Training in Kona, Monday and Tuesday

Yesterday I swam the course. It took about 2 hours and it was a very enjoyable experience. As far as actually swimming, 2.5 miles in a single loop course in the ocean is way way longer than the same distance in the pool. I have learned some new skills and honed some old ones. It really is helpful to be able to alternate breathe because the current comes across your body so it is better to breathe away from the surges. As the swells come at you it takes some getting used to bobbing up and down, coordinating your breathing so you don't suck up a lot of water and to time your sightings. Several times I would try to sight but at the bottom of the trough and couldn't see anything. Consequently I spent more time sighting than I wanted and it took more effort than I wanted to make. On the way back it has more of an impact on you. I got off line a few times. Now the good thing about the swim is that it is just like being in an aquarium. There are so many beautiful fish, many colors and sizes, schools swimming right below you. The sea floor is either sand or layers of coral. There are several types of brain-like coral and many sea urchins. It is not a good idea to step on those. To some however they are a delicacy. When you climb down the stairs at Dig Me beach, I have no idea where the name comes from, it is sandy and calm in the morning, no beach and high tide in the afternoon. You walk into a brisk 70's ish water, put on your goggles and swim cap if you wear one and off you go. There is a single line of orange buoys leading out approximately 1.5 miles, at which point you turn around and swim back. You are several hundred yards from the shore. The water ranges from knee deep to what appears to be 20 to 30 feet deep. The water color is mostly green in shallow water but as the water gets deeper it gets blue. You can see for quite a ways but as the water gets deeper you lose sight of the bottom and it can be a bit disorienting.  I like swimming over the coral parts because there tend to be more reference points and fish. All and all if you don't let the distance from shore get to you or the fact that you can see so much under water, if you are patient and swim a good line, you can really enjoy this part of the race.

Today I went for a partial ride on the course, mostly around Kailua town, then out to the Energy Lab road which is just about a mile south of the airport. I was on the road about an hour and covered 16 miles. The first thing you notice is that the shoulders are nice and wide. Also the surface is quite smooth. When you come to intersections you are told by signage to move across to the bike lane and cars making right turns are to yield to the crossing cyclists. This works really good except for the occasional impatient driver. I rode about 10:00 a.m. and it was already quite warm, so I started to sweat and hydrate quickly. The quality of the road helps minimize the work and the wide shoulders let you concentrate on your aero position. After the turn around I did notice some headwind and slowed, but I think it will be alright at that point during the race. As I have talked with race veterans, the wind at the north part of the course is still very strong and will make the ride difficult there. Another veteran warned that the decent from Hawi can be difficult and in order to maximize brake use, riders definitely get out of the aero position. Thinking about heading out that way Wednesday and riding a bit of the course at that end. I have to wait and see if I have transportation because I don't want to ride too far or too hard so close to race day. I've been told that it is helpful. I think about it tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I have on the calendar: swim in the morning, then athlete registration, after that a focus group, and hopefully some food. Then off to a nap in the afternoon and close with a short run in the heat.

This evening I, along with Maureen, Charlotte and Bob, attended the Irongent Ironwomen dinner which has been a tradition for a couple of decades. It is a dinner for all racers who are 60 and older. When this dinner there only a handful of people in attendance, this year's race has over 130 entrants who qualify for the dinner, 4 of whom are 80 or older. Part of the festivities included talks by Mike Riley the voice of Ironman, and Lew Hollander, 81 years young, starting his 22nd Ironman Hawaii in a row. Also all of the racers were asked to speak. It is inspirational to see how many seniors who have completed multiple Ironman races. If you want to see how many there are just take a look at the bib number list, and look at the lower numbers around 200 and that is where you will find the seniors. You can see their names, ages, and country. I got to speak with several of these senior statesmen and they all say, keep on doing triathlon. One who was a retired MD said running is the best for you knees, he was 81. There you go, amazing. There also six lottery winners at the dinner, including yours truly. It was a great evening at the King Kamehameha Hotel, good food, good people, good times.

One of the secrets shared included from Lew, "do something anaerobic every day." Hope you are loving what you're doing today, we are totally loving it here. More to come so, a hui hou, and I hope to see you on the road