Day Four....Almost Famous!

I woke up pretty early again...4:30ish. But, I was in bed before 9pm, so it's kind of expected. After some coffee and food, I headed out to the swim venue for a quick 20 minute swim. The swim venue has gotten more crowded by the day. Today seemed really crowded due to the fact that the bleachers for the race had been set up and there were groups of "cruise ship people" hanging around (most of these people should spend a little less time at the buffet). I met up with Matt Pokress and we headed out for a quick swim to the floating coffee bar with his wife Shay. Here's an okay picture of the floating bar...

During the swim, I saw my buddy....the big sea turtle...again!

After the swim, I changed and headed over to the start of the "Underpants" run. This is an unofficial, ironman event that started a few years back....and has become sort of a rites of passage at the ironman world championships. It was a lot of fun. Alot of recognizable faces in the crowd, including Michellie Jones and the Lovatos. Unfortunately, I was rushing and didn't have my camera...although Jenn got a couple...

Following the "run", I quickly changed and headed out to the Outrigger Hotel, where I was interviewed for NBC. They must have recognized the talent:) Kidding. Seriously though, my freind produces the coverage for NBC, so he got me on the list. He told me that they have a different theme each year (not completely up to him). This year their focusing on first timers and the unexpected challenges. It was a pretty neat experience. I was a little nervous, but once the camera was rolling, so was I. However, I'm even more nervous for what's next. NBC apparently follows me for parts of the race! So, I'll probably have a camera car/cycle next to me at times....crazy!!!! Now, I hope I don't wind up on the cutting room floor! Although, if I do, my buddy has to answer to me (and probably a few others from my home town!!).

Tonight is the opening Banquet. It should be fun. We have a large Boston/BTT contingent. Pics to be posted tomorrow.

Day Three....Oh Boy!

Okay, day 3 started out just fine. I rose fairly early (4ish), dropped my parents off for their volcano tour and headed to the swim start to meet up with my BTT teammates for a swim.

We swam for about 30-35 minutes. During the swim, we ran into a very large sea turtle (I literally almost ran into him on the way back in). Also, Coffees of Hawaii set up a floating coffee bar about 500 yards out in the water during race week (very cool), so Jen, Mat and myself decided to have coffee in the middle of our swim. As we were sipping our beverage, a school of spinner dolphins came by and literally swam underneath us. I grew up around dolphins on the Jersey shore, but I've never been around them in water sooo clear. We just watched them swim around. I was wishing I had a waterproof camera! Afterwards, we went to a restaurant called "Tante's" for some Frills (eg. food).

The second part of my day consisted of a fairly long drive out to Hawi (the turnaround point on the bike). I did this for a couple of reasons: (1) I wanted to go out there to ride for an hour and get a feel for the hills and wind...which is typically where it's strongest, and (2) to see the bike course. It took us about 1:30 to drive to Hawi. We snapped some pics along the way...

For those that haven't been to Kona, although the bike course looks flat...it isn't....trust me. And seeing the lava fields on tv just doesn't do it justice. It's incredible...and intimidating. My plan was to ride 10 miles out of Hawi (mostly down) and then back up. Once in Hawi, I unloaded the bike and headed out...

My coach was hoping that it would be windy for this training ride so I could get a feel for it....well this was her lucky day! I don't know what it typically feels like when the winds blow in Hawi...but it felt very windy. In fact, I had to hold on for dear life a couple of times as the wind hit the surface area of my carbon fiber wheels. It was especially tough when an eighteen wheeler would go past. I finally hit 10 miles and turned around. I must have hit a piece of lava rock, because my tire immediately went flat. Upon further inspection, it had a huge tear in it. Great!!!! Now I had to unwrap my tightly and neatly wrapped spare. Since I have tubular tires, they need to be glued on. So, when a spare goes on, it's not really "on"....it just sits there and you hope (and pray) it doesn't roll off. After I got my spare on (pretty quickly I might add), I observed a bubble on the side casing. Basically, it looked as if my spare was going to pop. I contemplated for a few moments, then decided to ride easy and see if I could make it the 10 miles (uphill) back to Hawi. Fortunately the tire held and I made it back safely....where Jenn and I had a great lunch at a restaurant called Bamboo. After we got back to Kona, I dropped my bike off at the bike shop....where they'll glue some expensive, new tires ($100 a pop) onto my ride.

Tomorrow is the underwear run.....pics to be posted!

Day Two

Day 2 started with an early swim. I got up at 5am and got in the water around 6am, so I could get my swim in before our helicopter tour. At 6, there's not too many athletes swimming. I was definitely a little uneasy swimming out there by myself. But, by the time I was exiting the water, it was pretty crowded.

Our helicopter tour was an experience...literally. It was one of the best and worst experiences I've had. The views and sights were unbelievable. But, around halfway through the 90 minute trip, I was green. Thank God I did this early in the week.

As with Day 1, I sighted many athletes today. I saw Craig Alexander and Simon Lessing at the swim. While I was doing a training run, Desire Ficker ran by me in the opposite direction and I passed Kate Major (although she kept right on my heels). I also saw Natasha Badman out on my run. Later, while Jenn and I were heading to dinner, Macca passed us w/a stroller....so did Paula NF and Heather Fuhr. After dinner, we ran into Jen, Dave and Laura....while we stopped at the Specialized table where Macca, Terrenzo Bozzone, TJ Tolakson and Peter Reid were signing posters. We got a good group picture with them. I was going to post that today, until, of course, I got to meet Mark Allen. While walking through the athlete village I spotted him and took a couple of photos while he was talking with someone. He must have spotted me being all "paparazi like" and waved at me. At that point I figured the jig was up...so I walked over and said hello....and Jenn snapped this shot.

Tomorrow's schedule calls for a morning swim w/Matt and Jen. Then I'm heading out to Hawi to ride the turnaround. More to come....

Day One

Well, despite the fact that I had been up for what seemed like 24 hours, I still only got 7-8 hours ofsleep. I was up around 5am. Jenn and I headed down to Lava Java around 6 for coffee and bagels before heading down to the swim start for a quick swim workout. Alii Drive was teeming at 6am with athletes running and biking up and down...including the "Man", Dave Scott. He was too quick for me to snap a pic! We hung around the swim start while the bagel digested and just did some people watching. We saw some of the pros warming up including Desire Ficker and the Normanator. Norman approached me for some tips on the bike, but I told him I couldn't disclose my training secrets:) All for now....

Hello from the Big Island!

Well, it's been a whirlwind of a couple of days. It's 10:20 Boston time, 4:20 Kona time....I didn't sleep on the plan and I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. So, yes, I'm a little blury.

Yesterday was crazy as we got ready to go. I spent a little too much time at Fast Splits. As the bike was being packed, we realized that the front tubular on my Zipp 404 was flat and had to be changed. Pat Wheeler and Co. did a great job of working on the fly.

Not too much to report from Kona yet as I really haven't had a chance to settle in (that and I'm dead tired). There seems to be a lot of fit people cruising up and down the Queen K though! More to report when I'm not soooo tired!

So, this is how a rabbit feels

Overall, I'm a healthy eater. Everything in moderation. However, I decided that I would try to get a little leaner for Hawaii. So, towards the end of August I started to buckle down with my diet: I started eating more salads w/protein at dinner; cutting out bread with dinner; more protein and less carbs throughout the day...however, never depriving myself of needed calories. And, occasionally I would still "treat" myself to some indulgences. But, as race day approaches I've become a little more strict w/my diet....especially during the taper period. It seems to be working. When my season started...way back in March (California 70.3), I was weighing around 160-162 (based on my scale). At Timberman in mid August, I was around my "normal" race weight of 157. This morning, I was weighing a svelt 152.8...which is as light as I've been in about 7 years. Here's what dinner looked like tonight:

Spinach salad
alphalfa sprouts
brocolini
advocado
grape tomatoes
red peppers
shreaded carrots
sliced beef tenderloin (last portion of red meat before the race)
olive oil
sea salt

It's pretty damn good...and pretty filling. However, I can't wait to dive into a burger and a beer (make that plural)!

Random Thursday Thought

As we get ready to leave on Sunday, I thought I'd share my personal nightmare. No it's not showing up on race day and forgetting my shoes or goggles (although that would suck). It's packing for the trip. I'm an "over packer". When I drive to races, it's not too bad....I'm allowed to overpack. However, I can't overpack when flying. Also, trying to get all of my race gear together drives me nuts. You have to make sure you have your nutrition, bottles, clothes, tools, shoes, and the list goes on. Since we leave on Sunday, here's what Saturday afternoon will probably look like:

Pat: trying to pack all his stuff (most of which has been laid out for a week).

Pat: beginning to get frustrated because he's having trouble getting everything into his suitcases.

Pat: beginning to get verbally frustrated.

Billie (our dog): going into the other room, tail down because she thinks Pat's mad at her.

Jenn: beginning to realize she's going to have to intervene.

Pat: beginning to lose it.

Jenn: finally dropping what she's doing and assisting.

Jenn: completely unpacking Pat's bags and repacking.

Pat: thanks wife, then heads off to get frustrated at something else!

Yes, my wife usually packs my bags. Now, in my defense, Jenn travels a lot, so she has a lot of experience! Anyway, just a random thought on a Thursday morning:)