Well, in the past 15 years Kona has changed a great deal but at the same time it is also very much the same. We headed to the pier for an easy morning swim. It was a little later in the morning and there is currently a good sized swell, so the water was not quite as crystal clear as I remember it but following several schools of fish brought back some memories – like swimming with my friend Eben Jones (who it turns out is also back here for the first time in 20 years!!) and hearing him yell – dolphins! – and take off after them like he was really going to swim among them (for all I know he probably did because I held his feet for about 2 seconds – he says he’s not that fast any more at 50 years old but I don’t believe him).
The next item on the morning agenda was a run through the Natural Energy Lab including a few efforts right around goal race pace. It was duly noted how incredibly easy ironman marathon race pace feels when it has not been preceded by a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and over half of a marathon…. Being late morning, it had yet to really heat up it was definitely getting warm toward the end of the climb up to the Queen K. My memories of the energy lab are not all that fond as it was very often where my marathon went “south”, at least for a little while, but those memories all seemed to be washed away. Now I just needed to get out on the bike.
Rather than bring a bike on the plane, my friends at Kestrel Bicycles offered to ship the “Green Lantern” (Kestrel RT1000) along with the bikes they were shipping for the Ironman Expo. Thanks, again, Steve! And thanks, also, to the guys at Cycle Station for letting me use your bike stand and tools. Cycle Station is by the airport, so we decided to ride from there and head north for a while before heading back. Tailwind out. Headwind back. A lot of cyclists out riding in both directions. Nothing new there. A short 54 minute ride, so I am looking forward to getting out again for a bit longer today.
The Ironman Expo doors officially opened at 5pm. 15 years ago, there was nothing like this. Not the biggest triathlon expo I have ever seen but definitely night and day compared to what I remember in my previous trips to Kona. All in all, throughout the day I got to see and say hi to several of those faces from the past.
Plan for Wednesday is a ride out to Hawi at some point to re-experience and enjoy the Mumuku winds then have lunch with an old friend.
