Hello!
Apologies if it took a while to post this but I must admit I took the past week kinda easy, processing all of the recent events in my head. Thanks to everyone who sent messages, and if I did not reply via SMS it's because my phone wasn't working over there (read: low tech kasi!). Anyway, I knew you were there with me in spirit and it's true that I was just very lucky to be the one crossing the finish line on behalf of everyone...I wasn't alone in carrying our flag.
The whole experience is really amazing and I hope to be able to do it some justice by writing it down. I am joined in this endeavour by all the people who helped get me to the start line and I know that I owe it to them to at the very least try my best. It is strange, being aware that you are racing on the world's biggest triathlon stage and at the same time not feeling pressured at all, but that's exactly how I fel
t, because 1) there was definitely no expectation of placing and 2) I knew that I had done my homework and it was just a matter of executing the race.
It felt like another race morning for me, and I just ate my usual stuff (
peanut butter and banana sandwich http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/82#8 ). I even told myself "Good Morning, you're racing in the World Champs today!" just to jolt myself into it, though it still didn't feel any much different than any other race day...which was just fine by me.
I had borrowed a mountain bike from
Kuya Tante http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86#10 , a local Pinoy restaurateur, so I wouldn't tire myself walking to the race venue. We arrived when it was still dark
and I could feel the nervous energy in the air. It was almost as if I could read the competitors' minds as they went through their personal goals for the day and said their silent prayers to give themselves some comfort.
Aaron Altura pleasantly surprised me by waiting for me at my transition area and pumping my tubulars for me. It was a very good start, having him come out to support me like that unexpectedly and I really appreciated it.
A popular Hawaiian singer performed the
Star-Spangled Banner, and a loud cannonball fired to signal our swim start. From that point on it was pandemonium in the water, and I had to fight for my line the whole way. I would've made some changes in my navigation but it was a useless battle to go against everyone's path. So I just opted not to stress myself out about my swim split and just went with the flow. True enough, I looked at my watch upon exiting the water and it read 1:11. Yikes. My slowest swim for the distance, but hey, no biggie.
I changed into my pink trisuit, hopped onto my
Pink Ceepo, and pedaled out of T1 uneventfully. I was feeling strong on the first part of the bike, but very much controlling myself not to push too hard.
http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/82/Hawaii_Ironman_World_Champs_30th_Edition#3 The
Queen K highway had a few rolling portions, and I was okay with that kind of course. The winds started to build up towards the last section of the Queen K and I thought, here we go....this is what they had warned me about. The headwind was getting strong
er and I honestly thought it couldn't be any worse than that, but I was sadly mistaken. As we veered left towards Hawi, the climbs grew bigger and the winds became brutal, coming from different directions. I slowed down real fast, although not to my liking. I kept biking diagonally because I was being blown off to the other lane. Even though in training I had purposely sought out windy areas, I had never experienced wind that strong. I was at a loss on how to adapt, and I kept experimenting. I figured if I move forward faster then I would have less danger of falling sideways because of my increased momentum. It was a mental struggle for me climbing all the way to the turnaround--after which I thought I would have some relief. But going back proved to be even more dangerous. The first part was a long downhill, and the crosswinds were in full force. I was so wobbly and shaky from being blown in all directions plus I was going down fast--not an ideal combination. I feared for my life as I had so many close calls and it would've been a spectacular crash if ever I had one. I kept commanding myself to relax my shoulders so I wouldn't be stiff on the handlebars. It was a challenge to eat and hydrate as I had a death grip on them. I basically shoved gel and water into my mouth every time I passed a natural wind barrier like a cliff face because that was the only opportunity to do so. I couldn't wait to get back on the Queen K highway, and by the time I was able to, I was mentally spent. It was a bit demoralizing to not be in control of your race 100%. I had lost so much time and now had to find a way to recover. It took me a long time to bike that last portion, and I had rough patches. Although not as strong as those on the north shore, the winds were still there all the way back into town, and I didn't even want to look at my speedometer. It was an unbelievably slow bike leg of 6:26. Sigh....
All was not lost though. I had come with the secret goal of breaking 12 hours, and after T2 I made some computations and I felt that I could still hack it with the way I had been running during training. Let's try it girl, shall we? To do this I had to at least run my marathon at 4:12. 6min k pace. Hmm. Could be feasible.
If you look at my running pictures, I could have been the happiest girl that day on the road.
p://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/82/Hawaii_Ironman_World_Champs_30th_Edition#5People were gladly cheering for me because of this and because they couldn't ignore my bright pink outfit. I guess they thought that I was being extra sweet when I would respond cheerfully to them but what they didn't know was that is was just SO RELIEVED that the bike portion was over. Haha. I saw
Brigitte, our O3 winner, http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/82/Hawaii_Ironman_World_Champs_30th_Edition#66 twice on the run and we high-fived each other and that was fun for me. I looked up and saw
Nel the Pinoy cabbie http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/78/First_Glimpses_of_KONA_Race_Week#2 drive by and he honked at me and I waved back.
Joel and Patrice wrote a note for me at the motivational corner, which read
"Philippines Loves U," and I choked back my emotions upon reading it. It fired me up even more.
Everyone was feeling the heat (I later learned that it reached
40 C) especially towards the
Energy Lab but that didn't affect me so much. I was hopeful till almost the very end that I would make it below 12 hours. But then when I hit the last 2miles and realized that I needed to run two 5+ minute miles, I ditched the whole thing and just planned to enjoy myself and savour the final minutes. Patrice had been given specific instructions to 1) find a pole to attach to the flag, 2) hand me the flag on Hualalai Road, and he had been alone in that corner waiting for me for almost two hours. And upon seeing him I only shouted
"give me my flag!!!" because I had been repeating that mantra to myself for hours by then. I didn't forget to thank him, but only after the race :) I was focused on seeing that finish chute, and I could finally hear the music and
Mike Riley's booming voice on the mike.
The last few h
undred meters were indescribable. I was already sobbing and I had to wipe my wet face before I hit the lights on the carpet. The noise from the crowd was deafening but I had played those final seconds countless times in my mind and I knew what I had to do next. I proudly waved the
Philippine Flag to everybody, and it was beautiful.
http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/82/Hawaii_Ironman_World_Champs_30th_Edition#6I wanted to show it on behalf of all the people back home who had been waiting for this moment just like me. I blew a kiss, took a low bow and thanked
Madam Pele silently for teaching me a lesson in humility but at the same time being kind enough to grant me a PR. I raised the flag once again and proceeded to let myself be embraced by two Filipina catchers,
Lovette and Sally, who had chosen to volunteer and wait for me to arrive. I let the tears flow freely. I had done my job and I was glad. My lifelong dream had come true.
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It seems that people are confused with the facts, whether I am the
first Filipino to do Ironman Hawaii or not. Let me set it straight. I am not the first Filipino to do so. I am just the first Pinay and registered Filipino resident/ citizen to do so. The organizers recognize this as such. But I would like to applaud the efforts of those before me:
Arland Macasieb, Aaron Altura, Herman Rafol, and maybe I have even missed one or two more.
We know Arland and Aaron here. But we do not know of
Herman. Please allow me to introduce him to you. Herman is a resident of Kailua-Kona, and he works as a bellman, and he has
qualified for the Ironman World Championships 5 TIMES. Here he is
http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86#11 , and here is his family, who warmly invited us to dinner in their house.
http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86#15 They are lovely people, and would you know that the owner of these prestigious
world championships medals http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86/The_Pinoy_Community_in_Kona#13 is also the owner of this
ingenious comfy pair of bike shoes http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86/The_Pinoy_Community_in_Kona#14 , which he actually used in the race this year. Now if that's not Pinoy, I don't know what is!!!
I would like to thank
Gelly Borromeo, for being wonderfully generous with her apartment
http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86/The_Pinoy_Community_in_Kona#7 and lending it to us without even knowing me. She was just doing it to support a fellow Pinoy. And I have to thank
Coaches Melvin and Rick for referring her to me :) that worked out super!
The Pinoy community in Kona http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/86/The_Pinoy_Community_in_Kona#3 have been amazingly gracious and helpful during our stay.
Tante and Telly, Nel and Cora, Lovette and Sally, Angel Pilago and wife, the Tuanos, Doc Sonny, Precy and the other staff of Tante's Restaurant, all the people I met during the recognition party and all the Pinoys who cheered for me during the race. You make me so proud to be a Filipino anywhere with your hospitality.
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Thanks again to all the adults who helped raise funds for my trip, all the kids who gave me cards and letters for inspiration, and
Hawaiian Airlines http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/87#4 for helping me fly effortlessly!!!
Again, MAHALO. It has truly been an HONOR.
Ani
For race pictures, click:http://anikarina.multiply.com/photos/album/82/Hawaii_Ironman_World_Champs_30th_Edition#
