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Done

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Well it's rest time after a late lunch on the day after the race.  Kim has gone from sitting to leaning on one side to lying down and is fading fast. Huge day yesterday.  For Kim but more importantly for supporters who were running round like blue arsed flies to be at the best vantage points at the correct times. Slowest race ever for Kim but the best result.  10th out of the water, 3rd snapping at 2nd's heels off the bike and 5th over the line - enough to get her onto the stage tonight. Watching the start Happy Times On th big stage Support Crew I had the pleasure of being her catcher - you can volunteer to "catch" people as they cross the line and escort them to the recovery area (or medical if they need it).  Great to get the first words of people happy to have finally crossed the line and a brief story of their journey. Long recovery included sit, then lie down, then drinks, food, food, massage, food then the short walk home with bik...
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Taper week (Its Race Day Already)

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It gets busy in the mornings on the swim course but in the afternoon everyone is trained out or just goes down to get wet.  There's been a couple of turtles there in the afternoon and they are happy to eat algae that is scraped off the rocks for them. Turtle time.  Late in the afternoon at the start of the swim course. One moment you are looking for things to do in your down time and the next moment it's one more sleep till race day.   Training less and no car means more time in the condo for both of us.  Kim's training easing right back to less than I'm doing.  So we've got a bit of time to spare.  Lots of walking around Kailua, sunsets, turtles, swims. Training rides were shorter - Waikoloa and back was the limit. Sign of the times And all of a sudden the few bikes and runners increase in numbers exponentially, the expo opens, the Lovells arrive and it's busy. It's the only expo at a triathlon where there are many giveaw...
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Hanging out in Kona

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On the drive in from Waikoloa three days ago I passed a fair few bikes on the highway.  When we went for a swim the next morning - at the Kailua pier where the race starts, there were a fair few people there.  And there was the occasional runner (ironman version) if you ventured out.  Still two weeks before the race. In the last few days the training traffic has increased noticeably. And this morning I had my first giveaway - a swimming cap and some coaching notes.  There were runners out on Alii Drive this morning when we both ran and during the day.   Still plenty of locals out running, walking and pushing prams but the "serious" athletes stand out. Lean,  fit-looking bodies with shaved legs wearing bright lycra glistening with sweat.  Even in the supermarket the bodies tend to stand out.  Race fever won't be quite raging till next week but the town is evolving for the race. The swim is the best part.  Water is perfect tem...
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Hanging out in Waikoloa

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The interactions of the residents, their age, the stacked in nature of the living units, the number of gardeners, the types of shops, the expensive maintenance fees  and the other flavours of the area suggest condos at Waikoloa are a fancy name for retirement villages.   Inside out condo.  Lucky the rules for tidy can't be enforced inside your unit - at least as far as we know. Although it's a bit hard to get the average retiree out of their unit and rent it for a holiday in any retirement village in Australia. Strict rules to maintain decorum.  No washing on balconies (lanai) no noise, park you car straight, no splashing, making waves or pool toys in the pool.  There's even an officious self elected pool monitor with a clip board recording unit numbers as you enter, listing the don'ts and recording infractions without warning.  We were lucky enough to escape with minimum warnings and no infractions but I invested a good five minutes bu...
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On Tour

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Roads don't go in all directions here - too hard to grind out a road over the lava flows.  Which means there is a limited number of places to go.  And the roads either go up down or around the volcanic peaks. We headed over to the lush north coast to check out the Waipio  From the east Must get plenty of rain The view out (and they have electricity) Valley.  It is the largest of several that are cut into the windward side of the island.  They are green and look productive.  Looks to be a population of a few hundred at most but they say up to 10,000 used to live there a couple of hundred years ago. The road down into the valley is open to 4wds.  Which we didn't have so we walked.  It is paved, narrow and winds its way down the side of the valley entrance with grades up to 25%.  Hard on the knees walking down, hard on the muscles going up. After the swim Most of the land in the valley is owned ...
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Resort Town

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We're staying in Waikoloa.  It's about 50 ks north of Kailua where transition for the ironman is but it's just off the road on the bike course.  In the past we've called in on our way up the Queen Kaahumanu Highway when riding the course in training. Thought is was just a couple of resorts.  It is but it also has at least two golf courses and about five huge hotels - all built on a lava flow from over 100 years ago. Lava and golf courses (and the King's Trail on the right) There's a sandy beach with reasonable snorkelling and lots of palms and lawn - all constructed and kept going by millions of sprinklers.  This is the dry side of the island so we are guessing that they are collecting water that percolates through the lava flows and use it to keep everything here alive.  Dunno where the effluent from thousands of resort guests goes. Hilton guests choose to get the train or a boat to their room We are in a pretty cheap one which still has p...
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