Wow. This is the ultimate in a peak experience. The hubby’s smile says it all. This was his 1st olympic triathlon.
I had on my bucket list to enter a race with an ocean swim. This was a perfect choice. The venue was at Anaeho’omalu Bay at Waikoloa Beach, The bike was on a portion of the Ironman World Champion Bike Course. The run started on a lava field, then a street sections tour, through the Hilton Waikoloa Village resort grounds, finishing on sand.
I finished 17 out of 42 in my age group. The finish was one continuous party with lots of athletes and families enjoying the Hawaiian vibe. I met Sylvia Angel who lives in Issaquah and came in 1st in her 70-79 age group.
I was concerned about racing with no wetsuit and did fine. We arrived days early and Dan, who I use to work with at Siemens, gave me the inside scoop on swimming this race. I practiced swimming in the bay. With the salt water, I was buoyant. Sighting back to shore with the sun shining in my eyes was difficult. I followed others ahead of me. I had my bike shipped such that the bike was on the island by the time I arrived. I practiced biking with some wind on Queen K or biking around the complex.
Dan recommended staying at Kolea which was the perfect location as next to the protected bay for the race. I was able to bike to the race start with others. The shopping center with grocery store was nearby, thus I did not need to drive much.
Here was my Pre-Race Routine
- 5:00 Wake up, pancake + banana + peanut butter
- 6:05 Leave condo and bike to start – T1
- 7:00 After setup, walk to beach for race start
- 7:10 Warm up in the water ~10 minutes