Day 2: Saturday 5th October 2019
I slept pretty well and woke up for breakfast. For such
a cheap motel, it was surprisingly good. Porridge (or oatmeal as they call it),
waffles, fruit, cereal, juices, toast, pastries. I ate well and pilfered a few
bits and pieces to help get me to Kona. I had a quick shower and jumped on the
shuttle bus back to the airport. The driver decided to discuss my breakfast in
detail. He approved. He knew his stuff. “You gotcha fibres, you gotcha
proteins, you gotcha carbs, you gotcha fats, you gotcha fruits, you gotcha good
diet…”
Check-in with the bike was easy (apart from paying up
the $100 bike fee), but waiting for the plane, despite it being only
mid-morning, I was tired and stale. I needed to go for a run or a swim or
something. But I had a 6-hour flight to endure. I sat beside a vacationing
family. There weren’t as many Ironman people on board as I thought there might
be. There was nothing to see. Just blue ocean. Again I had 3 meals and plenty
of water and walks around the cabin.
We approached Hawaii. The Big Island. Not unlike
Tenerife. Volcanic. The highest volcano sticking above the clouds, most of the
island covered by cloud, then the coastal areas clear again. We swooped down
with the Queen K highway (the main north-south west-coastal road on the island
along which the Ironman bike and run routes go), we flew low over the lava
fields, the lava flows obvious, over some white sandy beaches, and down until
the black/brown lava gave way to runway and we were down. Kona!
Spot the difference between the business-class toilet...
...and the standard-class toilet...? All that extra money for a flower...
I got told off for using the flower toilet
We got off the plane on to the tarmac. I was hit by a
fairly fierce blast of humid heat and wind. I couldn’t help it – “woooo
hoooooooo!” I were here! It was so hot. Pretty windy too. An open-air airport meant there
was no respite from the heat. Everyone was soon sweating. I was pleased to note
I wasn’t (yet). The bike arrived. Another wooo-hooo moment. Then off to pick up
the rental car.
I had booked a mid-sized standard car. $300 for 10 days.
The guy saw my luggage, and I told him I’d soon have 3 others arriving with
luggage. So he said he would try to find me a bigger car. His name was Patrick.
Maybe he had Irish connections. He offered me a massive wagon. I had to ask:
“How much?” “$900…” I told him I literally couldn’t be paying that much, and he
again said he’d see what he could do. He came back. “$300. No extra charge.”
Sweeeeet, thanks! It was covered in scratches but he said my insurance meant I
had zero liability.
"Aloha" is a word used a lot in Hawaii. The short, easy translation is "hello."
For a more detailed description, here is a video 6-time Ironman world champion
Mark Allen giving a speech at an Ironman banquet, on what Aloha really means:
So I loaded up the car, got the air conditioning going
full blast, and hit the road for Kona and Casa de Emdeko, where we’d be
staying. I didn’t need any sat-nav or directions. I already knew the way inside
out and back to front from all my years of watching Kona videos and race
highlights. Out of the airport, turn right along the Queen K highway, 5-6 miles
towards Kailua-Kona, turn right down Palani hill, get to the waterfront and the
pier and the King K hotel, turn left along the famous Ali’i drive (pronounced
“a-LEE-hee”), where the race finishes, drive south along Ali’i for a few miles
along the marathon course, and Casa de Emdeko would be on the right by the
ocean.
It was as easy as that. It was surprisingly emotional. I
wondered if I’d get emotional at the race start or finish, but I didn’t expect
to be emotional on the drive to the accommodation. The sun was out, the air
conditioning was on, everything was here in one piece – myself, my luggage, my
bike, the car was good, a big automatic, easy to drive, the tunes were good on
the radio. Finally I was here in Kona. Driving along the Queen K. The volcano
up to the left. The Pacific ocean to the right. Lava fields all around. I’d
seen it all a million times before on a TV screen or laptop screen or mobile
phone screen, I’d read about it a million times, thought about it basically
non-stop for 10 years, how can I qualify for Kona, and now finally I was here.
The Queen K! I was nearly in tears.
Then Palani! When you’re leaving town, Palani is uphill
to the Queen K. I drove down Palani. It was far steeper than I thought it would
be. Then “Hot Corner” – the intersection of Palani and the Kuakini highway,
where the bike and run routes pass several times. Then the ocean. The pier. The
swim start. The King K hotel. Ali’i drive. F*ck me I am here and this is real.
It looked amazing on TV and it looked a million times better in real life. Blue
flat calm ocean. Palm trees. Oceanfront bars and restaurants. Athletes already
in town running and cycling. The big Banyan tree. The sea wall. Incredible. I
was in tears by this point, wondering if I should stop the car.
Not even two miles along Ali’i Drive and I came to Casa
de Emdeko. The gate passcode didn’t work but an Aussie ironman told me the new
code and I was soon unloading gear into Condo 111, thankfully on the ground
floor. It was superb accommodation. Two big bedrooms, with ensuite, with
bodyboards, with a massive living/kitchen area, a massive “lanai” (Hawaiian for
balcony), and with the air conditioning going full blast.
I was excited. I didn’t know what to do. I had to go back to the
airport later than evening to pick Deirdre up. Steve and Natalie would arrive a
couple of days later. At this point, properly unpacking and then properly eating would have
been sensible. The sensible instincts lasted long enough to open my suitcase
and make a mess with all the contents. I had a message from June (also from N.Ireland, who I met in
South Africa, who had arrived to Kona a few days earlier). She said “welcome, take it
easy, rest and relax for a few days, break yourself in gently!” Good advice. I
messaged her back: “I’m away for a run!” “You’re mad!” “Only a short one…”
I had to get out. Had to do some exercise. Had to see
this place! I’d figure out food and unpacking and where the accommodation
swimming pool was and all the rest of it later. I ran back along Ali’i drive to
the pier. Stopped to take photographs. It was class. Hot. With it only being Saturday,
and race day still being a week away, I got the sense that things hadn’t yet
really hit top gear in and around Kona. That would come next week. The ocean
looked amazing. Everything looked amazing. All the iconic restaurants and bars:
Huggo’s, Lava Java, Splasher’s. Palm trees. Heat. Waves. Heat. Runners. Heat.
Cyclists. Heat. A massive cruise ship. I ran up onto the pier. Saw the little
bit of sand underneath known as “Dig Me Beach”, and the steps down to the swim
course. Plenty of swimmers. Saw the beach and luau grounds on the far side of
the pier.
The water changed colour depending on the time of day. This was just before sunset
"Official swim start and run finish, Ironman triathlon world championship"
I ran past the big sign that everyone can sign...
...and of course I stopped to sign it
I decided to run round the far side of town to the old
airport recreation ground to watch the sunset. This was turning into a long
enough run… The sunset was great, then I headed for home, maybe 3-4 miles away.
It got dark very quickly. 80 minutes later and I was back (albeit with plenty
of photo stops). Casa de Emdeko was a little bit beyond all the action on the
main bit of Ali’i drive, and there were no restaurants nearby. There was a
little shop and I cobbled together a dinner of toast, tuna, peppers and Korean
seaweed. It all did the job really well, then I tried to get as much unpacked
and put away as possible. The bike could wait for another day or two yet.
It was the last big boat I'd see in the vicinity of the pier.
They must have been banned during Ironman week.
Hulihe'e palace, an old colonial building.
The Hawaiian state flag features the union jack.
There's a monument to Captain Cook who was murdered
not far away by a native.
One of the pools at the accommodation...
Unpacking done, it was off to the airport again to pick
Deirdre up, give her a lei, followed by an early night. What was 10pm in Kona felt much, much
later. With the way the jetlag is, most people travelling from Europe to Kona
end up going to bed early and waking up early. That works, because the sun sets
just after 6pm, and rises just after 6am. So if you can get up early, you can
get a swim (or a run) done before the serious heat of the day arrives. And
getting up early means you’re used to getting up early, which is helpful on
race day when you have to get up very early…
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