Lavaman - March 2013

This spring break, my family spent two weeks in Waikoloa, Hawaii. Last time we were on The Big Island was in June 2011 for my 40th birthday and Honu 70.3 triathlon. This time was for rest and relaxation but I still managed to fit a race in.

After we booked our trip, I searched the internet for any local races while we were there. I was very excited to find the Lavaman was right in the middle of our trip.

Lavaman is an Olympic distance triathlon that is a popular race for Team In Training groups from all of Canada and US. The race is based in Waikoloa. The swim is in A Bay, the bike is a mostly flat and fast out and back along the Queen K then an amazing tour if the Waikoloa resort area on the run. The most spectacular and toughest part of the race is the last mile of the run. The last mile is on Kings Trail which is a lava rock trail along the ocean finishing off by a 500m run in soft dry sand to the finish.

This event is well organized, well supported by the local community and beautiful.

On race day this year, the weather was overcast but still very warm for this Canadian. 25C was perfect. The wind was low so the swim and bike were very enjoyable. The swim did have some larger swells around the turn around point but no whitecaps or chop. There is always wind in the area but the wind on race day was not a factor. If felt myself warming up on the run to the point where I appreciated the ice being handed out at aid stations. One cube in my mouth, a few down my bra top and one for each hand. Crossing the finish line I was cheered on by my family and a steady line of locals and volunteers. I proudly accepted my finishers medal and water pouch and promptly headed for the ocean for a post race dip.

Special thanks to Pearl Izumi for providing me with a kick ass Elite INRcool Tri Suit to race in and Speed Theory Vancouver for securing my kick ass 2013 Cervelo P3 in time to take to this race.

In a Hawaiian race tradition, we went to Roy's for a post race dinner. Roy's never disappoints. Amazing selection of local fish and comfort food dishes.

Aloha!

Happy Training

|ronman Canada Race Report - Part 6 (Final Report but just the beginning)

Run – 42.2kms – 5:11:09 The run was slow and basically went as planned. The first 3kms of the run are in and around the finish line. When I was at about the 2km mark, I could hear Jordon Rapp, the race winner giving his victory interview with Steve King. How crazy is that??!! I have 40kms to go on the run and the winner has finished. As I headed out of town and down Main Street I saw www.twitter.com/kelownagurl and her husband Erik cheering me on. Not more than 50 feet later I saw www.twitter.com/trifunster and her husband. I was running slowly but had a smile on my face and felt pretty good. I was not really concerned about the distance I had to cover still. I was pretty excited that I had now finished the swim and the bike and was now on the run. It was like being in a dream how quickly the time had passed during the day. Around 9kms into the run I started to feel the distinct tightness of my right IT Band. I had ITB 10 years ago when I first started to run marathons but t

Let the FUN Begin!

We are off to Penticton today. I am feeling excited and getting more nervous but basically OK still. All my training is done. I rode 80kms on Saturday and ran 60mins on Sunday. Now it really is just a few more short training sessions away to IMC! The weather forecast has changed since my previous update. It is now looking more like 33-35C on Sunday. No problem...I have trained in hotter. :-) All my lists have been made and my stuff is packed. Now all that is left is a few days of festivities and the BIG DAY! For anyone who would be interested in following the race, you can log into www.ironman.com on Sunday at 7am PST for coverage. My number is 2396. Happy training and racing everyone.

How Not to Pace a 5km Race

Notice anything interesting about my 5km splits for my Las Vegas 5km run? Even though the 1st km was all downhill, I knew I was in trouble when I checked my Garmin 405 to see a 4:20 km time. As you can see, the rest of my kms were quite a bit slower. Any good advice out there for how to properly pace myself for my next 5km?

Elements of Erin 337

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