Aloha again Friends and Family,
Thank you so much for all your prayers, good wishes, and fast vibes on race day, they certainly paid off and I can't begin to tell you how appreciative I am. Meredith and I had a purely relaxing first week on the island of Kauai that set the stage for a stress-free pre-race week on the Big Island in Kona. I honestly can't think of a better place to taper. Not only is Kauai beautiful, lush, tropical, & laid-back, but we grew quite fond of its many roosters and amused at its many Subway sandwich shops. Highlights there included gorgeous hikes, a remote beach right out our front door, hearing the surf break all d ay and night, and a helicopter tour of the island.
Kona, during the week of the Ironman, is simply a bustling town of nervous-energy, participants and supporters seemingly swimming, cycling, and running from dawn til dusk, and eager anticipation of months and years of training and dreaming coming to a close. The race volunteers all week long were incredible, and the event was so professionally run and organized. Joining Meredith and me in Kona were my parents Peter and Barbara, Aunt Anne, and my sister Nicole who was also there attending the annual Sports Medicine Conference. They got to do all the fun stuff (scuba diving with manta rays at night, volcano tour, kayaking, snorkeling, etc). All I got to do was sit poolside, rest my legs, and stay well fueled. Tough task but I was up for it. Meredith, Aunt Anne, and I did get to tour the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority on Thursday on the way back from driving the bike and run course and that was pretty neat. The facility uses the pristine supplies of warm surface and cold deep seawater for leading edge research, education, and commercial enterprises. http://www.nelha.org/ Meredith and I attended the pre-race meeting Wednesday afternoon in the back parking lot (i.e tennis courts) of the King K hotel. I hope no one wanted to play tennis this week. Seems that the bigger the race the shorter and simpler the race meetings are. "First you swim, then you bike, then you run. Any questions?" Got to meet up with our Austin friends and training partners there as well. We also attended the Carbo-Loading Party on Thursday night, again at the King K hotel tennis courts. Great food, lots of people, and a pretty good presentation w/ native dancers, spears, fire, video, etc. Friday was bike and gear check-in and that was really fun to see ALL the bikes lined up ready to race. Volunteers checked our bikes and helmets pretty thorough ly for safety, and then we walked past Dan Empfield and the Slowtwitch.com table that was compiling statistics on what bikes/aerobars/wheels/etc were being used. Now I know how cattle at auction must feel. The Litespeed/American Bicycle Group rep Herbert was also there to hand out titanium bottle openers engraved with "Kona 2005" to riders on Litespeed/Quintana Roo/ABG machines so that was nice to get. Very cool.
Race day came quickly, and we were treated to near-perfect race conditions. Gentle winds with temperatures in the mid 80s. The swim start was much less crowded than I expected, which I attribute to the wide starting area, and the swells and current seemed to pick up after the swim turnaround. The bike course out on the Queen K highway and beyond must be some of the smoothest asphalt known to man, so I was actually able to enjoy watching the professional field roar down from the bike turnaround at Hawi at mile 60. Miles 60 to about 100 I kept anticipating the infamous head and crosswinds to rear their ugly heads, but they never did. Riding into the transition area I couldn't help but think that I won't have to get on my bike if I don't want to until at least January! The run went amazingly well, and I was thankful for wearing my Garmin GPS Forerunner to show me what pace I was running right out of the gate (too fast). Perception of pace is a bit skewed when getting passed left and right. The section from town out to the Energy Lab seemed to take forever, and the section inside the Energy Lab seemed to be much shorter than expected. The last six miles was all that a well-paced marathon should be: progressively getting faster and faster until the finish. Ultimately, the Lord willed, I just had to put one foot in front of the other. Reaching the plush Wear-Dated blue carpet on Alii Drive felt great on my feet, and even better on my hands after 10 pushups + 1 for the Ranger god. They must put carpet padding underneath it. A slow satisfying walk across the finish line allowed me to briefly savor the moment and emotions of a well fought day, before the madness of finish line volunteers and activities descended upon me. Meredith was there to greet me, and to her and for her support I'm indebted for life. Parents, and Aunt, and sister joined us in the post-race area for photos, receipt of finisher's medal and T-shirt, Domino's pizza, and little ice cream cups with the wooden spoons. Sitting down never felt so good. Can't get much better than this!
After dinner and a shower, Meredith, Nicole, and I went back to the finish line area to watch and cheer on the last 2 hours of finishers. What a party with tons of energy and support. Two 24oz Bud Light cans went down pretty smoothly too. Sunday night we attended the Awards Party, again at the King K hotel tennis courts. More native dancers, good food, beer, videos, etc. Not surprisingly, the nervous energy so evident on the island the week before the race had vanished. Wow, it's really over.
There are many funny and inspiring stories left to tell: Meredith and her adventures with her rent-a-bike, especially riding with defending champion Normann Stadler or at least being stopped at a light with him; finding "the shit that will kill them" in the Energy Lab; and on raceday having a memorable run draft and exchange with a German woman, who is likely still cursing me! But what are memories, if there is not always one left to share....
split times and watch me finish!! (fast forward until the clock reaches 10:02:44)
Until the next time, Mahalo and Aloha!
Paul