So, while I was writing up my report yesterday, Brad was hanging at White Sands beach. Jurgen was there, strapped up due to his broken collarbone. Brad starts shooting the breeze with Jurgen, apparently a true gent and one of the nicest guys you'll met. Jurgen was pretty accepting of his injury. Brad nearly picked up one of his own bodysurfing. The waves have a very short break on some of the beaches. If you don't hit it just right, you get flipped and slammed into the sand. Brad said that after four bodyslams, he called it a day.

I woke up early this morning (beat Brad and that takes some doing). A good sign as I am not whipped. With only seven hours of volume last week I would hope not! I am starting to feel more rested, and will be taking it real easy for the rest of the week as well. The distance is not as intimidating today as it was over the last few weeks.

We headed down to the pier again this morning. Many more people, but less "stars" than Sunday. Maybe the pros are going to ground. I decided to do

Swimming back in felt a lot quicker, but that was probably due to my mind wandering as the clouds cleared and the sun was able to light up the coral below me. The water in Kona is very cool. Visibility is limited by the amount of sunlight rather than the water quality. When the sun is shining you can easily see 40 feet. Silvery fish glitter below me. It's really cool, but my brain occasionally asks if one of those "glitters", might have a dorsal fin. No shark sightings today. No turtles even. Plenty of tropical fish of all shades and colours.

After registration we ran into Luke and Vangie Wimbush ("the tannest couple in Kona"). Luke was talking about how he is cold in the mornings, and it is not really hot during the day. Well, at 6'3" with 7% body fat, you would feel that way too! He's going to have a great day. Look for him on IronmanLive.Com

After we registered, we hit the airport to pick up Wim as well as enquire about return shipping my bike to

Later, we swung by B&L to drop off some goodies for the lads in the bike shop. They did an outstanding job on getting my bike ready and I wanted to say thanks. There were a few fast people in the shop - Peter Reid, looking very lean, Joanna Zeigler, looking very fit, and Troy Jacobson, looking ready to go. Troy used to coach me and we chatted a little about my upcoming year and the huge changes in my life over the last little while.

After my ride, a quick shower and then next door to the Seattle Tri Club BBQ. Met a few like minded individuals, have some beers and BBQ chicken breasts, and swap stories. I felt a little bad talking about triathlon the whole time, but then I realised that we were all triathletes and what else are we going to talk about. One of the guys wasn't a triathlete so we chatted about China.

And that's pretty much it. Fairly uneventful, but that's how I like my taper.

Short brick planned for tomorrow, and dinner with Joe Friel. I always like seeing Joe, so that should be the highlight of my day. We are going to eat out at the restaurant by the marina. Last year, Lori recommended it in the race program. I'll do some recon in the morning and make sure it's still open.

The Killer B

I almost forgot. To my pals on RST, you can get your legs waxed at Nail Trick in Kona, 329-8166. It's in the mall 2/3rds of the way up Palani Hill - south side near Longs Drugs.

Just tell them Gordo sent you.