Ironman Hawaii 2012 Race Recap

What could possibly be better than racing in Hawaii? How about racing with four of my Dynamo Multisport teammates and a 30+ person cheer crew!

The Dynamo "Kona 5" plus Coach Maria

Dynamo Multisport Kona Cheer Crew 2012!

Yes, that’s right! FIVE athletes from ONE Atlanta-based masters swim team. And don’t even get me started on our awesome cheer crew. When Mike Reilly saw the mass of green perched on the sea wall before the swim start, he exclaimed “Look at all the Irishmen we have out here today!” Nothing like a good laugh to start the day!

Swim craziness!!

First, the cannon didn’t go off. The Hawaii Ironman without a cannon start?! That’s like starting the Olympic 100 meter dash with the announcer yelling “GO”! It’s just not right!

Luckily, I didn’t waste any time waiting for the boom and found fairly clean water pretty quick. For a minute, I thought I was swimming solo, but then it happened – tap, tap, tap. Drafting on the swim is allowed and I have no problem with it. But continuously touching my feet? NOT OK! I tried everything. Veering right, veering left, speeding up, slowing down, HUGE warning kicks. But still, tap, tap, tap. Nothing worked!!!

Then came the turn-around. In past years the race was sponsored by Ford and there were huge buoys (and maybe a car?) marking the corners of the swim course turn-around. It was simple and easy. This year, I had no idea what was going on. I actually had to stop and ask a kayaker for directions.

But not to worry! My kayak savior pointed me in the right direction and much to the relief of my foot tapping friend, I made the turn and was quickly back on my way.

The second half of the swim went by so fast, I felt like I was channeling Katie Ledecky! Before I knew it, the pier  was in sight. I raced all the way up to steps. 2.4 mile swim done in 53 minutes and 45 seconds and I was ready to bike!

Battling on the Bike

I know the Hawaii bike course pretty well. After racing on it for the past four years I have my landmarks down! But what I’m still clueless about, is how to deal with the dang WIND! It’s never the same! Headwinds, tailwinds, crosswinds, I just never know what Madam Pele will throw at me on race day.

Leading the amateur women's race onto the bike! Thanks to Sheila for the pic!

For most of the bike I was relieved the cross winds weren’t too bad. I felt like I was flying on the way out on the Queen K, the climb to Hawi felt pretty solid and I LOVED bombing down that descent. No fear!

On the way back into town I started feeling sluggish. Even though I’d eaten three uncrustables, countless gels, one Mountain Dew, and a couple Cokes, I was dragging! I could tell there was a headwind, but I was still a little surprised at how slow I was moving. I was also surprised at how well I was mentally handling everything. Despite being passed by several women in my age group and knowing I’d be coming in 10+ minutes slower than 2010, I was in really good spirits and excited to run!

Reckless Running

Sometimes I get really stupid when I race. I won a Garmin GPS watch in Vermont and this was my first time racing an Ironman marathon using pace. So when I hit the first mile in 6:43 I had two thoughts:

(1) Coach Diablo is going to be really mad at me for that

(2) He can’t be mad if I actually run a 2:56 marathon, so maybe I should try to hold this

Doesn’t everyone just drop an hour on their marathon splits every year? Haha, I love my brain.

Cruising down Ali'i Drive. Note: Green & Yellow kit equals lots of cheers of "Go Australia" and "Go Brazil." But I welcome all cheers!

Unfortunately, I’ll have to save the sub-3 hour marathon for next year. But despite some less than stellar pacing, I did end up with a respectable personal best off-the-bike time of 3:29. And that performance was 100% thanks to the people who cheered me on during the run.

I don’t remember a lot from that marathon, but I remember passing my teammates and friends and hearing their cheers! I remember Ernie snapping pictures. I remember Chance and Hillary yelling for me on Ali’i. I remember Betty relaying messages from my sister on the Queen K. I remember Michael catching me walking through the aid station coming out of the energy lab, and I remember being so ashamed I knew I’d be running from then on! And I definitely remember Mr. Honderd going crazy with the vuvuzela near the top of Mark and Dave Hill!

The Best Finish Line in the World

Finally, after 10 hours and 2 minutes of racing, I made the right hand turn on Ali’i drive and ran across the finish line. My time was a 15 minute Kona PR and only a couple minutes over my all-time best. I ended up 3rd in the Women’s 25-29 Age Group, 11th Female Amateur, and 32nd Overall Female. I also posted the fastest overall female swim time of the day and I most importantly, I had more fun than EVER before! I’d call that a very successful race!

This is what happiness looks like! Thanks to TriJuice.com for the great pic!

A Few More Thank Yous

The biggest Mahalo goes to my family. Thank you Mom, Dad, and Hannah for always being my biggest supporters! My mom and my sister actually spent the whole day moving from coffee shop to coffee shop in search of an internet connection so they could watch my race unfold online. They even convinced the baristas as Starbucks to stay open two minutes past closing so they could watch me cross the finish line. Now THAT is dedication! Thank you all so much for cheering. It felt like you were there and I promise to finish a few minutes earlier next time!

Thanks to Coach Diablo for always having faith in me. For encouraging me to look past my self-imposed limits and for building the awesome program full of amazing people that is Dynamo Multisport.

Thank you to Coach Maria Thrash for keeping me fast in the water year after year! I don’t know how you do it Maria, but you are a masters swimming genius and I’m so thankful to have your watchful eye looking over my pool time!

Thank you to the wonderful Ladies of Lane 8 Dynamo Masters. Betty, Beth, Dori, Shelly (and Alex & Melissa too)! You ladies made me love swimming again and for that I will always be thankful. And special shout-out to Shelly for inadvertantly outfitting me in both my Vegas and Hawaii podium dresses! Thanks for keeping me stylish Shell-lay-lay!

25-29 Age Group Podium! Thanks to Mike Wien for the photo!

Thank you to all of the sponsors and supporters of both Dynamo Multisport and me. Racing in Hawaii is not easy, but it would be a lot harder without the help of Blue Competition Cycles, Mizuno, TYR, CycleOps, Albopads, and All3Sports.com.

And two more things…

Since crossing that finish line a lot of people have been asking me two very specific questions, so I figured I’d officially answer them here:

Q1: Are you getting a tattoo?

A1: Nope. Diablo and I both had great races and by far our best performances in Kona. But thanks to a little extra wind from Madame Pele, neither of us made our time goals. And granted, those goals were ridiculously fast. But they should be if they’re going to result in permanent markings!! I did beat Diablo on the swim, but that’s old news, because like I told Slowtwitch, there’s no rivalry if I always win!

Q2: Are you going Pro?

A2: Yes. I will be racing as a professional in 2013. Actually, I managed to sneak into Ironman Arizona next month so that will be my first pro race. No sense in waiting around, right? Bring on the adventure! I’m excited!!!