Jaakko Hiekkaranta - triathlete: Ironman can wait, my day will come

Saturday was hands down the hardest race I've ever raced in. The Ironman 70.3 Hawai i on the Big Island turned out to be a great day.

The day before big races is always a really hard one. So much time to kill yet in the end you're just running all over the place! Fortunately pre-ride, pre-swim, run-bag and bike check-ins etc. got all done in time and evening was good times with good people and a very good dinner à la Beth & James och Caue.

The night before the race turned out to be a really hard one. I managed to probably sleep one hour as I lost the freezing battle with the A/C and my right foot that had started bothering me race week hurt quite a bit. However up at 4.30 race morning with coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. The crew (Beth, James, Julia, Caue and I) headed to Hapuna beach for the race start at 5.30AM (well of course with a little bra-hawaiian-style delay :)

The morning was pretty clear and already quite warm. After setting up transition it was time to go get body marked, do a little swim warm-up and head to the start line.

This was by far the biggest swim start I've ever been in with some 1200 people starting at the same gunfire. I got myself to the front row just 10m to the right of the pros as I was thinking it to be better to have people go over myself rather than having to pass slower people myself. Gun went off without much notice and the battle was on! I totally maxed it to the first buoy to get clear of the bigger masses and in the process my goggle lenses fogged completely so I had to just settle into following people in front of me. The whole swim was confortably hard and I was pretty pleased with the effort conidering it was my first real open-water swim in 10 moths, 1st non-wetsuit swim and the first ocean swim in 2 years.

1900m swim: 30:29

Run up to transition was pretty long but went well other than that I completely missed the sunscreen station. Ran straight up to my bike, swimsuit off, helmet, race belt and sunglasses on, gels and C02s in pockets and it was go-time.

T1, swim-to-bike: 2:44

The bike started with first heading south on the Queen K Hwy towards Kailua-Kona before turning back north towards Hawi. I had to ride quite hard on the first 20km as there were so many slower people ahead of me and because I wanted to do absolutely everything to avoid getting any drafting calls. At Kaiwahae things setteled down and I was then able to better focus on holding the desired wattage as well as making sure to hydrate well enough. The gradual uphill to Hawi was into a good headwind and after the turnaround it was time to fly. However up north in the Big Island the winds are really unpredictable as all of a sudden on the same a´straight road the wind got from tail-to headwind again. Hitting the turn back to Queen K after Kaiwahae was a relief as I realised that I had rode very well and well within my limits. I felt great cruising to T2 that was located in the backyard of the Fairmond Orchild hotel. But I was also aware that I had been probably drinking too much during the ride.

bike: 2:27:15

From SRM:

Work: 1995 kJ

TSS: 192.5 (intensity factor 0.884)

Norm Power: 239

VI: 1.06

Pw:HR: n/a

Pa:HR: n/a

Distance: 89.574 km

Elevation Gain: 685 m

Elevation Loss: 698 m

Grade: -0.0 % (-13 m)

Min Max Avg

Power: 0 534 225 watts

Cadence: 20 149 87 rpm

Speed: 5.2 61.4 36.4 kph

Pace 0:59 11:32 1:39 min/km

Altitude: 61 242 121 m

Crank Torque: 0 81 25.4 N-m

Temperature: 27 35 30.6 Celsius

T2 is a total black hole. All I can remember is that my shins started hurting already on the way to the change tent and getting my shoes on took forever.

T2: Bike to run: 2:07

Start of the run was probably the most painful experience I've never endured. I was told after the race that I looked really bad but I cannot even express in words how I felt. The run course was very tough alternating from grass, to asphalt to concrete and with very little flat sections anywhere. Shins on both legs hurt like never before, I was totally overhydrated and my head was exploding under the sun. I had to jog/walk the majority of the first 6km of the run and I stopped icing my shins at every aid station. At some point I changed an orthotic type of thing I've had in my left shoe to the right shoe and stuffed to gatorade mugs under my left shoe insole. This seemed to take a lot of the pressure out of my shins and I was able to start run again. From this on the run through the beautiful golfcourse seemed quite nice actually but a long out-and-back section in the middle of nowhere was hard. However I toughened out leaving nothing out on the course and crossed the finishline as happy as ever. Especially after thinking of dropping out on every step during the first 6km of the run.

21,1km run: 1:47:08

RUN SPLIT 1: 3min / 3mi (28:33) - 9:31/mi

RUN SPLIT 2: 9.75mi / 6.75mi (55:03) - 8:09/mi

RUN SPLIT 3: 13.1mi / 3.35mi (23:32) - 7:01/mi

OVERALL: 4:49:43

I finished the race in 61st place overall out of 1057 finishers and 4th in my agegroup. I only missed the Kona slot by 2 minutes. But in the end I was very happy of my race especially after such a short preparation tima and a lot of little injuries leading up to the race. That I didn't qualify was probably also a good thing because when I will race the Ironman I want to be able to perform to my absolute potential. And after talking with Craig Alexander after the race he convinced that I will have time.

Overall this trip to Kona was an awesome learning experience and a great way to start the racing season after 10 months of no racing. It would be quite hard to find a much tougher half-ironman race anywhere else!

I want to take the opportunity to thank all of the people who have supported me in getting here. Without my family, friends and supporters I wouldn't be able to do this crazy sport! And big thank you also to Beth, Julia, James, Caue and Dean for your help and travelling company!