Lavaman – Race Day!

4:45am came quick.  I slept pretty well though, especially considering our next door neighbors were up partying until about 3:00am, sliding their deck door back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  Cleary not Lavaman participants.  Anyway, my roommate Stephanie & I got dressed, made sure we had everything we needed in our bags, started eating and then headed out into the darkness to meet Kelli, Dean and the rest of our team.  The toughest part of the day came at the elevator as everyone was leaving around the same time and each elevator could only hold three bikes.  Three full elevators passed us by before we started calling for an up elevator instead.  We each finally made it on and met ack down at the bottom.  My elevator already had two folks in it, then we went all the way up to 7 and disappointed other racers on each floor on the way down as teh dorrs opened to show them a full elevator.  We did squeeze a fourth person into ours though, to aleviate a bit of the pinch.

Outside we met everyone on the grassy knoll as we have each day, and waited a bit longer than usual due to the elevator chaos.  Once we had everyone, we enjoyed another short mission moment to remind us all why we were racing today, then mounted our bikes to ride over to the transition area.  The sun was finally coming up and it was hard to believe ths day was finally here.

This transition area had different bike racks than any other race I’ve been, low on the ground where you stick your back wheel.  However, these racks are clearly made for actual competative athletes, as the slots were thin for racing bikes and did not fit the fat tires on me & Kelli’s hybrids.  Therefore, we had to find a spot on the perimeter fence for our transition area.  This worked out great though, because we had a lot more room than anyone else for all our stuff. 

Next we needed to get numbered – in Seattle they usually just mark you up with a giant sharpie pen, but here on the Big Island we got numbered with the actual Ironman stamps which was pretty cool.  Timing chips were attached to our left ankle and then back to our spot to apply sunscreen, finish eating, and strip down to our swim gear before heading to the beach.

After surveying the swim course we met our team under the finish line sign for a team photo.  Then it was back to the beach to watch the officials make final adjustments on our crazy M-shaped course.  We found Lauren on the beach, ready to assume her duties as the Moral Support-Shopping team and race day photographer.  Before we knew it, the Elite field was off onto the course, as were the men five minutes later.  Five minutes after that, the air horn sounded and all the women were off too.

I headed into the water in my usual manner, at the back of the pack and starting out slow, while everyone else fights to get out front swimming over each other.  The previous two days of practice were a great help though as I settled into a rhythm much quicker than usual.  There were a lot more people in the water though, so lots of maneuvering occurred throughout the swim – this luckily where being a breaststroker comes in especially handy.  Slow and steady wins the race, especially in the swim – stroke by stroke I gained ground on many and even passed 8 men by the end, all of whom had started 5 minutes before me.  I felt good, and just kept moving along, even when fish scurried beneath me or a wave hit and I would swallow some water.  A mile later, I swam my way back onto shore and trudged towards the transition area.

The race organizers had put carpet down on the way to the transition area and it was here that I first felt a stinging on one of my toes.  I looked down and knew I had cut it coming out of the water on a piece of coral or some other rock.  I asked a nearby volunteer where the medical tent was but they didn’t know so I kept walking.  I asked another volunteer, and they told me there was one at the swim start.  The swim start?  I just finished the swim moron, I’m not going back there now.  Luckily I had packed my Group Health Ouch Pouch in my bag, so I just headed towards my stuff and took care of my toe myself.   Cleaned up with my towel and a anti-spetic, then a band-aid.  Got my socks and shoes on, my shorts & T, re-applied sunscreen, tied my bandana, scarfed down some water & shot blocks, grabbed my helmet and headed towards the bike start.  Lauren was there cheering me off as I mounted my bike and rode out towards the highway.

Hitting the highway we had a pretty good tail wind again, so it was a nice way to get started on a long lonely road.  The ride is pretty barren and hot, but it gave me a chance to suck down some water and mucn down a clif bar.  About a third of the way in was a long gradual hill, but I just found a good gear and cranked along, slowly inching towards the turn around point.  The turn around featured a short steep hill that got some good pain going for a minute, but it was over quick and then the volunteers gave you a new bottle of water.  Back on the highway, it was mostly downhill on the second half of the course which was great, but the wind swirled about in spots meaning there was no real break, no coasting for us.  The last quarter of the course was tough on the butt too.  My masseuse is gonna love my glutes on Tuesday when I see her.  Eventually I glided bak into the resort and there was Lauren again, cheering me back in.  Idumped my bike and helmet, changed shoes, sucked down some more water and took off for the last part, a six-mile run.

Landin greeted me at the run entrance, which begin with a ricky lava trail, meaning that I would continue to use the term “run” fairly loosely for this part of the course.  Running on these varied surfaces was not fun, so I walked a big chunk of the “run”, like at least 3/4.  But I was cool with that – I didn’t want to twist an ankle and I enjoyed seeing the scenery as we wound our way through the Waikoloa resort.  It was also getting hot.  As I hit the “popsicle” loop section which was on brand new black asphalt, you could really start feeling the heat.  The first three miles went pretty quick and after having checked the time a couple times I knew I was still on pace to meet my goal.  After four miles we headed into the main part of the resort, winding our way along the water and lagoon, past the pools and restaurants.  Along the Kings trail I sang One Shining Moment, already ready for the basketball game the next day.  At this point I had my eyes peeled for my Uncle Lee & Aunt Retha who were coming out to watch, but because Retha is in a wheelchair I wasn’t sure where they might be as the Waikoloa is not the most wheelchair friendly spot.  But as I passed the final restaurant without spotting them, I figured they must have gotten stuck out on the road in the traffic caused by the race.  I turned the corner down to the final stretch, 1.5 miles of lava rocks and sand, and down at the bottom of a small hill, just before the trail, there they were, behind the water station, just waiting for me in the shade.  I ran over to say hi, catch my beath, and down some water.  I gave Retha a quick sweaty kiss and then continued on my way, re-energized and ready to tackle the end of this course.  I walked over the rocky parts, jogged on the trail parts and made my way to the sand.  With finish line in view, I jogged my way in with Kelli & Lauren cheering me on, right around my goal of four hours.  whew!

 A big beach BBQ greeted all finishers, so we noshed and recounted our journeys with our teammates at the ocean’s edge where the day had begun.  Dean finished in just over three hours, Kelli just under 3.5 hours.  The overall winners came in around two hours – seriously.  Eventually I made my way back to the transition area to pack up my stuff and turn my bike in for shipment back to the mainland, the I wandered over to the Kings Shops to meet up with Lee & Retha for awhile.  We caught up at Starbucks, made plans for the next day, and then parted ways:  them to home and me to the shower. 

It was a good race – I can’t believe I did it.  I probably could have put out a little more effort in spots, but I wanted to enjoy it and not kill myself.  I met my goal, finished and stayed healthy except for my sliced toe, so all in all, a very good day.