Tri Class #19: Bike/Swim

I arrived at Magic Island at the obscenly early hour of 6:00am on Saturday morning. The plan was to ride the Honolulu Triathlon bike course, and we wanted to do it before traffic kicked in. It was a warm and windless morning.

This was my first day riding my new bike out on the road, and it was fun. It's surprising how much easier it is to accelerate, but I guess that shouldn't have surprised me given the weight difference from what I'm used to. The ride went well. We started from Magic Island and went to Aloha Stadium via Ala Moana and Nimitz. On the way back, we added eight miles by doing two laps up and down Lagoon Drive.

For most of the ride, it was a fairly comfortable pace. The second lap on Lagoon was a different story. Our group (the medium-speed riders) started right after the fast riders, and I expected us to stay in our group. Our coach had other ideas and unexpectedly told us to just go and try to catch the fast riders. It was fun. I really think my new bike made a big difference. I didn't really catch anyone, but I came in first for our group, and I didn't loose ground on the riders from the other group who got a head start. I thought I was gaining a little, but that's likely wishful thinking. I felt smooth and strong the whole way.

Back at Magic Island, we put our bikes away and got ready for the swim. A 1500m swim along the shoreline. We started at one lifeguard tower, passed another, passed the first white pole, and turned around at the third lifeguard tower. Out and back is roughly 1500m. I forgot to start my timer on the way out, but the way back took me 20 minutes. I don't think there was a current in either direction, so I likely did the whole thing in 40 to 45 minutes.

This swim was much better than the last ocean swim. No panic attacks and I didn't feel sick. The water was smooth and glassy, so I'm sure that helped. It was almost like swimming in a pool, except I had to work on sighting. Initially, I found myself going off course quite a bit, but I got a little better at staying on course as it went on. It was much easier coming back than going out as the landmarks were bigger and harder to miss.