a goal race of IM SG. Utah didn’t go so well resulting in a DNF on the swim and then my next ‘race’ was the HI state TT championships that became a DNF with a flat at mile 21. Racing season wasn’t shaping up so well and I went into HI 70.3 with low expectations with a goal just to finish. I signed up because my little sister did and it was her first HIM. I was undertrained with not really having done anything except a few bikes and short runs plus two swims in the previous 6 weeks but was infinitely more trained than her. Her longest ever bike was the weekend before at 51 miles and she has probably ridden less than 20 times and probably closer to 10 this calendar year. She hasn’t ran much more often. On the bright side she is a swimmer. So why go on about my sister’s lack of preparation? Because it affected my choices later in the race.
We flew over Friday morning on the 0505 flight which required getting up at 0330. Uggh. Had time to kill before registration opened up at 0900 so we hung at Starbucks in Waikoloa for while. Registration went smoothly with dropping off our T2 bags as required, surprisingly we were able to get into our room at the Fairmont Orchid(race hotel) and we went to Tribike Transport to pick up our bikes. Went do Kona and picked up last minute stuff(CO2, second mini pump for sister) from BikeWorks Kona(they were race site shop too but better selection at main store) and got lunch at Lava Java. Back up to Fairmont Orchid for mandatory 3 pm athlete meeting. Then rode the bikes the 7 miles to T1 for our first experience with the hills and wind. Checked in bike and helmet which we had to leave on bike overnight and wandered down to look at swim. It was rather choppy with the winds a whipping. We also discovered that it’s a nice long uphill transition run from the water to our bikes. Joy. Took the shuttle back to hotel, went to local grocery store for snacks and then relaxed until early bedtime as it had been a long day.
Slept well until 0500 when we got stuff together including packing up in case we couldn’t get late check out and started our smoothie breakfast drinks. I don’t think either of us got in more than half. Took the shuttle from hotel to T1, checked bikes out, put computers on(little yellow whip on mine and Edge on sister’s. She had my training Powertap wheel and I had my Zipp 404 with Powertap), put the 3 hour concentrate Infinit bottle on my bike and poured into her Speedfill. Turned in morning stuff and headed down to swim. The wind was blowing nicely again which is a bad sign for early in the morning.
The swim: the course is a trapezoid in Hapuna Bay which is a beautiful beach and nice clear bay. Visibility was amazing. It was a deep water/beach start depending on where you lined up. Those attempting the deep water start kept getting told to move back as the wind and current was drifting them over the start line. Bad sign as this was opposite the direction for the long side of the trapezoid. Lined up toward the back as is appropriate for my swim ability and headed off. Never in the 1.2 miles was I not in a batch of people and that is a comment I heard from my better swimming friends too. The long side seemed to go on forever. Was neat to see the divers at the first turn. Didn’t think the water was all that deep into you look down at the divers and realize they’re kind of small. Max depth on course was 80 ft but you could always see the bottom.
Lynne 51:21, 78/95, 1112/1313
Erin 43:14, 7/11, 764/1313
T1- the run that never ends. We both took our time and got out. Lynne 5:45 and Erin 7:04
The bike: so this was the issue. I think I dawdled too much and really should have expended a bit more effort. Haven’t tested FTP in a rather long time but guessing around 160 which is where it sits when I’m out of shape so set my zones a little easy with goal of NP of 120 given relative lack of conditioning(I had trained for IM SG). Actual was ride time of 3:47, ave wts 86, NP 106, speed 15 mph. Seriously? I averaged double digits? That’s a JRA cruising effort with a HR ave of 140 which is more zone 3ish. Yet it seemed when I looked at the LYW I was in desired area for instant watts except when descending. This course was almost all up or down with 2400 ft of climbing so maybe I need work on the ‘flattening out the course’ technique for riding with power? Luckily WI has more true flat in addition to the rolling hills but still. This was my worst HIM ride ever.
So I mentioned ride time right? Bike split was 3:58:54. Apparently it takes me about 12 minutes to change a tubular. Flatted my rear wheel for the second time in two weeks at mile 44, struggled to get it off the rim and as I was putting the new tire on the rim tech support came by. He finished putting on the rim, chastised me for the lack of glue and that it wasn’t pre-stretched. What? How can it be preglued and stored? Won’t it stick together? So he told me it would be okay for straights but to take corners very carefully for the rest of the bike. So I rode the remainder of the bike quite gingerly especially turns.
I had passed Erin about 1 hour into the bike and saw her climbing the hill to Hawi into the head wind as I was headed down and thought she was less than 30 min back. Worst wind was climbing to Hawi but got some nice crosswinds during that descent too. I’m not to fond of crosswinds while doing 30+ mph with the Zipps on and am really glad I never was tempted to run any deeper dish.
Lynne 3:58:54, 93/95, 1269/1292
Erin 4:38:00, 11/11, 1292/1292
T2- While cruising along after the flat I realized that my time for the day was going to be icky anyway so I calculated the times to the cutoff and realized that my sister was going to be pushing the bike cutoff of 5:30 from start pretty close. I made the decision to wait in T2 for her since I figured she would need some help to make it through the run if she made the bike cutoff. She did, by less than 30 secs. So Lynne T2 34:03 and Erin 1:44. I was off my feet but in the sun and with no fluids during that waiting time.
The run: Hot and sunny with occasional wind. So black lava rock and black asphalt reflect the heat back up rather well. Looked forward to the times on the fairways as being just slightly more comfortable. No shade on the course either and nice and rolling just like the bike. Knew we needed a 3 hour run to make 8:30 for the day so we started with 5 min jog, 30 sec walk but that only lasted 3 miles as sister would overheat with every jog segment. Told her if walking it would be walk with purpose. Still felt like I had to pull her along, cajole her otherwise harass her to keep up. We took advantage of the sponges and keep ice in our hats for cooling. Aid stations were well stocked even that late in the race.
Lynne 3:04:07, 88/95, 1215/1269
Erin 3:04:07, 10/11, 1216/1269
Overall 8:34:08, finishers 1266 and 1267
Even knowing she missed 8:30 by just 4 minutes, sister says she couldn’t have went any faster on run(walk). We actually were faster than a number of people but they hadn’t cut the bike cutoff so tight. I’d probably have been about an hour faster overall if I hadn’t waited in T2 but she would have really struggled through the run so she’s now the proud owner of a Hawaii 70.3 finisher medal and tshirt.
Side note: Fairmont Orchid didn’t have late check out available for our room so they moved our luggage out while we racing and then offered a ‘hospitality room’ for use after the race which was a hotel room with lots of extra towels and toiletries that we got to use. We very much appreciated this service and would definitely would stay at the race hotel again. Flew back to our island at 9 pm race night and it was nice to be home as much as we love the Big Island.
Lessons learned-
-push the bike more. If it feels like you’re not working then look at the numbers differently
-drink more on the bike. Felt awful for the next 24 hours and it was dehydration that took me that long to correct.
-swim more. I have no excuse to have that lousy a swim.
Comments
Lynne, great report! Hard course and conditions, way to finish! though seriously you waited 34 mins for your sister, amazing!! You have a blessed sister, especially that day
Rest up.