Well, it was certainly the longest and hardest brick I've ever done.
For our first section, we were to ride three hours and spend an hour of that ride at race pace. I wanted to do almost the whole course by turning and heading down to the Mauna Lani from Hapuna and then back up the way the course actually is, but unfortunately I discovered the night before that I'd left my running shoes at home, so instead, I got to bike all the way to Ainakea! This actually turned out to be almost the same mileage as the other boom kings did, but I believe it may have taken me longer because the headwind from Puakea Ranch (about 3 miles uphill from Mahukona) all the way through Hawi and Kapa'au was pretty harsh. This particular ride was different and special for me because I got aerobars on Friday, and was able to try them out for the first time. I really love how much they get me out of the wind, and especially how they give me a different position for my shoulders to hang out in on these longer rides. I was really comfortable in them almost right away, going downhill and on straightaways and shallow uphills, although I did notice I got a bit swervy a couple times because steering from out there is just different.
The first part of my ride (the way I break it down in my head) was Hapuna to Mahukona, which I did in 57 minutes, 4 minutes faster than the week previous. About 25 minutes into the ride I started my 1 hour race pace, which left me right about at the top of the hilly section when my time was up. The journey through town to my house and back took a bit over 30 minutes, and then I turned around and headed back to Hapuna. I used the aerobars enough in the wind that my neck and triceps started to get sore, in the 'hey I'm not used to working this hard!' kind of way. I'm sure I'll get used to it.
About 2:30 into my ride, I felt a bit hungry and realized I was out of gel-food. Dang! Started to feel pretty low energy, and I think it slowed me down a bit, although I never fully bonked. Next time I think I'll bring a clif bar too, since I scarfed one down as soon as I got back to the car! Total ride time: 3:08, total miles ~50, which puts me at about 16.4mph average.
Then it was time for 1:20 run with 35 minutes at race pace. As is usual when I run after riding for so long, I only had a momentary twinge in my knee and then my leg felt fine the rest of the run. I was still a little lightheaded from not eating in time for the the first 10 minutes or so, but then felt pretty strong all the way into Puako, and made it all the way to the end of the road for the first time! However, when I turned around it was pretty hot and the wind had died down, so I started having a bit of trouble with heat. I powered through it, as this time I'd actually brought enough water, and managed to pull off my :35 at race pace coming back through Puako. Right about when I was done with that section I had to stop and walk a couple times because of heat, but I still made it back in the same amount of time it took me to go out. Total run time 1:25, and the distance to the end of the road in Puako is almost exactly 8 miles, so that puts me at about 10.5 min/miles. Still would like to be faster than that, but it seems like every time I do this run I do it a bit faster than the last time.
The last mile was REALLY hard. I was TRASHED when I got to the beach. But a quick swim in the ocean and a big Mexican meal in Kawaihae fixed me right up. Feeling fine today, and feeling like a badass in general. GO TEAM BOOM KING!
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