honu wrap up

This will be the bullet version, because seriously.....who even remembers the race that was 3 weeks ago (almost).

Swim:

• Remember those palm trees. Uh, yeah, wind.
• Started left, but did I mention the wind?  Blown right into line with the first buoy.  Can you say sardines?  Standstill for at least a minute or two while we fought our way around the buoy.
• Turned for the long side of the rectangular course and could NOT find the next buoy.  Evidently the entered pack I was in was blown out and off course.
• I'd guess I swam an extra 5-600 yards.  Ugh.
• I'd say 5-8 minutes longer than even my 'worst' expected time.

This is *not* a happy face.

This *is* a happy face....but it's just because I'm happy to see the family,
Jeff and my step-son Ryan.  And also to stop tasting salt.

T1:

• Loooooooooong run up to T1.
• Biggest mistake...not putting more sunscreen on.  Very white girl turned into very sunburned girl by the end of the day.

Bike:

• Oh, hey, did I mention that it was windy?  So windy that I'd come out into an open area and have to tilt my bike sideways to avoid getting blown off the road.  Here's where a little more weight may have actually come in handy.
• Let's see.....there was wind......and wind.  But at least it wasn't too hot, and we even got cooled off by a rain shower a bit before the climb into Hawi.
• Not a whole lot of time spent aero for fear of losing control of my bike.  And a bit of under fueling for fear of taking my hands off the bike to drink.
• At some points all I could do was laugh because the wind was so ridiculous.
• I wish I knew her name, there was a woman who I was hopscotching with that was the most encouraging woman.  Encouraging everyone.  I lost her on the climb into Hawi, but as I passed her when I was heading back down, I encouraged her that she was almost to the turn around and she said, "Thank you!  I REALLY needed to hear that right now."  :)
• I had told Jeff to expect me between 3:15 and 3:30, due to.......can you guess........wind.  Evidently he didn't trust my assessment and so missed me coming in on the bike.  He said they started getting worried and asked someone to look up my # and that's how they found out they had missed me by a minute.  Ha!  I told him my biking has gotten much stronger. Sheesh.

A slight tilt to the bike....this was mild compared
to some sections.

T2:

• Another loooooong run. 
• See T1 for biggest mistake.  

Run:

• Yes, you guessed it....even on the run......wind.
• As mentioned, I came off the bike dehydrated and feeling sloshy.  I tried to keep up the fuel plan, but by mile 5 I had moved on to cola.  And can I just say it tasted *so* good after all that Perform.  
• The first 3 miles went by fairly well, then I started to get really beat down by the heat and wind.  I tried tucking in behind some taller, bigger guys.  
• Biggest disappointment is that I couldn't keep my legs moving and ended up in a walk/run mode.
• And can I just say....running on grass kind of sucks.

Yeah, this sucks.

Proof there was *some* running done.

This photographer knows how to take a good pic. Well...
except for that palm tree growing out the right side of my head. ;)

I did finally finish....finally.  It was a much longer day out there than I had hoped.  I have to say thanks to Jeff and Ryan for hanging out there all day and cheering for me.  They did find me on the run course after missing me on the bike. And I think they had a good time watching Lance bust the course record.

  

When the official recap came up on the Ironman website, they said the course conditions were the worst they've ever experienced on that course.  So it was an experience to say the least.  And now that it's all settled in....I so want another shot at it.  Truth be told, I emailed coach during my vacation the following week and told her I want a re-match.   Yeah,  triathletes truly are crazy.  In the best way. 

Aloha.