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Big Kahuna HIM Race Report (with pics)

This is my first Season of triathlon. Big Kahuna was first HIM. Only my third triathlon ever.

Arrived in Santa Cruz, and checked into the hotel on Saturday afternoon. Took the kids to the boardwalk, but didn't get the opportunity to get in a practice swim when one of my children came down sick. Mommy wasn't arriving in town until Sat. night. That's life.

Had a nice pasta & seafood dinner at Riva's on the Santa Cruz Wharf (the locals' favorite for anyone interested, cash only too). The Wharf just also happens to be the structure the 1.2-mile swim is centered around.

[IMG]http://www.wu94010.com/triathlon/pics/20070909_bigkahuna5.jpg[/img]

Tried to get some sleep afterwards. No luck. Way to keyed up, and stressing about the cold swim--surfingsantacruz.com's website had real-time water temps listing about 51F. Sometimes too much information is BAD! Got perhaps 90 min. of shut-eye the entire night, and 3:30am I threw in the towel, got out of bed, stretched, dressed, and rode the 1.7mi down to the Transition Area around 5:00am.

Couldn't eat much, had 1 Balance Bar and sipped water.

[IMG]http://www.wu94010.com/triathlon/pics/20070909_bigkahuna6.jpg[/IMG]

T/A was packed already--especially the choice racks nearer the Entry/Exits. I found an easily spotable rack, and set-up my gear. Double-checked my bike, the went down the checklist for gear. Hit the head a few times (nerves!), and am glad I did--because by 5:45 there were easily 70-80 people in line for the porta-potties.

Then, just circulated the T/A looking for anyone I knew. No luck, but did spot one Michellie Jones...yup, the reigning Kona Champ walking around. Wow, I thought. How cool is it to have her in the same race?

So, just paced around, took down 2 more GU gels, and sipped water.

At 6:15, the RD's req'd everyone head down to the Beach (about 1/8-1/4 mile's distance from the T/A) for the Pre-Race Instruction Meeting. Hit the head again at the beach, and who walks out of the head when I'm there...Ms. Jones again. I figured this was a good omen.

At 6:50 or so, I took "the dive". The all-important swim warm-up..or perhaps freeze-up was a better term. It was so cold, I felt gut-punched. My breathing was seriously impaired first few breaths. But, as the water seeped in, and warmed-up, it got somewhat tolerable.

At 7:00 the first wave M20-29 and Elites took off. Another wave every 5 min. after that. I was in the 7:20 M40-44 wave. I watched very closely the other waves as they made their way out towards the tip of the wharf. I overheard to veteran swimmers waiting their wave analyzing the previous waves. By analyzing the previous waves and anchored boats, they determined a left-to-right (as viewed from the beach) current. Start wide left they decided. Me, not knowing sh*t from shinola when it comes to ocean swims, followed suit.

Boom! The gun goes off, and you're wading in waist high water dreading the first shallow dive. Then, its just rhythm. "Smooth is fast, stay aerobic" was my mantra. The ridiculously spendthrift RD's only had 3 buoys placed--way at the far end of the Wharf. Spotting them wasn't so easy, so I followed the wakes and splashing of the lead swimmers until I neared enough to see the buoys for myself.

Race Reports

Submitted by RV on September 13, 2007 - 14:10

... and then what happened???
Looks like the report was cut off...

Submitted by guncollector on September 13, 2007 - 14:21

[Note: the forum only let's me post 2 pics per posting, so I'm dividing things up to keep things in sync with the pics.]

Turn the final buoy, and head for the base of the big hotel...per the RD's pre-race instructions. Even a crappy navigator like myself can't miss the big hotel--thank goodness.

I found a short ride (swim draft) on the way in, but felt he was veering off course. So, I opted about half-way in to swim a straighter line myself. Just stayed smooth and aerobic. No time to ponder my numb hands, face and feet.

The hotel gets bigger, I can now see the crowds when I peek. I can hear their cheering. Wait...keep swimming...wait...and then...finally...touch sand. Okay now its ok to stand up. A little wobbly at first, but that clear fast. Grab my flip-flops which I staged at the beach exit for the long run/walk up to the T/A. Took 10 seconds to briefly rinse-off the saltwater at the outdoors showers.

[IMG]http://www.wu94010.com/triathlon/pics/20070909_bigkahuna1a.jpg[/img]

Off with the suit...no sitting. Dry off. Rinse feet with water, and dry'em. On with socks. On with arm warmers. Cleats on. Glasses...check. Helmet...check. Let's go. Get to mount line, and start pedaling. Oh, so happy to be on the bike. Get down my first Gel. Bike plan in a nutshell....keep efforts below 185 Watts as much as possible. Ideally stay in the 135-160 range. Let the fast folks go, they're gonna smoke me anyways on the run. Need to save myself for the run. One gel every 20 min. is my plan, along with 1 bottle of water per hour. Hit the turnaround, hmmm...I'm on a 3:00 even pace...10-15 min. better than I planned. The sun's starting to come out a bit now.

Get back to the dismount line...under 3 hours...like 2:50 or so. Right on. Off with the arm warmers, helmet, and cleats. On with the shoes. Let's go.

Easy....easy now. That's my mantra now. No need for any tempo running. Keep the HR in the 155-160 range. The mile markers start going by. Mile 1. Mile 2. Mile 3. Hmmm....I'm on an 8:30/mi pace. A bit fast for me. Dial it back, you've got 10 miles to go, man.

BTW, whatever the aid stations are selling, I'm buying. Water, watered-down HEED, and gels. No bananas. Never tried'em in training, not gonna start now.

Start looking for the Tiki turnaround, and the sun's out in full force now. Man, where the hell is that Tiki! Finally, round the Tiki. On the way back. Final 10K. Come on, you can do it I tell myself. Around mile 8, my hamstrings and glutes start complaining. I dial it back again until about Mile 12, I have to stop twice to stretch. This helps.

[IMG]http://www.wu94010.com/triathlon/pics/20070909_bigkahuna1.jpg[/img]

Finally, the Beach Boardwalk (finish line) comes into sight. And, to boot its kinda of a downhill finish! Yahoo! Until I realize, yikes!, the last 1/4-1/3 mile is on sand. Cruel. Anyway, amped with a final surge of adrenaline, I'm just on cruise control now.

Down the finisher's chute, I find my wife and kids. My daughter, Jordan, at her mom's urging runs through with me...until...she faceplants about 2m before the finish. I stop, turn around, and take her hand and walk over the finish...taking the 4 second penalty.

First HIM is in the bag. Big smile.

Final time 5:40. Splits, S: 35:47, B: 2:52, R: 2:03. MOP performance in all three. No complaints.

Submitted by guncollector on September 13, 2007 - 14:23

[img]http://www.wu94010.com/triathlon/pics/20070909_bigkahuna3.jpg[/img]

I know amongst the elite and some ST'ers, the entourage down the finisher's chute is frowned upon. Well...screw'em. I didn't ruin anyone's finishing pictures, and if the RD'ers don't care, neither do it.