Ironman 70.3 Hawaii and a new perspective.

I've just came back from Hawaii, and let me say that I Love Kona!

This was not my first time in the Big Island, I was there in 2005, I went to race the ITU World Champioships in Honolulu, and just the next week it was the WTC Ironman World Championship in Kona, sooooo obviously I went to the Big Island.
I saw Faris Al Sultan and Natascha Badman win that year.
I had a Great time, swimming the course and riding almost daily the Queen K just up to Waikoloa.
But this time, everything was different, Starting from the fact that riding from Waikoloa up to Hawi is where you really get to feel the mystique of this route, is where it gets interesting.
Paola and I, had the greatest trip of our life.
After the Lonestar Half Ironman Distance Triathlon in Galveston last april, where I pulled out a 4:34 pr, I was a little afraid of not having that same accomplishment feeling since I knew that this course was going to be much harder (Slower) so a 4:33 was just out of the question.
Anyway, after what may be the thoughest triathlon I ever did, surely is by far the most gratifying of all.
As the race Director told us in the Race Meeting, the race was tough, and the run course was HELL!

Everybody laughed when he said:
"Guys, tomorrow the run leg is gonna be tough, please don't look at your watches, because you just won't be able to run at the pace you are used to, you better take everything you can at the aid stations, and just worry about keep moving forward, as long as you are moving forward, that means you are doing ok"
The race started at the beautiful Hapuna Beach, the swim start was very violent, I got hit right in the face with an elbow in the first 50 meters, and I thought the like in other races after 200 meters you were able to swim at your own pace, well.... this didn't happened, the whole swim course was like a start, very fast and very violent and crowded.


After a 31minute swim I had to run uphill to T1, and then to the Queen K southbound to Mauna-Lani for about 4 miles to turnaround and then head north to Hawi, in that turnaround I was able to see how far ahead of me was John Flanagan who exited the water almost 2 Minutes ahead of Craig Alexander, Luke Mckenzie, Chris Lieto and the swim specialist Benjamin Sanson (who swim without a speedsuit)
They were almost 8 minutes ahead already, but after those monsters I saw that there were not to many better swimmers than me, so I thought I would be able to pass some in the next 56 miles, my pace was very good and I was feeling great, I tryed not to pedal to hard because even I was one of the guys that laughed at the race director comments, I was also a little worried about the run course (it was closed to public before the race) so I paced myself, and also I was able to pass a lot of guys in front of me. (much less than the ones the passed me)
Just a couple of miles from the turnaround at Hawi I saw Chris Lieto SMOKIN the bike Leg, I couldn't believe how ahead he was from Craig, Luke, and Chris, and at the turnaround I saw that I was in a great position, less than 10 minutes behind Benjamin Sanson.

I was so happy that I really had to fight against the will to speed up and then blow-up in the run. I got to T2 in 2:32 and started to run, I thought I was going easy but the first mile was 6:59, second 6:58, third 7:00 Minutes!!! And I was like "WOW!!! Maybe I can run the whole 13 miles like this" haha and then the miles started to get longer haha! 7:20, 7:40, and then the words of the race organizer came into my mind at the same time I got to the Really Tough Parts of the Golf Course, I wondered how much horsepower those little Golf cars have, to be able to Literally "climb" those pathways with 2 or 3 Usually Heavy guys with their golf equipment.
It was hard but I wasn't suffering, because that's what I LOVE to do, and the whole place was really beautiful!

But then in mile 10......... I entered the one and only HELL!!!!!

It was a lonely black little road outside the Hotel Complex in the middle of a Lava Field, It really felt like running inside a Sauna, the heat that was coming from the pavement and the lava fields, was amazing, I looked at my Polar and it said it was 41 Degrees Celsius, that's more than 105 Fahrenheit!!!!! Luckily I was able to get out in one piece and still running, the last mile was easy, coming back from hell and entering again those views of the Golf course, the Sea, the palm trees, everything, I was happier than ever, so I finished with a big smile in 1:41 for a total of 4:50, enough for a 66th Overall place (and qualification to Clearwater) in my point of view, far way better than a 4:34 pr.
The following days I was riding the Queen K with my new friend Ben Sanson, both powered by the energy of Madame Pele all the way to Hawi to later have a swim at the KCAC Kona Community Aquatic Center and then a well deserved cup of Coffee & Snack at the Great Lava Java.
So now I can say I'm addicted to Ironman, to Kona, to Kona Coffee and of course to the ALOHA WAY!!!! It's like having a whole new perspective of everything, this race and place was like an eye opener of a new stage in my life.

Jano Soto

p.s. Craig won the race SMOKIN the run in an incredible 1:17 In that course! and Belinda Granger took the lead early on the bike to the finish line.