Hawaii pre race and race day!

starting the morning off with a nice fruit smoothie, yum!    Then it was time to drop off my bike and gear bags

hot & sunny day with a nice breeze.  The sun was hot, but temps were nice if you got under some shade, so it was quite bearable

I got a few good nights sleep before my race, and we were up at 4 am on race day.  We walked to the start  - about the same distance as we had to walk at Ironman Texas.  It's a nice way to calm the pre race nerves.       The start of the race was electric - pro women went off at 6:25 am.  The bongo drums were loud - it was very cool!  My swim wave went off at 6:55 am.  The water was beautiful - warm, relatively calm,  and clear.  So many fish to see which made the time pass quickly.   I did have some hand cramping, which was a little unusual, but overall I felt pretty good.   I took transition slow, getting sunscreen, vaseline, water, gel, and then I was off on 112 bike ride.  Except I started to feel really bad pretty immediately. My legs started shaking, and I felt very weak and unwell.  The first 10 miles of the course are in Kona village.  I saw Chris as soon as I got on the bike, and then I thought if I see him again before I leave town, I'm going to stop & tell him how bad I feel.  I didn't see him, so I thought I would keep going and see how I felt once I got out of town.  The course in town wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as my body was reacting to it.  Once we headed out of town, we hit some mile long gradual grades with nice downhills.  I stopped at mile 16 at an aid station, and was still feeling pretty bad.  I have never felt so poorly during a workout.  I even had to have a volunteer uncap my water bottles so I could refill them, as I had no strength.  My bike speed was very slow, and my legs were just done.   I stopped again around mile 28, and sat by a tree for 10 minutes.   I got back on my bike and then rode to the next aid station at mile 31 and called it a day.  My food was starting to come back up, and it was way too early in the race to feel this bad.  There was no way I would be finishing the race, and I saw no reason to keep punishing my body.   Fortunately I felt very ok with my decision, which is strange because I always have the desire to keep going once my face hits the water - I don't stop.  SO that in itself was very telling.   I used a volunteer's cell phone to call Chris and tell him that I was stopping.  My bike was picked up almost immediately, but I waited at the aid station for most of the day.  Finally I got back to the village, and watched the rest of the race with Chris.   Still feeling good about my decision to quit.  I had some feelings of heavy chest, slight congestion, and sore throat leading up to the race, but I never felt really sick.  But obviously my body was fighting something.  I had enough strength to get through the swim, but that was it.    After 13 Ironman races, I know my body pretty well and how it feels during a race.  And there is always another race :)