Lessons Learned from Hawaii

The Rohto Cooling Eye Drops Ironman 70.3 Hawaii was a good practice race for the World Championships in October. These are some of the things I learned during the week:

1. The course is doable.
We'll be at a different beach in October, but the water will be just as warm. We rode the same road as the full Ironman, and actually did the hardest part of the full course. And I'm told the run is flatter.

2. Using a bike-transport company is money well-spent.
Taking the bike apart, packing it up, shipping, unpacking, rebuilding, repeat... It was a real pain in the neck.

3. Be sure to eat in the days before the race.
You can only take in so many calories on race day; you need to have some fuel stored in the tank beforehand. I was so concerned about keeping my stomach stable that I may have under-eaten.

4. Be sure not to eat in the months before the race.
These are non-wetsuit races, and I looked like a whale getting out of the water.

5. Get a full-body tan before the race.
A beluga whale.

6. Bring your own snorkel.
There's lots to see underwater (on the days you're not racing) and renting a mask by the hour is the wrong way to go.

7. You do not need nor want race wheels.
I was debating whether or not to use my Flashpoint wheels for the race. I did not, and even with my thin wheels I felt very unstable during some of the stronger gusts of wind. I love my wheels, but the Flashpoints will have to stay home in October. Plenty of other people were using their race wheels, they're just not for me.

8. Skip the drinking.
If you want a good Hawaiian drink, you need to go to Vegas. I didn't see a tacky coconut-umbrella cup anywhere.

9. Go sleeveless.
I think I was the only person in the race wearing a bike jersey; everyone else was in tri-tops. Bike jerseys are hotter and the sleeves cover up the race numbers they stamp on your arms.

10. Reinforce the sign.
I like wearing custom-printed signs pinned to the back of my jersey during races. I switched to a more-waterproof-yet-more-flimsy material for Hawaii, and the sign tore twice. I need to secure it better.