Well it seems my journey is nearing an end. The work has been done and sacrifices made, tomorrow I board the plane for Kona.
Here’s the numbers for the past year 6,180 miles biked, 1,400 miles run, and 200 miles swam (6,436 laps in the pool) all done in the rain, in the snow, in the heat, in the wind, early in the morning and late at night. The reward, a vacation in the lava fields of the Kohala Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii with 1800 of the other fastest men and women Ironman triathletes in the world (top 1800 of 60,000 who competed in 2008 qualifying races).
The Kohala Coast is a beautiful lava rock wasteland which stretches from the summits of Mauna Kea and Kilauea to the deep blue Pacific where the average high temperature is 86 degrees, the average humidity 75%. The waters off the big island are sapphire blue and crystal clear and normally calm early in the mornings, except once a year when 1800 iron men and women turn it into a churning washing machine in everyone’s effort to move forward. Temperatures on the Queen K Highway where the bike course stretches on for 112 miles can easily reach 100 degrees with head winds that can bring you and your bike to a near standstill and cross winds which can blow 180 lb. men across the highway. Temperatures in the Natural Energy Lab where the middle of the marathon is run can reach 120 degrees and the entire course has absolutely no shade. Sounds like a great vacation.
I want to thank everyone for your support and well wishes. If you do a couple of these races and follow the sport you learn that the Ironman is the great equalizer and a race of attrition, no athlete is guaranteed to finish and Kona is regarded as the toughest of all. I’ve done the work, am feeling healthy and fit and now it’s time to execute my race plan and hope for the a little luck on race day. There will be no quitting I will leave it all on the course and they will have to pull me off the course before I quit.
I’ve received lots of inquiries about watching the race or tracking my progress on race day. The race isn’t televised but they usually steam coverage online (keep in mind I’m hoping to finish between 9.5 and 10 hours, assuming things go well, so it might be a long day). For information on online streaming video coverage, athlete tracking and other options for tracking my progress on race day please check out http://www.ironmanlive.com or http://www.ironman.com on October 11th. My race number is #1121.
Leading up to the race I plan to blog on my experience in Kona at http://www.vandertri.com/kona-2008.html (RSS enabled). I plan to post lots of pictures and stories from the lead-up to the race.
When I return from Kona I will be recovering and begin Coaching for a Cause in the upcoming year. I will be taking on a few athletes who have goals in the sport of triathlon or running in the coming year with all coaching fees being donated to Charley’s Fund. If you have any interest please send me an email so we can discuss potential roster spots, and thanks to those who have already donated and signed on to be coached next year.
Again thanks for everyone's well wishes, good vibes, prayers, patience and understanding.
Check back for more updates from the island!!!
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