VanderTri.com

I step through the door of the plane and onto the jetway stairs and the humidity and and smell of jet fuel and pungent humidity and earth hit me.  I'm back in Hawaii, Kona to be specific.  It wasn't the way I wanted to arrive, no bike case, no urgency to acclimate to the heat and humidy, or register for a race.  I was unsure about how the week would play out for me as I wasn't there to race as I had crashed on the bike at Ironman Canada just 5 weeks before and was still recovering.

In the end it was a great week.  I had no workout schedule no place I had to be and day 2 on the island I came down with a sore throat (all the better I wasn't racing).  This year my girlfriend and I stayed at the Kona Reef which is just about 1 mile south of the Kailua pier on Ali'i Drive.  A perfect location for getting into the village of Kona, and to Lava Java for yummy coffee and great food without getting in the car.

The first day arriving on the island I got checked into my condo at the Kona Reef.  The Kona Reef although an older condo is a nice facility.  My specific condo wasn't the greatest as it was next to the road, had no A/C and was a little run down but it was all we needed.  I think the units further from the road and facing the water would be great.  The pool and pavilion area by the pool were very nice and relaxing and popular with the guests.  After getting settled a bit I headed out for an
late afternoon run.  In a word it was HOT (and humid).  I've still been recovering from the bike crash and that combined with the conditions made it a tough run but it was a good 8 miles and a good way to hit the island.

The first morning there I walked down to the pier first thing in the morning for a little morning swim on the Ironman course.  I was suprised by the number of people out swimming.  Although it was just a casual swim morning it felt like race morning bumping and dodging swimmers left and right.  It's always a great place to swim, getting to cruise through the warm water over the reef with the fish and turtles.  After that I headed over the the center of the food universe during Ironman week in Kona, Lava Java.  This place has a line out the door the week of Ironman from the moment they open until they close at night. My favorites at Lava Java, Breakfast Burrito, Cinnamon Roll, and the Fish Tacos!!!

My girlfriend and I spent the rest of the week, swimming, eating, running and doing a little outrigger paddling and watching the Ironman freakshow which starts before sunrise each morning on Ali'i drive and contines well past dark with athletes of all description running and riding in all manner of clothing.We hit the Ironman Expo one day and I have to say it's far better than any of the other race expos.  Everyone is giving stuff away.  The haul this year visor, arm coolers, compression calf sleeves, multiple t-shirs and a pair of shoes.  It was also great to get the chance to make some more contacts with clothing and equipment manufacturers.  Gotta keep working for some sponsors and supporters. 

Race morning it was nice not having to get up in the middle of the night.  We got up and rolled down to Lava Java to get coffee, breakfast and watch the swimmers cruise by.  We then headed back to our condo to get our cruiser bikes and headed up to Kuakini Hwy to watch the out and back section of the bike.  Then we headed back to get a little snack before heading out to the Queen K.  We set up shop at mile 110 of the bike and mile 12 and 23.5 of the run.  We made friends with the police who were on intersection duty and they were gracious enough to share their sun tent with us as well as their camp chairs and food and drink.  It was hot, I mean really hot on the Queen K but was a great spot to watch the race. 

Our spot was great for getting up close to the race.  As the leaders came through 110 miles on the bike Lieto was leading by a whole lot, six minutes over the next guy and 12 minutes over the main group of contenders.  My thought was maybe this is a big enough lead for Chris to hold off the great runners as has been working hard the last few months on his running, unfortunately it takes more than a few months to make that kind of improvement in your run.  Of the contenders Alexander, Colucci, Twelsiek, Al-Sultan, McKenzie, and Raphael looked good at this point on the bike.  Not looking so great included Stadler, Macca, Llanos, Bozzone and Potts.  On the womens side well let's face it it was Wellington crushing all the other women and lots of the men, she looked effortless at 110 miles. 

The real telltales were to come on the run you can tell a lot about someone by looking into their eyes at this point of the run.  Like a mirage arising from the heat of the Queen K, Lieto materialized in the distance.  As he rolled by you could see his stride was still strong and he was sharp and focused.  It wasn't long though and the hunters were coming by Raelert and Alexander were flying and in perfect stride and had closed Lieto's lead to 6 minutes.  My guess was by the time they would come back by Lieto would no longer be leading.  Next came Macca and he didn't look good, he looked cooked and I would guess his day was done.  Next Llanos and Potts came by and they didn't look great either.  The Queen K was cooking everyone.  Then came the women well....woman.  Chrissie look solid but not great.  Berasategui, McGlone looked ok but the one that really impressed was Mirinda Carfrae she looked great and was really flying in the end she would run a new marathon record of 2:56:51 which would be the 9th fastest run of the day overall. 

Soon the leaders were coming back and headed for home.  As I had expected Lieto had surrended the lead but not without a fight.  Alexander was first to come along and he was still running strong.  Next came Lieto, he was holding on but it was ging rought at this point.  In third was Raelert and he looked pretty solid all things considered and then to my suprise came Macca, back from the brink.  Most of the other runners coming didn't look great except for Potts who still looked pretty solid.  Finally came Wellington she was still moving but you could tell she was hurting at this point she wasn't her bouncy, energetic self anymore but she still had a 20 minute lead so unless she stopped she had the race sewn up with only 2.5 miles to go.

We headed back to town after Wellington as it was hot out there on the Queen and we needed a break and some food.  Later that evening we headed down to the finish line to watch some of the finishers.  If you've never spent some time at the finish line of an Ironman you should.  It's an emotional experience to watch these individuals who have suffered through the one of the toughest days of their lives.

I came away with a renewed energy for the Ironman and I'm sorting out my options for 2010.  I'll keep you posted on the plans and developments for next season.