Lavaman Waikoloa 2012

Winona got on her first road bike 2 months ago. She was discouraged by the limited amount of training she could get before racing. She didn't know she was ready before she even started training. But she trained hard. Winona organized training days on the other side of the island once or twice a week, around instructing spin classes Monday thru Friday. She alternated swims and runs 3 days a week, sometimes practicing after spin class, or even having the class do bricks with her! (bike-to-run).

She was terrified of swimming with an expected large group of people (300-400 in her wave), so we drove out to Kona the day after one of our toughest training days in Waikoloa to swim with about 50-75 others in a Peaman swim/run. This helped give her a sample of the bigger picture. She was less afraid of getting kicked, elbowed, drowned.

We tapered down in the final week, following the big training day where she hit a psychological wall. We did enough cardio to sustain and filled our muscles with glycogen. By race day, we had more energy than we were used to training with. This made the difference between a "failed course preview" and a great race.

We drove down for our race packets and pre-race meeting the day before the race. It wasn't until the moment I had my number painted on, did I get excited about the race. That's when I remembered that feeling you can only get from racing in a triathlon. The music playing in the background. Smiling faces all enthusiastic to spend so much stored energy. They all made it this far, overcoming hard training, illnesses, injuries, and more. For some it's just another training day, for most, this would be the most difficult physical achievement in their life.

The car was loaded the night before. We left Hilo early, Chris and Ken following as an eager support group. We ate breakfast on the way, drank lots of fluids and visited bathrooms along the way. Our support group took 2 wrong turns but found their way. Their positive energy instantly picked us up. We stalled a bit in the parking lot and transition area, forfeiting our warmup time. In a longer race, this would be vital, but Chris said we did the training without warmup so that boosted my confidence.

Reviewed navigation to our transition areas, our numbers touched up, timing chips, and with 12 minutes till Winona's wave start... one last bathroom break. The line wasn't ridiculously long, and if I hadn't made this one, I would have to buy a new suit for the next race. Exited the porta-john with a big smile and feeling race weight ready. Ran back to down an Endurolyte, when Jessica found us. She gave Winona a big hug, a few thoughtful words to encourage her, advice to overcome her swim, and helped her get her swim cap on good. This comforted Winona and I'm grateful.

"5 minutes till race start, all red caps in the water!" And Winona takes off. We didn't get to kiss each other good luck, but we knew how we felt and it could go left undone. She followed Jess' advice and stayed off to one side. Our wave started 5 minutes later and all I could think about was how she was doing. The water cleared up once we got a bit outside, and aside from the triathlon wake, was calm. I stayed on whoever's toes were in front of me, tried to keep one arm in front at all times, kept my head down, and kicked into my strokes. The current helped to pull us back in. For a few minutes, this Japanese dude and I were synchronized. I have to admit, it felt pretty awesome. I felt really good getting out of the water. Marked the split on my watch and noted 0:29.27. That's pretty good for me, so I was stoked. I ran through transition while Chris cheered me on. He may have been more excited about my time than I was! It took me a few seconds to run up to the transition area, where it clocked me at 30:13 for a pace of 1:54, transition time of 1:41, and 360th place overall. Winona finished in 27:21 for a 1:43 pace and 183rd overall.

Kept my socks off for the ride. Didn't have any major problems. We finished before the wind picked up, and it was a relatively peaceful day. Quads were feeling it early so I exercised my gluts. Just stayed low and tight and pedaled hard. I got into a rhythm on the way back and gained momentum. Finished 40km (24.85miles) in 1:15 with an average speed of 19.8mph for 238th place overall. Transition time was 1:14. I'm proud of my time with the amount of training I put in.

Running out of transition, Chris yells out "2:20 behind Winona, go get her!" So I did. What's incredible is her pace in comparison with her training times. She finished in 1:21, riding an average pace of 18.4. The week before, she averaged about 15 and on Tuesday was 14mph. What's equally astonishing is her transition time of 0:38 which was 19th overall.

The off-road portion of the run was pretty tough. The grade of the gravel was substantial. It really slowed me down. I finished 10km (6.2miles) in 45:38 for a pace of 7:22 and 59th overall. I passed Winona on turnarounds and she looked so strong and cheerful. This really made my day. I loved watching her run hard and enjoying herself. She finished in 53:07, at a pace of 8:34 for 230th overall place.


Winona finished 243rd/1600 at 2:43.57. 2nd out of 22 in her age group!
I finished 147th at 2:34.03. 20th out of 96 in my age group.

We're both really happy with the results and can't wait for Lavaman Keauhou. Chris will register early so he doesn't miss his slot. We're pushing Ken to get back into triathlon too, so hopefully this will be his comeback. This also might be Colby's first!


Congrats to everyone else I know who finished: Bree Wee (1st Female and New Course Record!), Andy Penny (3rd in AG), Brandon Perea (2nd in AG), Joe Wedemann, Kawika Singson, Zach Johnson, Tay Soares, Don Perea, Carol Langevin.


We're planning on hosting our own triathlon here in Hilo soon. In the meantime, we'll continue training in preparation. I really need to spend more time biking. I know I always promise to train more and don't follow through. I need to get better!

Thanks to Mariko Langevin for the awesome support and pics, and to Chris Gregory for filming and putting together this hilarious video. Check out his running page on youtube, as cicirunner

http://youtu.be/jfFCNzzqbr8

Here's a link to the results:

http://www.lavamantriathlon.com/waikoloa/index.php/results/2012-results

Lavaman Waikoloa 2012 Preview

A week before the race, we decided to practice the entire triathlon. We started a little late, so the wind was already up, and it was extra windy. I had just got off work and met them in Waimea. Chris was kind enough to swap with me so I could ride down with Winona. We were in good spirits and embracing the hard day awaiting us.

The water was murky and choppy but wasn't enough to slow us down. Winona pushed even harder to keep up with Ken, who can easily keep up with me in fins. We didn't waste much time and rushed off on our bikes.

I usually stay with Winona on the bike and try to guide her, but she's improved and was keeping up so Chris and I planned on playing catch up to Winona, Brian, and Ken. I told her to try hard to learn how to grab her water bottle during the slow parts like hill peaks and take sips often. A few minutes in, Winona's bike computer dismounted so she had to turn around to get it fixed. Luckily, Chris and I were taking our time prepping our bikes/gear. We started together and took off into the wind. Chris was gone in no time. My legs/gluts were feeling it from a run three days prior and squats the day before. I couldn't push. Winona had just taught spin/brazilian jump the day before, so she didn't get any rest either. She was right on my tail. We planned on riding to the 89 mile marker, but all did different distances. Ken and Brian were out first, realized the course was shorter and turned around at the 87 mile marker. Chris who was gaining on them, calculated that they couldn't have gone to the 88mile marker, turned around at the 88mm. Winona used her computer, and turned around at half the course distance. I just thought I was being slow, turned around at the 89 and hated myself for it. It felt like the wind had changed directions on us and were facing a headwind the whole way. On the way back, the wind had picked up and we were crawling up hills into it.

I was defeated and was out of the game. When I got back, the rest of the group were anxious to start running. We loaded the biked back into the cars and took off on the hilly, partly-trail run. I kept Winona company for the run. I couldn't really go much faster anyway. 1/4 mile in, she started feeling side-pain but ran through it. She told me she didn't drink at all on the ride and chugged 20 ounces of water as soon as she got back. She gave me an earful about how I forced her to race, buy a bike, with not enough training time. Her body was aching and she didn't believe she could finish the race. Everyone knows her as the cardio Queen. She had to do well. I tried to give her positive support but eventually got fed up with the negativity. We eventually got it together and finished about 4.5 miles of the run. She would later remember how she felt at this moment and how she pushed through.