What I discovered was that the conditions were pretty much on par to what is talked about by all the athletes that race the World Championships and train in Kona!
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| Kiholo Bay from the Queen K at turn around |
The first day of training started with a quality run to town on Ali'i Drive. It was amazing to see so many people out on a Monday morning getting their bike, run, walk, etc.. in to start their day. After knocking out the run, I hopped on the Trek Speed Concept for a ride out on the Queen K. I followed the Ironman route on my way out and I was making great time at a relatively easy pace. There was a good reason for this and I would find out when I stopped at a scenic overlook to head back to town.
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| Just a little rain |
Once headed back to town, I was riding right into a very stiff headwind. On top of that, it started to rain, and then began pouring. It got to the point where the rain was starting to sting, but there is not much to hide under on the Queen K. You just press on and hope it stops! Luckily it was a tropical rain, so it wasn't cold at all. With the rain and wind it took about 15 minutes longer to get back to the house at the same effort.
Monday we finished up with dinner at the house. We picked up fresh ahi from the market and grilled. The fish is always amazing on the islands.
Tuesday Coach T had me set for a four hour combined effort bike that consisted of a long tempo effort in the
beginning and Zone 4/5 efforts at the end of the ride. The weather was much better in regards to precipitation, but it was still hot, humid, and windy! This time, the winds had shifted and I was facing a head wind on the way out. I had decided I would make the Queens Marketplace in Waikoloa Beach Resort my turn around and refueling point. There isn't much out on the Queen K, so if you do come out to train make sure you pick these spots and have enough on the bike for reserve just in case. Once at the turn around I filled the bottles up, quick restroom break, and back on the Queen K! With the tail wind, I got back to town a little faster than expected, so I was forced to turn back into the wind to finish out my zone 4/5 intervals. By this time, my legs were zapped and it took all I had to finish the workout. A flat right in the middle of the intervals didn't help either. I could of packed it in and headed back to the house, but I was not about to cut short a workout because of the conditions and getting a flat. I had flatted earlier in the ride, so if I flatted again my ride was definitely done. Luckily, I was able to finish up the workout without anymore flats. I was starving, so it was time for the world famous Da Poke Shack!
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| Before the ride |
I ate two bowls of poke (2/3 lb each), and a Kalua Pork Hawaiian plate. Both were amazing, but the poke was by far my favorite. I had a bowl of the Shack Special and a Sweet Hawaiian. My eyes were a little bigger than my stomach, but I finished it all! I wasn't about to waste ahi that was caught just hours before being chopped up! This will definitely be a must go every time we are on the Big Island!
Back at the house, I ran through my daily foam rolling routine to work out the kinks. I rarely ever leave home without my Trigger Point GRID Foam Roller! It is small enough to pack, and being hollow I can stuff things inside to save space. That night, grilled chicken and sweet potatoes were on the menu. Not just any sweet potato though, they were the Okinawa sweet potatoes! Those and the Japanese sweet potatoes are my favorite.
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| Japanese Sweet Potato |
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| Okinawa Sweet Potato |
Wednesday was a recovery day and it was definitely needed heading into my run on Thursday. Wednesday consisted of a swim out to the 1.2 mile buoy and back on the Ironman World Championship course. Coming from Tucson, I don't get many chances to get in the open water, so I was definitely going to take advantage of this opportunity! After the swim, an Acai bowl from Basik, which came highly recommended by Coach T, was on the agenda. I went with The Drifter and was not disappointed!
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| Something for everyone |
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| The Drifter |
I spent the rest of the day relaxing before finishing up with some run drills down near the beach.
That night I made dinner for the group from The Feed Zone cook book. I was planning on the Sweet Potato and Buffalo tacos, but couldn't find buffalo. I substituted Hawaiian grass fed beef, and they were still delicious! I also made a tofu version for the vegetarian athlete in the group. I even had some of the tofu and couldn't even tell it was tofu!
Thursday was the training day I had been looking forward to all week! Coach T had me running 1:45 with six minute tempo intervals at 6:50-7:00 pace. It had been a long time since I had run that long and never had I run that long with that type of effort in the middle of it. I decided to do the run along Ali'i drive from the house. Ali'i had a few more hills than I expected, but felt great to be able to hold my tempo pace on the hills! I am definitely feeling good about my run as 70.3 St. George draws near.
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| 3/6 Ali'i Run Workout |
I wrapped up Thursday' workouts with another swim on the Ironman World Championship course. Swimming out to the 1.2 mile buoy was a bit more of a challenge than the previous swim. There were constant rollers of 3-4 feet, which made sighting difficult. I took on the challenge since we can't always expect perfect conditions on race day and I LOVE swimming in rough water! It wasn't a fast swim, but the confidence it builds will come in handy during races where the conditions are not optimal.
Friday was another light day in regards to intensity. I headed out on the Queen K for a two hour endurance ride, and on the way back made a new friend. While I was riding back along Ali'i, I came up on a a rider on a Trek mountain bike. I wasn't paying much attention and shouted "on your left" and went on my merry way. A short time later the same rider rolls up next to me and says "nice bike". Well hello Chris Lieto! He started asking where I was from, what I was doing in Kona, how long I would be there, and who I was there with. Told me where there was some good riding besides the Queen K. We rode for a bit longer together before I had to stop at the house. One thing I love about this sport is the accessibility to the top professional athletes. We not only get to race with them, but we see them out and about while training. They are all very approachable and I have yet to have a pro not be friendly. That is definitely not the norm with professionals from other sports.
That night some of us headed out to Sansei Seafood and Sushi for dinner. It is another must go when on the islands. Not only is the food fantastic, but they run a happy hour special of 25-50% off on almost their entire menu. There has never been a time where the line was not wrapped around the building. Luckily we had reservations and were able to head right in when they opened at 5:30.
Saturday was the last big day of training for the trip. We decided to start out at the Queens Marketplace and ride toward Hawi. I had a three hour ride with a long tempo effort in the middle and a one hour run off the bike. This was definitely going to be a test of my fitness and mental strength. In the past, I had suffered when the conditions were hot and humid. I think a lot of that had to do with my weight during that time of my life, and I was about to find out if that was true.
The ride out to Hawi was a challenge. It is not flat by any means and the winds got me on the return trip. I didn't make it all the way to Hawi, but got a big chunk of the route in. It was definitely a good ride in preparation for St. George. By the time I was finishing up the ride, the temps had gotten to 80 with humidity very close to that. That is significant to someone that lives and trains where the humidity is in the teens during this time of year.
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| Queen K toward Hawi and back |
Sunday - I wrapped up the week with another swim from Dig Me Beach. This time the water was calm and was the perfect finish to the week.Overall it was a great week of training and I got to know some great people! I ended up with 236 miles on the bike, 38 miles of running, and 3-4 miles of open water swimming.
One thing I didn't mention was my workout nutrition. Given that a majority of athletes would be consuming 100s of calories in gels, blocks, sport drinks, or bars an hour you would assume I was doing the same to survive my workouts and the week. I primarily fueled all of my long workouts with Generation UCAN and plain water. I did do gels during my Thursday run, and that was a mistake. For everything else I just had Skratch Labs Pineapple Hyrdation mix in my bottles.
Tuesday - 4 Hour Quality Combined Efforts
- 30 minutes before
- One packet of Chocolate Protein GenUCAN mixed with water. (200 calories)
- 16 oz of h2o
- Bike
- Four packets of CranRaz GenUCAN mixed into a single bottle. (120 calories an hour)
- 5 20oz bottles of h2o
- Total Fuel - 680 calories, 116 oz of h2o
- Results - I never felt like I needed more calories or water. No stomach or bathroom issues. However the true test was going to come on Saturday during the long brick.
Thursday - 1:45 Tempo Interval Run
- Run
- 32 oz of h2o
- 3 GU Gels
- Results - The run went well, but I experienced acid reflux toward the end of the run. This is something that has become a common occurrence and one reason I have switched to UCAN
Saturday - 3 hour 70.3 effort followed by a 1 hour endurance run
- 30 minutes before
- One packet of Vanilla Protein GenUCAN (180 calories)
- 16 oz of h2o
- Bike
- Three packets of CranRaz GenUCAN mixed into a single bottle. (120 calories an hour)
- 4 20 oz bottles of h2o
- Run
- One packet of Pom-Blue GenUCAN mixed into a 12oz bottle. (130 calories)
- 18 oz of h2o
- Total Fuel - 670 calories, 114 oz of h2o
- Results - Again, I never felt like I needed more calories. However, I do feel like I could of used a little more water. Normally I get acid reflux on the run due to the gels I used take. That did not happen today.
Overall, I feel like Generation UCAN is going to be a great choice as my fuel during my workouts. I will update you on the progress over the coming months.
With that, the sun has set on my Big Island training week, but as I arrived back on the mainland and watched the sun come up I am ready to make 2014 my best season yet.
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| Kona, HI Sunset Sunday Night |
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| Sunrise 140 miles outside of Phoenix, AZ. |
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