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Wednesday, 16 October 2002

This morning I woke up to the smell of fragrant tropical flowers and the sound of waves crashing against mounds of lava rocks. Tropical birds were chirping and pooping on our lanai while the palm trees swayed in the near gale force breeze. Heat here is so oppressive that its not even 8am and already I could use a shower.

We arrived in Kona after a twenty hour voyage. The boys were perfect little flying angels (well, almost). The scents surrounding us now are especially sweet after such a stinky, stuffy yesterday.

The flight was a triathlon in itself of coincidental proportions:

• Leg 1: Roch to Philly 1 hr 18 min
• Leg 2: Philly to LA 5 hr 49 min (in my dreams!)
• Leg 3: LA to Kona 5 hr 34 min
• Total air time = 12 hours 41 minutes

Frankly, after a morning of sucking in this humidity, I’d be thrilled with that as a finishing time for my efforts on Saturday.

While waiting and then waiting some more in the terminal for the final flight leg, I knew I was approaching ‘home’ when I spotted men’s legs which were more nicely shaven than my own. Chit chat, chit chat, chit chat. This feeling of belonging reminded me of my deadhead days, where while attending shows, one could easily feel a sense of welcoming and warmth from strangers.

While one of my major concerns of this trip was how well my kids would adjust to the six hour time change, it was I who had the restless night’s sleep. When the sun finally did rise, I went out to the rented minivan to retrieve some papers. I spotted a woman assembling her bike and quickly jumped at the chance to put mine together in unison. Thankfully, she was far more mechanically savvy than I. She’s a Navy officer stationed in Italy, second-time IM Hawaii.

Soon after, we headed down to the pier for a swim. While the boys let the sand fill up their cargo short’s pockets on an adjacent beach, I chose to get a taste of the swim course – it was very salty, thank you very much! Within strokes of wading in, numerous, incredibly colorful fish appeared everywhere below me. The coral they swam around had a brain-like semblance and was muted by comparison. The ‘swells’ were fierce and after twenty minutes of swimming through this aquarium on spin cycle, I was ready for the Dramamine. Instead, I headed to the chiropractor /massage therapy tent where a volunteer named Jesse worked some impressive magic on my troubled deltoid.

En route to the swim earlier from our condo (eight miles away from the hub of activity), there were bunches of ironfolk out spinning and striding. Three days left. How far? How hard? Hmmm . . . Show me the merchandise tents!

The King Kam is like a giant ant colony of triathletes. This morning, droves of muscular physiques from all over the world were fluidly flowing in for registration and then back out. While waiting in a not-to-long of a line, I chatted with a guy who’s racing for the memory of all the fallen firefighters of 9/11. Pretty cool. Heather Fuhr and Lori Bowden were (this is the only time I’ll ever be able to say this) behind me!

St. John took the boys back to the condo while I headed for B & L Sports – a bike shop which could hopefully remedy some minor mechanical problems. As the sweat poured off my face from the half mile ride, I noticed a row of pros seated at a table at the entrance to the shop. Tim DeBoom, his wife, Peter Reid (I think), Karen Smeyers and a couple of others I didn’t recognize. I didn’t stop to chat. What did I have to say? “Hey, you guys are really fast!” As I write this several hours later, I would have liked to have had the gumption to reveal to Karen Smeyers how awesome I think she is. Anyone who can survive the terrible-twos of a child, fight and beat cancer and still excel at this sport definitely earns my deepest admiration. But, no, I was on a mission to shop and repair, which I pulled off swimmingly. Another afterthought was how approachable the pros of this sport are. Everyone seems willing to learn, share, and of course, chit chat.

Several times today, the feeling hit me of how incredibly awesome it is to be here. I tend to get a tad flighty at times, while at others, I face the harsh realization that on Saturday, my entire being is going to be stressed to a degree to which its never been. My body, during the past eight weeks, has been reminding me of how much it would rather be at rest right now. My mind is the part of me that’s ready for the race this time around. It plans on being tested. It knows it will have to persevere no matter what. I’m just not sure if this is true determination or the final straw of whether they send me off to the loony bin.

Wish you all were here for the fun stuff.

Thursday, 17 October 2002

I’ve made several attempts this afternoon to catch up many lost hours of sleep, but with little success. It will be a miracle if these circles under my eyes disappear by Saturday, but I’ll be more thrilled if a cold or virus doesn’t surface by then. I realize I’m a lucky one – under-trained slightly, but not entering this with a nagging injury like Kelly with her IT band and my navy friend Maureen with plantar fasciatis. Maureen even crashed on her bike yesterday while on the Queen K and will be sporting some nice road rash for all of the tri world to see.

This morning was the last day to check in the running and biking gear. So much for being non-committal in terms of outfit selections! As I got out of Maureen’s rented Jeep, Sister Madonna Buder parked in the same illegal parking lot as we did. At the gear check in, I ran into Kelly who was in her usual good spirits.

A major mission of mine while I’m here is to window shop for a new ‘ride’ for next year. So far, I haven’t been blown away by any single frame. At the racks outside of B & L, there is every conceivable frame and set up known to exist. What are really interesting are the rides of some of the ‘challenged athletes’ . After talking to some more people here, I’m still in a quandry as to what I belong on for next year.

I have never been a fan of the wind. It does something funny with my head. Today, it has steadily been blowing with such vigor that I feel as if I’m in a near comatose state. The weather for Saturday won’t be much different. It seems to be a given here that the wind, heat and humidity are as sure of a thing as the snow in Rochester this winter.

Just three days ago, I was arranging cracking corn stalks in an outdoor planter while here there are bright pink hibiscus in full bloom. Squirrels were burying their nuts while here the geckos leap from bright flora to scorchingly hot asphalt. From Martha Stewart to Don Ho, this is a different world. The locals are incredibly friendly and the landscape is spectacular. I haven’t driven any significant portion of either the run or bike course. I don’t care to. I’ll wait until the race to experience it in the now of that long, yet incredible day.

Tomorrow is the bike check-in followed by a special treat I have planned for myself – just a little something to remind me not to take myself or this event too seriously.

Thanks for all the well-wishes. You all are definitely with me in spirit.

I’ll let you know how things go. Gae

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