Well, I still cannot believe another Hawaii Ironman has already came and went.  This year was my 9^th trip in a row to Hawaii and it was quite the memorable experience.  This year, we brought our two boys, Connor & Spencer, who turned 11 months while were there, plus my parents, sister and her two boys.  We arrived on Wednesday before the race and immediately got checked in and went down to the Timex booth to get a once over on my Trek TTX.  That night I went on a 30 min. run and got some food for us at the condo where our friend and massage therapist Jeff Jewell came over to play with the boys.  It was such a nice time!  On Thursday I went for an early swim and did a photo shoot with fellow team member Rachel Ross and took part in the Timex team panel at the expo.  It was great to see all of the teammates and chat about our seasons.  That night, my parents, sister and her boys came in and all went out to dinner.  On Friday, I played it low key and just made sure my body was ready to go.  I use that day as my true rest day by doing nothing at all.  That night I had my secret pasta dinner and got to sleep at 8 PM.
On race morning, I was feeling great.  My parents got their usual spot on the wall to watch the start.  After I checked in and got everything ready to go, I ran into Tom Schuler, the owner of the company that runs our team.  He wished me luck and then I gave hugs to my family and headed down to the start. And before I knew it the cannon went off and I was on my way!
Right away I was feeling good, other than the usual kicking, and jockeying for a good position.  After about 3 buoys, I got a good place and started to add in more speed.  I got to the turnaround boat and saw that there were about 10 or so age groupers ahead of me.  I really focused on my stroke on the way back and passed about 4 swimmers and finished the swim in 53:36, a new PR for me in Hawaii.  Thanks to Blue Seventy for an awesome pointzero3 suit!
I exited the water and raced around the pier to get my trusty TTX and was on my way. At this race I have a few favorite parts of the race that I look forward to.  One is right before the gun goes off in the water, another one is leaving the pier on my bike going up Palani road.  There’s a lot of magic at that point with all the people.  As I got onto the Queen K I got into a rhythm and was feeling pretty good.  The winds started to pick up and I had a few more people passing me than normal, but I just stuck to my plan and kept pushing.  Alex came behind me and yelled “TIMMY!” and scared the b-Jesus out of me, but I regrouped and told him to keep strong.  I was happy to see him as he is full of positive energy.  On the way back into Kona, I was looking forward to the run as it’s nice to get into soft running shoes after a long bike ride.  Ride time 5:19.39
Starting the run in Hawaii, it seems like I always seem to feel good, and this year was no different.  I started to immediately pass people back from the bike.  In my races I do not use a Power Tap, GPS, Heart Rate Monitor, check mile splits, etc.  I simply go on feel, and that’s what works best for me (although I use HR and GPS in many of my long training runs & rides).  I felt good at the St. Peter’s church turnaround where Nikki and I got engaged on my birthday in 2001.  I headed back into town and saw some good friends and wished them luck.  My favorite part of the run is leaving town because I am on my own which is how I train, by myself.  I just kept ticking though the miles and enjoyed every bit of it.  Before I knew it I saw Alex in the lead of the age groupers and I was stoked for him.  On my way back into town I pushed harder up the last hill and turned onto Alii seeing the family in the usual spot by the ABC store.  I finished in 9:21.49 and ran 3:03, very happy with my run. 

All in all it was a great trip and I had a lot of fun during the race and having my family there.  The surfing on Oahu’s North Shore was awesome the week following the race!  Thanks to my sponsors: Timex, PowerBar, and Tri-Swim.  I am already looking forward to racing Ironman Florida in a few weeks!
Mahalo—
Tim