Honolulu Triathlon 2008

Saturday, May 18

Apparently, I never got around to posting this, so here's what I remember:

Finished my second Honolulu Triathlon, and it was much better than the last.

Swim: 33:39
T1: 2:15
Bike: 1:15:50
T2: 2:24
Run: 1:05:41

Total: 3:00:52

Last year's time? 3:11:22

I PR'd by 10 minutes! WhooHoo!

I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to do the race. I went snowboarding a month ago and took a nasty spill, messing up my shoulder. Given that, my swim stroke is all out of wack. I saw a Chiropractor a few times right before the race and that helped quite a bit, but I was still worried going in.

My strategy for the swim was just extend out as far as I could before it hurt and draft as much as possible. The strategy did the trick because it seemed like the swim was over in no time at all. I was really surprised when I realized how close I was to the finish. The course is an out an back at Ala Moana Beach park, and coming back has you looking straight into the rising sun, so I really couldn't see further than the next buoy. I beat last year's swim time by 1m12s. With the bad shoulder, I was stunned by this, I fully expected to swim several minutes slower. I actually did a double take at my watch when I hit the beach, I just couldn't believe it. A pleasant surprise.

My transition went well. For whatever reason, I opted to go without socks. They were there are ready to go, but I saw someone I know go trotting by and I just couldn't wait to chase them, so the socks were ditched. I know, ewww. Sorry. Still, my transition was almost 2 minutes faster this year than last. Was it the fault of the socks? Don't know, but there is coincidental evidence.

The bike went MUCH better than last year. Last year I felt sluggish and my stomach was revolting, this year I knew that no matter what happened, I was going to eat and drink, even if it made me throw up. Fortunately, there were no issues and I had a decent ride. It wasn't my fastest ever, but I think I went hard and still saved just enough for the run. The bike was 4m38s faster than last year.

T2... I really don't remember anything about T2. This got blanked out somewhere along the way. 2 seconds faster than last year, and still didn't put the socks on. Yes, this is the last run for those shoes. It's time for new ones anyway.

The run. It got a little ugly here, but not as bad as last year. If I want to do better next year, I think the one thing that would bring the most improvement would be to train more in heat. Most, if not all, of my training is done in the early morning or late afternoon, but by the time I hit the run during this race, it's in the high 80's with high humidity and I about keel over. I was slooow, but the bright side it that the only time I walked was through the aid stations. So at least mentally, I'm getting a little better at making myself suck it up when it's uncomfortable. I just need to learn to push it harder rather than just get through it. Knocked 3m49s off last year's time.

All three events were better than last year, and I see exactly what I need to do to get better. I don't expect to drop another 10 minutes, but I'm definitely planning on breaking 3 hours.