Day 5 - Tuesday 8th October 2019
Another day in exotic
Hawaii began with an exotic fruit salad breakfast on the exotic lanai of the
exotic condo, in the exotic heat. Superb. Then a short drive along Ali’i Drive
towards the pier, for a swim. Ali’i Drive has been getting busier by the day
now. So many people out running and cycling. Things are gearing up. All the
expos are in full swing now. Most people are here by now. Big images of
previous champions have appeared along the finishing straight.
I had to decide which size
of swimskin I would use, and whether or not I would wear a tri top underneath
the swimskin or not. That was the goal of this morning’s swim. In the end, after swimming in various combinations of kit, I
decided on the medium-sized swim skin, with nothing underneath. The small was a
bit too tight. I’d put on the tri top and arm coolers in transition after using
the showers to rinse off the salt water, and then using the suncream volunteers
to suncream my entire body before putting on the tri top and jumping on the
bike. I also had a different pair of goggles on, which didn’t leak, which was
brilliant.
So, business done, the
others got in the water too. Natalie is a water baby, no problem. Deirdre a
little bit less so. And Steve, well, he’s a land-lubber. Can barely swim. He
had no choice though, you can’t come to Kona and not swim. The plan had been to
swim out to the BlueSeventy-sponsored coffee boat – you swim up, grab onto the
side of a boat moored maybe half a mile out to sea, and they give you free
coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker, but the others are.
Natalie was hugely excited
by the fish and was soon diving down with them. "Hellooooooo fishies!" Steve could barely swim, but
you can’t come to Kona and not swim with the fish, so I acted as his lifeboat,
dragging him out a bit and keeping him afloat. The bodyboards and flotation
“noodles” back in the condo would have been handy. In the end, we decided it
would be too much to swim a mile out and back to the coffee boat, but we’d had
a decent splash-about closer to shore.
A selfie taken 2 seconds too soon...
We got out, dried off and
headed for the Fish Hopper for brunch. It was just across the road. A great
location. My plan had been to order my food, and then head for registration in
the King K hotel a minute or two back towards the pier. I was keen to get this
done early in the week, to have it out of the way. But I had stupidly forgotten
to bring any identification with me, so I couldn’t register. Oh well. Back to
the fish hopper. But before the food arrived, I had arranged with another Team
Ireland competitor to meet and pick up our Team Ireland t-shirts.
A big banner at registration
The "name wall", on which are the names of all the competitors
All Team Ireland athletes
got a free t-shirt and I got some extras for the others. They were “necessary”
for the Parade of Nations that evening, so time was running out to actually get
hold of them! They would be a good souvenir. We had agreed to meet outside the
Lava Java bar/restaurant in two minutes. A 5-minute “sprint” later, and I was
sweating, thirsty, and standing outside Lava Java. Sheena arrived on her bike,
with the t-shirts. She was en route to the Queen K for a bike ride. It was good
to finally get the t-shirts as we had been trying on and off to meet up ever
since I’d arrived, but lack of wifi/phone signal when out and about made it
tricky.
I ran back to the Fish
Hopper. The others had pretty much finished their brunch. I demolished mine.
Then we headed back to the condo via a wander through the shops, markets and
expos. It was so hot. I got the bike ready. Although it was built, it wasn’t
yet race ready, so I sorted out my puncture repair tools, my frame storage
pouches, my water bottles, my computer and got it ready to race.
I planned to cycle out to
the scenic point along the Queen K. The others would drive out as well, and on
the way back they’d stop off at a beach. Then we’d meet back in the condo and
get ready for the Parade of Nations.
They thought they would
make it to the lookout point before me. I wasn’t so sure – they’d get slowed
down by all the traffic (vehicular and bikes and pedestrians/runners etc in
town). It was good to get onto the open road on the Queen K. I wasn’t pushing
too hard. A few surges here and there. It was warm, of course, but cycling
along at 20-25mph you get a breeze. It was a smooth road. So smooth. About as
different from the Ironman UK bike as it could possibly be.
The Queen K, northbound!
The scenic lookout point - the bike course goes away beyond the
headland in the distance
I passed a few cyclists.
Saw quite a few heading back towards town. My arm “coolers” were useless, as my
arms were uncomfortably warm with the, on. I had a different pair which I’d
trial another day. I made it to the lookout point before the wagon did. Got
chatting to a pair from California who had also stopped. They were here to
support, not to compete. Then the wagon trundled in. Getting out of town had
indeed taken a while. They had decided not to bother going to a beach on the
way back, as time was (yet again) running out and the Parade of Nations would
wait for no beachgoer…
I fuelled up with a couple
of gels and energy sweets and headed back. It was such a smooth road. It wasn’t
even too windy. The crosswinds are notorious along the Queen K, but today
seemed fine. Great views of the ocean off to the right. Slicing through the
lava fields. As I approached the airport, with 10 miles left to go, I started
to wish I was finished. I’d done enough. Compared to Ironman UK, this was flat,
but there were undulations which all added up. I was glad to reach Palani and
freewheeled down to the pier, then cruised along Ali’i Drive.
You hear stories
every year of people who crash in training while on Hawaii. I was extra-careful
on Ali-I drive. It was busy. Cars, runners, bikes, people. It’s a narrow road.
Just go with the flow, don’t overtake, don’t undertake. Just get back in one
piece. I saw some crazy cycling on very expensive bikes, weaving in and out of
traffic, so risky. Not worth it.
Deirdre had picked up a couple of free "Today's Plan" Kona t-shirts. Result! Time was tight, so after a
quick shower and donning of our Team Ireland t-shirts, we were back in the
wagon to get as close to the King K hotel and parade start as possible. The car
parks were busy. We got into one with a 2-hour limit and soon found the rest of
Team Ireland. Nations were lined up alphabetically. Some countries had big
numbers – the USA obviously, Germany, the UK. Some were tiny. One or two Indians.
A handful of Israelis. A few from Iceland. All with incredible stories I’m
sure. There were (I think) 22 competitors from Ireland. The atmosphere was
brilliant. We paraded maybe half a mile from the King K hotel along Ali-I drive
to the main Ironman village/expo at the Hualalai junction. So many people were
lining the roads, clapping and cheering.
"Team Ireland"!
There are around 5000
volunteers who make this race happen every year, and many of them fly in from
various places outside Hawaii. I’m sure a lot of them were lining the roadside.
People cheering from the restaurants. Music playing, announcers announcing each
of the nations. Great fun. It was good to meet some of the others from Team
Ireland. It was also good to finally see June and Stephen again (who I’d met in
South Africa last year). June took a podium in her age group out in South
Africa (female 60-64) and probably would be well up there on Saturday as well.
It’s funny how things pan
out. I’d had a disastrous race in the heat of the Edinburgh half ironman in 2018.
I didn’t manage to qualify for the half Ironman world championships in Nice in
2019, but I did get a qualifying slot for the half ironman world championships
in South Africa in 2018. Had I not had the issues I’d had in Edinburgh, I
wouldn’t have learned how to cope with heat. Had I not had the mechanical
issues I’d had in South Africa, I wouldn’t have changed my bike strategy (tone
down the bike, freewheel as much as possible, and be better positioned for a
better run), and meeting June, Stephen and Nakita in South Africa was
inspirational. Had I qualified for the Nice half ironman worlds in 2019, I
wouldn’t have done Ironman UK in 2019 and I wouldn’t have qualified for Kona.
The fantastic June and Stephen
Somehow, a convertible car
had gatecrashed the parade. The guys in it meant no harm, and they cruised
along slowly behind Team Ireland, beeping the horn and having a laugh. One of
the Irish guys climbed up onto the car with an Irish flag and was driven along
to huge cheers. Superb. Frequently asked questions included “Where are you from?
Where did you qualify? Is it your first time here?” It was exciting, global,
international stuff. The pinnacle of triathlon. The pinnacle of endurance
sport. The best of the best. And there I was wandering about among it all… At
the end of the parade, the GU energy gel company was giving out free ice cream
and waffles, with the sun setting over the ocean. It was magic.
"Iron man"... the thumbs up with little finger out is another
Hawaiian/Kona thing, often done when waggling the wrist
Some of Team Ireland with some famous faces
More of Team Ireland
We had a quick wander
around the Ironman village. So much technology was on show. Bikes that were
more like scythes. “Endless” pools for home swimming. Recovery trousers.
Swimskins. Various nutrition and hydration products. Clothing. Where will it
all end? I wonder what the likes of Dave Scott make of all this? Back then they
just raced like hell. Now there’s all manner of technology to invest in and
use. I’m glad I’ve qualified now, with what I have. Adequate but not
extravagant kit. It may get to the point where the likes of me (who’s just
about good enough to qualify, as opposed to someone who’s good enough to easily
race sub-9 hours), might not be able to qualify unless we have the money to
keep up with the “arms race” of never-ending technological development.
When it was over, it almost
seemed like we should go to the pub. But we couldn’t. Or, I couldn't. Race day was getting
closer. We needed dinner. So we headed back and catered well for ourselves.
Stir-fry, down at the oceanfront, in shorts and t-shirt. It did very nicely.
With no official ironman obligations tomorrow, we had a fairly free day. So we
had a chat about plans.
Leis in our hall
Team Ireland doing the business
A proper snorkelling trip
was high on the agenda. We looked at going to the bay at Captain Cook, but the
cost of the boat trip and the difficulty in accessing the bay ourselves over
land meant we agreed to head to Kahalu’u Bay, a short car trip south. It was
also well-known for snorkelling, it marked the southernmost Ironman marathon
turning point, and was right beside St Peter’s-by-the-sea, a picturesque
church, and also a sacred traditional Hawaiian ground next to the church, both
of which I was keen to see. Mark Allen had made offerings there prior to the
1989 “Ironwar” race, the year he won it for the first time. I was keen to see
it all. I wonder what I’d have to offer to win the race…
We also decided that after
snorkelling, we would drive on around the south coast to the east side of the
island and spend some time at Volcano National Park, before heading home,
making dinner and getting an early night before the famous (infamous?!)
Underpants Run early the following morning. It would be a busy day, but
hopefully a good day, and there wouldn’t really be any other opportunity to get
over to Volcano…
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