Ryan and Amber: Ultraman Hawaii and the aftermath part 2

Day 2 bike 170 miles. We leave from Volcano and finish up all the way on the other side of the island in Kapaau. Day 2 bike is always my favorite of the three days. There is nothing better than spending a day on the bike and it's one if not the most scenic rides I've ever done. After the brutal wind on day 1 we were treated to a magical day 2. There was no rain on the descent from Volcano, and the skies stayed clear the rest of the day. We were also treated to no wind at all! Well there might have been a light breeze over the Kohalas, but after last years gale force winds it felt like nothing at all.

On the descent from Volcano my goal was to stay towards the front of the group and stay out of trouble. My legs felt fairly good, but I was eager for the turn onto red road to give them a go and really see how they felt. My goal for the day was to keep my effort comfortably hard, but I also wanted to put some distance on Kathy. With my weak training this fall I knew I was going to struggle on the run and was eager to have a bit of a buffer. Luckily my cycling legs decided to show up and I felt fairly strong the entire day. I kept my effort fairly consistent, and I started feeling stronger about halfway through the bike. I had my lucky spam musubi on the Hamakua coast and as always it seemed my magic fuel to help me fly up to Waimea and then up the Kohalas. The Kohalas are my favorite section of the course and I was feeling great until just after the crest. I think I hit a pothole in the road and I heard a crack. I looked down at my wheels and everything looked okay. There was a little bit more wind as I descended so I decided to take the corners fairly conservative. As I hit the breaks going into one of the corners I heard a strange sound coming from my back wheel. I let go and the sound went away. I looked down to check it out and everything looked okay. I gingerly finished the descent taking it super easy on the corners. The finish line is just after the end of the descent so I decided to take it slow and get across the line as safe as possible. I finished and said something to Ryan about my wheel making funny sounds. He took a closer look and noticed a crack in my rims. I'm so glad they made it through that descent. Whew, safely made it through day 2. Time to load up the bike and break out my running shoes. Bike time 8:09:27

Day 3 run 52.4 miles. The run finishes up our tour of the island. It starts in Hawi and finishes up back in Kailua Kona. I remember in years past when I did Ironman and I thought the ride back from Hawi took forever and was such a long way. Now I get to run the last half of the bike course..... and it is a long way. The run hurt from the first step. Yikes.... it was going to be a really long day. Kathy and Yasuko started out fairly quickly. I looked at my garmin and I was running just over an 8 minute mile and that was also too fast. Even though I know better I went with the 8ish minute miles knowing all along that I would pay for it later. Kathy and Yasuko were quickly out of sight. There was no way I was going to be able to hang today and I knew the day would be all about damage control. I just focused on taking on calories and hydration and kept moving forward. At about 19 miles in we make the turn up from Kawaihae and I could see Kathy about 2-3 minutes ahead. I put my head down and just kept moving up the hill. This is the point in the race where it really starts to get hot, and I was already sweating more than usual. This is where I asked Ryan to get out and start pacing. We got really lucky and picked up a 3rd crew member on day 3 that enabled Ryan to get out and pace run with me. Thanks so much Angie for all your help. The rest of the run my goal was to keep Kathy in my sights. We seemed to stay about 2-3 minutes apart the entire run back on the Queen K. It was great to see her crew and "fun" trying to hang on for the last 33 miles. I can honestly say it was the hardest run of my life and I never had those up and down moments that are my norm for ultras. It was a down the entire way and a constant mental struggle. Finally we hit the stop lights going into town and I seemed to time it perfectly to hit each one red. Stopping, waiting, and then finally having to start up again felt horrible and by the 5th light I was having Ryan run ahead and hit the button. I'm not sure it did any good, but it made me feel a bit better. Finally we rounded the corner and crossed the line in the old airport. Run 8:12:06

Total time for the 3 days was 25:29:09 and was my slowest time ever here. Overall though it was the hardest and most fun I've ever had. Yes, I know that doesn't make sense, but it was super special for me to have both my dad and my husband crewing for me this year.