Ironman 70.3 Hawaii

Half Ironman - Done.

Overall
Pos 626/1101
Time 06:26:21
Plc/Total 67/88
Cat M30-34
# 1047
Swim
Cat 66
Ovr 689
Time 41:10
/100m 2:04
Tr1 6:21
Bike
Cat 61
Ovr 560
Time 3:02:38
Mile/hr 18.4
Tr2 5:36
Run
Cat 65
Ovr 691
Time 2:30:38
/Mile 11:30

As you can see from my Cat & Ovr Places, I was fairly average.

The open water swim was more congested than I had expected. The first turn was only about 30 degrees, but there were 1300 of us squeezing through in about 5-10 minutes. I got elbowed a few dozen times. My feet were touched about 60% of the time. Someone actually pulled down on my ankle at one point. The water was warm, calm and glassy. The deepest spots were about 75 ft. I opened up on the second half where I steared away from the pack and was able to stretch out and keep my own pace. Not much time goes into the swim. I feel if my cardio enhances, so will my swim. My technique could always use help but I'm fairly satisfied so far.

I felt best on the bike. Which is funny cause it's the sport which has received the least amount of my attention. I passed people uphill and downhill. I mashed near and through the peaks and attained max speed through to the flats where I coasted/rested a few seconds, then repeated. There were soooo many rule-breakers out there. There was a guy who drafted basically the entire ride. Another rode inside of the white line the entire ride. Only one rider out of everyone that I passed eased up as I called 'your left!'. Joe said he's never seen it like this before. As I passed mile marker 11 on the way to Hawi, Craig Alexander blew past. He was fkn flying it! I realized why after the turnaround. That 900ft climb paid off. There isn't much I hope to improve upon, besides cardio (aerobic work). But I'm always expecting/inviting new methods. Jess' training advice has helped a TON for the bike. I have changed my mind about getting a tri bike so soon.

I had originally thought I had failed big time on the Run, but it wasn't that bad. I walked about half of it. Felt I had ate/drank too much on the bike/run. Plus I had my racing flats in the repair shop so I had my training shoes, which got super heavy when filled with water after dousing myself every few miles. Jess had me focus on running off the bike, but I haven't put enough effort on the runs.

I am glad I was able to finish. Now that I know I can finish, I'll need to get faster. I need to put a LOT more effort into my training. I hope to knock off 1hr by next year.

5 mins off the swim
4 mins off Tr1
15 mins of Bike
4 mins off Tr2
35 mins off Run

My weight got cut down to 160lbs this week. It's an ideal race weight, but I'd still need to replace some fat with muscle. P90X with Eric M-T-Th-F. Master's Swimming on Wednesday. Bike/Run M-F. Tri on Saturday. Rest/Stretch Sunday.

Next up is Joe Wedemann's bike-around-the-island (about 230 miles) on June 20th (I'll do the second half with him), Kona Marathon on June 29th, P-Mango Sprint Triathlon July 12th. I'm looking forward to more races, especially triathlons.

New Aero Bars | Flat Tire | Swim Class

Got my new aero bars installed during lunch yesterday, so I took it for a spin after work. Love the way the bars make my body feel in the wind. Also feel that I can put more force down and back in the spin.

Went for a beach cruise at 6pm and almost made it to 4miles Beach when I got a flat in the rear tube. First tire change! Argh! Was a pain figuring out how to remove the tire. Took a good 20-30 mins. Stopped keeping track around 15 mins. Tried patching the tube. I don't know if this is even possible. Inflated and still heard a leak, so swapped with the spare tube. Was fun getting the tire back on. Began pumping away when the valve stem snapped in my pump. FML. Luckily I had my phone. Right after calling Mai, Sharon stopped by and offered help. I thanked her and began walking back until Mai stopped. Haven't really talked to her in a while so we had dinner at Miyo's.

This morning:
Swam 1300 of the instructed 1500m in about 27mins, while everyone else waited. 2 of the kids did it in 20mins. Unreal. 4x50m kicking with flat kickboard, then 2x50m with some kind of triangle device. 6x50m every minute. Sadly, my rest got shorter and short each lap.

I remembered to keep my hands shoulder width apart, stroke down the center, rotate hips, elbows high and above my hands, keep my fingers close to the top of the water, and keep a steady flutter kick.

800m in, Jon advised me to stretch out more with my hands, front and back. This kinda wore me out though.

1100m in, Jon stopped me and said I was dragging my legs. It didn't feel like it. He also said to keep my fingers close together. He said I was putting my hands flat onto the water and pushing down just to keep my upper body afloat.

Keeping momentum on the kick was tough. I'm getting stronger and more economical at it though.

First Class - Master's Swimming, Hot Feet

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Joining the Hilo Aquatic Club for practice MWF 5:30-6:45am, coached by Jon Hayashida. Today was my first visit with the club and Jon had me jump in to observe my technique... or lack thereof.

Here's a link if you wanna join http://www.hawaiimastersswim.org/clubs.html#HAQ

He was commanding some numbers for everyone to do laps that I didn't understand at all. Something about this many laps at this time or something. I think we did about 8x100m, 400m kick, 400m buoy. I had to rest quite a bit. Haven't done this type of aggressive intervals since Jessica was training me last summer/fall.

Things I learned today and need to practice on:

• high elbows
• drag fingers
• stroke down center
• hands enter at shoulder width
• flutter kick (no more dragging legs or kicking on each stroke)
• rotate hips for legs to rotate

Water was surprisingly warm this morning.

Temp was about 78F during my run from 1-2pm. 6.9mi in 1 hour. iMapMyFitness failed after 3.9 or so miles, then I resumed tracking and it kept reading 5.1miles over and over. I love that iMMF has audial feedback, but hate it's instability.

Love the heat training. Slowly getting acclimated.