The Road to Kona...Race Day

Up at 4:30 AM and peek out the window. Clear skies and low wind. Looks like it's going to be a hot one, but at least the ocean looks calm. One step at a time. Let's get through the swim and worry about the heat later.

Down at the pier there are hundreds of people wandering about getting prepared for the day's adventure. Considering how many people are there, it is very, very quiet. You can feel the tension. You could cut it with a knife.. Quite eerie actually. Totally different than the last few mornings at the pier.

I prepare my bike, then do a "walk through" to make sure I know how to get to it when I come out of the water. I then find my way over to the PC area.. Yes, the PC division has their own tent. Sharon Ackles, the race director, gives special attention to the PC division. "You're my favourites." she tells us. Don't know if it's true, but it's good to hear.

On with my borrowed wetsuit from Ironman Wetsuits, and I'm ready to go. The start line is about 150 meters from the beach. A short swim out and I'm snuggled up behind the crowd of swimmers. Just as I get into position the gun goes off. Perfect. Start the watch and let's get on with it.

Looking up ahead I can't see the turn-around boat. Not unexpected, but it would be nice to see it. I start swimming from one orange buoy to the next.. I figure they are about 100 yards apart, so I should get to the turn-around boat before I count to 20. I try to find someone to draft, but everyone seems to just pull away. Oh well. I've done the distance without a draft before; I can do it today. Suddenly, someone comes by that is just a little faster than me. Just what I need. I hop onto her toes and let her pull me along. I feel like I should be getting close to the turn-around boat. I look up and see it a few buoys away. A few minutes later it's still a few buoys away. I hate when that happens. I lost count after three, so I have no idea how many buoys have gone by. Eventually, we round the boat, head for the next boat 100 yards away, then turn for home. I check my watch.. Fifty-five minutes and change. Cool. Way ahead of schedule. I'll have to find my "draftee" and thank her later. While I was out there congratulating myself on the wonderful swim, I somehow lose my "draftee". I still had about 1900 meters to go. Drat! I'm on my own now. After a little while, I started looking up to find the King Kam Hotel where the transition is. I found it, but only when I looked while I was on top of a swell. Between swells, I couldn't even see land. Closing in on the pier I passed a couple of other swimmers. Felt good. As I left the water I found out one of my victims was Bill Bell. Not much consolation passing a 77-year old, but at my speed, you gotta take what you can get.

Up to the shower and there's my volunteer waiting to help me with my wetsuit. Yes, I have my very own volunteer. Told you Sharon Ackles liked us PC athletes. A quick fresh water shower, on with my biking clothes, then off to my bike. Remember I did my "walk through" this morning? To help us late arrivals, they moved all the bikes up close to the tent, but I didn't know this. I went running up to the row where I left my bike, but no bike. I stood there for a second dumbfounded. I turned to a volunteer and said, "My bike is gone!" She turned me around to show me the row of bikes that were left. In my panic, I still had trouble finding my bike. They weren't in numerical order. Eventually (probably just a couple seconds that seemed like minutes) I found my bike and I was off.