We woke up to strong winds and a very choppy ocean. The swim leg was so rough it was very difficult not to swallow water every time you took a breath. I exited the swim in 3rd place behind to Hawaii professional open water swimmers and just just in front of Chris McCormack and Tim Marr.
I must have had one of the slowest and worst transitions of my life and was immediately dropped by Chris and Tim. By the time we hit the Queen K they were gone and I looked like I was in trouble. I had to regroup and build into the ride to try catch them.
I caught Tim around the 20 mile mark on the road to Hawi but Macca had pulled away from him and was a further minute up the road. The crosswinds up and down Hawi were at there best and it made for a difficult ride.
Coming down Hawi I ran into a slight problem with my lower back. It kept cramping as I tried to stay on top of the big gears as we were flying down the descent. I did my best to maintain a solid pace but my power had gone and the gap to Macca went from about 2 minutes at the top of Hawi to over 6 at transitions two.
One I got off my bike I was fine and I was happy to be running. I dropped Tim through transition and worked on building a lead on him over the first few miles. Macca was gone and cruised to victory, I finish second with Tim running in for third.
I was happy with the race considering the workload I had been doing leading into the race. With Ironman Japan not to far away I had to knuckle down and do some big rides and runs and it ultimately took a little sting out of the legs. I can't complain with the result given the competition and the conditions.
I am looking forward to another few days on the Big Isle before we head back to California for my last block of training before Ironman Japan.
Kohala Coast, Hawaii
May 31, 2008
S 1.2 mi/ B 56 mi/ R 13.1 mi
Results
Elite men
1. Chris McCormack (Aus) 4:04:22
2. Luke McKenzie (Aus) 4:12:05
3. Timothy Marr (USA) 4:15:17
4. Andrew MacKay (Nzl ) 4:22:13
5. Daiki Masuda (Jpn) 4:22:55
MEDIA LINKS:
INSIDE TRI
Title: Chris McCormack, Samantha McGlone repeat winners at Honu 70.3
On a tough, hot windy day on the Kohala Coast, Chris McCormack breezed to a victory over fellow Aussie and training partner Luke McKenzie while Samantha McGlone had to push to fend off the sizzling bike split of runner-up Tyler Stewart to win ...
Use the following link to read more:
http://www.insidetriathlon.com/article/71393
Hawaii Ironman 70.3 Photo Gallery - Inside Tri:
http://www.insidetri.com/photo/gallery/71400
