4 July 10: 4th of July Swimming Celebration
Posted on 04. Jul, 2010 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 2 Comments
This is where we began our 4th of July celebration: up the coast north of Kona at Hapuna Beach. This may look familiar to those of you who have come over here to race the Honu 70.3, as it is the site of the swim for that race.
I was already in love with this island, but this morning I think I fell completely in love and have resolved that the GCM and I must make this our summer training ground every year. This morning was the first of a three-week open-water swim race series here; the Hapuna race was about a mile long and it seemed as if the whole town came out for the event. There were divisions for all ages and even a “fin” division, so everyone could participate. Entry was free for all.
One of the biggest things I have gained–besides lots of new friends–during our camp here thus far is a new appreciation for good open water training. Having been a pool swimmer my whole life, open water swimming feels so different to me. It is only in the past few weeks that I have finally been able to find a rhythm and a nice hard gear in the open water–thanks to some awesome, speedy open-water swim partners here. So when Bree told me about the open water swim series, I figured this would be yet another chance to work on my open-water skills.
We all brought various types of suits and made a group decision that it was a speedsuit kind of day–had to keep the playing field level! I got to race in my TYR Sayonara for the first time. Loved it.
There were a couple hundred competitors so it was a nice mass-start practice for your resident slow-starter here . . . We swam out to one end of the beach, and I followed Bree and local young speedster Leahi around the first buoy. Then we swam the entire length of the beach with some gnarly chop and I must have swallowed gallons of sea water. But I just embraced the tough conditions as “better training” and went head-down, dig-in to try to get rid of the ladies. It was hard work and lots of fun! I managed to catch up to the second and third place boys at the other end of the beach but could not pass them; turns out people aren’t saving up for the bike ride in these races and they hammered all the way into the finish. I ended up fourth overall and first woman. What a great venue to guarantee a good honest swim effort! I can’t wait for next week; it’s the King’s Swim here on the ironman course (half of it), and I understand there will be even more competition there.
The GCM and I brought in a training partner from Cali: we are loving having our friend Ian, a first-year pro, here . . .
Ian and the ladies!
Awards!
Time for run #2 now and then fireworks! Happy 4th!
2 Responses to “4 July 10: 4th of July Swimming Celebration”
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Hillary’s Time in Madison, WI
Since you have to train somewhere, this will do until something better comes along. Don’t let yourself baecome a tourist!
Hilary I love seeing all the swim and sea pictures (it amazes me how you manage to carry the camera with you during the swim!!!). It makes me want to be there swimming with all of you (albeit much much slower and well back!). sometimes when I’m in the middle of a tought set in the pool I pretend it’s the pacific (same colour just ignore the tiles) to give me that extra boost.
Enjoy the island and the training.