October 810 2009: I’m a little distracted just at the moment.

Sitting here in the Lifesport Lounge watching the best live coverage of the race I’ve ever seen!  50 inches of plasma glory!

The last few days have been busy and relaxing all at once.

Two days ago I was getting ready for a short ride when I got a text from Pete Reid inviting me on a group ride with the Specialized gang.  That sounded like fun so I spun down to the tent and met up with everyone.  When Conrad Stoltz rolled up I wondered if maybe I was in over my head.  There were about fifteen riders and we were late getting out of there.  Nick Sims from Specialized announced that we needed to be back inside of an hour to break down the tent.  Good news for me!  Then he announced that due to the shortness of the ride we would just go out and do “The Blast”.  When they call a ride “The Blast” that’s not a good sign for me.

We soft pedalled out of town.  I was riding beside Pete and catching up on things when we hit the highway.  There was an instant increase in speed.  Pete looked over at me and said “You better tuck in.  This can get a bit crazy.”  Oy vay.  Yeah, it got crazy.  I was off the back inside of four miles.  Pete came off a bit later – but only to chat with me.  We had a nice roll back to town.  Later the entire group, including Desiree Ficker, went out to the Kona Brewing Company.  This time we had a proper reservation and we all got seated.  The dinner was great and it was the first time since I’ve arrived that the topic of who would win the race came up.  There wasn’t much conversation in regards to the women’s race.  But the men’s race seemed less assured.

Pete wouldn’t say who he thought would win but said he’d be cheering for his friend Tim DeBoom.  So often that’s how these conversations go.  We don’t want to say who we think will take it but who we want to take it.

I figured Craig made it look pretty easy last year so I took the safe money but I’d sure love to see Cam Brown take it!

For the women, I’d like to see Sam of course, but aside from her, I’ve got soft spots for Jo Lawn and Heather Wurtele.

Last year we did a pool and everyone kicked in $20 dollars.  Last night a big group of us got together at Lulus and did the same thing again – except only $10 this time.  Good thing.  I don’t expect to see that money again.  It was only out of kindness that Paul Regensburg informed me that my number two pick, Rutger Beke, was out with a broken ankle.  Damn.  Classy guy and someone I believe can win this race.

Sara and I were up early today but not early enough to see the start.  No biggie.  We were on the hill behind Lava Java watching them head out onto the ride.  It was exciting and inspiring, once again, to witness the supreme demonstration of athleticism you always see at this race.

As I type this, Lieto has taken the lead and is coming back from Hawi.  Chrissie is, of course, seven minutes up and also on the way back.

More later!!!

October 8, 2009: Thursday in Kona.

Another fun filled day in Kona.

Before coming this time, I determined to use the week to kick off my own fitness program.  I’d been putting in 70 hour work weeks back in Vic – that paired with a small nag in my right calf had kept me from doing much training in the last month.  The results were belt stretching.

The day we were to fly out I woke up with some kind of shoulder impingement.  I have no idea what I did but I can’t raise my left arm.  Looks like my triathlon training camp would be a duathlon training camp.  Shame, as I do love to swim in the ocean.

My first day of training went well.  An hour twenty in the saddle and a fifteen minute run.  I was good with that.

Then day two – yesterday, came along.  Put an hour and a bit on the bike, that went even better than the day before.  From there I went to the expo where I walked about and caught up with Ian at Specialized, watched the Lifesport girls chatting about racing and generally sweated and heated up for an hour.  It then seemed like a good time to get an easy forty minutes of running in.  I’d forgotten my watch but I had an IPod shuffle so I ran up Alii for 6 songs then turned around.  I should have made it 5.  Half way back the wheels fell off.  For the first time in memory (though Sara swears I pulled the chute one other time this summer) I had to stop running and walk for a few hundred yards.  I walked/ran the rest of the way to the car, burned my back and almost passed out in front of Lava Java.  That would have been a touch embarrassing.  I joined Chris Lieto at his table for a minute or two – may have been twenty, not sure, things were a little foggy.  Three cokes later and I was right again.

Later a bunch of us decided to go to the Kona Brewing Company for dinner.

As the number of people wanting to join grew my anxiety about getting a seat increased.  I decided to call ahead and see what the lay of the land was.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Girl Answering Phone (GAP) – Hello Kona Brewing Company.  How may I help you?

Me – Hello a bunch of us want to come and eat and drink there.  Do you take reservations?

GAP – Only for parties of ten or more.

Me – There’s ten of us.

GAP – Hold on.

1 minute and 47 seconds later

Dude On Phone – Hello, how can I help you?

Me – I’d like to make a reservation.

DOP – We only take reservations for ten or more.

Me – There are ten of us.

DOP – We’re not taking reservations anymore tonight.

Me - If we come by 7 (current time was 6:40) how long do you think we’ll wait?

DOP - Ten to twenty minutes.

Me – We’re on our way!

At 6:57 I am standing before the hostess.

Me – Hi, there are nine of us (one person dropped out).  How long before a table?

Hostess – At least an hour.

She went on to explain that the people who answer the phone at the Kona Brewing Company don’t have a clue what’s really going on at the door.

We went to Lulu’s where the service was awful but the food was good and the beer was cheap.

After we sat down, Paul Regensburg, Mark Overton and Dan Smith from Lifesport joined us and in short order we’d spent around $350.  Not a bad evening.

Paul and I brought up the idea of doing another Pool for the race but neither of us had the energy to actually get it going.

Last year Steve Fleck walked away with $380.

I also asked Sara to marry me.  She said yes.   So it was a pretty good day.

October 7, 2009: Sara and I arrived in Kona two nights ago after a painless 15 hour transport day.  The only bad thing to happen was the loss of a good book.  I left it in the bathroom in San Francisco.  Of course the book can be replaced but the five hour flight from San Fran to Kona with only a back issue of Runners World was made slightly more tedious. 

Not a lot has changed here.  Some new faces but lots of familiar ones. 

I brought my bike this time – first time since coming with Pete in 2002 and so I’ve gotten out for a couple rides on the Queen K.  The heat, the winds, the moonscape and the endless river of riders spinning up that ribbon of highway leaves a hell of an impression.

At 7 AM the Pier is still a maelstrom of noise and energy.  The expo is still disappointing and Lava Java is still office central.

Even though I’m not buzzing around as much as I have in years past, I’ve run into a number of the folks we all expect to see shake it up on Saturday.  Last night Sara and I went to nice little social for the Zoot athletes.  Mirinda and Sam were there.  Mirinda seemed appropriately nervous and Sam looked as good as I’ve seen her in years.  She’s a friend and a Canadian.  I’ll be yelling just a little harder for her on the day.

This morning I chatted briefly with Lindsay Corbin and Heather Gollnick.  Lindsay was chomping at the bit to have at ‘er, as was Heather.  I had the pleasure of having Heather join a few of the swim sessions I coach recently.  I’ve had few in the lanes with her work ethic and openness to improve.

I also ran into Faris Al-Sutan.  Now Faris and I are not close friends.  We’ve shared a few conversations and a few beers over the years but we don’t send each other Christmas cards.  I asked him how he was feeling and he said “There are six men who can win this race – and I am not one of them.  I’ve not had a good year but I’ll have a good race on Saturday.”  Some might view this as defeatist but I see it as respectful.  Faris is one of the classy ones out there while still possessing a boatload of character.  I sure admire his frankness.

I heard some sad news that due to health issues his wife Lesley was experiencing after giving birth to twins, Tom Evans will be unable to compete this year.  A tough blow for Canada and what has to be a tough blow for Tom.  I’m told we need not worry after Lesley but I know I won’t be alone in sending out my good thoughts to the both of them and the babies.

Well, Sara will be rolling in soon.  She’s finishing up a 5 hour brick.  4 on the bike and 1 on the sneakers.  She’ll likely enjoy a cold coke when she’s done so I think I go order one.

Stay tuned!