I’m here loving it in the lava fields

Triathlon Training Blog, Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Been in Hawaii for a week now and quite frankly have hated every minute. It is way too hot. Its bad enough just standing in it they expect us to race in it. This has become a major source of anxiety for me. Which isn’t getting much better. The temperature in the lava fields is well over a 100 degrees and humidity never drops below 80% They say it takes 8 days to 2 weeks to get used to. Learn to sweat more. Increased plasma Levels better utilisation and absorption of fluids but fuck me. This is beyond. Finishing at all is now all there is. A pb or any sort of ‘time’ is out the window. If its as hot as this on race day it’ll be about survival. . Although things have improved now Hollie and Aled are here, Bouncing off each other , doubts anxieties and having a bit of a laugh have put things more in perspective. So no, its not all doom and gloom.

Why oh why anyone would do this twice is totally beyond me. The bike is a featureless landscape on a long straight road. Temperatures can easily top well over 100 degrees in the lava fields. The wind when it isn’t blowing you to a standstill comes at you from all directions. You ride out 56 miles then just turn in the width of the road ride back. No loop not even a roundabout.

The run ,not to be outdone on miles 13 through to 18 take u upto the energy dome which is slightly up hill ,again featureless and is the hottest part of the island. Exactly what you don’t need exactly when u don’t need it.

Speaking to a couple in a bar last night from the uk who raced here 2 years ago said it was no where near as hot then. I dread every session. Run and bike.

Today is Monday 28th . My lap top has stopped working/connecting to the internet. Which always does my nut right in. I have been unusually patient and not smashed it up.Hoping its an external problem .But my phone is picking up the local wifi so fuck knows whats wrong with it.

This afternoon went for a run in the midday sun. I hate this session. Trying to acclimatise. Its un believably hot. I have actually found quite a large play ground area to run on grass. Lower Impact , This is also not as hot as running as the tarmac. I have been running for 10 mins and look like I have had a shower. It is very unpleasant, still, That’s just an hour. At the rate I have been managing in the heat I’ll have to do 4 of them.

This morning Aled , Hollie and I headed out for our first swim in the sea. This went remarkably well. We reckon we covered 1.6 miles in 40 mins which would put us around the hour for the whole thing….in theory. Quite a significant turnout was the pod of spinner dolphins that turned up and swam straight across me and Aled. That was pretty cool to be fair. The water is quite clear visibility 30 or so metres.
After the swim we all trundled down to lava java or whatever its called. It’s the place to ‘be seen’ personally I don’t quite get it but the food is ok but u have to queue to get in.This was not before I met Andy. Who was wondering around with a dog that had ‘service dog’ written on its harness. So I decided to ask Andy what service ‘Echo’ as his dog was called provided. Not a blind dog?Nope!Hearing dog?Nope. Andy is a nut job and had ‘behavioural’ issues and echo was there to calm him down. Andy and I got on just fine. I certainly know how to pick em.
There are a lot of unusual looking people here , not too many lookers. The indigenous Hawaiians aren’t too friendly at all. And if u look closely u can almost see the genetic issues a lot of these people must surely have

Sunday 27th

Off to meet Aled for a longish ride. Rode straight past his place further down Ali I and had to come back. Got there and had worked out why my arms were aching on the bike. The spaces in the headset were on the wrong way around and the bars were slightly lower. Changed this pumped my tires up and headed out. Went the same way as I had gone the previous day South and took the same torturous route. The climbing just didn’t stop. Aled has only been here a few days and the heat would and was affecting him more. So we cut the ride short and headed back. Dropped Aled back at his and I carried on back onto the Queen k highway and got the 80 miles in.Felt ok.

In the afternoon we went snorkelling in Captain Cook bay. This too turned out to be a bit of an anti climax. Although the company was good , there was no beach as such and a kayak to paddle over and see the cook monument was 60 us dollars each. Pretty sure I could buy one for that somewhere.So we headed back.Had dinner in some inane theme restaurant on Ali I called bongo bingos or something thing like that. The food was quite good to be fair.

Saturday 26th

Up at 530 and out on the road to get a tempo couple of hours in. Headed south down Ali I then found this climb that I nearly quit on. Fuck me it went on and on some sections were get off and walk steep. Got to the top and carried on south. 2 aussies went passed and I decided to join them . They weren’t particularly chatty so I dropped them . Not sure how far they were going but I only had 2 or 3 hours to do so cracked on. Turned around after another good descent and started the climb home. 45 miles in.

Aled had found a live feed to watch the rugby so made it over for the second half. Wales beat England which was unexpected and most excellent to see. In there own back yard in their world cup. Arrogant tossers.We went then to sort out a new hire car. Turns out you hire a car over here and they let u drive with no insurance whatsoever?? Sure that cant be right??

To celebrate Wales basically knocking England out of their own world cup we went out to lunch at the kona Bay restaurant. This overlooks the harbour and the swim. We were served by a white version of Carlton from the fresh prince of bel air. Right down to the campest of movements. This amused Aled no end . But neither of us had the bottle to ask for a photo. Hollie had a proper laughing fit at my fall yesterday at the swim start. I did go down like a sack of shit to be fair.

Later we went to the supermarket where I paid $16 for water and milk. Fantastic

Friday

Had a late night with the guys etc last night getting them sorted so felt tired. Went and grabbed Aled and Hollie as they had nothing in yet for breakfast and we went to lava java for breakfast .Which was very much on hollies ‘to do ‘ list. Then went and had a look at the swim start where I slipped and managed to break my fall with my elbows. It was quite an impressive fall and drew a bit of attention. Again, I think only 30 or 40 people saw it.
After that we went for a swim at the pool. Think I only managed 1600 metres and we all had had enough.

Took the guys upto the supermarket and they did a big shop. While they did that I sat in the car with the windows closed and sweated it out for 30 mins in , what could only be described as an oven. I was smart enough to sit in the passenger seat and not the drivers and when Aled sat down for the drive home he did look …..uncomfortable. The sweat was coming off me in torrents. . Had a Mcdonalds for tea. Think the average IQ in America is definitely lower than Europe. It is like being in a foreign country where no one speaks English. Hard work.

Thursday. Aled and Hollie arrive today I offered to go pick them up. Aled arrived ok and then hollie later as Aled went to sort out his hire car. As it turned out they wanted double what they had quoted $1600 . So he didn’t have one. They jumped in a cab and headed to their place. I followed with some of their gear. Turns out to be a nice pad all be it right at the end of Ali i. So I gave them a lift into town and we all ate at Humptys it was good to see them both again and we all got on well just like we did in Sweden. It was passed 12 by the time I dropped them back and got home probably pay for that in the morning.My sleep patterns aren’t 100 per cent yet.

Did my pool swim in the morning then headed out into the mid afternoon sun for the second run of the week. This did go slightly better . Was only going to do half an hour but felt ok so carried on for 90 mins got 10 miles in. was slightly better prepared for this run. No cotton shirt or baseball cap. Smart clothing did make a difference. Running speed still not amazing but plodding on in sub 4 hr time is a vast improvement on Monday. Felt slightly better about it all. This run was two thirds on tarmac so hotter than running on grass. Calf seemed to be fine.That is the longest run I’ve done (time wise) since before the Cotswolds.

Wednesday

Up reasonably early (b 4 6 )and out on the bike. I don’t think the plan is to do the whole course . Around 4 hours will suffice . The wind was fine on the way down , you do get blown about a bit mostly when u go through a culvert or where the road is cut into the lava. Then u get it from all directions. A disc would be impossible to manage. Kept the pace below my theoretical race pace (top end) of 230 watts. I’m not sure that is achievable in this heat . And it may be prudent to go to the lower/middle of the pace range to make sure of the marathon(well, do all you can, no certainties) .Although acclimatisation may improve that or a cooler race day.Got just over 40 miles in in the 2 hours and had done most of the climb upto to Hawi( the turn) so retraced back home. Stopped off at a servo and got some ice cold drinks. The red Gatorade is disgusting. But the cold drinks did make a difference. There are feed stations every 7 miles on the bike and picking up an ice cold drink every other one could make a massive difference. They are also every 2 miles on the run so this could be a contributory factor also to improving heat related performance. Keeping the core temperature down. After the drinks stop hit the fastest part of the course. Hitting 40 mph for a 10/15 mile section. The final run in rather contrary to this section always seems a grind into the wind even though u haven’t changed direction. Must be something to do with the Geography of the place, volcano etc. Avearge pace was 21.6. Would like to average over 22 for race day and try and sneak under 5 hours . That may well be a pipe dream. Picked up a couple of top 10s on strava for 2015 anyway

Tuesday

In the pool for 3k . Its nice not too busy at the moment and outdoors. And Free. Probably the only thing on this island that doesn’t cost 20 bucks.Sat in the flat all afternoon feeling sorry for myself and questioning my mortality /survival chances of racing in the heat. Dragged myself off the sofa and watching Arnie movies and went and drove the bike course. It is quite dull to be fair. Feeling really guilty on the drive back and the bike is in the car. So stop at a scenic view place and do a 10 mile effort at tempo followed by 10 miles at 10 mile race pace. It was either today or tomorrows ride where I clocked 5 miles in 8 mins 50 on this section there is one part that is incredibly fast. Anyway got back to the car which I expected to a) gone b) on bricks c) on fire And all was fine. To compound a catalogue of poor decisions I drove home with the windows up and the air con off. Like a furnace and I had the wind the windows down every 10 mins or so to prevent my imminent demise.

The biggest fear throughout all this first week is whether I’ve got the balls to go for it on the bike. In a nutshell

Self doubt affects us all

Monday

Woke up this morning feeling fine and that lasted nearly 4 hours. Which is a good day in my world. Down the pool this morning for a few k. Went and checked out the local bike shop on one of the industrial areas was ok. Already punctured after yesterdays ride and conti competitions are over a 100 bucks. Nice. No one here hires training wheels. Decided to try out an hours run in the heat of the day this arvo . As that’ll be the time I’ll be running on race day.

Mile 1 I started off ok thought ‘ok it’s a bit warm’
mile 2 my core temperature reached critical mass.
Mile 3 I was trudging . Every step was like picking up a bag of cement ,
mile 4 came the tears mental, emotional cracking/snapping point
mile 5 delusions and hysteria.
I didn’t make mile 6 but was cackling and rambling like a burnt out mad man

Lessons learnt today. If the race was today I would die out there. I was running on grass so it was actually cooler than running on tarmac. I could only find one positive. I survived. Bit of an eye opener, shock that.

Any way true to form I then go back AFTER the run and read all there is to know about running in extreme heat. Cotton is a no no as is a none mesh baseball cap. Probably slightly dehydrated before I started. Should only have done 30 mins not attempted the full hour which I didn’t achieve anyway.

Sunday

My first full day in Hawaii. Didn’t get to sleep last night till gone one . When I arrived I was starving and headed out to a bar called ‘humptys’ and got something to eat. Its by the sea on Ali I and is recommended. So Today I unpack and move into , what will be home , for the next month. The flat is fine for one or two people. Everything has arrived in one piece and I put the bike together and go take a look c. I find the bike course quite easily,Kona isn’t much bigger than Tenby to be honest. I get a bit excited and blast down the Queen k for 28 miles. This went quite well. Although we are forced to cycle on the hard shoulder and there is a lot of debris there at times. This can prove to be difficult. The motorists on the whole are ok but I have to remember to not react in my usual manner over here as a lot of these boys don’t fuck about. Again the school boy error of thinking I am going into the wind As I turn at 28 miles I notice the wind still seems to be a head wind. Not so cocky now and the ‘in my head’ early formulated race speed of 24 mph is now scoffed at. I crawl back. Although overall no real complaints. Considering the last 2 days of travelling, lack of sleep ,decent food and hydration I knock the 50 out in 2 hrs 19mins . Half the course done already.

Back to the flat and like the rest of the first week JFST (Just Fucking Sit There)