Race Day-- another teammate's experience

Intended to post this a few days ago, but I’ve been out and about the island and away from the laptop since the Lavaman. I got to Kona a week ago. Tom & I had a couple of days to thaw out and enjoy some of the sights. Took a hike down to a black sand beach one day and went to a white sand beach the next. The following couple of days unfolded much like Ramah’s account—with the exception of the swim. For 5 months of training in Seattle one carrot that dangled for me was the thought of swimming in that beautiful blue, WARM water in Hawaii. So to get to the first team practice in Anaeho’omalu Bay (that’s for the “hooked on phonics” crowd—the locals call it “A-Bay”) and dip my toes into unseasonably cold 73 degrees was a bit of a shock. Worst thing was the rest of the body had to go with those toes. I thought I was well prepared for the swim, but much to my dismay anxiety set in on our Friday and Saturday team swims. Dodging coral, dodging people, sloshing water & the cold made it quite different from my pool swimming.

After a night of tossing and turning, dreaming of icy water and hearing the wind howl, I got up at 4:30 am. Tried to get down my breakfast of 4:1 carbs:protein, liquids, calories carefully calculated out depending on body weight, sweat rate, etc. The churning stomach only let me eat part of it.

But by race time a miracle of sorts happened—a great sense of calm & purpose came over me! Can’t explain it…probably was a combination of all of these: the beautiful sunrise & favorite music playing at the transition setup, the visual of such a colorful sea of swim caps (color by age bracket), hugs from teammates, thoughts of those I was going to be swimming for, the power of prayer, preparation, those inspiring emails sent to me from all over the world (even as far away as Mongolia!) by my son Jess’ friends, and remembering the encouraging words of friends and family. I was ready to swim! And swim I did--strong & without a pause. It was even enjoyable. Imagine that! I saw pretty fish, stayed clear of the coral, had polite people around me (maybe it’s the age bracket—the 40 yr old & up crowd was more apologetic than fierce if they bumped into you) “Oops, sorry.” “No problem”. Those angels I was swimming for were definitely having a great swim with me. I hoped they were ready for a tough bike ride, too.

The bike ride was brutal in the headwinds. It went ok, though, except that after my first bite of my Powerbar, the darned thing slipped out of my hand and splatted on the highway. So much for that part of the calculated nutrition, too. I wondered if the two goats I saw along the highway would be feasting on race day leftovers. Mine wasn't the only accidental drop. Luckily I had some Gu and Shot Bloks along to take the place of the Powerbar. I also polished off all of my 1 & ½ liters of Gatorade plus additional water.

The run was hotter than blue blazes. It took me a good half mile before I could get the legs working after the bike ride. I’ve never run over such a variety of terrain either—rocks, pavement, grass, wooded path, large lava rock, sand…I think the sand was the worst. By the time I got part way down the beach in the end stretch, the mesh tops of my running shoes had let at least a pound of sand into each shoe. It was like running in cement shoes! A nice surprise for me was my husband Tom and son Kyle who were waiting on the beach and ran along each side of me for a minute during that “hit the wall” time when I wasn’t sure I could take another step. It was sweet indeed crossing the finish line! Woo hoo!!

Any regrets? None except that I could have used more sunscreen. They stamp each competitor’s race number on both arms and your age on the back of your leg. I also had a cool skull and crossbones tattoo (compliments of Ande, our pirate loving team captain) on my forearm during the race. The ink is long gone, but after several hours in the sun my race number, age, and skull & crossbones are clearly visible in non-tan skin now. Race time 4 hrs 24 minutes—not bad for a first effort! And the $2.2 million dollars raised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society--incredible! Pictures will follow after my flight home today. Right now Lavaman Triathlete #758 needs to get packed! Aloha!