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Lavaman 2010 Race Report
Lavaman 2010 Race Report
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Ahhhh, life in Hawaii is good! Mark and I were nearing the end of seventeen days in triathlon Mecca near Kona and the coup de grâce - the Lavaman Olympic distance triathlon - was nearing! Mark, Julie, Stacey and I were in for a treat as we each prepared for our first time at the event. The race was billed as one of the “Top Ten Most Scenic” in a recent Triathlete magazine and it did not fail to deliver with an ocean swim, biking on parts of the the Ironman Hawaii course and expansive views of the ocean on the run. It had also been voted “Best Post Race Party” and it lived up to it’s reputation there as well!
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Ahhhh, life in Hawaii is good! Mark and I were nearing the end of seventeen days in triathlon Mecca near Kona and the coup de grâce - the Lavaman Olympic distance triathlon - was nearing! Mark, Julie, Stacey and I were in for a treat as we each prepared for our first time at the event. The race was billed as one of the “Top Ten Most Scenic” in a recent Triathlete magazine and it did not fail to deliver with an ocean swim, biking on parts of the the Ironman Hawaii course and expansive views of the ocean on the run. It had also been voted “Best Post Race Party” and it lived up to it’s reputation there as well!
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Saturday: T - 1 and Counting! Saturday was all about race preparation. The training for the day consisted of brief tune ups in each discipline. We spent about 30’ swimming in the bay at the Mauna Lani resort, followed with a 20’ shakeout ride and a 20’ tempo run. All fairly uneventful except for the swim which was the roughest we’ve seen it. The silver lining? We saw a spotted eagle ray not once, but twice just hangin’ out... cool as a cucumber! Julie, Stacey, Mark and I headed off to the Hilton Waikoloa Village for check in and race expo. I found a little treasure at the expo: a “We Can Do It” Rosie the Riveter jersey. There was just one left and it was my size. Score! We scouted the start, the empty transiton area and other parts of the course. We went for a nice dinner on the beach and watched the sun set as anticipation built.
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Pre Race Expo: Just one jersey and it was in my size. Total score!
Pre Race Run Scouting: Yep, it’s called Lavaman for a reason.
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Sunday: Race Day!
Getting There: The only time you want to hear an alarm at 5:00 AM in Hawaii is when it’s race day. Yea! Mark loaded our bikes into the van for the short trip to the Hilton Waikoloa Village. We passed Julie and Stacey peddling in the dark as they rode to the race. Parking was simple and we set up our transition areas quickly. The music blared “Eight Mile” from Eminem and I had a hard time not getting REALLY excited! Unfortunately I had not raced the Olympic distance in almost eighteen months and didn’t have a good feel for what my paces should be. Ironman Canada 2010 was my greater goal, I had ridden almost 117 miles on Tuesday (checking out the Ironman Hawaii course!) and I certainly hadn’t tapered with a big swim at the Kona pool on Friday. So I set simple goals for the race of having fun a putting forth a strong effort in each leg.
Pre Race: There was a really long line for body marking – one of my two gripes of the race. At times there was concern that we would not all get though the line in time for the start. The announcer assured us that the race wouldn’t begin until everyone was marked and we began to see additional volunteers coming through the line with markers to speed up the process. Eventually we made our way to the front where we enjoyed our first official “stamped” marking. What a fun milestone! Our previous races had employed the simple but mighty sharpie. It was quickly time to head down to the beach to watch the start. The pros were bouncing around ready to go in the deep water when race officials learned that one guy had forgotten to pick up his chip. The announcer tried to get his attention but couldn’t. So he called out for the #1 guy (Chris McCormack, the 2007 Ironman World Champion!!!) who heard the announcer, came over to shore, got the chip and delivered it to the other racer. Too funny! I wished Mark good luck with a sunscreen laden kiss and off he went in the wave in front of me. Now with “Boogie Shoes” playing I didn’t even try to not be excited. What fun would await?!?
Pre Race: Mark finally getting stamped.
Swim: Three waves started before mine: the professionals, the “young guys” and the “old guys”. Mark started in the wave before me, newly crowned an “old guy” in the 40+ age group. What that meant in reality for me in the “young gal” start was I had to swim around A LOT of people. People swimming the wrong way, people doing breast stroke, people going straight at the turn buoys. Ug. I later learned that I wasn’t the only one who was “combat swimming”. Sweet little Ms. Julie threw an elbow and Mark threw a punch to keep from getting swum on or over. After the first turn buoy I was able to make some space for myself and settled into a rhythm, enjoying crystal clear water and feeling like I could touch the coral at times. My effort felt strong, but the end of the swim came a little too quickly and I may have left a little in the tank. My time for the 0.90 mile swim was 28:34, a pace of 1:42 placing me in about the top 25% of my age group. Good ‘nuff!
T1: I came out of the water and headed to T1 looking for the promised fresh water kiddie pools to rinse our feet. Kiddie pools, kiddie pools, wherefore art thou kiddie pools? Um, nope, nowhere, nada. My second (and last) gripe of the race - don’t promise kiddie pools if you’re not gonna have them. Oh well, I plunked myself down on my towel and tried to dust off the sand as best I could. There I discovered something unsettling: a blister on my right pinkie toe that now had sand packed into it. Well I surely wasn’t going to be able to run with a toe like that so I did a bit of minor surgery in T1 to rip the skin off and clean it out. That would have been a lot easier with clean feet... I’m just sayin’. My time for T1 was 3:42. Most of the girls in the top ten were under 1:45. Ug.
Bike: Oh my, suddenly I am very fast (for me) on the bike! After analysis of my performances (all two of them) last year it was clear that this was my weakness, yes? So I had been biking (and biking and biking) and strength training (and strength training and strength training), and by the way did I mention I had purchased a NEW BIKE?!? It was hot and there was wind but I did pretty much all the passing on the course for the first time in my life. I know Christine will understand when I say how fun it is to say “on your left” about 100 times. I cattily counted aero helmets passed. I also gave a “Go Cougs” to the guy I passed a University of Washington outfit. Nope, not earning any karma points for that one. My time for the 24.85 mile bike was 1:12:13, a pace of 20.6 MPH placing me in about the top 12% of my age group. And yes, Annette: I guess I do like the bike now.
T2: Much less drama in T2 as I dropped off the bike, got my shoes laced up and hit the port-a-potty for a quick pee break. My time for T2 was 2:38. The top five girls in my age group were all under 1:00. Still lots of work to do here, clearly.
Run: So, off I went on the run. I had done the Seattle Marathon in November at a pace just under 10:00, so I figured anything under that was gravy. I felt great to begin with and my pace was about 9:00, perfect! So all is well in the world, yes? Well no. At about mile two I suddenly had GI issues. No port-a-potties in sight and every time I pushed my effort to anything but "easy" I felt worse. Ug. I kept jogging along, dumping ice into my top at every aid station and wondering where-oh-where the port-a-potties were! Finally at about mile five I hopped into a restroom at the Hilton, lost about 2:00 of time and hit the course again. I felt much better but we were on lava single track or sand now, so I was comfortable but not able to really make up much time lest I twist an ankle or tumble into the ocean. So I enjoyed the Lavaman's famous scenery, took deep breaths of ocean air, watched my footing and jogged carefully into the finish thoroughly enjoying myself. My time for the 6.2 mile run was 57:55, a pace of 9:21 placing me in about the top 29% of my age group. Easy squeezy!
Finish: I crossed the finish line feeling strong and with shoes full of sand. My total time was 2:45:01, thirteenth and in about the top 17% of my age group... pretty amazing for me! Music was blaring, crowds were cheering, beer was flowing and the BBQ smelled excellent. It was clear why Lavaman earned that “Best Post Race Party” title! I kept on trotting right back to T1 to grab my camera hopes of getting a few photos of the our other finishers. It was kind of funny that after all the variables, different starting waves, different strengths and different goals that Julie, Mark and Stacey all crossed the finish line within a few minutes of each other. My photos weren't that great, but most importantly we were able to hit the party!
About Mark: Mark had a good race as well. For the second time he was faster than me on the swim which I guess means he is now the swimmer in the family. That’s pretty cool considering he was a really poor swimmer (a very good sinker, though) when he started swimming in 2006! Most importantly he didn’t overheat (his wife is very happy about that) and his eleven-week-post-op hip held up just fine with a run/walk strategy. I deem him cured!
Post Race: The BBQ was excellent with choices of turkey wraps, grilled chicken, hamburgers, rice, chili, etc. along with a beer garden hosted by the folks at “Liquid Aloha”…. all included with our entry fee. We chilled in the shade enjoying the fun and the music while cheering for the later finishers. All four of us topped off the day with another beachfront dinner. We watched the sun set, checked out the turtles resting on the shore and were treated to the sight of several whales steaming right along from our dinner table... perfection!
In Unison: Mark with the Unison owner at the post race party.
A Whale of a Day: A triathlon, a sunset, turtles, whales and dinner with our toes in the sand. Ahhhhhh....
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Looking Back: Coincidentally the day we headed home “My Story: The Rest is Still Unwritten” (originally posted here http://jennifermaeedwards.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-story-rest-is-still-unwritten.html) was published on the home page of the USAT web site. There is some kind of synchronicity there, I'm just not sure what to make of it. In any event... pretty cool! http://www.usatriathlon.org/pages/8984
And Looking Forward: Mark, Julie and Stacey had I all had a blast at the race. We truly missed the campers who had been there the previous week. Duncan, Annette, Alyson, Michelle, Ross, Jessica, Kristen, Jim and Heidi are all being recruited for next year. And rumor has it fellow triathlete Christine has already booked the date. Make note everyone: It's April 3, 2011. So here we go... again!
My Story: On the USAT home page!
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