Ko Olina Triathlon (Summary)

Great little country Triathlon.  The results just came out and Matt placed second in his age group.  Hats of too Matt.. job well done dude...

Ko Olina Triathlon ( Run )

Dumped the helmet and sun glasses, picked up the visor and pulled on the brooks,  jumped in my number belts and I'm off... Crap forget the Sun glasses why did I take them off to begin with.  The cheering family was there again pushing me on.  Running is not my best part so I need all the cheer I can get.  I was out and running pretty much alone for the first mile then the fast runners started to catch me.  It's disappointing to see a number of people that you passed on the bike now pass you in the run.  The run goes down the outside of the hotels along the main road at Ko Olina then turns back to the Lagoons at Ihilani.  As I approach the finish Ti is there pushing me on again. She yells " Go Run faster, catch that person" it inspires me to run faster and I over take the lady in front of me and make a dash to the finish.  Never underestimate the power of cheer.

Running the final leg

Matt on the way home.

The jump...

Ko Olina Triathlon (Bike)

T1 went better than expected as my newly aquired rubber band trick to hold the shoes in place worked like a charm.  No crashes at the mounting area, which I have witnessed in every tri so far.  The course changed for this year as it now goes down the Waianae coast which is a better ride.    As we exit Ko Olina Resort and head up the overpass I down shift from my big chain to number two and the chain drops to number three.  This was total unexpected and almost sent me over the bars. I spent 4 hours the previous day tuning, cleaning and adjusting my bike, followed up by a test ride and it worked perfect.  No problem the remaining part of the ride.  It must have been the shift after the speed bump that flipped out the chain. After recovering the missed shift I passed a lady on a new Quintana Roo, I commented on her nice bike and her response was "Nice if I can just get up this hill".  After a few miles I started to get my legs and was able to pass a number of people without getting passed.   Rolled into T2 after getting out of the shoes and not scratching them up to much

 

Here I am just leaving transistion

Good shot of Matt coming back to transistion.

Ko Olina Triathlon (Swim)

The swim starts at the Lagoon 1 next to Ihilani Hotel and then its a swim, Run to lagoon 2, swim and Run to lagoon 3 then swim again and running to Lagoon 4.  Fun if you have practiced it not so fun if you not ready.

Wave 1 Armed Forces, Relay’s – Mass Start
Wave 2 Age Grp – 15-29
Wave 3 Age Grp – 50+
Wave 4 Age Grp – 30-39
Wave 5 Age Grp – 40-49

The start is always fun as you meet new people and greet old friends.   Matt left first in Wave 3 and I followed in Wave 5.  The starter joking stated that he saved the best for last as this age group is the fastest wave.  I looked around the crowd  and noticed a few North Shore Challenge (Swim) top 10 finishers so was he joking.?

I started in the front this time hoping to stay ahead of the pack.  As with any swim you really cannot tell if who has passed you or even who you pass unless they have some distinguishing uniform on.  At lagoon 2 we started running into the previous waves and encountered a number of swimmer at the entry and exits.  The family was at Lagoon 3, Cheering and screaming to get me going.   The must have ran there own race because the where at Lagoon 4 as well.

 

Lagoon 4 running to transition 

Dragon Boat Racing

I have been fighting a calf problem and felt that the 1.6 mile swim schedule for Saturday was not going to happen. Having calf cramp in the middle of the ocean can be a serious issue and I just didn't feel right.  As I nursed my disappointment I receive a call from my long time spear fishing Bubby Justin. K.  "Come to the dragon boat races in the morning, I have two boats going. Bring the whole family"  My reply " Well ok what can I bring." Justin " Your bodies I might need them to row"   After some laughter we worked out the details and I informed the family of the change of plans.  The kids both asked Dragon boat racing what it that? 

A dragon boat (also dragonboat) is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft. It is one of a family of Traditional Paddled Long Boats found throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands. Dragonboats are the basis of the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing an amateur watersport which has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers held over the past 2000 years throughout southern China. While 'competition' has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976. 

16 rowers, 1 steer man, 1 drummer, and 1 flag catcher.  =  A crazy day. Boat Flips, Crashes, People falling out, (Super fun)

Heat number (1) note the boats have dragon heads on them.   This was short lived as one boat ran into another and broke off the head. All the boats ended up lossing their heads to make the playing field even.

The Disney Team getting ready to go.

The team ready to go.

We took our first heat, 

We edged the second boat to take our second heat.

Below is a picture of the third heat we placed second and transfer into the Semifinals.   Go Team Disney.

All Smiles after a great race. 

Ti and Kyle jumped in with the New Hope Team to help them out.  A steering problem put them out of the competition.

In the semifinal run the boat next to us took our flag at the end of the course.  Everyone was tired and the sun was going down so the team decide not to protest which would have force a rerun.   It was clear the winning team would very likely have beat us in a rerun anyway so we all decide to call it a day.   

Tired paddler  

Dragon boat racing was great fun and will be added to the Willis list of annual adventures.   Everyone hit the bed dead tired and very happy.   We will all feel our shoulder muscle for few days to come as a reminder of a day well spent.

Thanks to Justin for the invite to dragon boat racing.

Honolulu Triathlon (Summary)

Norm and Tri Bro Matt

Everyone needs a picture at the advertisement sign. 

The swim was a blast.. I had trouble breathing because I could not keep from smiling.  The bumping, pushing and roll over's all added to the fun.  I felt strong and was having the time of my life.

The Bike was a cool experience that I can build on for the next race. I really put a number of thing together this time that improved T1. A great deal of change to the bike as well.  

The run.. Well I again I really need to work on my run.  Let's look at the numbers and figure out how I'm going to tweak the training schedule in the next two months.

I came in 27th out of 76 people.. M45 to 49.   29.30 swim, 1.10.33 Bike and a 56.36 Run.

T1 was the 7th fastest and T2 was the 13th fastest.  Pretty happy here.

What is needed to push myself up the scale for the next race.

I beat number 20 out of the water and in the bike but he ran a 6.94 mile.  Fast really fast run

I beat number 21 out of the water and in the bike but he ran a 7.26 mile. Still out of my range unless I get bionic legs.

I beat number 24 out of the water and in the bike but he ran a 8.23 mile.

Now this I can do.. I'm sure of it.

Running - Lots of Bricks, more regular runs and some coaching on my running style. Hills as well.  Shoes are good. I just need to build the legs and form.  Regular runs on Tuesday with HI Runners.

Swimming- will continue to improve because I'm really going to hit the pool and focus on drills in the next two months. Also I tend to migrate to the water after work just to relax.  Nothing like a 1500 to clear the head.  

Biking- its much harder for me because of the daylight issues and my trainer just died. (not a person a device) We are heading into summer so the days will be longer so that will help. The hills are on my list for the weekends. Pineapple roads. 8 miles of up.

Weight- I managed to drop 20 lbs in 4 months..  Could I drop more and still remain strong. I think so    This will be a focus in the next two months. 1 lbs a week would equal 8 lbs before the Tinman Olympic Tri. 8 lbs less to swim, bike and run with should yield a fast time.  Providing I do it right and not all at once.

What to do in the next few days. Nothing. I need a week to reflect and catch up on family life. Veg.. Work.   I will keep reading and looking for ways to go faster.. Now I know that a 2:39 total time in the big picture is really nothing, but it was way better than I expected and it put a big smile on my face. Workouts take time, and the Kids have been forced into Norm's Triathlon boot camp on Saturdays. Getting a teen(s) out of bed early on Saturday is hard enough but I'm taking it one step further. I'm asking them to get into cold water as well. Not always pretty... I couldn't do any of this without the support of family,friends and coworkers.    I have to say this is the most fun I've had in along time... I have to take my hat off to Sonja for jump starting my desire to (Tri) again. 

Honolulu Triathlon (Run)

Run Forest Run... Ha ha.



The run yes the run.. Where were we... Yes High 5 my brother inlaw Jason and off I go for 6.2 miles of roads, sidewalks and board walks.  This run goes through 3 different parks and down an ocean front boardwalk.  As usual I'm passed by a number of people because the legs will not kick into gear. I keep talking to myself, trying to get something to work and work fast. At the about the 1 mile marker I come across a Micronesian family sitting on a table watching everyone run by.  I greet  them in their language and they are surprised but warmly greet me back.  I continue on from one park into Kakaako park and into the first water stop.  I try to choke down my first perpetum solid and ended up with a big ball of perpetum in my mouth that I could not swallow or chew or dispose of.  It just kind of stayed there like some mortar for brown tile on your floor. I couldn't wait for the next water stop to wash it down and get a fresh breath of air.  At the next water stop I tried to walk, drink, chew and swallow.   Better but not to good.  I had one more left along with a few more E tabs but this was not working.  I decide to abandon my run fueling strategy and just hit the sports drink at every water stop and run to the finish.   Good move as I felt better and wasted less time dealing with the solids.  Next time I going with jells and E Tabs... Wash it all down with water and go.

The run seemed like it would never end.  Running, Running god this park is longer than I remember. I did take a few moments to look out at the ocean as I passed by and that sure helped.  Once I turned down the straight next to transition I spotted the whole family on the fence cheering. This really picked my spirits and I ran faster.

I picked it up and passed him later. Cheering does give you power

The Cheering Section. Grace, Yoko, Joshua, Kiara, Ti , Mark and Jason,

In this picture you can see a big tent in the forground, to get there you need to run around the park and come at it from the other ocean side.  The crowd at the finish line was big and loud.  The japanese groups are super fun to be around because of all the energy the put into the sport. At one point before the finish there was a group of 20 who all has thier hands out for the Hi 5 as you run by.  " go ""go ""almost there run"" run".  It really made the last part of the run enjoyable.   I crossed the finish line and was greeted by Jason and Kyle with the Video camera.  What a great race. After a few cups of sports drink it was back on the course to cheer on the other runner and my Tri Bro Matt.

Matt taking a shower before the finish.  Wouldn't want to smell now.

Go Matt go.... Matt burned it up a the end what a finish...

Cool looking finishing metal. Cooler looking Wife.

Our Family friend Yoko came to cheer.