This was my comeback race. I had hoped to finish sub-6hr and I anticipated finishing middle of the field - one of those was correct!
This is a great event and I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it - well maybe some of the minutes on the run in the scorching heat I didn't enjoy so much, but overall I would absolutely do this event again!
Coming from Melbourne (and winter) I knew that there would be some temperature adjustments. I had spent the past couple weeks with a daily sauna and that paid off - I think I would have suffered a lot more had I not.
The Swim: The water is clear, warm, and not too rough. I was in wave 3 (with rolling starts) which helped with congestion and minimised the bumping. The swim passes the red bouys to the left (of them) and comes back in to the yellow bouy (on the right) and back in. I came in a few days early and ducked out for a dip in the water - I even managed to spot a Honu!
T1: There's a run up the hill into T1 and then as you exit the car park, make sure you're in a fairly easy gear. The volunteers will help push you off, but it is a pretty steep start up to the Queen K.
The Bike: This was my favourite leg, but it is my strongest leg, so that would make sense! It is mostly undulating hills (it's still a good temperature by this stage, not too hot). The first part of the bike takes you back towards the Fairmont Orchid (on the Queen K) and then you do a U-turn and head north. There's about a 10km "climb" up to Hawi at around 35km. I say "climb" because as someone that regularly rides up hills (up 5-15% gradient), this isn't much of a climb - I think I calculated it to be around 2-3% average. The decent down Hawi is fast fast fast! I run Zipp 808's and I was confident on the aero-bars and it was a tad blowy, but was able to descend on them without much issue.
Once you get back on the Queen K, it's a pretty easy ride (still undulating) back towards the Fairmont Orchid. Once you enter the 25mi/h zone, it's no passing. Enjoy the recovery before coming into T2,
Tips: there's a bit of glass on the road, so watch out for it! Also, if you're a good climber, go fast down the hills too, or you'll get overtaken on the downhill and have to keep overtaking on the uphills!
T2: A volunteer will help you rack your bike and then grab your run bag and pop on your gear. Here's the fun part - it's starting to heat up now!
The Run: The run was hard! Not because it was actually hard, but it was so hot! My skin was on fire and I was starting to overheat like crazy (perhaps those 5 degree Melbourne mornings were starting to show). I suffered the first 10km running over the grass. It wasn't overly humid this day, but it was scorching. Things that helped me and made my second lap of the two-loop course much faster than the first - sugar (I drank a lot of Coke and ate orange slices), and hydration (water and Gatorade). There was Red Bull too, but I'm not a fan. The godsend were the sponges. I put them in my hat, on my shoulders and when I started to get too hot, I just pressed down for a cold water squirt!
There's nothing quite like crossing that finish. I crossed at 6h47m and quickly made my way over to the beer tent.
Worth noting is that my Garmin recorded 2.3km on the swim and others I had spoke to seemed to think they had all swum slower than normal. I am not sure if the course was further than it was supposed to be, but that seems to be the consenus. My swim pace was bang on my normal pace too, so that would support that theory.
