Triathlon # 2 Recap

whom ever said, "third time's a charm" obviously never worked with the paddlers of healani. the second women's triathlon unfolded like a tightly rapped, silk, sleeping bag. so smooth did it run that the morning's 'safety' speech lasted only 5 minutes (unlike the normal 30). the men knew where to be and how to calculate the times and the women's 1 man canoes were rigged, roaring to go. as hoped, another beautiful morning was laid out before the girls. excited to best their previous course times they walked over to the new start line focused and determined. instead of swimming a straight 1000m, the women had to swim a 500m leg down, turn around a pole, and swim a 500m leg back. this would seem to add seconds to their splits but this was not to be the case after it was all said and done. the girls aligned themselves in the water and off they went; the start of the healani women's triathlon # 2.

as predicted, anuschka came motoring in ahead of the pack to claim a first place position followed by jen and a strong performance by stacy landed her in third after this first leg. some girls reported equipment problems along their swim and others just decided to swim without equipment. whatever the case, they finished their swims with impressive times. out of the water they came one by one traversing the hot pavement on their way to the one man launch site. the men diligently had their boats readied in the water as the women prepared themselves for the second, and most challenging, leg. the 6.16 mile triangle course offers the girls three different conditions that require the utilization of, not only different paddling techniques, but also different mental strategies to successfully maximize their run. the down hill, side wind, and head wind legs provide many obstacles that the girls must over come.

an hour and 6 minutes after she started, celeste (who started in 7th position) came racing in to take over the lead, one she would not surrender the rest of the way. just under a minute later was deneen in second position followed by anuschka, who bettered her previous 1 man split by almost 4 minutes, in third. after calculating the times and placings, a special chee-hooo should go out to pua who climbed from 17th position to 11th after her one man leg. on a side note, 2 and 1/2 hulis were reported. i haven't figured out what half a huli is but i'll just have to roll with it. a special mahalo to eaton who took a 1 man out onto the course to make sure all the girls made it home safely.

we had a new water craft in this triathlon. vanessa completed a 4000m stand-up paddle course in just over 43 minutes. very impressive given that kyle's legs were burning after only 500m when he gave it a try.

the transition from paddle to run seemed a little easier this time around but i'm sure the girls would beg to differ. a quick towel off and on to the last leg, the 3.2 mile run. to no one's surprise celeste smoked the course in just over 22 minutes. deneen and anuschka came in second and third respectively and miki'ala finished in 4th position over all with the second fastest run split of the day.

congratulations to all the girls who competed in the healani women's triathlon # 2. it was another successful outing and one that will hopefully pay dividends in the end. a big mahalo to all the boys who came down early to help out, and to healani alumni shoni and diana (bffs) who so graciously lent two of our paddlers their canoes for the triathlon. a hui hou!

aloha,

t.