Aloha

Aloha from Hawaii!

I arrived a week ago,; left a chilly Chch morn to arrive to a VERY wet and wild Auckland to depart for Honolulu. Poor decision on my part to walk between the domestic + international terminal but hey ho - I was already committed before I decided it was not one of my best ideas. Plenty time to dry off inside.

Pretty Hawaiian flowers

Enjoyed a snack in the Koru lounge and even better I had been awarded my Silver recognition upgrade so was to enjoy a pleasant 8 and a half hour flight in business class. The only downside is the amount of food and wine they serve you though and by the time we landed in Honolulu I felt like a barrel! Great to be off the plane first, bags and bike didnt take long, no immigration queue and managed to get a shuttle out front to my hotel in Waikiki so arrived there just after 9.30 pm ( except it was actaully the day before I had left Auckland given that we crossed the dateline- rad, huh?!!)

So I settled into my nice air conditioned room on the 17th floor, couldnt resist a few nibbles of the giant Toblerone I had purchased in duty free of course and rolled into bed hoping for a good sleep.

Good sleep didnt arrive until after midnight however as I couldnt drown out the drone of the antiquated air conditioning unit but eventually  drifted off.

Spent the next day wandering around Honolulu, looking at shops trying to acclimitise and took the free trolley bus to Ala Moana mall where to my delight I discovered Lululemon and got myself a new pair of run shorts.
I made it out for a run later that evening along the Ala Wai canal path after a short stint in the miniscule hotel gym then headed out for a dinner for one at the california pizza kitchen. Sure the waiter thought I was a bit odd, especially when I asked for a low calorie beer.... WTF?,,,,,

Had another run next morning along Waikiki beach front, resorted to brekky at Starbucks then got my shuttle back to the airport for next leg of the journey to Maui.

Wee plane, 30 minute flight and my luggage also made it so ..phew.....grabbed a taxi and 3 minutes later was at the Ourigger Royal Kahana which will be home for the next 10 days. However the no nonsense receptionist assured me that there was to be NO checking in before 3pm but they could store my luggage so after a couple of enquiries I located the bus stop and got the bus to Whalers Village in Ka'anapili and had a wander round then got the other bus to Lahaina and found Safeways so was able to get some groceries while I was there. I also found Barnes+Noble so was extremely happy.

Much trailing about later a weary , slight sunburnt and frazzled version of my former self made it back to the Outrigger and was able to check in.

So here I am. Lots of rules+regs here though, Bike has to be stored in the basement, you have to ask for the fitness centre pass each time at reception...the tiny pool is heated to bathwater temp ( WHY??? we are in Hawaii where it is 30 degrees C outside!!!?)

Right on the ocean though; although I am not so keen on swimming here as no lifeguards - and am a bit apprehensive. The sea is nice temperature -27 degrees I would think.

No MTB trails close by and the Xterra course is open from Wednesday before race day. Have been out tootling about on my MTB on the road, found the swimming pool in Lahaina ( its free!!) and hired a car for a day so that I could ride over in Mokowao which are the only public MTB trails

Yeah baby!

This is what they gave me....didnt have enough gumption to roll the top down, partly because Eduardo ( my Epic MTB) was in the back but more so because I didn't have a clue how to do it.

More of my Maui adventures to follow!!

IM Canada RR 2011



Richter Pass

Swim start in Lake Okanagan

Bling

Side stitch pleeeease  P.OFF

Happy!!

Not sure what happened to my official race pics when I downloaded- they are all tiny! Can't seem to enlarge them either which is a bummer- any tech geeks out there who may read this please comment+ let me know!

Swim 1.13.41 42 AG

- Not much to say was uneventful but the water was pretty choppy/rough so I spent a bit much time with my head up. To be expected when 2900 athletes are also in the water. Sighting on return leg into sun was a bit tricky. I hit 2 km in 38 mins so my return leg was a bit slower paced.

-Realised post St G that relative placing gives me an idea where my swim's at rather than time as course are difft.You only learn this when you race in different places!



Bike 6.15 (actaul 6.14 spent 40s fxin a dropped chain) NP 135. Av P -115 34th AG

-Its fast for the 1st 64 km. easy to stay aerobic+ within watts+ fuel. Did a 40 km PB here ( faster than any olympic race!)

-
-Capped myself 175 W up Richter, small chain ring let people go past
-Stayed aero as much as poss thru rollers, pedalled downhills
-Aero on out+back, hit one small climb in big chain ring ( oops) otherwise stuck to power
-Aero as much as poss towards yellow lake. Quite hot in here and a bit of a headache which I think was from my neck - had been hydrating well.
-Normal bike helmet.
-Pushed it up Yellow Lake ( capped 190 W which =ftp). Fun!!
-Quite a headwind on descent + back into town, stayed aero pushed it as could see I was going to make 6.15.

- Enjoyed the entire ride and never hit any bad patches during it

-

Run 4.44. (2.23 to turnaroun 2.21 to finsh) 36th AG 

- Stuck to my NOWALK APART FROM AID STATIONS policy so despite slow pace I still ran the whole run.
-Used G's airport walk thru aid stns ( it really works!! You pass quite a few people too)
-Spent entire run with stitches either under ribs or moving left to right. Wondering if this is postural??
-Focussed on run form, fueled on coke/water/ice/occ powerade


In review + what I have learned+ gained from this race ( IM #5)

- Stuck to race plan+nutrition plan no tummy issues, headache disappeared when I got off the bike so mustve been my neck

-Spent the last few months on some mental training which has paid off- I stayed in the moment the entire day and smiled my way round. I came in with a positive attitude and the self confidence that i could and would cope with whatever the race threw at me this in turn I feel resulted in the race not actaully throwing any curve balls at me.

The only point in the race I recall having a real mental low point was at mile 22 of the run but it passed relatively quickly.

- Spent an extra 30 secs in T2 to put on my Injinji toe socks. No blisters or sore feet

-Another HOT race ( 32 deg). No prob for me as was well acclimitised. I need at least 2 weeks in hot climes.

-I knew the whole course as had biked it all. REALLY helped when writing my race plan as I could visualise EVERY part of the day. Something to take forward for future races how important and useful a tool that is in race prep.

- Run was quite a bit slower than I had hoped but the +ve side is it was evenly paced + I DIDNT walk.

- wondering if I should have set my power targets a little lower and perhaps biked 6.30 ( as anticipated) then would have been able to run a little quicker?

- Glad I have learnt how to pee on the bike. With so many athletes on course, the portapottys were always full.

- I loved this race and the course. Its my favourite one so far.Wil definitely be back.

- The mental side is everything in long course racing; something to build on and ensure its in the training plan for future races. Am also a firm believer in Noakes Central Governor theory. I worked him hard at EC womens camp when there was less oxygen around which made this bike feel easy.

And I'm back!

The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say - 11 months of intending to get back on the blogging wagon  and I am finally here.

Guess that happens when life returns to the normal humdrum of 9-5, domestic chores and trying to encompass swim/bike/run, not to mention my minimum 8-9 hours of  sleep a night!

Winter Olympics 2010- nr Whistler, BC

Next up is my IM Canada race report. Had a few issues with the photos I purchased or perhaps more accurately is the way I downloaded them as a zip file and they are all miniscule! Have not quite figured out how to open them up - even a lad in the camera shop couldn't tell me. Ah well.

Almost as good as the real thing......

Super inspired by the London Olympics ( and serious FOMO) that I wasn't back home and able to watch it all live or even in a sociable time zone I have posted a few pics from the winter Olympics  venue ( Vancouver 2010) that I visited. Highlight was seeing the ONE AND ONLY BEAR of my entire 5 weeks in Canada.