So I found out that when you swim the Ironman course (and then some) and follow that up with some TT & interval bike work, the next day bike a volcano and run 800 intervals after that, follow that up the next day with another hard open water swim session and then run MOST of the Ironman course (30km) that afternoon, then wake up the next day and jump into the early morning masters swim session and go ride 80% of the Ironman bike course (in crazy gusty winds...I have a new respect for the bike course here!), then take one day of 'rest' and do a race on Sunday....your legs won't really like you after!! I had to take a nap mid-way just typing what we have done this week!
After a few monster weeks of training out in Hawaii, the Lifesport crew capped it off with the Lavaman Olympic distance triathlon. I've done this race twice before and it's always a blast. This is by far the most exhausted I've been before a race though! I was a little apprehensive about how I might perform on race day, but decided to embrace it for what it was, a great race, in a great place, and a great opportunity to fine-tune my race skills. Turns out that since I haven't raced since that fateful day in August, I had some kinks to work out!
I'll spare you most of the details but here is a race summary;
- The game plan: solid fast swim, swim with the boys. Bike moderate but strong, run fast and test the legs off the bike.
- The actual outcome: Wasn't very alert at the swim start, missed the draft and swam without a draft the whole way, down 1min from where I should have been. Bike, just did what I could do to keep the wheels turning, tried not to be too disappointed when my teammates Magali & Bree (both amazing cyclists!) blew by me and my legs were screaming! The run, actually felt ok, was down about 2 min out of T2, so I had to push hard to pass Bree about 3 miles in. Ran 36.36 on a course that has lava rocks, sharp coral and deep sand for the last 2 miles! Finished off with the win.
- Overall; considering how tired my entire body is, not a bad day, happy with how my running is progressing and just love this race. How often do you get to finish a race on the beach?
A Lifesport podium sweep!!
After the race was the epic Journey concert!! It turned out to be a fun night and ended at my bedtime...9:30pm!!
Now it's a couple more days in Waikaloa then over to California for the Oceanside 70.3 race on April 4th. Hopefully the legs will be ready to perform by then! As Coach Paul says, "it's overload and then recover".....come on legs, recover!!!
Cheers,
Lisa
Ancient lava flows...how cool is that! 
Once on the Big Island we had a couple 'recovery' days which included a 5500m open water swim set with 3x1k efforts!! Then it was back to business. A climb up Koloko (Lance Armstrong biked it this year). It's one steep hill--some @17-20% grades...nasty! 
Here's where I got busted....photo evidence of coach giving me a push! It was the sweetest 3 seconds of the ride! I did witness the pushing of another fellow rider but there is no evidence...
Me 'postmaning' it (cutting the slope by going side to side) to make the last final few meters of the climb!
The gang at the top! Not sure, but I think I beat Lance's time up or was very close anyway!
A QUICK descent and then off to the track for a set of 800's...ouch!
The day wasn't complete until we finished with a swim in the dark...I was a bit dazed and confused for this swim!
Today involved another open water session, I love swimming out here, and then a 16-17mile run on the ironman course. Here is my favourite running buddy, Mags, and I hitting the water station on the highway:
Few....that was a long post. I'm exhausted! Or in Dutch..Ik ben doodop! Time for bed. 5 hour ride on the ironman bike course tomorrow but before that a 6am dip in the pool! That should have my legs feeling fresh for the local Lavaman race on the weekend...Love it.
Me and my bike (yet to be named) are still not getting along all that well. Tuesday was a big set; a hill repeat/TT bike followed by 8x1mile repeats off the bike. I rode the entire ride with a insanely high HR and couldn't seem to get it to settle down. My TT was less than stellar, so I was hoping for a decent run set. To my surprise my legs felt strong on the run set and I had a great set of miles, so the day was not lost. Wednesday was supposed to be a hilly 4 hour ride, I was actually looking forward to this ride. Right from the start my bike started making a noise that was not good and I was forced to detour to the bike shop for a quick fix, leaving me riding solo for 4 hours! It turned out to be good quality time with me and my TT bars...but I still had a noise coming from my bike while I rode. So, I took my bike into the shop AGAIN the next day and found out that my rear quick release was broken (maybe from my fall?) and my wheel was not being held in correctly, rubbing on my brake pads and making the noise! I'm not sure if the Hawaiians have a Goddess of bike (like Pele the Goddess of fire) but I have been giving her offerings and praying to her a lot lately... 
Today, we're at Monday, recovery day. It involved a sleep in (7am), a chai tea in Paia, a splash in the ocean, a whole lot of driving around doing errands and a b-day party for Coach Lance's son. Now I am getting the gear ready for tomorrow--we have a couple big days ahead....wish me luck! I'll update if I survive them!! Hopefully I stay upright on my bike!
