70.3 Honu Part 1

[Heidi]

Way to go Bigglestones and Salls. Very impressive races you guys, and also Kevin S., who many have yet to meet, but had a great race as well.

[benbiggles]

Originally Posted by mgordon

That was fortunate to have extra ironman spots for foreigners, they must feel sorry for you guys or something That will be nice to not have to go to Canada though to try to get into Hawaii this year!

FYI International includes USA (excl Hawaii Residents only) so the majority of the people in the race were in the mix, including Dennis Meeker etc (who I thought was my biggest threat for the slot but he blew!!!).

[benbiggles]

Originally Posted by ShawnB

You really can take in 900 kcal on the bike in a half? That's freakin amazing man...how much do you pull in during an Ironman?

Yes, I normally shoot for 300 an hour in an IM, taken predominantly in the form of GU's. I find this easier to manage and tweak during the race depending on conditions and how my stomach feels. For this race I took two 400 calorie flasks of EFS Liquid Shot and had a one scoop of E Load solution (with the endurolytes) in my frame mounted bottle, this is eqivalent to 100 or so calories, and consumed the lot. My relative intensity on the bike was low though so facilitated easy breakdown in the gut (my LT/FTP HR is around 165-168 on the bike), also the body tends to require more calories in hot and humid conditions (it is working harder on peripheral stuff).

Cheers

[Steveq]

Ben ....you were obviously in the moment, great read and a brilliant result - congratulations again. Way to go Vo2 !!!!

Relax Ben, I am just giving you a hard time for having grown up across the pond I knew it was open to anyone other than Hawaiians. I didn't realize until after this race how many Hawaii spots they have vs. other 70.3's. No wonder so many folks head over there to try to get into Kona.

I hear you about Dennis Meeker, he's a pretty strong guy. It's odd that he sometimes doesn't handle heat well (isn't he from Texas). I remember running past him at IM CDA in 06 when it was VERY hot, and although he was running, he looked like he was about to crumble, which he did. I didn't realize until later he was actually a pretty strong dude, I think he may have been one of the last people I passed in the race, as it was about 15 miles into the marathon, after that I was pretty much on my own.
I guess that's why we race, because you never know how race day will shake out, there are alway good days and bad days for everyone, so anyones beatable.

Anyway, good work taking care of your business out there, and letting the results take care of themselves. Glad it came together for you when it counts.

Originally Posted by benbiggles

FYI International includes USA (excl Hawaii Residents only) so the majority of the people in the race were in the mix, including Dennis Meeker etc (who I thought was my biggest threat for the slot but he blew!!!).

[Cindybigglestone]

Was there more spots for men compared to other 70.3??? I only had one spot in my AG as most the female Age groups did??? Leading up to the race the main thing I kept hearing Ben say was how bad the slot allocations were for Honu...weird.

Ben, nice work buddy. You rocked the race, got thru your troubles on the run and earned your well deserved Kona slot, nicely done!

Thanks to all of your support. I loved racing in this event, especially with the Vo2 Multisport team kit. We all looked great and also raced well.

I to dealt with some problems in the race. I puked at mi 3 on the bike, I assume from taking in too much salt water, for my slow 35 min swim . On the run, I found myself in the porta-pottie 3x, couldn't control the #2 happening - yeah good times. Then the all mighty cramp happened at mile 9 on the run than put me to the hot pavement, as I streched as best I could. FYI, checked Garmin and my avg HR on the bike was 165 with max of 177, so I know that did put a toll on me on the run.

All said and done, it was a very exciting race and enjoyed hanging out with the Vo2 Multisport members.

I look forward to meeting all of you and hope to see many of your faces in Coeur d'Alene next weekend. I'll once again be rock'in the Vo2 team kit, so lets put it together.

Kev