Maui Details

I just realized I had a camera built into my laptop. So here are some pictures from today's (Tuesday) cocktail hour on our Lanai.

Anyhow, since this is a training blog, I suppose I should give write a bit about that.

So, the race was HARD. Really hard. So hard that I didn't even bother to look at my finish times, but my watch said something in the neighborhood of 3:45 or so.




Our teammate, Kerry, had given us a description of the race a few weeks ago. She kept saying it's easier than Wildflower. . . It's flat. . .it's easy, etc. Now I realize that Kerry is in sales. . . .

4:00 am: Rise and shine! We wake up and make some bad coffee in our hotel room. Eat some delicious papaya, yogurt, string cheese (for me), and manju (a Hawaiian pastry filled with pineapple).


6:50 am: All 300 or so participants are standing on the beach in various colored beach caps and varying states of undress (or dress). I've opted for the rashguard over my tri outfit. One woman has opted for a teeny tiny blue bikini. Everyone stares (at her, not me).


7:00: A Hawaiian Priestess, dressed in traditional attire, performs a traditional blessing. We are all holding shoulders or hands to form a human lei of sorts. She sends us good energy from the Earth, the Heavens, and the Sea. She blesses us all and thanks us for our fundraising efforts. I am enjoying the spiritual thanks to the beautiful surroundings we are in, feeling connected with the land and the other participants. Then she blesses the Outback Steakhouse, one of the race sponsors. And I start giggling. I am not sure what the rest of the blessing was about after that.

7:10 am: The first wave jumps into the water! It's island time, so that was pretty good for a 7am start.

7:22: 12 minutes later, my wave starts. I run in and start swimming. I quickly realize that the water is fairly choppy. A line of about 7 women are in front of me breast stroking. I can't get around them or between them. I get kicked in the face twice. It feels like an eternity before I reach the first buoy. I also realize I have forgotten to start my watch.


7:48: Still swimming. I manage to draft off a woman who was in the 50+ age group for about 3 minutes. At this point, when I breathe, the sun is in my eyes. I have some water inside my goggles in the right position, such that every time I breathe, I see a rainbow. It was really trippy.

7:52: I have overshot the last buoy. I backtrack.

7:57: I finally approach shore, slightly nauseous from the swim.

Transition 1: I have no idea how long this takes, but I remember sitting down, picking grass out from between my toes, spraying sunscreen on, realizing, I'm too wet. Drying off, doing it again. Spraying my face, then realizing I have my sunglasses on. Doing it again. Some curses later, I am on my bike and running towards the bike start.

8:15 : The path out from the transition area is on a golf cart path. There is a very steep short hill you have to go up. I am going slowly and on the right of the path. Some woman comes up behind me yelling "On your right. Right! Right! Right!" Now, I'm no serious biker, but I know you are supposed to pass on the left. I stay right. And she finally passes me on the left, muttering an explicative at me on the way up. Hrmph.

8:20: I am on the main road and enjoying the flat roads, thinking this is going to be fun. I reach down to change my bike computer over to the Distance reading. I push it down and then watch it fly off my bike. I look back, stop, and don't see it. A quick calculation tells me it's not worth stopping. I keep going. Now I have so sense of the distances, my pace or my cadence. Oh well. I have my watch, which I started too late. I feel somewhat liberated.

8:40: Kerry had told me there was one major hill, and it was nothing compared to what we had been training on. At some point, I wonder if I am on the hill. I see people walking their bikes up the hill, so assume this is the hill. OK, this bike ride will be easy!

8:50: There are more hills. I am getting annoyed. It's about 90 outside. But the views are stunning and everyone is happy and in good spirits.

9:05: I complete the first loop of the two loops. I'm feeling good. I have been hydrating well, eating well, feeling strong.

9:10 - 9:55: The second loop is much much harder., but still fun. I'm exhausted and very very hot by the time I roll into transition

Transition 2: I go through the exact same sunscreen fiasco as T1. I change my shoes, use my inhaler and head out on to the course.

At this point, I've lost all sense of time. I had stopped my watch accidentally in the transition.

The run is a two loop down towards Makena Beach. This is a stunningly beautiful stretch of Maui. Unfortunately, I was completely miserable the whole time. The run was a series of very short steep hills, up and down. Really hard to get your stride. I also stop twice to pee.

Thankfully, there are waterstops with iced sponges every mile or so. I douse myself at everyone. By the second stop, my shoes are filled with water and weigh about 2 lbs each. I start to get blisters from the wet socks.

I'm told it was 90 degrees pool side at the hotel where the race was. So on the blazing asphalt, it was probably close to 100. Several times, as I am looking at Makena Beach, I am about to rip off my shoes and dive in. Bail on the race completely. Look at the view. Wouldn't you?

But finally, finally, I complete the second loop and cross the finish line. After a few minutes of rest in the shade and an iced Gatorade, I am able to reflect on how amazing an experience it really was. It was tough, for sure, but like the Outback-Steakhouse-Blesser said, we are lucky to be alive and experience the beautiful place all for an important cause. I definitely felt at peace (or maybe that was just from the free massages they were offering after the race).

With the aloha spirit~