Before you read my perception of the day, here's a link to the coverage of the day's conditions and what the pros and other participants had to say about it.
I woke up at 4am race morning after a mediocre nights sleep. The wind was blowing most of the night and woke me up a couple of times. I got everything together and went down to catch the shuttle to Hapuna. note: at this race, the swim starts and ends at Hapuna Beach and T2 is at the Mauna Lani resort as well as the finish line.
Once I got to Hapuna, it was clear that conditions were just going to be tough. The wind was really blowing and although I wasn't concerned about getting hurt or crashing, I was concerned about being SLOW in the water and on the bike.
This year, there wasn't an option for the swim start. All 1300 participants started in the deep water at once. I positioned myself fairly close to the front knowing that my best chance of getting through this swim with a decent time was finding a draft. Before the gun went off, things got a little tight and I was getting knocked into a bit. Once the gun went off, it was a bit chaotic but nothing compared to what was coming. About 400 meters from the start line, there's the first turn buoy....and it's a hard, right turn. I've got scratch marks on my arms and was dunked a few times. I took in a lot of water and there were a ton of people all on top of each other, trying to get around the turn buoy. Once we turned, we were swimming against the current, not to mention the wind was really blowing the water across the surface. I'd look up to spot but couldn't see any buoys. I just followed the pack. I had a draft for a bit from a 60 year old man and then someone fought me for it and I just didn't have the energy to fight back. They were bigger than me and I was putting a lot of effort into getting through the swim. This was by far the toughest swim I have ever experienced. And, I knew that the bike wasn't going to be much easier. I knew before I got out that this was not going to be the swim time I was hoping for.
swim time: 40:44
I ran up the long ramp to T1 and had an uneventful transition. Everything had to be in a bag, hanging on your bike. This is a fairly long transition.
T1: 3:00
I headed out on the bike and the wind was blowing pretty good. I just stayed in my aero bars and leaned into the gusts as they came. There were a couple of gusts that almost knocked me over but I felt pretty confident that I could handle the conditions. I did my best not to tense up when the gusts hit and just stayed in my aero bars. I noticed my wattage was really low but I decided rather than pushing beyond what I thought I should to bring my wattage up to, I went off of perceived exertion. I stayed steady knowing that once I got to the turn around at Hawi, I'd be able to enjoy some high speeds coming down. There were times because my power was so low, I questioned whether or not my SRM was properly calibrated. I did calibrate it the day before, the same time of day, so I knew it had to be.....but my power was so low. When I got closer to the turn around, I started to have some foot problems that have occurred before in training but never racing. Just get to the turn around and you will have relief.
I turned around at Hawi and was excited to enjoy some speed. I was going about 27 mph with a smile on my face when I heard a very loud "pow" followed by something hard hitting my cadence sensor. I stopped and pulled over to find a large screw lodged in the side of my back tire. BUMMER. 10 minutes later, I was back on my bike with everyone I had kept in my sights.....LONG gone. The last 10 miles were brutal, my power was averaging about50 watts under what it should have been. The pain in my feet just kept getting worse and worse. In hindsight, this had to be a shoe or saddle problem. Oh well. I was SO happy to be off the bike. The moment I got off, the pain went away.
Bike Time: 3:10:17
Got into T2 and there was a helper there to round up my stuff as I got what I needed out of the bag and left the rest for him to put back. I have to say, they've got a great system at this race and it worked well for me.
T2: 2:39
Ah, finally onto the run. There's a lot I have to say about the run. First of all, so far this season, I have pulled out my slowest run times ever in my half irons. This has been discouraging, to say the least and I was starting to wonder if I just thought I was capable of more than I was capable of. With that said, I'm happy to talk about the run.
I headed out and decided to get settled into a mellow pace and see how I was feeling. I know I was a little behind on calories because I wasn't feeling great the last half of the bike and I didn't take in as many gels as I was supposed to. First mile split was an 8:45 but my heartrate was nice and low. Good. Next mile felt even better. I guess that's the benefit of having a really weak bike ride and 10 minutes of rest. As I clicked off the miles, I was passing people and surprised at how good I was feeling. I think I've been traumatized by my slow run times lately that I was just waiting for things to go south. I kept my heart rate pretty low, still lacking some confidence that I could stay consistent on my pace. I negative split the run, 5 of my miles under an 8 minute pace, only two of the miles over an 8:30. The last 2.1 miles at a 7:30 pace. I obviously benefited from going so easy on the bike but this was a great confidence booster for me. This is a challenging run course that is, in no way, flat. It's not nearly as tough as the Wildflower run course but it's rolling, up and down, winding around and across grass and some sand. I actually pr'd on this run and being as tough as it was, it instilled a little bit of confidence in my running ability.
The last two miles were my fastest. I paced myself conservatively, took in a lot of water and consumed all my gels. I was extremely happy with how my run went and I finished strong.
Run Time: 1:47:12
Finish Time: 5:43:52
I still haven't been able to put together a solid race across the board this season, but like always, it's a work in progress. I'm pleased with this progress. Sooner or later, all these things I've learned will come together......hopefully.....for one race, or ten. That's why I keep coming back for more. Sometimes, it's solving a little mystery, (nutritional or otherwise), finding balance or learning to have confidence in my ability to push harder than I thought I could. The conditions were tough, the bike didn't go AT ALL as planned but the run went better than I could have imagined. I thought the fastest possible time I could have run was a 1:50. I got 14th in my Age group which was disappointing but for my performance, it's right.
2 weeks until Blue Lake Olympic and 5 weeks until Lake Stevens 70.3
I can't wait to race again!
I woke up at 4am race morning after a mediocre nights sleep. The wind was blowing most of the night and woke me up a couple of times. I got everything together and went down to catch the shuttle to Hapuna. note: at this race, the swim starts and ends at Hapuna Beach and T2 is at the Mauna Lani resort as well as the finish line.
Once I got to Hapuna, it was clear that conditions were just going to be tough. The wind was really blowing and although I wasn't concerned about getting hurt or crashing, I was concerned about being SLOW in the water and on the bike.
This year, there wasn't an option for the swim start. All 1300 participants started in the deep water at once. I positioned myself fairly close to the front knowing that my best chance of getting through this swim with a decent time was finding a draft. Before the gun went off, things got a little tight and I was getting knocked into a bit. Once the gun went off, it was a bit chaotic but nothing compared to what was coming. About 400 meters from the start line, there's the first turn buoy....and it's a hard, right turn. I've got scratch marks on my arms and was dunked a few times. I took in a lot of water and there were a ton of people all on top of each other, trying to get around the turn buoy. Once we turned, we were swimming against the current, not to mention the wind was really blowing the water across the surface. I'd look up to spot but couldn't see any buoys. I just followed the pack. I had a draft for a bit from a 60 year old man and then someone fought me for it and I just didn't have the energy to fight back. They were bigger than me and I was putting a lot of effort into getting through the swim. This was by far the toughest swim I have ever experienced. And, I knew that the bike wasn't going to be much easier. I knew before I got out that this was not going to be the swim time I was hoping for.
swim time: 40:44
I ran up the long ramp to T1 and had an uneventful transition. Everything had to be in a bag, hanging on your bike. This is a fairly long transition.
T1: 3:00
I headed out on the bike and the wind was blowing pretty good. I just stayed in my aero bars and leaned into the gusts as they came. There were a couple of gusts that almost knocked me over but I felt pretty confident that I could handle the conditions. I did my best not to tense up when the gusts hit and just stayed in my aero bars. I noticed my wattage was really low but I decided rather than pushing beyond what I thought I should to bring my wattage up to, I went off of perceived exertion. I stayed steady knowing that once I got to the turn around at Hawi, I'd be able to enjoy some high speeds coming down. There were times because my power was so low, I questioned whether or not my SRM was properly calibrated. I did calibrate it the day before, the same time of day, so I knew it had to be.....but my power was so low. When I got closer to the turn around, I started to have some foot problems that have occurred before in training but never racing. Just get to the turn around and you will have relief.
I turned around at Hawi and was excited to enjoy some speed. I was going about 27 mph with a smile on my face when I heard a very loud "pow" followed by something hard hitting my cadence sensor. I stopped and pulled over to find a large screw lodged in the side of my back tire. BUMMER. 10 minutes later, I was back on my bike with everyone I had kept in my sights.....LONG gone. The last 10 miles were brutal, my power was averaging about50 watts under what it should have been. The pain in my feet just kept getting worse and worse. In hindsight, this had to be a shoe or saddle problem. Oh well. I was SO happy to be off the bike. The moment I got off, the pain went away.
Bike Time: 3:10:17
Got into T2 and there was a helper there to round up my stuff as I got what I needed out of the bag and left the rest for him to put back. I have to say, they've got a great system at this race and it worked well for me.
T2: 2:39
Ah, finally onto the run. There's a lot I have to say about the run. First of all, so far this season, I have pulled out my slowest run times ever in my half irons. This has been discouraging, to say the least and I was starting to wonder if I just thought I was capable of more than I was capable of. With that said, I'm happy to talk about the run.
I headed out and decided to get settled into a mellow pace and see how I was feeling. I know I was a little behind on calories because I wasn't feeling great the last half of the bike and I didn't take in as many gels as I was supposed to. First mile split was an 8:45 but my heartrate was nice and low. Good. Next mile felt even better. I guess that's the benefit of having a really weak bike ride and 10 minutes of rest. As I clicked off the miles, I was passing people and surprised at how good I was feeling. I think I've been traumatized by my slow run times lately that I was just waiting for things to go south. I kept my heart rate pretty low, still lacking some confidence that I could stay consistent on my pace. I negative split the run, 5 of my miles under an 8 minute pace, only two of the miles over an 8:30. The last 2.1 miles at a 7:30 pace. I obviously benefited from going so easy on the bike but this was a great confidence booster for me. This is a challenging run course that is, in no way, flat. It's not nearly as tough as the Wildflower run course but it's rolling, up and down, winding around and across grass and some sand. I actually pr'd on this run and being as tough as it was, it instilled a little bit of confidence in my running ability.
The last two miles were my fastest. I paced myself conservatively, took in a lot of water and consumed all my gels. I was extremely happy with how my run went and I finished strong.
Run Time: 1:47:12
Finish Time: 5:43:52
I still haven't been able to put together a solid race across the board this season, but like always, it's a work in progress. I'm pleased with this progress. Sooner or later, all these things I've learned will come together......hopefully.....for one race, or ten. That's why I keep coming back for more. Sometimes, it's solving a little mystery, (nutritional or otherwise), finding balance or learning to have confidence in my ability to push harder than I thought I could. The conditions were tough, the bike didn't go AT ALL as planned but the run went better than I could have imagined. I thought the fastest possible time I could have run was a 1:50. I got 14th in my Age group which was disappointing but for my performance, it's right.
2 weeks until Blue Lake Olympic and 5 weeks until Lake Stevens 70.3
I can't wait to race again!
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6 comments:
Hey there! I found your blog through RR and laughed really hard when I saw the pictures of you guys drinking shots. Ummm, where were you after Clearwater??? We should have gone out together! It was nice hanging out with you at lunch the day before the race. Also, do you want to join Heather, other bloggers and I at a camp next Feb in FL? Glad you had a great run - that is fantastic, and probably a huge morale booster.
The best thing to do is find the positives and build on them. The swim sounded brutal but way to just stay focused. Sorry about the tough luck on the bike and way to push the run, NICE!! I am looking forward for TEAM SUPERSTAHH racing in two weeks.
Way to push through the swim and bike, girl! So sorry about the flat. Well, I guess that's why we don't just do one race a year, there's just way too much we don't have control over.
Okay, we'll let's have a moment to celebrate that run. HOLY COW! AMAZING! And I don't think you should credit getting rest while getting your flat fixed. I think that's super stressful and frustrating regardless of how calm you stay. You're just plain FAST!!! Excellent run there speed demon! Way to rock it!
Nice job! Those race conditions sounded so tough on the swim and bike! Way to hang in there and not give up. And then the flat! At least you can change on quickly! Ten minutes? Please! It takes me a good half hour!
I'm thrilled for you that your run went so well. You are incredible and so fast! Even though your race didn't go as planned, you still rocked it! Nice job!
P, you are so smokin' fast on the run! I am very impressed with your results, ESPECIALLY with a flat! I always assume if I get a flat in a race, I'm out! I am inspired by the way you were able to fix it and still PR on the run! Way to go lady! Congrats on a great race (even if it did not go as planned). I miss seeing you too and have SO much to catch up on with you :) Hope to see you soon friend!
Phaedra, just started reading your blog and wanted to congratulate you on your good time at the 70.3 in Hawaii. I found your blog from RR and stayed to read since I'm originally from Spokane. I will be at Blue Lake with my tribabe.com booth in the vendor area. Stop by if you have some time, I would enjoy meeting you!
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