Ironman Honu Hawaii 70.3 - The Big Island 'half' Bash

Ironman Hawaii 70.3, how could you pass up the opportunity to spend some time on the ‘Big Island’ and to make it more appealing hanging out, train and use the exceptional facilities (25m swimming pool, run tracks and gym) at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows. The thought of Ironman Texas 2 weeks prior did not even enter my mind, the flights were booked and we were off.

The Hawaii 70.3 is one of my favorite events. Not only does it take in some of the famous Ironman course up to Hawi and back, battling the trade winds on the return but you also get to splash around a swim course at Hapuna beach and run on some of the plushest golf courses in the Waikoloa area.

Race day was another magic day in Hawaii and with a mass start it was the renowned Hawaii local super fish John Flanagan making quick work of putting us all in his rearview mirror before the first swim can. Trying hard to limit the loss I put the head down and pushed on knowing that Tim Marr was close behind with the constant tapping of the toes. I was also very conscious of the Lieto brothers Chris and Matt lurking behind and waiting to pounce once on 2 wheels.

Out of the water Flanagan had a margin of around 90 seconds on myself and Marr while we had a little buffer of 1 minute over the ‘Lieto’s’. With a quick trip down the road to Waikoloa before returning and heading towards Hawi both Marr and myself rounded up Flanagan (who also raced Texas IM 2 weeks earlier) and set off towards the turn. By the time the ascent came towards Hawi I glanced over the shoulder to my surprise Marr had vanished, and now I knew in the back of my mind was waiting for Uber cyclist Chris Lieto to bridge the 1 minute swim gap.

As we rounded the U turn at Hawi, Chris did a quick ‘hi bye’ and took off down the road. On the descent I noticed Matt Lieto still sitting around a minute back also and looking strong. My goal heading into the race was a solid strong day unsure of fatigue levels post Ironman Texas. I tried not to think about Chris up the road and maintained a steady pace. I figured I would see what the damage was at T2.

Rolling into transition, donning the runners and heading out on the VERY hot humid ‘golf’ run course. I was surprised to hear Chris’s lead was only 2 minutes (the body was apparently not feeling to bad!). Matt was also hovering around 1 minute back. The first 5-6 miles time gap was not shrinking fast at all with Chris running well. I figured if I could not catch him then I was going to make him run hard to the tape – if I was going to hurt he was going to hurt also!!

At around 8-9 miles Lieto’s lead had shrunk to just over 30 seconds and the plan was to make sure I was on his shoulder by the bottom of the ‘mini Energy Lab’ so that I would have the 1-1.5mile uphill drag to build a gap heading into the finish. At mile 10 at the bottom things were going to plan and it was head up and grind up the hill. Once at the top and knowing I had a buffer on Lieto it was nice to run the last 2 miles not on the ‘rev limiter’ and cross the line for the win.

The race was a total surprise. On what was a hot challenging day that Hawaii always seems to dish out, it is always fantastic to see the joy of everyone who finishes the race. Racing in Hawaii is always very special, that is why each year we all get drawn back to the Island.

With a few easy days, next stop was Ironman Kansas 70.3, the very next weekend, the last race in what has been a hard 6 weeks of events.

Mahalo,
Luke

(Next post - Ironman Kansas 70.3)