|
|
Pre-Race DiaryDay 1: Saturday, October 16, 1999 Rolled into Oahu a little bit early. Had a chance to catch an early flight but was worried that my bags wouldn’t make it. Decided to hang out in the waiting lounge and type up some initial thoughts about the trip. Customs clearance was the easiest that I have ever experienced. I had several people come up and help me with instructions and I didn’t even have to bring my bags from the Int’l terminal to the InterIsland terminal. The customs guys were really friendly as well. I guess that this assignment is a good one for them! Humidity seemed a little higher than Hong Kong but the temperature was cooler. I am looking forward to spending some time outside this afternoon to see what running is going to be like. I have a bike ride planned for today as well. Fingers crossed that my bike will make it! Last time I took a short hop flight (Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu), the bike case wouldn’t fit on the plane. My bike arrived in the middle of the night, five hours before the race start. This time I have allowed a little slack for errors. Even the background music is Hawaiian. It is kind of cute. I wonder if the effect wears off after a while. Feeling pretty hungry but the only option is Burger King so I will hold out until arrival in Kona. I should have planned ahead and stashed a few powerbars in my bag. Poor planning on my part. Feeling a little dazed from a lack of sleep but the change is about six hours so I should be able to manage. Slept the whole way from Tokyo after dinner. Made it to Kona and my bike also came through without a hitch. That is the first time I have made a three leg journey without losing my bike. A good omen. Grabbed a Chevy Blazer at the rental agency. It was the last one on the lot. Must be a peak week for them in Kona. Stopped by B&L Bike on my way to the hotel. Bought some CO2 cartridges and a Lava Belt (hydration belt). Seeing as I have trouble with orange Gatorade and that is all they are serving on the run, I thought that I would carry leppin squeezies and drink mainly water. It is six o’clock and already getting quite dim. Looks like an 11:21 will mean that I am pretty much in the dark for the photo. I am sitting on the porch watching the sun go down and listening to the waves. It is very peaceful here with a light breeze and cool temperatures. Some thoughts on the heat. In the direct sun it is real hot from 11-3 in the afternoon. On the bike, late afternoon, it is hot but nice even in the direct sun. I imagine that running in the afternoon is a killer. The humidity is noticeable but, once it warms up, not as much as Hong Kong. My ride was fantastic. Climbed a little above Kona and was able to look down on the town. Then rolled out past the airport down the Queen K for a few miles. I started to get quite hot and realised that there must be a fair tailwind going as there was zero breeze and I was riding in my big chain ring. Decided to turnaround early and "boom", ggwelcome to Kona. The wind wasn’t too bad as it was steady and pretty much head-on. However, I can see how several hours of winds would wear you down and give extra fatigue. A few clouds floated over during the afternoon and I said a silent prayer for them to come back when I am running in a week’s time. Lots of folks out riding. Almost all are looking quite fit and ready for action. Even the old folks that I saw were pretty honed. Many flowers are out and the vegetation is quite similar to Hong Kong. Tropical pine trees and bougainvillea in a wide variety of colours. Real clean air and wide shoulders on the roads. It was so beautiful that, towards the end of my ride, I even stopped to savour the view. Great place and I am glad that my hotel is out of the action. I have arrived in triathlete heaven. Looking forward to checking out the water tomorrow.
Woke up this morning and looked out the window to see that it was really cloudy. I was also pretty cold sitting under the fan. That got me thinking that it isn't always roasting hot. Had an easy breakfast, screened up and headed out the door for my Sunday run. Started running at 8:45 a.m. and noticed that once the sun comes up behind the volcano, the morning clouds get burnt off pretty fast. Even that early, it is very hot when directly in the sun. Running in the shade and under the clouds it is very pleasant. However, there isn't much in the way of shade. Ran down Alii Drive and got to see the spot where PNF passed Karen Smyers a few years ago. Like Karen, I was running in the shade and avoiding the sun. I also saw the little Catholic Church, St. Peter's, that they used in the TV broadcast. That was also very cool. The water is dark blue and there is always some sort of breeze blowing. Makes it a refreshing situation and if you concentrate you can focus on the relaxing scene around you rather than the heat of the sun. I think that all that must change when you leave town and head to the lava fields. I was only running for sixty minutes so I didn't get to experience running the lava fields, just the relaxation of running close to the water. I think that I also ran up the steep hill that is on the way to the Pit. I am not sure but I think that my hotel is near the Pit. Ian gets here in two days and he can explain the course layout to me. The beauty of the islands is everywhere. Lots of little birds flying around the trees. After less than twenty-four hours I can see why everyone talks about the power of the course. The heat, the wind, the water, the natural beauty make for a fantastic race venue. Headed into Kona town and did a little bit of shopping. Just like everyone said, there were several folks out shopping in their Speedo's. One guy even had a matching skin tight lycra top! The clouds came back and the humdity rose. I checked out the swim start and was a bit surprised to see that it is quite a narrow start area. Nothing at all like the huge amount of space in Canada. Think I will need to be WELL back to avoid the traditional freak out session. Off for a dip later this afternoon. I went to a gym and bought some supplements. I was wearing my super loud lightweight Thai trousers and the lady offered to swap the supplements for my trousers. I was flattered but declined. In two hours in town, I had three comments on my trousers, all from women, yet another example of triathlete heaven. Scored some velcro for attaching my race number and now am ready to rock. Just got back from my swim. No sign of any sharks but a few hardbodies! The water had a few swells rolling across the course but nothing was breaking so it was still easy to breathe. The water is nice and cool. No danger of overheating. I am now leaning very heavily towards blowing off the Speedo and going for a one piece. Swimming out the water is about ten feet deep and there are lots of small fish cruising around the coral. I saw red, blue and green fish. Very cool. Navigation was a bit tough with the swells but reasonable. On race day there will be so many bodies that heading out won't be an issue. Aiming for one of the radio towers that stick up behind the pier helps navigation on the way back. I was only supposed to do thirty minutes but there was this lady from California and it would have been impolite to let her swim alone. So I did and extra thousand meters. The water is so clear that I could watch myself get dropped from up to twenty feet away. This was without the sun shining. On a bright day it must be even better. I met a couple from Switzerland while out in the water. They had done IM Switzerland and had decided to come water the race live. This was their first swim in the ocean and I think that they enjoyed it (I kept quiet about our dorsal finned friends). Heading back to the pier with a Tri-goddess on either side I thought to myself that this tri-heaven thing seems to be fairly consistent. We got back, dried off, had a chat and I headed back home. It was quite dark and cool. All of a sudden the skies opened and a shower rained down. It was 4:30 p.m., and once again I prayed that the clouds would come back in six days time.
Apparently, there is a cold front offshore that could bring a lot of rain and clouds over the next few days. No sign of the rain but there are quite a few clouds around. I went for a ride out towards Hawi this morning. I didn't make it all the way into town. Had a little trouble with the miles to kilometers conversion and didn't want to ride longer than my allotted 90 minutes. The rollers on the way to Hawi are quite pleasant (not in a race, taking your time and with no headwind). I cycled along checking out the water and looking at the scorched earth around me. There may have even been a slight tailwind. The quality of the roads is excellent and this makes a refreshing change from Hong Kong. The shoulders are huge with three to six feet of room. On the ride, I had the opportunity to make an offering to the flat Gods. I came across a guy with a blowout and his spare tube had a puncture as well. I always carry two and offered him my spare. He was grateful and I felt good having the chance to do my good deed of the day. After my ride I headed back to town and the King K Hotel from registration pack pick up. I was in and out of there in less than fifteen minutes, including a trip to the Ironman Office to grab some extra carbo-load and awards dinner tickets. They were already selling ticket number 1382! Man they sellout fast. The lady said that all the tickets would be gone by tomorrow. Headed up to B&L bike, where I dropped a few bucks buying new tubulars, a disc wheel and a Hed J2. The disc is for IMOz in the spring and the J2 is for racing. I wanted to go with a Rolf Vector Pro but I had heard that there was some problem with the rims (on the 650) and the wheel was being redesigned. The guys said that the new design should be ready at the end of the year. Well that can wait for next time. By now, I had some serious hunger going and headed back home for a snack. Played with my gear for a little bit and then started to get ready for my second round of shark dodge 'em.
Back from my afternoon swim. No tri-babes this time but I did run into a guy out there that asked me if I had heard anything else about the shark attack (great ice breaker when you are a half a mile from shore). With that I said that pointed him in the right direction and headed back (perhaps this was an attempt to convince me to go further so he could have some additional shark bait). Anyhow, it was another excellent swim. As an added bonus I saw a sea snake when I got back to the beach. The town is now quite full of people. Ian and Nicole arrive in the morning and I am looking forward to a bit of company. Two days without talking much, I will have to take it easy on them.
What a day so far! Things just keep getting better here in Triathlete Heaven. Woke up this morning after another very restful night. Had a quick breakfast and headed to the airport to pick up Ian and Nicole. At the airport I met Manabo and Keiko. They are Japanese. Manabo is the guy that finished Lake Placid after breaking his toe on the bike ride. Imagine running a marathon with a broken toe. Hardcore dude. Hawaii will be his 10th or 11th Ironman. Keiko will be doing her eighth IM of the year on Saturday. Last year she did every IM (all of them). They are promoting IMAsia. A new IM race that will be held in Cheju, Korea in July 2000 (you heard it here first). Manabo is the race director and he says that they will have 100 slots. They are going to fill the void left by IMJapan. Should be a lot of fast Japanese there. Ocean swim, one loop bike, two or three loop run. They had t-shirts for the race and gave me one. Great deal! More free stuff. The shirts are cool with the yin/yang symbol used for the dot on the M-dot. Jim, Manabo wants you to come and do IMAsia. I told him about the baby and he said that it is okay to bring along the kid. Nicole wanted to get her goodie bag so we went straight to registration. Way cool. Sian and Greg Welch getting interviewed. Karen Smyers hanging out and a large collection of very honed looking athletes. After getting the goodie bags, we wandered over to the pier to check out the swim start and exit. As we wandered past the outdoor showers, Nicole made the point that this would be a good place to be a single lady. Ian took this comment as well as could be expected. A cup of coffee for Nicole and we were off home for a little lunch and bike assembly. After lunch, it was time for my workout. 45:30 brick. I rode down to the Kona Surf to check out T2. Still haven't figured out the whole bike course but I am getting close. There is an evil hill on the way out of T2. It was overcast so the heat was not too bad. Rode down to the Pit and could see how if would be a killer on a hot day. There are lava cliffs on the volcano side and heavy trees/bush on the Ocean side. Without the sun it was quite pleasant. In the sun, it would be a nightmare. From the Pit I headed back to Alii Drive. Hardbodies were everywhere. I saw Hellriegel cranking out a few miles. He had his shirt off. He is actually not so much skinny as he is lean. He appears bigger in real life than in the photos. Saw some Northern European women who were built like Norse Goddesses. One must have been close to six feet tall with a washboard stomach and a very powerful build. I didn't know that people could actually look like Heavy Metal album covers, amazing. I managed to get a smile out of her so it was good to see that she was friendly. Got back home and made a quick transition to running. A short run back over to the Pit but not all the way down. Some of the guys out running were hammering! Sweat pouring off them and puffing hard. I was taking it very easy. At the end of the run I came to the turn off for my road. At the top of the hill was Julie Moss and Mark Allen. Julie was driving and I managed to get a smile and a wave from her (just a nod from Mark). A very cool end to a great taper workout. A short swim is planned for this afternoon. Ian and Nicole are coming. Let's hope the sharks like dark meat! Our first shark sighting! Before we went to the swim, we were at Bike Works looking for a race wheel. Struck out big time but the owner offered to give Nicole a clincher clinic to increase her confidence on changing flats. At Bike Works, we saw Rob Parks. He got in last Thursday and is doing the Xterra race as well as IMH. He brought his mountain bike as well as his tri-bike. All we had planned was a short swim of thirty minutes. The waves were pretty high but only the occasional one was breaking. Swam straight out into the waves and was getting thrown around a bit but not minding too much. Ian was doing more sightseeing than swimming (still kicking my butt). We got about 500 meters offshore and Ian asked if I saw the shark. Shark? I said with my heart speed increasing. Turned out that it was only a small shark but we still had our first confirmed sighting. There was a guy twenty feet away from Ian with his head down and somehow he heard Ian mention shark. His head popped up in a hurry. He was going to swim farther but turned around when we headed back to shore, law of averages. Showered off after the swim and hung out for a while. We went to B&L bike and managed to get a race wheel for Nicole. We spent more than an hour in the bike store, chatting with the guys and checking out kit. I made my last race purchases and now have everything that I need, I think. A long grocery shop and now we are back at home with Coach Rayson cooking dinner. It is nice to have some company. I especially like the fact that the company can cook! Marlin steaks and a nice glass of Californian wine. Life is good.
Today is going to be a great day. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and glanced outside to window to see No Rain! However, it looks like that whatever blew the rain away is also blowing the palm trees around. Just like a few days ago the early morning temperature is perfect. Went for a very short spin this morning to check out my bike (around the parking lot). My bike appears to be in good shape after a bit of a scare last night at the bike store. The guys at B&L were great and spent over an hour sorting out my cables. I have my bike number on my KM40 and she looks road ready. I bought a Hed J2 for the front and hope that it is OK in the crosswinds. No much point in worrying. The decision has been made. Out in the parking lot, I saw a lady with a Kestrel with a CX/Deep set-up. That's what I rode in Canada but I was scared to run the CX out here due to the crosswinds. Julie Moss was coming in from a run and said good morning. My tri-hero is staying very close! The taper schedule says, "do nothing today" so we are going to drive up to Hawi and check out the bike course. Ian is going to bring his bike and ride back from Hawi. I hope that the winds are blowing in the standard direction for him. The ride to Hawi was long but not too hot. The conditions were pretty reasonable with a fair amount of cloud cover. We dropped Ian and the turnaround so he could ride back to town. He was pretty psyched about getting a decent ride (yesterday's rain was a big disappointment for him). Note to those that don't know: Ian isn't racing. The wind was pretty serious around Hawi and it will be a screamer coming down the descent. There is a slight left turn towards the bottom that brings the wind around to your rear quarter and that must be where folks get blown off their bikes. At this stage, the wind was really screaming. We pulled over to take some photos of Ian and I had a tough time getting my door open due to the wind. Ian flew by and said (with his usual understatement), "it is fairly windy out here". Fingers crossed that this was due to the fact that it was 2:15 p.m. Hopefully, it won't be as bad earlier in the day. Cruised back to town, ate some Raison Bran (more carbos) and will have a shower before heading over to the dinner. While waiting to leave we had a bit of a shock when Mark Allen walked over to out neighbour's place in running kit to go for a jog. Turns out that Scott Tinley is in the place next door. Too cool! We went to the carbo-load this evening and it was a lot of fun. Highlights included:
Less than 36 hours to show time!
Looks to be another great day. The weather is a mix of clouds and sun with a light breeze around Kona. Had a fantastic sleep last night and am feeling we rested. The bloat from all the food yesterday is gone and my energy level is high. I still feel a bit slow but that is probably from lack of training. Hopefully a 2.4 mile swim will be able to shake that feeling. Dad rolls into town in about 90 minutes and I will be heading out to the airport to pick him up. After that will be lunch followed by bike check-in. Then a short swim and back to the room to rest and eat a little dinner. My workout this morning was a 20 minute bike followed by a 10 minute run. I did them both at a low intensity. On the bike I met a guy from Arizona (Jim C) who also got here via a lottery slot. However, the slots rolled down past him in the Kailua-Kona 1/2 IM. This was his third IMH and he told me that my wheel set-up was a good one. Always nice to have someone with experience give a little additional comfort. Laid out my food bags for the halfway point of the run and bike. All I really need is more salt caps but I will throw in a few extra items just in case I feel like eating them. Well, I feel as ready as I could be. Not sure what the day will bring but there is nothing that I can do about it now. Should be a big day out. Picked up Dad without any problems. Turns out that his hotel is only a half a mile away from our place. Had a quick lunch and then headed into town for bike check. The line was huge but moved very fast. There was a guy in front of me with a really hot bike. I leaned over to Ian and said check out that hot bike. He asked me if I knew the guy and I said no. Turned out that it was Chris Legh, top Aussie triathlete. He is real tall and pretty good looking. He looks about 19 yrs old but is actually 26. After bike check, we went for a short swim and then headed to the wine store so Dad could purchase a couple of bottles of wine. Traffic through town was seriously busy and the town is now packed with both tourists and athletes. We got a top tip for dealing with having to pin the race number on all four corners for the run. Pin the run number upside-down on the backside of the bike number. When you get to T2, flip your race belt up and pin the top of the run number to your jersey. I wish I knew this one in advance. It would have saved my Velcro plan. Live and learn. We had our last little bit of stargazing. On the way back to the room we saw Paula Newby Fraser riding a mountain bike up the road. Surrounded by greatness! Not long until party time. gordo |