Honolulu · age-group racing · the written log
We didn't start racing until midlife.
Two Honolulu age-groupers, an 8-mile fun run, and eventually a full Ironman. This is the log we kept along the way. The training that actually stuck, the mistakes we won't repeat, and what race week really looks like when you're doing this with a midlife body.
The ledger
Recent races
Official results only. If a cell is blank, we didn't have the time in front of us.
- 2026 Sep 20IRONMAN 70.3 Tri-Cities 2026: the Versailles that never happenedTri1.2 mi swim / 56 mi bike / 13.1 mi run · BothJay 5:11:41 · Michelle 6:47:51
- 2026 Aug 30Waikiki Roughwater Swim 2026: two and a half hours into the currentSwim2.4 mi (just under 4 km) · BothJay 2:27 · Michelle 2:27 (our own watches)
- 2026 Aug 16IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California 2026: the inaugural race on the surface of the sunTri1.2 mi swim / 56 mi bike / 13.1 mi run · BothJay 5:37:38 · Michelle 7:03:02
- 2026 May 30Honu 70.3 2026: the fourth oneTri1.2 mi swim / 56 mi bike / 13.1 mi run · BothJay 5:54:48 · Michelle 6:59:03
- 2026 May 17Honolulu Triathlon 2026: the fourth one on this courseTri1.5K swim / 40K bike / 10K run · BothJay 2:28:38 · Michelle 2:52:43
- 2026 Apr 12Hapalua 2026: six minutes off, on purposeRun13.1 mi · BothJay 1:44:22 · Michelle 2:09:30
- 2026 Mar 01King's Runner 10K 2026: the first race of a rebuild yearRun10K · BothJay 48:03 · Michelle 57:47
Latest field note
Two days ahead is enough
We used to fly to the mainland three or four days before a race. For Redding and again for Tri-Cities we landed Friday morning for a Sunday race, and that turned out to be the better way to do it.
Sep 20, 2026 · 2 min read
More notes
- Two weeks out from Tri-CitiesThe week after the Roughwater: three bricks, a long run each on Sunday, and IRONMAN 70.3 Washington on the calendar for September 20.
- The log restartsWe rebuilt the site at the same address, with the same rules and a lot more of the actual record.
- The Versailles bike course, on the day the race was canceledIRONMAN 70.3 Versailles was supposed to be July 12, 2026. The French authorities canceled it over the heat, so on the morning of the race we rode the bike course anyway, 56 miles of it, and filmed it.
Do's and don'ts
- Race week is a logistics problemThe week around a long-course race is a bike box, a spreadsheet, and a lot of standing in lines.
- Sleep funds the seasonThe full distance is a season you pay for in sleep, and at this age recovery is the account the training draws on.
- Let the calendar be the planFive races, a month apart, 15K to a half marathon. By December the marathon felt like the sixth.
- The bike came after the raceJay did his first 70.3 on the bike he already had, and the tri bike showed up a month later, after the race proved he'd keep doing this.
- The plan is written in pencil2023 had a rib in February, a houseful of family in June, and a work calendar that doesn't know what a taper is.
The best description we've heard
“An Ironman is a bike race with a swim warmup and a run cooldown.”
Our friend John said that, and after two of them we haven't found a better way to put it.
Going the full distance →The camera
Latest video
The channel is the camera and the site is the log. The weekly videos, the race recaps, and the occasional blooper reel are all at youtube.com/@racingthroughmidlife.
Most-watched recaps
Dec Week 2: The 2023 Honolulu Marathon2023 · report + video
Ironman Texas 20252025 · report + video
June Week 1: IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii, the Honu, Kona2023 · report + video
Aug Week 4: The Dick Evans Memorial Road Race, 112 miles around Oahu2023 · report + video
The seasons
We did it in order, and it took a while.
A time only means something next to the year it came from. Each season is one page, in our words: what it was for, what it cost, and what we changed.
- 2022The year of discovery: the first marathon, for a fiftiethFirst half marathon. First marathon, for Jay's 50th. The half came first, so we knew the long day was possible.Read the season →
- 2023The year of expansionOlympic, Honu 70.3, 112 miles around Oahu, Honolulu Marathon. The year we filmed every week.Read the season →
- 2024The transition yearMichelle's first 70.3, a hurricane, a Trifecta, and the PR marathon. Fewer races, a lot more bike, and a full Ironman put on the calendar.Read the season →
- 2025The peakTwo full Ironmans, two 70.3s, the Pentathlon, a 50K. The best shape of our lives, and the bill at the end of it.Read the season →
- 2026Recovery and rebuildRecovery and rebuild. Slower on purpose. Written at the end of the year.The outline →