Gold Medal Plates Maui Multi Sport Adventure Update (Day 3)

I arrived here in Maui late Monday night to the very balmy Hawaiian temperatures. I was picked up by Whitfield and driven to to the Fairmont Hotel. I was dropped off at the front and was greeted by a massive Lobby open to the elements. I got a bit lost on the way to my room. The next morning after a coffee with the gang, we dove into the ocean and swam out past the breakers to see the sun rise above the mountains. We did a short workout consisting of Starts and Exits. This is definitely a skill I need to work on due to the massive waves. It is rare that we will have to deal with this in a real race but it is good to develope those skills. After we must have spent 40min practicing our body surfing skills. That afternoon we ran for an hour around the surrounding area.

Wednesday we packed the bikes in a number of Vans and drove into the mountains and rode 3hours along what seemed to be endless roads along the Lava fields, through Vineyards and past some fantastic seascapes. On the way home Simon and I tagged on to the Svein Tuft Train. I had a grin from ear to ear. I had to pinch myself. Here I am, In Maui riding some of the most amazing roads with two iconic athletes. What a fantastic experience. I tried to get as much out of this experience as I could, I observed and imitated his actions. As we climbed, I would gear down when he geared down. Out of the saddle when he was out of the saddle. Drink when he drank. I know that I can learn so much from this trip and at day two I have a good start. Another swim in the ocean in the afternoon. Bit of a harder workout. Simon and I fought our way through the choppy rollers for a set of 400s ish. Again, another half an our of body surfing and again, another evening of water randomly pouring out of my nose.

Today we were in the ocean again at day-break. It was a short swim with a number of good efforts. Today the waves were less choppy but much larger as I noticed when I got slammed into the sand and left sprawled on the beach. Later this afternoon we have a run workout with some short efforts.

The idea for this week is to set me up for the strong efforts in the 3 weeks to follow.

I will have more Photographs to come.

Till then, ciao for now,

Andrew McCartney