Haleiwa Triathlon

Hey Wyatt, how many cookies have you had? Powdered sugar doughnuts? One, huh? What's that all over your face? Wyatt loves race food.

Hey Wyatt, what place did your mom come in?

Having missed nearly the entire season here, I jumped in to the Haleiwa Tri this morning. I love this little race on the North Shore. Four years ago it was my second triathlon. And my very first win! Local style post-race festivities under the trees in Haleiwa Park:

It was a 53 minute race, and since it's only 6 days until Kona it was all tempo, no competitive. Half of the 3 mile run is in sand - the deep kind that makes you feel like you're sinking and shoots your heart rate through the roof. I was second off the bike - only Eduardo was out in front of me. At the run turn-around on the Lost set (little huts and trailers everywhere!) before we hit the beach, I saw an unfamiliar man gaining on me. I got into the sand and tried my best to keep the HR down and not work too hard, but the sand wasn't having it. I wanted second overall, but Brian, who is in town to volunteer at the med tent in Kona, could not be held off. He caught me with about 200 yards of sand to go and I finished 3rd human, 1st girl, and a full minute faster than last year.

After the race we hit Shark's Cove at Pupukea for a little swim. I haven't seen it so clear there since I was a kid. The lagoon looked like Tahiti, and now that we have three swimmers we can tool around in the deep stuff, diving for sea urchin spines and chasing fish. A couple more days of work, gear gathering and resting up, and on Wednesday it's off to Kona I go..