Pre race morning went smooth as it ever has. My wife and I decided to stay closer to the race site this year so we got a room at the Mauna Lani Hotel for the evening. It turned out to be a great idea; we woke up refreshed and only 3 miles from race start. Our good friends Jano and Paola Soto picking us up race morning from the hotel saving use from the cattle like athlete shuttle bus.
Arriving at transition I set up everything as usual and headed down to the water to stretch, warm up and get numbered.
The swim went very well this year for me. I didn’t post the fastest swim split but I was relaxed and calm the whole time during what always is a physical swim. I didn’t swim in a skin this year but I still managed to cut 4 minutes off of last year. I came out in about 250th place at a time of 34 minutes for the 1.2 miles.
T1 went fast as always, sunnies, helmet, food and number then I was off.
The bike which has always been a strong leg was more of the same for me this year as well. I rode harder than I knew I would ride the whole course in for the first few miles just to get out of the traffic before the hillier section and the Hawi grade came. I was rewarded with a good ride with a 2:26 time, averaging 22.91 miles an hour for the hilly course.
I came out of T2 in about 70th place and was able to run about 6 miles before the heat and the stress of the day came into my legs and I started to have upper leg cramps. I really focused on my nutrition at that point, getting down salt, gel and water. Also, at this point the soon to be female pro winner Bree Wee came up on me and she really helped me push through the cramping for a while and I was able to hang on and pace with her for 3 miles. Eventually she dropped me and so for the rest of the run I just put my head down, gritted my teeth and got to the finish line. I was more then happy to see my time of 4:46, maybe next year I’ll try to cut another 25 minutes off.
Thanks to Alyssa, Jano, Paola, Penn, Rani, Jason, Coach Justin, Coach Steve, Mom, Dad, Vern and everyone else that supports me everyday.
