FUN in KONA - New course PR

I just completed a great trip to Kona / Hawaii with the Kain Performance Team. After last years WC in Clearwater I was ready for a break and took 5 months 'off'. Ready to quite and at the last minute the team motivated me to go and with 8 weeks of training under the belt and one practice race (Bakersfield) I made the trip for my third year in Hawaii.

This year we showed up with 25 Kain athletes, a huge amount for a 5 hr flight (and expensive) destination. We were by far the largest team.

In contrast to previous years I added a little more fun element to it. Like no more positive messaging on the mirrors or eating Cashews/Pretzels all the time. Instead my room mates Bo and Kim who were in the exact same mode, kept the fun/race balane in check, add music, dancing, sunshine and tadddaaaa result was that we had a great time.

Over 1,000 athletes showed up at the start-line and with a mass start all wanted to hit that first buoy. The people in the picture are lined up on a line that spans from the water to the beach.

The water was 78F and super clear during the whole swim! Quite exciting for the fish below to see this spectacle of human swim/piling happening.

Most of my improvements came from the bike, with an average of 22.2 Mph for about 2 1/2 hrs. The run was as horrible (7:58 mm) as ever due to the heat, mostly felt during a section called 'the pit' where you have to run in soaring heat over black-top (asphalt) through lava fields. Its like putting a tread mill in a sauna.

I still managed somewhat of a finish sprint once I realized a PR was within reach

Now the race results somewhat unexpectedly turned out to be my best time over the past three years under approximately the same conditions / course. Reason for a big smile for days on end.

2005: 4:56:50
2006: 4:52:24 (gain on bike)
2007: 4:51:07 (gain on bike)

Once again my road machine (Kestrel) in full race configuration helped me out. Gawd I loooooveeeee my bike!!!!! Thanks as always to Coach Pete to get me in shape on a 8 week program and my room mates Kim and Bo for being best race friends ever.