Ironman 70.3 Hawaii - My 30th Birthday Race

It was my idea of a birthday present to myself... Go to Hawaii to do a half Ironman, to celebrate my 30th birthday. As fate would have it, the race was scheduled for the 5th of June, the day after my birthday. How convenient!

I signed up for the race at the beginning of March, and embarked on a mad 3 months of unconventional training. "The worst winter in decades" in Esbjerg meant that I never got to do the long cycles I should have done. Weekends were spent gallivanting around Denmark and Europe, racing with/for my club (www.multiatleterne.dk). This is how bad winter in Denmark was (Danish Championship Cross Run):

Brick sessions were replaced by the Scottish, European and Danish championship duathlon races. I pretended to be a Brit at the European championships, as part of the Great Britain contingent:

Long, slow runs were replaced by a half marathon completed in 1:27. I did a grand total of ONE cycle at race distance of 90k. It was a lovely cycle along the west coast of Jutland:

As the Big Race loomed closer, I was worried. I had pondered on dropping out of the last duathlon I did (Danish championship, the week after I came third in the European championship), and I actually dropped out of the last triathlon I did due to a puncture. Would I actually complete my 5th half Ironman?

In typical me fashion, and to distract myself from the fact that I was doing a half Ironman in just over a week, I decided to have a birthday party at the last minute, and ended up cooking for 12 people the weekend before my departure. We had a fantastic time, and went through 12 bottles of champagne and wine:

And then it was really too late, no time for apprehensions, I was off to Hawaii! With all the publicity I had received thanks to my club (Senna), I departed with more well wishes than I have had in my entire life put together.

I arrived in Big Island more than 50 hours after leaving my home in Esbjerg. Thankfully my bike survived the 4 flights with me:

I worked out that the weather might be a problem. I was testing out equipment the day before the race, as per Kurt's recommendations, and was sweating before I even left the car park:

I was glad I did the test, because I found problems with my gears and discovered that I had left my Velcro fastener for my drink bottle at home (oops!).

Race morning is always a serious affair. I *always* have my traditional race breakfast of peanut butter on toast, and coffee:

Hapuna beach, voted one of the world's most beautiful beaches by Conde Nast did not disappoint. But the famous Big Island wind was billowing!

It was to be a mass start swim, which never really works for me:

I was clawed and dragged under by the masses, and spent a lot of time floating about and swimming around people. I did not have a very fast swim! I am quite sure I swam further than 1.9k due to the fact that I was trying to avoid vicious people trying to drown me. I exited the swim 525th out of 1324.

The cycle was a bit better, but we battled with the wind on the way out and up the famous Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway, part of the Ironman World Championship course. Scary gusty winds aside, I survived the cycle and moved up to 413th place, proving I am a better cyclist than a swimmer!

And then came my best discipline, running! I prepared for this by adjusting my hair at the start of the run leg:

It was a difficult run. Close to high noon, the temperature was beyond 30 degC. The course was "undulating" at best. It was a golf course with stupid mounds. I was convinced I was running very slowly. The lap times I reviewed on my Garmin suggested I was running very slowly. I braced myself for a bad run time, circa 1:42 hrs. I decided to pick it up...

I was determined to chase down every girl I saw in the last 2km. And chase them down I did. In the last km I overtook at least 2 girls, flying past them at over 15 km/h.

To my delight, I ended up running my fastest half marathon in a half Ironman ever, in 1:36:11. I earned a spot in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships by a mere 50 seconds. Turns out one of the girls I overtook in the last km was in my category. Had it not been for good run interval sessions and a strong mind, I wouldn't be going to the World Champs in November. :)

At 5:14:32, I finished 207 out of 1324, overtaking more than 200 people in the run. 6th in my category out of 78, this is officially my best half Ironman yet. :)

Certainly a story of Fate, Fame and Fortune in my little world.... :)