We are on the ferry leaving Lahaina, Maui at 6 in the morning and heading approximately 15 miles to the island of Lana'i for the TriLanai triathlon. TriLanai was started just last year, and about 70 people including me participated in the race. This year 108 people raced!
It was such a beautiful morning today, deep blue ocean with the morning sunlight sparkling on the surface. I felt relaxed today and I was only doing this race for fun and my love for racing.
We're nearing the Small Boat Harbor on southern Lana'i. The island is mostly dry, they are experiencing one of the worst droughts this year. But on the race site near the Four Seasons Hotel they've been keeping it green and colorful by irrigating water from wells.
Prior to the start, we gathered on the beach and did a role call, then a group prayer with all of us holding hands in a circle. The swim was two laps of a 1/4 mile loop with a very long, almost 1/4 mile beach run in between laps. Here the swells were bigger and the currents were stronger than at XTERRA. The more challenging the better!
I was able to draft behind a good swimmer on the first lap, then took the lead on the second lap.
Out of the water and now a bit of a jog to T1. I attached a video at the bottom of this post that shows me being pushed by the wave into shore!
Fred also participated in the race today. After doing XTERRA last Sunday, this was a lot of fun for him too.
Dad couldn't take any pictures of me going out of T1 because its a long way up from the beach. But this is me coming back in after 16 miles. The bike course had about 4 miles of pavement at the start with a steep climb for 2.5 to 3 miles, then after that it's a fast and rolling course on dirt roads with a rocky descent back down to the pavement then T2. Today I pushed the swim harder than I usually do since it was shorter, and I felt like I still was recovering from XTERRA so on the climb today it took me a while to get my legs back. Also here it was very hot, but once I got most of my juice back I felt much better!
Fred had a good ride today, he didn't get held up by people on the trails like what happened with him at XTERRA.
The whole family gang enjoying the sunshine....or shade at the transition area watching the racers.
The run was 4 or a little over 4 miles on a hilly paved road. The heat didn't zap me as much as on the bike because some very little breezes picked up so I was able to run hard. I came in first place overall, and had the fastest swim, bike, and run splits, and took off 8 minutes from my record last year which is quite an improvement for me. Thanks Amber and Conrad! My total time was 1:50:18 and 6 minutes faster than 2nd place. This tough little race was a perfect way to end the season.
Post-finish picture with my grandparents from Alaska, Shirley and Dan Seavey.
Fred coming in! He finished in 2:30:52 and got 3rd in the 40-49 age group. It's his first podium finish, congratulations Fred!
The top 3 guys cooling off. 2nd place was my friend Juan Garcia-Neveu in the yellow shirt. He finished in 1:56:23. Behind us is Gerry Clark who got 3rd place in 2:05:41. All of us also did XTERRA. There were at least 10 people who did XTERRA then came over here to race.
TriLanai was on October 30. The next day we wigged up and went to a Thai restaurant for Halloween, just for the sake of embarrassing my sister! From right, just in case its hard to recognize us.....Dad, Mom, my mom's aunt Evelyn, and me.
Prior to the start, we gathered on the beach and did a role call, then a group prayer with all of us holding hands in a circle. The swim was two laps of a 1/4 mile loop with a very long, almost 1/4 mile beach run in between laps. Here the swells were bigger and the currents were stronger than at XTERRA. The more challenging the better!
I was able to draft behind a good swimmer on the first lap, then took the lead on the second lap.
Out of the water and now a bit of a jog to T1. I attached a video at the bottom of this post that shows me being pushed by the wave into shore!
Fred also participated in the race today. After doing XTERRA last Sunday, this was a lot of fun for him too.
Dad couldn't take any pictures of me going out of T1 because its a long way up from the beach. But this is me coming back in after 16 miles. The bike course had about 4 miles of pavement at the start with a steep climb for 2.5 to 3 miles, then after that it's a fast and rolling course on dirt roads with a rocky descent back down to the pavement then T2. Today I pushed the swim harder than I usually do since it was shorter, and I felt like I still was recovering from XTERRA so on the climb today it took me a while to get my legs back. Also here it was very hot, but once I got most of my juice back I felt much better!
Fred had a good ride today, he didn't get held up by people on the trails like what happened with him at XTERRA.
The whole family gang enjoying the sunshine....or shade at the transition area watching the racers.
The run was 4 or a little over 4 miles on a hilly paved road. The heat didn't zap me as much as on the bike because some very little breezes picked up so I was able to run hard. I came in first place overall, and had the fastest swim, bike, and run splits, and took off 8 minutes from my record last year which is quite an improvement for me. Thanks Amber and Conrad! My total time was 1:50:18 and 6 minutes faster than 2nd place. This tough little race was a perfect way to end the season.
Post-finish picture with my grandparents from Alaska, Shirley and Dan Seavey.
Fred coming in! He finished in 2:30:52 and got 3rd in the 40-49 age group. It's his first podium finish, congratulations Fred!
The top 3 guys cooling off. 2nd place was my friend Juan Garcia-Neveu in the yellow shirt. He finished in 1:56:23. Behind us is Gerry Clark who got 3rd place in 2:05:41. All of us also did XTERRA. There were at least 10 people who did XTERRA then came over here to race.
TriLanai was on October 30. The next day we wigged up and went to a Thai restaurant for Halloween, just for the sake of embarrassing my sister! From right, just in case its hard to recognize us.....Dad, Mom, my mom's aunt Evelyn, and me. Now, its time for a little surfing and tennis playing! I'm going to start working on my website now and have it up and running as soon as I can. Hope all of you had a great Halloween! Take care, I will write sometime in the future, but please understand that in the off-season not very many interesting things happen.
