Kona is for Kim

Everyone has their own reason to train. Their own reason to race. Their own reason to push when their on the brink of breaking.

This year... Kona is for Kim.

My first half ironman in Hawaii was spent practically on Tom and Kim's family vacation to Waikaloa in 2010.  I had a blast going down the water slides in the Hilton Hawaiian Village the day before the race (maybe not the greatest pre-race activity if you are serious about tapering... ) and making the most out of a weekend of family fun with their two younger boys.  In October that year Tom, myself, and a few other people were able to get over to watch Kona Ironman and I promised that I would not come back as a spectator again.  Only as an athlete.  We both have kept that promise so far.

This year, Tom was able to race Ironman World Championships 70.3 for his wife Kim.. who is in a race of her own.  For her life against cancer. It really puts a lot of things in perspective.  For me, it has made me sometimes stop in the middle of a workout... look around, and just say a quiet thanks for all the good fortune I have had on the road and in the water.  So, now that all the bike training is done, here are a few pictures to take everyone (and especially Kim who hasn't seen the Koolau's in quite some time), on some of my previous biking journeys done during my Kona training.

Through rain, sweat, flats, sand, and red-dirt... there has been lots of smiles, jokes, story-telling, hard work and 7-11 stops.  The hard work is done, it is all mental now.  That is why I will keep this one for Kim.  Race for someone who has a bigger heart than all of us and more strength and dedication for family and love than I can even understand at this point in my life... and possibly ever.  Kim- this Kona is for you.

 

Am I Ready for Kona?

I thought I would do a mid Kona training post and update everyone all at once.  I am now getting asked quite frequently if I am "Ready for Kona?"  I can tell you simply. I will not be ready for Kona until October 12th, 2013 (that is the race day right?)  Am I getting ready for Kona and preparing exactly the way that I want to be.  Yes.  I am.  In fact, I am stoked.

I have not been this excited about a race in quite some time.  Maybe it's because I really have not much else to do in my life right now (I can be honest about this at least!).  Maybe it's because I am listening to my body and giving it 100% attention.  I said I would be selfish.  I wasn't lying.  No boyfriends, no late dinners with friends, planned brunches and lunches around training.... and coffee chats are reserved for car rides to biking locations.

Post Half Marathon with these two lovely people that are now down-under!

It's not to say that I'm not having a blast.  I certainly am.  I have put in more mileage on my bike than ever before... two 120 mile rides in 2 weeks... followed by runs.  And I even had some crazy friends that joined me for parts of them!  3 weeks of 17+ mile long runs on the weekends and a secret 1/2 marathon training race which I PRed at almost a sub 1:40:00 (and a co-worker that somehow found out about my finish;-)).  Happy, yes.  I'm smiling ear to ear for each ride, even when I have to be pathetically picked up on the side of the road because my tire flatted and I forgot my hand pump. I definitely made the best of it and called in breakfast to the busiest local breakfast spot for take-out and picked it up for my amazing friend who drove almost 2 hours (round-trip) to come grab me.  Who doesn't love eggs benedict and coffee as a thank you?  No matter what, I realize that I am lucky to be training in Hawaii... lucky to be training without injury, and lucky to be able to train at all.

I've visited Ka'ena point more times in the past 2 months than the entire 6 years on island!

Gotta love Hawaii for the training locations.

Even getting a flat isn't bad when you can sit on the beach and watch the waves roll in!

On my 28th birthday I was thinking about where I was 7 years ago.  What I did for my 21st birthday.  You probably wouldn't believe me when I said I was in an ER room.  For what?  My first marathon.  I fractured my hip running the adirondack marathon (estimation around mile 15) and kept running... then walking... then barely limping until I finished the darn thing because it was my first marathon.  I realized how lucky I am today to be doing what I am doing.  Two years after my first hip fracture I fractured my other hip (nearly exactly on my 23rd bday) and started working with an amazing team of doctors in Hawaii.  With a year of self administered shots I was able to re-build my bone density on a miracle drug that was just released to the public months before my second fracture.  I was back run/walking within 3 months (instead of 10) and able to compete in a marathon later on in the year.

Super stoked about the cheesecake and party hat! 

Amazing crew and ohana... can't do a lot of this training without the support of these friends (and many more not pictured :-))

Now back to Kona.  So, no... I am not ready for Kona but I am logging in the hours and enjoying every bit of the journey as I do so.  I can't wait for race day so that I enthusiastically can jump up and down and say... YES!  I AM NOW READY FOR KONA!

Two Months to Myself Post Molokai

So Molokai ended and I craved for more.  I even set up an entire trip to go race Catalina.  I was super stoked to get out to California and flat water paddle 32 miles.  Everything was lined up for this upcoming race... I managed to re-connect with an old surfboard shaper friend (ironic since I don't surf, huh) who would be my escort boat driver and crash pad, I had flights all sorted out, and an entry into the race (way past the deadline because I was doing it all last minute).  And then my manager said that there was no way for me to go because I had to find coverage at such a last minute request.  I completely understood and I couldn't be bummed at all because I take off a lot more than the normal person to go to races.  So I made a decision.  A decision to dedicate my training to Kona.  Which is what I should have made the decision to before but I was having Molokai withdraws and wishing I could paddle just a tiny bit more!

Here is a look at Catalina courtesy of my escort getting me stoked on racing it!

So here starts the Kona training.  I realized that I only have two months until race time.  So I'm going to make the most out of them.  I know it means sacrificing going out, going on dates (hah- as IF), and staying up late.  But for me- it's exactly what I want to be doing so it doesn't feel like any sacrifice at all.   I keep telling people- these two months are for myself. And for the first time in my racing career- I truly believe that.  I am making decisions based off of what is good for me- not anyone else.  You would think that I had done this years ago, right?  And I can now say that for the first time in months- I have had the most productive training week.  Actually I change that.  Probably the most productive training week in years.  It started out with a run up & down tantalus with friends (I'm not a hermit as much as this might be sounding ;-)), followed the next day by a lovely bike ride around the Pali loop (gotta get some climbing in..), and then a swim that night.  The next day consisted of a 7 mile speedier run and then a rest day.  Saturday was an 85 mile bike with some faster boys to the North Shore (and home.. but I seriously lacked on the way home and got dropped quickly) and there was a swift paced half marathon run on sunday morning with teammates/friends who remind me not to slack off.  Monday finished off with a slower but longer ride around the island for mileage. 

Tantalus- the one hill on Oahu that everyone loves to train on during the week!

Kunia... really fun! But the gravel trucks seriously make your heart leap out when they pass inches from your wheels going 70 mph.  

Garmin burn - the latest and greatest.

Each training session has been mental training as much as physical as I'm still just getting back into the biking and running and body parts are aching.  As much as the workouts are important- I know what I do in between is just as important.  I'm not one to have a specific diet- but I have started taking a supplement (if you can call it that) once a day in the form of Mila Chia Seeds to hopefully help fill in the gaps for all the other nutrition that I'm lacking by not cooking and leading a crazy lifestyle filled with working, coaching, and working out. 

 I also feel that my recovery at the beach is key! I do feel like such a lucky person to hop into a bikini after a workout and to head down to my fav beach to let my body unwind and re-build after a workout.  Yesterday- after the 109 miles... I didn't shower, but instead jumped in the car and headed to the ocean.  I'm pretty sure I got some looks for the amount of road dirt I still had on my legs and the definitive line there was across my thighs from where my bike shorts ended (and stopped the mud).  But it was the most refreshing part of the day.  Today will start with a trip to Duke's Ocean Festival.  As much as I'm not racing Catalina, I am still racing two races on Saturday for this festival.  Both the swim race and paddling race are on Saturday and should be tons of fun.   In the meantime, I'll see everyone on the road or in the water! Happy training!

The Journey, Race, and Finish to Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships

The journey for crossing Molokai to Oahu (also known as the Ka'iwi Channel or Channel of the Bones) started with a new Bark board.  I had this wonderful board that I designed knowing that I would need something that I could rely on to cross the channel... with a saying that I could look at the entire time.

I had entered a series of smaller races early on from Jan-March, where I met 3 people-- 2 who would become my training partners on the north shore (where I subsequently met a lot more paddlers) and one who would become a dear friend and my roommate in molokai. 

Jenn and I at Da Hui Paddleboard Race

From March until June though- I had this training conflict between triathlon and paddling.  I had to make paddling workouts while still making the most out of my triathlon training.  I wanted to have a great season in triathlon too so after June 1st and qualifying for Kona, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and started really focusing on learning how to catch bumps for Molokai.  I realized I didn't have a ton of time- so any advice, and ALL advice, was welcomed from everyone around me and on every single training session.  There were definitely days where I experienced some 'tough love' from some of the north shore guys and I left thinking that this channel better not spit me out the way that they were saying it might.  I had to keep my head up, keep looking for bumps, and keep reminding myself on every training session that, like most things in life, it's 90% mental, and that if I was committed to doing it, then I would be fine.  

Just short of two weeks before the channel I had the most terrible downwind run on the north shore.  I knew it and so did a lot of my training partners.  I realized at that point that even though I was super excited to be around the hub-bub of some of the most inspirational and athletic athletes flying in (mick dibetta, joe bark, jackson english)... that I needed to take care of myself and figure out how I was going to get across this channel and what I needed to do to prep.  A message happened to pop into my mailbox at that point saying that this guy had come in from California and was looking for someone to do downwind runs with.  Perfect.  

Now let me divert.  I'm oblivious to name-dropping, big names, or any names at all.  In fact, it has happened a few times along the way this season when people I have been paddling with have told me - "So Kathryn, this is so and so (fill in a big name surfer, shaper, etc.)" and I obliviously just chat it up with them asking them where they grew up, what they do, how they got into the sport, etc.  I'm pretty sure that either these people find it refreshing or horrifying that I have no idea who they are.  

So, that being said- this person, who i agreed to go on a downwind run with (thanks george!), shows up and I find out later that he is quite amazing.  Like always top 10 in M2O and usually amongst the winners in Catalina.  My training partner called him a "california legend." Can't say i'd go that far.... but maybe so.  Again, oblivious.  Anyway, so in the last week before the race I had 2 amazing downwind runs from Hawaii Kai to Kaimana (or more appropriately, the outrigger canoe club).  And then, I simply did what I like doing most.  I took my board over to Kailua's flat island and did my last training session playing in the waves and doing circles around the island with wave catching.  It reminded me... no matter what- I was going to have fun in the channel and that was what the whole journey was to be about!

Molokai and Race Day:

So after flying all my food, my photographer/friend (hawaiiracephotos/ colin cross), and swimmer for bottle exchanges (lectie.. newly nicknamed leftie by the north shore crew), into molokai I finally got to relax and wait until race day.  I flew in friday afternoon and the race was on Sunday morning.  Molokai is not a very entertaining place pre-race.  Colin and I figured out the place had 2 VCR players, about 2 lightbulbs to light up the entire room, internet only if you used the provided cable line, and boot-legged dvds.  Pretty stellar.   My other roommate, Jenn, flew in Saturday and so did someone else that she found from Canada (who is a former world record holder in the beer mile!). 

My version of pancakes- with bananas. Scrambled. And LOTS of coffee (it's all consumed).

Flying into Molokai.  The channel looks a lot larger than 32 miles!

Race day couldn't come quick enough.  We had all been watching the weather report and thinking that we were going to get AMAZING swell because of this tropical storm Flossie that was hitting.  Apparently we couldn't be more wrong.  Race day came and the conditions were horrible.  I didn't know this until the end.  I actually don't have much to report about the race at all except that it felt LOOOONG and BOOOORING and that i REALLY WANT TO RACE NEXT YEAR!  I think my anticipation of the channel was that it was going to be super big swell and a blast to take these waves.  Yet there was nothing of the sort.  Apparently since Flossie was coming from the south, it was pushing against the waves that would be coming out of the north.  Bummers... nothing but slosh.  Not many runners :-(.  At one point my captain asked me if everything was okay.  I said.. 'yes, but I'm really bored'.  I really could have used some music. Badly.  I don't ever say that.  I like playing mental games. So instead I used some red bull.  Thank goodness.  I used a bit of that to pep me up.  Then some coke.  Then I looked forward to the wall along hanauma bay to ride the waves.  I figured- I'm not going to win or lose the race this way- I at least want to have some fun! 

Top pic- open water.  Bottom pic- riding the wall into portlock. Photo credit to Colin Cross at Hawaii Race Photos.

Anyway, I'll tell you- I think the hardest part were the last 3 miles... I knew the channel was 32 miles.  On my garmin.. I ended up paddling 34.35 miles.  It's killer when you are at 31 miles thinking you are so close but you really aren't.  Talk about mentally tough.  I was at hanauma bay when I hit mile 32.  And I joke now- "where was the finish line? I was at mile 32!!"  The feeling however, to cross the finish line and have my name announced was amazing.  Then, to be greeted by a crowd of my amazing friends and supporters that stood out in the blazing sun for hours on end was something more special than I can even put into words.  This is the first of three world championships for this year, the first time I crossed the channel, and the first time experience such love when I paddled my way back home.  

The finish!

A couple of the training partners, Jeff and Troe.

A few of the amazing support! Many others not pictured but much appreciated and well loved!

A special thanks to Lectie- who did some stellar platform boat jumps and mad swimming skills to deliver bottle nutrition.  Colin- who has some amazing photography skills (and moonfish skills) and I can't wait to see the pics from the race.  And to Lance - my faithful boat captain who re-assured me we were headed towards land when I doubted myself 10x over because I thought I was going backwards!

How to Build a Prone Paddleboard Rack

Okay- So I know that this is supposed to be a triathlon blog.  But I divert.  And it's the off season so I am diverting with building projects, cross-training, and enjoying the freedom to get bored.  I eventually have to get off my bed (I don't have a couch) and start training seriously... but it can wait until tomorrow morning (and yup.. i've said that for the last month now).  

So here are the basics on how to build a darn good paddleboard rack out of PVC piping.  And I'm almost positive it can double as ladder golf because I based my idea off of that.  I mean, you can't have an ugly structure sitting in the back yard without it doubling as a lawn sport?!

Step 1: Laying out the Materials

Step 2: Lining up the Connectors 

       

   





















  

Step 4: Spacing the racks so the paddleboard fits
(optional: using pvc insulator to pad the racks)

 

                    Step 3: Pushing the PVC piping together

So in step one you need to just get to the hardware store and purchase some goodies... namely- a lot of PVC piping and connectors.  

For the size rack that I built it required 16x 24" long pvc piping pieces (1.5" diameter) and 12x 12" long pvc piping pieces (also 1.5" in diameter).  In total I needed 8 right angle connecters and 12 't' tube connectors.  Thank goodness the nice person at the hardware store did the cutting so it wasn't crazy expensive!  I could by 4 10foot long pieces of PVC piping and he did the cutting and then all i had to do was buy one more 48" piece and cut it in half.  This saved a ton of money from having to cut all the pieces myself.  I highly recommend this.  

Once all the materials are purchased the rest is easy-peezy!  All that needs to be done is assembly.  I decided NOT to use any glue for the time being.  I am testing it out with one board to see how it holds up and then I will eventually put another board on top.  I did line up all the pieces before I assembled the rack to make sure that all the pieces were cut exactly correctly and since they were there wasn't any problem.  

This rack is a great solution for anyone that doesn't have a garage to put hangers in or can't put hooks onto a wall on the side of the house.  I'm super excited to have something that can also break down and be easily transported to another place (I seem to move a lot.. I don't want to jinx myself at all... but I am just being very honest here).  

In other news, I had my first race of the Kanaha Ikaika series this past weekend.  I am super excited about the series allowing prone paddlers into the series because I feel that I will be able to gain experience that will be useful in hopefully crossing the Molokai to Oahu channel later on in the year.  

So I was looking forward to this first race this past saturday.  The short course, which I signed up for, was scheduled to be from Waimanalo Beach Park to Kailua Beach Park.  However, there were rumors that a big swell was coming in on Saturday morning.  And of course, mother nature proved not to dissappoint.  So the KIRA race directors decided to cancel the LONG course and EXTEND the short course route and have everyone (outriggers, canoes, kayaks, sups, and paddleboards) all go the same distance.  Sounded fine to me.  Until the start.  It was actually quite comical.  

Notice the waves in the background.

Race Briefing

Out on my own.

The race briefing was given to everyone and we were standing at Waimanalo Beach park and told that we had to paddle to Shreiners to start the race and that it would be a good warm up.  No biggie.  A half mile paddle to the start up current would be a great warm-up.  However, it got a little more intense.  The racers leading out to the start line thought they said Rabbit Island so they kept going.  Almost a mile and a half.  It was maybe 15 min of paddling towards the start (or the supposed startline) when the 6 man canoe asked me if I wanted a ride.  Laughable.  I said, no thanks.  I explained that I thought we probably were going a bit too far and assumed that we should be stopping soon.  And I was right.  Shortly after they offered me a ride we were all stopped by the race director who came out on a speed boat and blasted the front guys for leading everyone into the swell that he was trying to avoid and heading towards rabbit island.  
The race went well.  Unfortunately with everyone starting at the same time it doesn't give me much hope for staying close to the lead outriggers.  I was the only female on a paddleboard.  Actually, only myself and my friend, Hudson, who I have been doing paddleboard runs with and I convinced to race were the ones who showed up on paddleboards.  Maybe the swell scared them away.  Maybe the fact that it isn't easy.  It's work.  We are both swimmers and like long distance.  The soreness and fatigue endured on a stock paddleboard sometimes compares to swimming 10,000 yard workouts that I have done in the pool.  Especially on days that I don't catch any waves.  Either way, it is still a great experience and a great way to see the ocean and get in a workout.
Oh yea... and on that topic- this blog will eventually return to triathlons as I have signed up for one in March.  Early March.  A spur of the moment 70.4 (that's not a typo... there's extra swimming... YES!), in long beach.  I'm going to head over to Long Beach to race with some of my favorite triathlete friends whom I met in a race a long time ago...

Medals for Hudson and I!

I might be on my own but I'm super happy!

The Shipping Dilemma

I know I live in paradise.  But let me tell you, occasionally it has drawbacks.  Other than the daily living drawbacks like the insanely high price of gas and food (which we all learn to get over or we leave this black rock)... The past two weeks I have had the unfortunate dealings with crazy shipping dilemmas.  Let me explain.

It all started with a simple picture frame.  I found some really great deals on picture frames on target.com.  Like $20 for 2 poster size frames.  When I went to check out the shipping was $90.  My mouth dropped open and I cleared my cart and proceeded to amazon where I knew I could find the free shipping.  

$90 to ship me???!!!

Fast forward to a week later when I was stoked to build up a new mountain bike for 2013.  I am not too picky about bikes but I certainly have brands that I like.  My dream machine comes in the form of a Scott.  I have had fantastic luck with this bike brand as my road bike and I have heard great reviews about it in mountain biking.  

I hopped online to check out one in my price range and REI happened to be the only retailer that I could order it from off of an online shop.  However, there are no REI stores in Hawaii.  I devised this great plan that I would have it shipped to an REI on the mainland and then my parents could pick it up and ship it to me.  OR... I could call the one store that carries Scott bicycles on the island and they could have it shipped into their store.  

I picked up the phone and kept my fingers crossed.  They said they were discontinuing Scott bicycles and could no longer take customer orders.  Plan Failed. 

I re-thought my plan to have it shipped to REI.  My parents would have to drive to pick up the bike and making sure that it would stay in the box it came in might be an issue and I would have to pay the shipping again to get it out to Hawaii.  

$$$ to get it shipped to Oahu! 

To make a long story short... I've decided that I have a new dream machine in mind.  One that is available for purchase at the local bike shop without shipping involved.  I'll post a picture as soon as that new fun toy is in my hands.  I did already order the shoes, pedals, and helmet to go with it.  As soon as those come in I'll be ready to go!

For now- I am trying to solve the next shipping dilemma of trying to get a stock paddleboard from california to hawaii.  Any ideas?  

Kona Recap

I realize that I left this blog in limbo... much like my life was at the time.  I wasn't ready to continue writing a blog while I was trying to sort out my life because... well, like many of the triathlete and runner blogs I read... personal life escapades sneak into blogs.  Sometimes it is very hard to separate the two like it was in my case so I figured it was best to wait until better days to continue writing my blog.  So here it goes... the sum of 8 months to catch all of you up, the recap of Kona, and a few future prospects!

The Last 8 Months:
Honu:  In June I went and raced Hawaii 70.3.  I had a fantastic race at one of my hardest points in my life.  I knew I was literally 'running' down my Kona spot and for the first time in my triathlon career I succeeded in the run portion and placed 1st in my AG and secured a spot to Kona World Championships (and Las Vegas Half Ironman Worlds- which I declined). Total: 5:13:18

Coeur d'Alene:  This was my first full Ironman.... and holy moly did it hurt!  I always have a thing about knowing courses in advance (where I don't want to know them).  So I had a lot of people along the way in my training asking me if I knew the course in which I always replied 'nope, and I'm happy to keep it that way.'  Well... the hills took everyone by a bit of surprise in Ida-hill! The bike portion was changed from previous years to a new course that included 6000 ft of climbing.  It hurt.  It hurt more on the run and it totally freaked me out for Kona so that I didn't want to do another full Ironman! Total: 12:00:26

Kona World Championships:

Let me start by saying this... I have had more people come up to me after the race/during the race and tell me that it was "hell".  I couldn't disagree more.  I actually had a great time and enjoyed almost every moment of it and learned A LOT that I will now share with everyone who cares to read this novel.

Pre- Race:
I had a wonderful group of friends staying in a condo with me.  Yup... 10 people into a condo and I knew it would be a perfect mix because we have travelled together before and it is nothing but positivity.  We all have raced together (Hawaii 70.3), some of us live very close together, and some came from various places (Ohio, Big Island).  It's a lot about the vibe and knowing that if I want to eat cookies and brownies for breakfast each morning before the race that these people know me and won't judge at all.  I have to say that it influences my races a lot because I can't ask for better people to spend my pre-race days with and better supporters. (Note: The following photos are all courtesy of Colin Cross as I was clearly either on the race course or laughing too hard to take the actual picture myself)

Signage!

My savior fixing my back wheel

               Awesome group of friends and family made for a phenomenal support team!                              

My transition bags and helmet were in good hands!

Super happy and smiling Amy and Bill 

The Swim: 58:08

Amy (a former collegiate swim teammate) and myself.
This might not have been how the swim really went...
but the waters were really this crystal clear!

Since this is my strongest portion of the triathlon I always head straight for the front line.  I took the advice of my friend and headed under the finish line portion (where everyone has to funnel through) to get in the water right away after the last female pros started.  However, unlike some of the AGers I definitely didn't hop in the water 30 min before the start.  I stood on the beach and hopped in 10 min before the start and still paddled myself to the front of the swim start and found myself amongst a group of freezing triathletes who had been waiting still in the waters for 20 minutes.  I couldn't help but think to myself that even tropical waters get cold when you aren't moving!  The cannon didn't go off this year so the announcer just shouted over the mic for us to start the swim really loudly.  The first half was a blur of us just following the crowd.  It was the easiest swim course to follow because you just followed the group in front of you.  However at the turn around you took a left and went around a boat and then flipped back around a funky way.  Apparently... it's a good thing I had a set of feet in front of me to follow because this was not the intuition of the lead pro guy either.  Like any normal open water swimmer would think... this went against most normal way of turn buoys.  The swim on the way back was like leap frog.  Since I knew there was only one way back I just kept jumping from one group to another working my way up the swim packs.

The Bike: 5:59:35

The final stretch!

I had an awesome bike on the way out to Hawi (the turnaround).  I felt awesome.  But I was having issues with my speedfill.  The liquid (Gu Roctane) had heated up inside of it and I had no way of getting it out and because I had removed all other bottle carriers I had no way of getting any other liquids at the aid stations besides taking a bottle, chugging, and throwing it before the end of the station.
My stomach felt horribly crampy but I knew that I had to keep taking in liquids.  I unfortunately couldn't even think about eating my gu gels that were taped to my bike.  They just looked disgusting.  I'm sure that probably had something to do with my biking demise by mile 90-112.  I just had run out of some of that awesome energy that I had to start but I really didn't want to have any food and chugging powerbar perform at every aid station certainly wasn't help to settle it much.  I still was happy with my bike time although I know that I could have certainly gone faster.

The Run: 5:15:09

All smiles!

A lot of people ask me what happened on the run.  I tell them what didn't happen.  Simple training.  I looked at my training log before racing for the entire 4 months from late June - early October and realized hat I had only run a total of about 50 miles.  Yup, grand total.  I'm sure that there are some triathletes who do that in one week.  Am I going to make up some excuses?  Nope!  I had a whole lot of fun in those 4 months biking in Colorado, doing night rides, paddling on the ocean, and not doing long runs.  I definitely came out of Coeur d'Alene disappointed with my running and therefore didn't think twice about seeing what would happen if I didn't train at all with my running.  I knew that I could pull off a marathon in Kona by run/walking it and that's what I did.  My stomach really liked me walking through each aid station and afterwards for about a minute.  Conveniently this perfectly worked out to 7/3 (run 7 minutes, walk 3 min).  I'm not entirely disappointed in my  marathon.  Would I change it?  Certainly.. If I trained for it.  However, for not training I just wanted to get through it and come out injury free!

Reflections Back for Kona:
I did learn some valuable lessons at Kona that I would like to share so that hopefully you all will not make these mistakes.
-  I will never again use my Speedfill in a hot climate race.  Although it worked in Coeur d'Alene because the liquid was kept cool in a colder climate... one hot liquid was in there in Kona... getting 64 oz out was impossible and I certainly wasn't able to drink it.
-  I had one amazing looking tri kit on... however, I recommend washing them before first time use... the chafing. was. unbearable.
-  I am completely convinced that the sunscreen they used was oil-based... next time I am bringing my own Planet Sun for them to apply in T1 & T2.  I only burned where the volunteers re-applied their sunscreen.  And I burned... quite badly!

-  I still need to talk to Garmin about this- but I raced with the newest Garmin 910XT and I set it to triathlon mode.  However, since we started in the water (like a lot of triathlons), it lost satellite before the start while we were treading water.  The unfortunate part was that it didn't recover after it lost it's satellite and therefore when I hit the bike.. it was registering bike mode and somehow was still recording in yards/min for speed and still had the screen up for the swim.  The whole watch had glitched because it had not regained satellite during the swim and therefore in the first 5 miles of my bike I had to re-set the watch and go back to bike mode and forget about tri mode completely (and do the same for the run mode).  This could have been a one time glitch and I will continue to play but if not then I will not wear the watch in the water because it was a pain to play with it on the bike.
Total Time: 12:19:31

What's Next?
I can confidently say that I have raced one downwind paddleboard race since Kona and it was the first time that I came in both first and dfl.  I was the only girl on a stock (12' 6") prone paddleboard and at the same time I also was waiting for my roommate on her SUP (stand up paddleboard) so we both managed to be last.  I adamantly wanted to be last just because i have never been last in a race.  It was a 8.5 mile race that was supposed to be downwind and ended up being slightly upwind with no current and taking close to 3 hrs.  I absolutely LOVED it.

Which brings me to next year.  I am looking to do some fun small races between now and Hawaii 70.3 in June. I might hop over to the mainland and race another 70.3 in April.  Tentatively I'm looking at New Orleans 70.3.  I've gotten this urge lately to hop on my paddleboard with any free time that I have.  I'm toying with the idea of Molokai to Oahu (Kaiwi Channel) race on a stock paddleboard in July.
I'll keep everyone updated on the latest through the blog!