(6-11-10) By Matt Lieto - This last Saturday I had the opportunity to race an event I had always been wanting to do, Honu 70.3. It is highlighted with the toughest sections of the Ironman World Championships bike course and a unique and challenging run on and of the golf course at Mauna Launi. This race always attracts some of the best athletes in the sport and I was excited to finally have a good hit out this year. My season started in March with a win at my first Xterra at the Xterra Real in Folsom. My momentum was stunned when last month I started Ironman St. George with a bout of Giardia - gotta stop drinking out of the horse troughs ;) Needless to say that day did not go well, I was in the lead group at mile 50 and in a pile of my spew at mile 60 :( I had been working so hard this year with my coach Matt Dixon to put the best foot forward and couldn’t wait to put that race behind me and put the body to the test.
The race started out with what seemed like a tranquil swim in Hapuna Bay until we turned the 2nd buoy and got worked by the chop. Well, when I say "We", I really mean me. I had started out smooth on Luke Bell's feet with a group with him Tim Marr and Tim Deboom. They slowly took off in the chop and by the exit I had lost almost a minute on the trio - let alone three minutes to superstar fish man John Flanagan. I ran as hard as possible in the long transition and got to my bike just as the "Tim's" left the corral. My goal was to bring back the lead group by the time we turned on Kawaihi at about mile 11. It took quite an effort but I caught the duo by 10 miles, but heard I had already lost another minute to new purplepatch fitness team mate Luke Bell. In my head I was cursing my coach for bringing on this world class athlete, but truly happy to see a fellow athlete get the opportunity to reach his potential. But, new my work was cut out for me to pull back that gap. When I caught the "Tims" I was hoping to try an pull through and try my hat at catching Luke, but Tim Deboom just kept it up and it was all I could do to stay close going up to Hawi. I knew that to have a chance at a win I would have to put time on these class runners before the hot run started. At the turn down from Hawi I went as hard as I could through the aid station and kept the head down while spinning my big gear down Hawi. I looked back after 15 minutes and saw that I had created a gap and the field was splitting up a bit. I tried to switch focus on the man ahead and did my best to close what was reported as a 2.5 minute gap at the top of Hawi. I could see Luke up the road and I just kept my head down and let my Trek Speed Concept do the work in the crosswinds. Turns out the bike is as fast as I thought and over the rolling hills back to Waikaloa and I was able to bridge up to Mr. Bell. I gave him a big smile and was content to roll into T2 with my new purplepatch teammate.
Into transition in the lead as my brother had the year before which made me pretty happy, I just hoped to stick to the front as long as possible. KSwiss K-Ruuz on, Garmin on, and off to the races. Well, kinda. This race is known for being brutal and having somewhat slow run times compared to other courses. Besides Crowie last year at a 1:17, the fastest split was 1:26. So my plan was to start at a moderate pace and hold as long as possible. I rolled out at around 6:20 pace and tried to keep to plan as Luke slowly pulled away. This run for me was HOT! It was pretty moderate for this time of year and this course, but for this kid training in 50 degrees and rain the last few weeks in Bend, I was killing the ice and just trying to keep the K-Swizzles ticking over. At a turn around I had to stop to grab a rock out of my shoe that had snuck in at transition and was shocked to see Mr. Deboom right on me and was quickly passed. He looked great and was running strong but I did my best to not be in my head about being passed by a two-time World Champion and tried to stay within striking distance as anything can happen in the heat. I stayed on my ice and watched as Tim slowly pulled away and made his way up to Luke. I struggled a few miles in the dead tailwind heat and tried kept my eyes up the road. Did I mention how hard this run course is? Golf course running up and down left and right with long "soul crushing" straight always mixed in just for good measure. Well, with two miles to go I realized my hope of the boys up the road battling each other into oblivion and giving me the opportunity to come back was not in the cards. A few looks back (sorry coach)and I mailed it in to save the legs as much as I could for the busy next few weeks of racing (Boise 70.3 next weekend and Ironman Coeur d'Alene weeks after that!). So happy to cross the line with a podium and a fastest bike split in a class field. Very impressed with an always consistent Tim Deboom with a 1:19 run on a real tough course - good enough for a third place podium finish on the day.
It was so good for my confidence to race well on the World Championship Course and get the first hard race in this block out of the way with a good result. Thanks to the crew in Honu for an amazing event and for all those competitors and spectators out there on course for making it a great day out there. Cheers, I am off for a massage then for a drive over to Boise for the Lieto bro showdown at Boise 70.3 this weekend - oh, and I think Craig Alexander might be racing as well.
