Saturday, October 28, 2006
FRIDAY
Today, I tried a bit of everything on the Xterra course. The swim is in a fairly well protected little bay in front of the Maui Prince. The swells and chop and current which afflicted us in Kailua Bay won’t be a factor on Sunday morning. Xterra is two loops of 750 meters, with a short beach run in between. My stroke still works, no muscles sore or tight, so I’m set to go on the swim.
The practice course for the bike is unfortunately not a close representation of the actual course, but I find that I seem to still have some climbing chops, and my lack of any speed work going downhill means I carry less fear, not more on the lunar lavascape we’ll meet. The big rains a week ago have turned the scrub grass from dried up tan to lush and tender green. The new growth on the double track, matted down by the bikers before me, gives a soft cushion and hides the dust. A few years ago, in similar conditions, I had my best bike split here, and so I’m looking forward to a bike leg with a little forgiveness. And three weeks in the tropics have made me about as immune as I’m going to get to the sun, the heat, and the humidity.
My biggest fear and worry at Xterra, apart from the terror of blasting downhill on a bike over the irregular sized and spaced lava rocks on the gullied jeep and cattle tracks, is running on the sand. I have yet during any of my five races here to actually run any significant portion of the beaches which litter the latter portion of this course. So today, I do the last two miles of it, up and back on Big Beach, through Spooky Forest, and across Black Sand to Black and White beach (no sand, just clumps of lava and coral to traverse). There’s no speed here, but there is some confidence that I will run, and find the best purchase near the high water line.
So I decide: punch the swim, have fun on the bike (and don’t get hurt), and run the whole run. If I do that, time and place will take care of themselves. Gotta get a good start on the swim, not dawdle in the transitions, and work the climbs on the volcano. Then steady up the hill to start the run, suck up the descent, and ignore the sinking feeling in the sand. Finish up the three beaches, and it’s a sprint for home along the golf course. And try to get a good finisher photo this time (the Ironman photos are here.)
After the morning’s festivities out on the course, I wander down to the “expo” to pick up a few souvenirs. First, I buy a tire from Specialized. My trip out on the Big Island’s lava revealed a small blister/bleb along a sidewall seam, so I picked up this year’s version of their best cross country race tire, the “Fast Trak S-Works.” Whatever. It should work. A new slime tube, and some CO2 cartridges. Then some bike clothes: a visor (white) to race in, and a sleeveless jersey to match the one I got in Kona. Who knows when I’ll ever get back to do the Double again? Maybe never; I might as well commemorate it.
The evening presents another opportunity for South Maui to top itself again for sunset lovers. This time, I try to get a few shots of the waves crashing up off lava rocks at water’s edge, obscuring the sun. Here’s how it turned out.
SATURDAY
Down day. Rest day. Taper day. Call it what you want, all it presents is a brief snorkel in the AM, and then competitor briefing and pre-race dinner in the PM.
I did this pilgrimage to Kona and Maui two years ago, watching the Ironman and finishing second at Xterra. Now I’m back doing both the races, a dream I’ve had for seven years. I’m been trying just to enjoy it, take it all as a gift, and leave any expectations at the door.