Kona 2013...The SWIM - THE GOOD

Race report!  Only 2 weeks post race!  I'm breaking it into 3 posts...

Purposely I arrived to the start way early, like before transition even opened!  I was like 3rd or 4th in line!!  I hate rushing pre-race.  My awesome sister/sherpa calmed me through the madness while the rest of the family parked.   Bag drop, getting numbered, the whole shebang.  It like a cattle call.  Michelle got a panic call, WHAT IS A PRE-RACE BAG?!?!?...IS THAT LIKE A MORNING CLOTHES BAG?!  Hysterical.  I ran into a fellow KCer Jason in transition and had a pep chat with him.  Once I had all my bags dropped off, bottles on my bike I was able to hang out with my family and soak it all in.  :)

I got in the water as quickly as I could as I wanted to get to my spot and 'chill' for a bit.  SOAK IT UP, I told myself, YOU MAY NEVER HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS AGAIN.  I lined up way left (away from the buoy line) as I had no desire to get the sh*t kicked out of me.  I had no place to line up with those folks on the buoy line. I may have had to swim a bit further but for cleaner water I was all for it.  I laid on my back and fought back tears looking at the athletes, the spectators, just soaking up the vibe.  What a powerful moment, it will NEVER be forgotten.  THE DRUMS, oh my the drums.  Michelle had told me to expect them.  It gets my heart racing just thinking about it.  Yet, I was eerily calm...the nerves weren't there at all.  I had poured my heart and soul into getting to this exact spot.  I had made it, I had actually made it.  With my own body (and the support of so many of my friends and family), I had made it.  What a powerful thing.  It was go time. 

The cannon went off and so did the ~2k athletes.  I can't wait to see the NBC coverage.  The photos online look amazing.  In the mix, all I saw were bubbles.  Lots and lots of bubbles.  It was NUTS.  The water in Kona is crystal clear and all of the bubbles were quite the sight!  I am not sure if it was the lack of nerves or what I was feeling, but about a minute into the swim I got AGGRESSIVE.  Now this isn't a regular IM swim.  You're swimming with the best of the best.  These guys/gals have done this a ton of times.  So the madness isn't AS bad, almost a polite madness.  I decided to swim my heart out.  I found some feet and stuck on them like glue.  In tri, you can legally draft in the swim and it saves A TON of energy.  People started to swim over me and 'pull' me off MY feet...oh no ya don't.  I was like a jealous crazed ex-girlfriend.  I kept my arms wide to keep other women off MY big strong feet.   It was super fun!  I've NEVER had a fun swim in this distance.  Oh and I saw the diver photogs!!!  How cool was that?  I've always wondered what it would be like to see them.  I cry just thinking about it.  :)  At some point on the way out I actually looked up to sight (I only did this a couple of times, you actually don't even need to!) and saw that I was right on the buoy line.  I suppose with that many people it becomes a vortex...it sucked me right into the line I didn't want.  What do ya do?  I hung on for dear life.  I got to the first turn buoy in 30 minutes.  Holy cow I was having a hell of a swim, for me.  (hm, maybe all that swimming this year paid off?)  Motivated to swim a sub 1:10, I kept on strong feet.  Rumor had it there was a southern swell...turned out not to be an actual rumor.  I did my best to keep on someones feet.  Funny, I 'experimented' a bit scooting off the feet a bit and feeling I far back I would fall...bust ass to get back on the said feet and then be ALL OVER THEM.  Yup, drafting actually works! 

And like that...it was done.  Over.  1:10 and some change.  PR IM swim IN KONA.  VERY happy girl.  So happy that I ran into transition, quickly changed, ran right on out without even seeing the volunteers with the sunscreen...oops!

A little pre-race meditation time with my sister.

This WILL be mine...soon!  So in LOVE!

How amazing is my mom for creating team Harvey uniforms? 

Bike Check in

I love all my signs!!!!

Lovely Moana!!!  This is my coach's daughter.

Kona Camp 2013 - Part 2

Ok, let's wrap up camp...if you missed part 1, here it is...Part 1...

Sunday - Long Bike IM course to Hawi and back

A couple of us rented bikes for camp.  Super easy.  Big props to Kona Bike Works for getting us set up in record time.  'Murdock' was my Cannondale Slice for the week.

The ironman course is tough.  Well of course it should be, it's the world champs, right?  The ride started out really well, I was having a blast!  We rode as a group taking turns riding with coach.  I felt GREAT!  I asked for the most brutal weather so I would have an idea of what could be in store come Oct. (it was actually pretty nice to us).  Here's a hint for anyone riding long (whether you're in Hawaii or Kansas) don't forget your nutrition, i.e. quit yapping and eat!.  By the time we got to Hawi (the turnaround 1/2 way mark) I was toast.  Completely defeated.  It just wasn't my day.  I learned a lot of lessons on the way home.  I made some good friends who lifted me up on the way home too.  A big thank you to those who listened to me in my lowest time (s).  Just a couple of the thoughts going through my head for 56 miles back to the house...I don't belong here, I don't deserve to come back in Oct., I should be riding with the girls up front, I am the weakest athlete, etc. etc. etc.  Purely depressing.  How could I let my mind wander that deep when I am in freaking Hawaii!??!?!  What the F was wrong with me.  Ugh, I am so frustrated I let my thoughts go in that direction.  Blah, whatever, I got my ass handed to me and I now have a huge RESPECT for the course.  Either way, I now know what's in store come October 12, and that's a beautiful thing.

View from bike, stunning!

I got out of my funk with the help of a good T-run off the bike.  JUST RUN IT OUT!  I ran through the tears, the heat and the hurt.  It was perfect.  Krista and Shane ran the same route and we met at the water fountain and outdoor beach SHOWER.

Krista and I during our T-run.

After all this fun, Pam and I had scheduled a private swim lesson with the great Karlyn Pipes!  Awesome session, although now I have 6 weeks to implement new swim techniques! 

Pam getting her lesson with Karlyn!

Monday - Bike hill repeats/run and the SOCIAL RIDE

Michelle had scoped out a 'special' hill for us to ride hill repeats!  This session's goal was to purely build strength in the legs.  Easy breezy.  Today I felt like a new person.  GRRRRRR 8 times up the hill!

Coach giving hill repeat instruction/goal of session

Run of the bike was spent with Michelle :)  I loved having some one-on-one time with her to pick her brain.  She has so much knowledge of this sport (and now of me as well) so her insight is invaluable.  Thanks Coach!

We were able to catch a quick nap before our social ride Monday afternoon.  We need some motivation to get back on the bikes so Moana (Michelle's daughter) was there to provide us with some cheers.  Thank goodness we had that...we had no idea what was in store ;)

Our 2.5 hour coffee/social ride turned into a 3+ hour 3k climbing with some rain/rush hour traffic and a closed coffee shop!  Ha!  Some of us turned HANGRY.  I'm not naming names on the blog.

Lynsey was happy to have found an open coffee shop!

3 - 2 - 1 and the sun has set

Tues - LAST DAY OF CAMP :(

Tues was our big run day.  We started out with a 5 mile 'warmup' before our last OWS on the IM course.  It was supposed to be a fun swim, look for dolphins, honu, etc.  I swam with my swim crew, Krista, Kimberly & Shane.  We took some super fun video with the LaPan's GoPro....I wonder where that footage is??? :)  Getting out of the water and we saw a honu (turtle)!!!!  I am in love with these guys and was super excited to get to see one in Hawaii...finally!!!

After the swim, it was run time again!  15 miles til the end of camp...sigh.  I had a good run.  I decided not to beat myself up and start any negative talk with myself so I didn't focus on pace but instead focused on HAVING SOME FUN!  I'll have enough runs coming up to stress about pace.  Here are some views from my run.

I am an awesome photographer, no?

I think I found my calling

Of course we had one more opportunity to run up the 'pit'...Tiffany is rockin up it!!!

After the run, we had our last lunch all together before we headed our separate ways. What a week, what a group...there were some lifetime memories made this week. 

Cheers!

Don't forget this face...she's a CHAMP!

Downstairs girls exploring downtown Kona

funny if you're a 16 yo, or a railroader...

I cannot express my thanks and love to my coach and teammates for pushing me further than I thought was possible, lifting me up when I was down...mahalo for all the laughs, hats, beers, bugs, sweat and tears. Until next time!