Hawaii

Hawaii is AWESOME. This is my first trip to Hawaii and the farthest away from Germany I have ever been. I actually think during the race I swam so far out that I could see Japan. But I am not sure, it could have been Maui ;-)

The race was a great training day. Going into the race I was hoping for a good swim, a great bike and just to finish the run.  I took a solid three weeks off of running and then had about one week to prepare for this race...yeah, very smart I know, so the plan was to go hard during swim and bike.

My good friends, who know of my fear of fish, probably wonder if I actually went deeper then knee deep in the water...YES!!! I couldn't do it the first day here, so I just stood by the beach with my goggles on, looked at the water and 10 min later I decided: not today.   

                                     

The next dayI actually swam in the ocean and it was pretty. Every once in a while I had thoughts like: if I would be shark, I would hang out right here...or...cold pocket here, that is most likely where the sharks are...and I swam back to shore in record time.

                                     

Race morning was super windy and my fear-priorities changed. I love waves, so the swim was so much fun!!! I actually had feet to draft off, almost the entire time, just once the feet went out and I kept going straight so I caught up to some other feet.

The bike was crazy. The winds were blowing hard and now I know why in the pre race meeting they said: "Well, you professionals have probably been here for the past few weeks to get used to the wind..."...yeah, that would have been nice, but unfortunately not possible for this girl. So I spend 99% of the ride NOT in my aero bars, instead I got blown over the yellow line twice and was just hoping not to crash. I honestly have to say that I have never biked that slow in a race, but there was no way I could have gone faster without crashing. Maybe next year I can come out "a few weeks" early :-) HA

The run was fun. Up and down and up and down. I had coke at every aid stations since I only ate one gel on the bike and one going out of T2. I didn't know how far I could actually run so I just tried to enjoy. My time was at that point secondary as long as I could finish pain free AND be pain free after the race.               

                                                   

I finished 9th and had happy feet!!! No socks used, no pain, no blisters.

The most amazing story to me was my husband JR. He has been working a lot and has trained the absolute minimum for this race. And I am talking: 5 swims since IMAZ, runs, but no workouts, rides twice a week. He is just a really busy guy and had no time to prepare for this. However, he ended up with this: 

                                   

Here is the funny part: He swims a 33 something, passes me on the bike (smiling) and he was riding with the first amateurs and some pro males. He didn't know. We didn't get calf marks, so he was not sure what age group people where in. He started the run and got passed about 200 m before the finish. Turns out the guy who passed him got a KONA slot!!! Unfortunately he was in JR's age group, so JR, finishing third did not get one :-( He was 16 seconds away from a KONA SLOT. Unbelievable. He did however take the Las Vegas Slot and told me he would train for it (I think he mentioned a swim twice a week!!!). Watching him kick ass was cool.

                                                   

After the race the vacation began: 

                                                   

Me and my new friend. 

 BANANAS!!!

 CRAB PEOPLE!!!

 JR back at the harbor. Maybe I should sign him up for another IM :-)

 Our snorkeling/swimming beach. Yesterday I swam around the boat 3 times!!! I even made it out and back once going butterfly (with fins) :-) Yeah, that left me pooped.

 Climbing trees.

 This guy hangs out on our porch every day. 

 Hawaii is definitely a very beautiful place with so much to do. I wish we would have time to go to the other side and see all the green - ness and waterfalls. Or go to the other islands. One thing is for sure. As soon as I set foot on this island I was hungry for training and racing!!! This place has so much positive energy. 2 more days to explore!!!