Pics up, stories to come

I know, I owe all y'all stories and personal thanks. They're coming, along with a race report. We're moving up the coast tomorrow, so it may a little while.

In the meantime, the first hundred or so race day pictures are up. I'm totally psyched with my finish photo - they gave out the hard copies this morning. Sorry for the picture of the picture, but I'll get something better when I get back home.

Pics are at the usual location, but not in great order yet.

I am an Ironman

Mike Reilly said so.

Thank you, thank you. Thank you.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Off the bike

Josh made the bike cutoff!! It was a close call but he made it. He looks tired but I know he can do it. Only 26.2 miles to go...

Latest update

My spies in hawi tell me that josh just hit the turnaround point and that he's still looking strong. The conditions are rough. Not only is norman out, but natasha badmann and michellie are out as well. More updates to come!

Swim

For some reason my first post didn't go through. The gist of it was that josh finished the swim in 1:39 and is looking strong on the bike. More updates to come!

Tough day

No word on josh yet, but he should be on his way to hawi. Norman has dropped out. The word is that he was driven out of hawi with an iv in his arm. That makes me nervous for josh, although we all know that norman deserves it! Natasha baddman has had a collision, but i'm not sure how serious it is. I have spies in hawi who are looking out for josh. I'll let y'all know when I hear from them (thanks joy and marc)!

Twas the night before Ironman

And all through the.... HOLY F*#K I'M DOING THE IRONMAN TOMORROW!!

Check in was awesome and awe-inspiring.

I got a very cool Cervelo t-shirt, just for riding their bike. Then, safety check, which gets you another M-dot sticker for the bike. Very thorough, but very much with-clue.

Next is the survey guys - slowtwitch and triathlete mag. Finally, you're corralled to the entrace to the pier. At that point, you get a person who escorts you through the rest of the process. I got a lovely woman named Sharon. In her words, she was pre-filling her karma tanks in an attempt to qualify for 2008. She walked me basically backwards through transition. First, the bike is stored, both wheels down, with a wooden rack holding the rear tire. The helmet goes on the bike. She said that, unless you come in a pack, your helmet is likely to be handed to you, but you'll grab your own bike.

We walked backward through the run to the bike - everyone runs to the far end of the pier and then runs to their bike. I imagine it might get rough for the fast guys, because there's barely room for two people across.

We hung the bike to run bag (you hang it yourself, and the volunteer double-checks you), walked back through the men's changing tent (almost one whole wall of which is a giant urinal - lovely), and then hung the bike bags right at the end of the hose shower I've seen so many times before.

So that's it - I'm checked in. Tomorrow morning everything opens up at 4:45, and I'll be there. I drop off my special needs bags (actually called 'special foods' so I put my spare tubes in a cookie box), pump up the tires (leaving a margin for the sun to expand them), and then put my cap on, my ear plugs in, and my goggles around my forehead.

Then, there are two cannons. Seventeen hours later, the finish line closes.

As my people have been known to say - Oy Vey.

By the way, the pic was from my beautiful wife - your race day correspondent. We were just making sure everything was working.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Eve of raceday

Josh in deep mental preparation.

Tracking

I'm #1214

There are two easy ways to track me:

Go to http://www.ironmanwireless.com and sign up for SMS messages

Go to http://www.ironman.com and visit "live athlete tracking" on race day.

The race starts at seven tomorrow morning local time. It's a six hour time difference to Atlanta.

I'll have two hours and twenty minutes to finish the 2.4 mile swim. That's 9:20a local time.

From the start of the race, I have ten and a half hours to finish the 112 mile bike. That's 5:30p local time.

Finally, I have to finish the 26.2 mile run to top off the course in seventeen hours. That's midnight local time.

If I beat the above cutoffs, I will be an ironman. I've done what I can, and appreciate everyone's help wishes and prayers to get around. Think of me, and quiet the Kona winds. Help me keep the rubber on the road, and I'll have the best chance.

In twenty-four hours, the cannon will fire on Kailua pier, and I will start swimming.

Carbo dinner

Eh. I give it a six.

No, it was amazing to see thousands and thousands of people at a carbo dinner. Also, They tried really hard. But still, powerpoint and fire dancing don't really mix. Last year's was put up on ironman.com, so I assume this year's is as well.

The highlight of the evening was the introduction of the oldest athletes. The oldest guy couldn't be there so a spritely young Frank Farrar had to fill in as second oldest.

I'll be sorry to beat Sister Madonna (but she's going down) - she is one of the coolest people around anywhere. She hasn't trained much since her last ironman six weeks ago, because she has a broken toe. Her comment, with a big pearly smile? "I'm fine". Frank reiterated his finish thought from Wisconsin, "when I grow up, I want to be just like all of you". I may have to come back in a few years to watch them open up the 81 to 85 age group.

Rigsby was honored as the everuman ironman, and accepted it with grace. The footage they showed made Georgia look beautiful as well.

No huge laughs, but it was something to witness, and part of the whole experience.

As we walked back, construction on the pier was in full swing, and the finish line was going up. If you listen closely right now, you can hear my heart beating from wherever you are.

Finally, thank you to everyone for your notes and thoughts. Especially now that my beauitiful wife is here, I'm spending less time writing on the blackberry. I do read and appreciate each thought, though. Thank you - it really means so much to me to have you pulling me towards the finish line.

She's here!

Jen's here! If you could see me, you'd see me doing a little dance.

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary. In traditional fourth anniversary tradition, we will be attending an underpants run and a carbo dinner.

Ahhh, romance. I rock at it.

Legends of the lava

I was lucky enough to attend the legends of the lava coaching panel, put on by tritravel and triathlete magazine. It had just a few heavy-hitters:

Dave Scott
Mark Allen
Chris Leigh
Belinda Granger
Lance Watson
Paula Newby-Fraser

That's twenty combined wins. Smart folks. It was fun to watch the collegial and well-practiced ribbing between Dave and Mark, who I think both believe are just slightly better than the other.

There was some real technical discussions about nutrition and bike positioning, a reasonably strong panel agreement that aero helmets are for pros only, and some good reminiscing.

By far the two biggest laughs were in answer to a question about why, even with the new technology, Mark, Dave and Paula put up better times than Chris, Belinda, and Lance's clients.

Mark's answer - "We had better drugs"
Chris' answer - "We're all a bunch of pussies"

As for advice I'll take away....

Paula said that in this week you're pushed and pulled around, even on race day. She said, rather than be passive about it, spend the week "remembering that this is something _you_ want to do, and do it."

Also, Mark Allen responded to another panelist saying that you shouldn't worry about "what goes on out there." I thought he had a good point when he responded with "What goes on out there is affected by what goes on inside of you." He was pointing out that your decisions are important on race day, and they start with how you approach the day.

So, that's what I learned from the legends. This week is freakin awesome.

Dave Scott

....Says he racing Kona next year. He threw down the gauntlet to Mark Allen. Mark chickened out.

You heard it here first.

Stereotypes

As an American here, I spend a lot of time explaining the incredible diversity of our country, and trying to do my part to be a decent ambassador and counter some of the US of A stereotypes that are rampant abroad. I say this because I'm in the mood to paint with a broad stroke.

Many, many moons ago, a Dutch friend of mine, Rob Kooper, introduced me to international football. I loved waking up early to drink at the pub and sing songs. Atlanta at the time really only had one pub that would open up for these friendlies, so it was an incredible mix of languages and cultures. Rob said I could root for whomever I wanted, as long as they weren't German. The pub agreed, with incredible seriousness - Nobody roots for the Germans except for the Germans. I'm amazed through the decade since then how many times I've heard that phrase.

So, this morning I'm sitting at Lava Java having my morning coffee, when a Dresdner Kleinwort flunkie comes by. That's Normann Stadtler's team, the ones who flanked him earlier to keep the nobodies away. They all have fully matching outfits, which seem to change every day. People are talking about how the team has taken over the Four Seasons, and are 'clearing' other cyclists ahead of Normann when he goes out for a ride. Anyway, he drops a little menu card on my table. I'll put a picture up, but here's the text:

RESERVED
Aloha!!! This table is respectfully RESERVED: 8-10am, Wednesday October 10th through Sunday October 14th, 2007 for the Dresdner Kleinwort Triathlon Team, Guests and Media Only. Mahalo for your cooperation!"

Shmucks. They're annexing Lava Java. It's a little bit like 'buying' Ray's Pizza for the Nike athletes to carbo load before the NYC marathon without waiting in line with the commoners. The money they have to throw around didn't give this particular German bank and set of athletes any class at all, and I'm definitely not rooting for Normann or his teammates any more.

Get him, Macca! See if you can top the Lance 'look' as you go by. Make sure they get it on film.

Now that's service

They're serving gatorade and iced espresso at the .6 mile marker on the SWIM again this morning (from a little catamaran). It's a promo for a coffee company, and a good one, because everyone is talking about it.

The parade was pretty lame. I guess in the whole scheme of things, they're allowed a lame sub-event. It seemed like the primary reason they had it was to funnel everyone into the expo, which officially opens when the parade ends at its entrance. I'll hit said expo (hard) later this morning, but it was way too much of a zoo last night. I think they're unlikely to run out of Ford Explorers overnight.

Also, I might have been more into it if the USAT hadn't been so obviously outclassed by every other country in the world. Matching uniforms like the Kiwis? Cool hats like the Canadians? Cheap t-shirts like most every other country? Even a flag or button or something? Nope. I know there's some sort of a feud or something between the USAT and WTC, but it would be nice to spend a (very) little coin to show that they support the athletes good or lucky enough to get here. Andy Baldwin went to the effort of finding a shirt for the parade, so we all could probably do to similarly go the extra mile.

Ironman schwag bag

What's in the bag you get when you register for Ironman Hawaii?

Brochures/coupons:
BOB strollers
Lifesport Coaching
Janus Investments
Kuji Sports (Ironman Helmets)
Cannondale
RacerMate (Computrainer)
PODS
Big Island Jewelers (Ironman Jewelry)
Tanita
Profile Design
Red sail sports (swim turnaround boat tix)
AT&T (Ironmanwireless.com)
Kinesys
Clinique
Ironman footwear
Hawaiian Islands School of Massage

Schwag:
Headsweats Kona 2007 Cap
Gatorade Endurance bottle
Dell Kona 2007 bottle
Dell Kona 2007 mousepad (with room for pic)
Lifesport mousepad (very cheap)
Powerbar C2Max bar
Clinique M-Gel and Face Scrub
Anothy travel M-dot luggage tag

Number-specific sub bag:
Checklist
Notice not to put sunscreen on until after the swim
Notice to not bike or drive in energly lab before race day
Double-sided instruction sheet
Two run race numbers
Plastic frame number
Permanent frame sticker
Helmet number
Swim Cap
Timing chip
Timing chip band
Five plastic gear bags
Two family pier passes
Bike check-out ticket
Ties, rubber bands

Other:
Official Ironman Program
Sweat rate survey

I finally got pics up from the Queen K ride, and I put up pics of all these goodies as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ironmensch

I have the bracelet!

I am an Ironman registrant! I think they should have Mike Reilly saying that as you exit.

I'll put up pictures later today. Don't worry, though, I'll still be wearing the bracelet next time I see you.

The Queen K

I was the first customer at Lava Java this morning. That'll be the first and last event I win this week. I have my swim critique session with Luke Bell, Belinda Granger and Chris Leigh in a bit. These folks are hilarious, so it should be a good time.

Yesterday, I got a bus tour of the whole bike course, narrated by Shane and Chris, and then rode the last 36 miles home from Kawaiihae.

It's like no where else I've ever been. As soon as you pass the airport on your way out of town (about 8 miles), it's the surface of the moon. No structures, no other roads visible besides the one you're on. I'll get pictures up later today. I had thought that the NBC guys might only shoot the few 'pretty parts' of the course, but it's just not like that. I'd say at least 75% of the course is a single ribbon of rollers through the lava. I rode the climb to Hawi in the bus, where it didn't make me sweat much at all. The bus was rocking from the wind, though, and Chris was talking about how he's seen lots of age groupers climbing back over the guardrail as he was on his way down. As a pure climb, it's really not legendary, but the wind has been steadily enough directly opposing the climb to stunt and bend the trees. Also, the wind farm is actually right on the road. That falls in the 'insult to injury' category for me.

Hawi is beautiful, in a tiny mountain town kind of way. One road, no waiting. I'm sure it'll look like Mecca to me on Saturday as I get my special needs bag there before heading back into the lava.

As for the bike ride home from Kawaiihae, it was both terrifying and comforting. The wind is something else. If you're standing, you'll naturally lean into it a little bit to keep your balance. I found myself naturally doing it on the bike as well. It's disconcerting mentally to be going down the road tilted to one side, but I was happy my reflexes naturally took care of it. As it shifted around I definitely wasn't riding a straight line, but I stayed pretty relaxed and adjusted. In the end, the winds on Saturday will have the biggest ability to impact whether I finish or not, so I did my best to make friends with them yesterday.

We did ride every hill besides the one to Hawi in one direction, so I'm at peace that there won't be a wall hiding out there.

I did get "Kenned" right as the ride home started. Ken was a guy who hit a fellow triathlete named Welshy's blog with a really nasty comment a week or two before he made ironman his bitch. The comment basically said there was no way he could finish an ironman with his training volume, so all he could do was hurt someone or ruin their day. It was brutal. Of course, as soon as he told the beginnertriathlete.com community about it, there was a long thread of support, but I decided it was a significant enough incident for a neologism. Welshy is one of my heroes for a picture from one of his swim starts. It's him, big and soft, in a red bathing suit, surrounded by much smaller and fitter guys in black wetsuits who really appear to be laughing at him. In actuality they're laughing with him at a joke he just made, but it's a great picture. I'll see if I can find it to show y'all.

So, I got Kenned by a woman on the bike ride yesterday. We started in packs, but I told my pack (obviously the slowest, mostly masters women) before we started that, although I loved them all, I was riding by heartrate, and would likely be dropped by them by the end of the parking lot. I said that I had everything I needed, and they should go ahead and enjoy their day. This one lady motions me over and says into my ear (I guess she didn't want to embarass me), "I wasn't going to say anything, but I think this is ridiculous. If you can't keep up with a bunch of old ladies on a training run or ride, there's no way you can do an ironman." I stammer out something about my training volume, and about the fact that I'll have four or five hours left after these 'old ladies' finish. She says something like, "I just think it's a waste, because there are a lot of people who have worked a lot harder, who could do it."

It didn't affect my confidence, but it did piss me off. I think that, in my small way, I represent an important part of the ironman tradition. Long before there was Faris, Normann, speedsuits and aerobars, there was John Collins. How long did IronMan take him? "About seventeen hours". Ironman is meant for friggin wierdos and idiots who may or may not make it just as much as it is for pros. I'm happy and proud to let my freak flag fly, and take anything up to 16:59 to make this thing my own.

Besides, I'm having more fun here than she is.

The Energy Lab

It's everything they say it is.

Shane got us in for a run today in the late morning. It's the hottest part of the day here, before the (holy sharif!) winds pick up.

It's not when I'll be there on Saturday, so it was a real privilege to run it Ironman style.

The roads are "hot mix", the really black and soft asphalt. The lava rock surrounds you, and you're far enough from the Queen K not to hear a single car. Occasionally the silence is shattered by a takeoff or landing right next door at the airport. It's low enough over the lava to make you feel like you're under attack. If you qualified to get here, it's a great place for a group run.

If you're me, you watch those men and women fly away, and then you get the true Kona run experience. I've always loved running on deserted roads, and this was no exception. I was watching the heat rise in every direction. I loved picturing the darkness, and the desperation I'll feel here looking for the turnaround and special needs beach. It's also the 'end of the preamble'. By the time we leave the energy lab, we'll have about 10k home. It's both the hardest and easiest 10k in the world as far as I'm concerned. I just need to get to that starting line.

Pics are up on picasa - scroll down to one of the other entries for the link.

Today, I get to drive the whole bike course, and ride 60 kilometers on the Queen K. I am a lucky man.

Anyone have any requests for pics or things I should do this week? Just send them along - josh_berman @ yahoo.com.

Kupau

An excerpt from today's edition of "West Hawaii Today." The article is written by Bobby Command:

The theme of the race this year is "Kupau," which means "completion" in the Hawaiian language....2007 is the "year of completion" when everything has come full circle....

The characteristics of Kupau are "kuaha," which means advice; "ikaika," or strength, "ahonui," or endurance; "hohonu," or knowledge; "ike," or understanding; "naauao," or wisdom; and "mana," or authority.

It's getting closer

We had dinner last night at the Royal Kona - Belinda Granger (wowzers), Luke Bell (guy wowzers) and Chris Leigh (funny as hell) gave us pep talks. I also ate with the guy who won the Port Mac Ironman 40-45 age group - 9 and a half hours (give or take). There's tough, irontough, and then ironman podium tough.

The streets are getting more crowded, and the people are getting fitter and faster. It's less than a week away. It's time for me to HTFU, but I feel more like HIAC (Hiding in A Corner). Today we're off to the energy lab - more hallowed ground, and a good run to hopefully settle my nerves.

More pictures are up:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ironmensch/

Most of all

I miss my beautiful wife. It's been too long since I saw her, and too long until I'll see her again (the 10th). I'm lucky to be here, but that's nothing compared to how lucky I am to be with Jen in the first place. My confidence in all of this is waning today, but I think it's mostly because I don't have her here with me. Hurry to Kona, beautiful! Your hubby needs you!

The blogger's table

This is pretty amusing - I'm sharing a table now with Mitch Thrower (http://ironmitch2.blogspot.com) and Kai Baumgartner (http//3athlon.net). Mitch was smart enough to bring a video camera, so as soon as he gets everything uploaded you can see the aforemention dolphins on his site.

Dolphins

I swam half of the course today. It's a really long way to swim in the ocean, with the swells lifting and dropping you the whole way. On the plus side, there are incredibly beautiful fish, including dolphins.

Now I'm sitting at Lava Java, and there's a whole school of dolphins doing the course. They're having almost as much fun as I will a week from today, jumping and flipping in the air.

Racing in paradise is a nifty thing.

Some new pics

Just a few, but a cool bracelet in the livestrong tradition:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ironmensch/

Things I didn't know about IronMan Hawaii

For next year's lottery winners or even qualifiers, here are some things I didn't know until I arrived:
* Feel free to wear your ironman or marathon t-shirt, but you're not going to impress anyone with it. The cool kids wear pro-only prototype technical gear or special edition sponsor wear (there's a beautiful Cervelo Kona shirt).
* The Australians congregate at the Kona Islander. Bring some meat to the communal barbecue, and enjoy the company.
* The Germans congregate at the Royal Kona. The Germans in speedos stereotype is shockingly accurate so far, so wear your sunglasses if you go.
* Big Island Running in Alii Sunset Plaza is a real running store, where the owner actually knows his stuff. He has an incredible collection of signed ironman posters, and some good stories
* There's a McDonalds on Kuakini east of Palani. Just in case.
* Bring more tires and tubes than you think you need. The lava rock is ridiculously sharp, and the last thing you want is to be sitting on the side of the road shouting "another flat tieyuh!!!". If you brought too many, take a drive to Hawi. There will be somebody along the way walking their bike because they ran out. Be a Kona angel.
* Kona is crawling with homeless folks - some of whom ride some very nice bicycles. Nuff said?
* Unless you're Norman or Belinda, there's somebody here who is going to make you look and feel tremendously out of shape. Deal with it.
* Just like in final four towns, some stores downtown get turned into event stores. The difference is that, in addition to t-shirts, these stores sell high end bike and tri gear. Some so new it doesn't have boxes or labels. Unlike final four stores, these are just extensions of local bike, tri and running stores, so not fly-by-night operations.
* There are random tourists here who have no idea what's going on. They can be good for a reality check when everyone else is talking about 'easy' ironmans compared to 'competitive' ones.
* Lava Java has a plate-sized cinammon roll just the smell of which can make you gain five pounds.

I'm sure I'll have more later.

Alii

Who's that running on Alii drive? It's the ironmensch! It was just a little three mile jaunt, from the 2 mile mark to the turnaround at the Catholic church that Mark Allen made famous.

The run was beautiful. The miles, and even half miles are marked with permanent road signs. Alii drive goes right along the beach, which means I'll get some beautiful sunset views. Assuming, that is, that the skies don't open up like they did last night.

We ran into Luke Bell, with his wife rollerblading alongside him as a rolling rest stop. He has a hurt knee, and hasn't had a real run for six weeks. A very nice guy, he gets a good mark on the 'interacts with the slow guy with actual kindness scale'. I'll give him a seven or so. Michellie also gets a high score, because she didn't correct the fan who came up to her this morning and called her Michelle. Norman gets a three at most. He was here at lava java earlier, but was surrounded (literally) by a posse of team members, one of whom actually turned away a child who said he wanted to meet him. Norman didn't even make eye contact with anyone. Bad form for a world champion.

This place is amazing, and it's hard to believe we're more than a week away from race day. Already, the athletes are dominating town. My dad made it in last night, and will be starting up the ironmensch sherpa team by keeping me from going crazy as I try to stay off of my feet for most of the rest of the day..

All systems go today. I feel rested, ready and  honored to be here.

Sorry about the lack of sunset pictures, but hopefully the weather will cooperate tonight.

Shhh....

Don't tell anyone, because I'm playing it cool, but I'm having my morning lava java latte today next to Michellie Jones. In case you weren't sure this place was ironman central, each outdoor table has someone at it before 6:15 in the morning, and we're pairing up.

Don't worry, irongirls, I'll say hi on your behalf at some point if someone else bothers her first.

Dig me!

Hey, guess who swam from Dig-Me beach today? Somehow, I sucked it up (and in) and walked onto this beach with the pros. Normann was there. He has absolutely zero body-fat. Nobody has any body fat, and he makes them look, well, fat.

I just went for a short swim, but it's pretty amazing. They have the buouys out already, and they go on forever. You can see the bottom, and the serious amount of local fauna. I saw a beautiful turtle (it's a good omen, so I have that going for me), and lots of brightly colored fish. It makes sighting much easier, because you can see what straight is along the bottom. It was nerve-wracking today, because it's just one out-and-back marked. I had images of the Ironman voice-over, "Desiree's chances were ruined a week before the big event after getting hit head on during swim practice by a lottery winner." I managed to avoid this fate as well.

Swimming in the ocean was a mixed bag. The motion didn't bother me (a big shout out for ear plugs), but I did end up swallowing some water. I'll be working on that all week, and diluting the salt with water as soon as I hit shore on race day.

After that, it was time to go shopping (safeway, walmart). The room is now as stocked as it can be.

Finally, I put Ferris back together. I'm dang proud of myself for that, as I did it without help. I will have some of the nice folks here look at it.

Also, I got to drink some serious Kona coffee this morning at Lava Java, and had a lovely breakfast there with some of the Australians. I can't believe how nice everyone is being.

I even threw a few pictures up! Don't worry, I'll take more, I'm just getting going, and sunset hasn't even started yet.

For ease of use, I just threw them up here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ironmensch/

Evening one

It feels like it's really late, but it's only 8:15P local time. So, you'll get a memory dump instead of a beautifully constructed set of observations. Sorry, I'll be more interesting tomorrow.

Most of today was spent in the Honolulu airport, but the last part of it was fun as the Australian contingent began to take over and the general volume and interaction level rose. There are something like 200 folks using tritravel.com.au, with only a handful of us not from Australia. For once, it was fun being the person who dodged oncoming pedestrians in the correct direction.

The flight to Kona was beautiful, with incredible ocean views on both ends. The weather here was overcast, so there wasn't great visibility once we landed. However, the lava is really something - the airport is right in the middle of a small field of it. It's much sharper than I thought, and yet not as purely black, more of a deep brown. It looks like big piles of dark chocolate shavings (I'll come up with a better image to get it across when I'm less tired, and will take some pictures, too).

We piled into the TriTravel bus (both bike and suitcase came!), and rode into Kailua-Kona. The traffic was abysmal, mostly because there's only one lane in each direction.

It was a little bit breathtaking when we first turned onto the "Queen K", and more so when I first saw the energy lab. This is legend territory. Finally, we climbed the last hill into Kona (where Macca saw his dreams come tantalizingly close last year), and desceneded Palani into town. Shane Smith gave a general intro, in lovely Australian "You people who haven't been here before are probably sh__ing yourselves right now". Actually everyone from Tritravel has been great. Ariving at the Kona Islander, I lugged my bags and bike boxes up to my room (third floor, no elevator). We were supposed to wait for the bus to come back from the other hotels for a quick shopping trip, but I was ready to chew my arm off. I recruited a lovely Australian gentleman named Lachlan Deaver, and we headed off on our own for dinner - as another third floorer he had built up a similar appetite helping me get my bike up. We poked our head into the famous Lava Java (wow), but decided we should celebrate our arrival with some sushi and ice cream. We even got to sign an IronMan poster for the owner of Big Island Running (Rigsby beat us to it, so I guess he's here already). Afterwards we walked up to the supermarket ourselves for basic necessities (english muffins, water, etc.). It was a nice walk, and a reasonably cool night. I think the bus folks really missed out. Belinda Granger blew by us on a run, just a very small and dense blur of abdominal muscles. The walk also took us up 'Pay N Save Hill', the first hill right as the run starts. Ouch, it's a reall hill, and deceptively long. Now, safely back in the room, I'm off to bed to try to make up for some lousy jet-lagged sleep last night.

By the way, we're both hoping Lachlan beats me by a good five or six hours on race day, because he's actually in my age group (he got his spot with a 9:59 at Ironman Australia).

Tomorrow morning is my first trip down Alii to the start/finish and Dig-Me beach. Very cool.

Kona

Shakespeare's plays were usually performed without backdrops. This is why, whenever the setting changes in one of his works, there's an obvious exposition line, explaining the location. I'm going to go ahead and steal my favorite, from As You Like It. Forgive me, dead white guy, I'm going to paraphrase you:

"So now I am in Kona, the more fool I."

Before my first triathlon, I remember standing in the water, channeling Chevy Chase from Vacation - "This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy".

That wasn't crazy. _This_ is crazy.

Feet dry

Iron Eagle was a horrible movie, but it taught me that phrase.

I'm in Honolulu, with both my bike box and suitcase, waiting for the hotel shuttle.

On my way

The beautiful doc woke up early to bring me, the bike, and a big heavy duffel to the airport. It was pretty scary turning over the bike to Delta, but I've done everything I can do make it arrive in one piece and on the same flight.

Now I'm hanging in the Crowne Room, gloating because I'm not in a suit. I have the rest of season three of The Office to watch on the plane, and some pleasure reading. If all goes well, I'll be touching down around eleven hours from now.

Thanks to everyone for the emails (josh_berman @ yahoo.com), they've been coming in all night and morning. It's nice to know I'm not in this one alone. I'll do my best to make you proud.