Kona was amazing, we had so much fun and the energy and vibe of the Ironman World Championships was phenomenal! We saw and experienced so much, I will stick to the highlights or this will never get finished!
* The first morning, despite getting to sleep really late after our never ending flight, we were up early and caught the sunrise:
* We had many great swims from the pier. There were tons of multicolored fish swimming in the crystal clear blue waters, and the first day out I was approached by a pod of dolphins! The other highlight of those swims was a swim up coffee bar :-) I swear, if swimming was always like this I would do it everyday!
* in keeping with the water theme, we rented snorkling gear and went out nearly every day for a snorkle. We found a great spot and were able to see so many varieties of fish, a snake eel, puffer fish, and even swam with sea turles!! The look like they fly through the water, flapping their arms (legs?). It was so peaceful and fascinating under the water, we definitely found another world to explore!
* We also did a kayak, only an hour long but our shoulders were burning! not from the sun, but from paddling! I felt like such a wuss. We rented some awesome schwinn cruiser bikes that were a godsend for getting around, and sooo much fun to ride. The massive hill climb we did whilst I was in bikini and flip flops was not so awesome by the time we reached 1000ft...ouch.
* There were, of course, heaps of uber fit triathletes running and cycling up and down Ali'i drive. With all the hardbodies around, it was hard not to feel fat and out of shape :-) I have to say, however, that they all had their game faces on- and early! It seemed as though everyone was very intense and serious, and not having much fun at all. I went out running a couple of times and got sucked right into it. I was running much faster than I normally would, and found myself imagining I was running the marathon of the Ironman. My face probably looked as contorted and pained as the rest of them..but I was having fun :-)
* One of the highlights of Kona was meeting Danny and Tania from Vancouver. They were on their 'honeymoon', 10 years and 4 kids after getting married :-) They are both Ironman athletes and marathon runners. They are also one of the happiest and most connected couples we have ever met. They were kind enough to share their motorized transportation with us and took us om a day trip out to the Volcano. Along the way we stopped at blacksands beach and the southernmost bar in the US- where we met the nutty professor. Lots of laughs there :-) Seeing the volano nat'l park was great, even though we arrived just as it got dark, the temp was sooo cold and it began raining/ Also, we were in a jeep with no doors or roof, and were quite underdressed! It was still fun though, we explored the lava tubes, hikes a bit around the crater, visited the interpretive center were we were able to see an active lava lake in the distance and stayed warm on the long drive home with a bottle of wine :-)
* Ironman day was phenomenal. We were up early, but still did not get down to the swim start early enough to get a good spot. D managed to squeeze onto the sea wall, but I watched the start on the big screen. There were drums, sining, chanting and the energy was palpable! So many nervous and excited people, waiting to start a day they have dreamed of. When the horn finally sounded and they were off, it was like a huge release.
We had a bite to eat and then watched the first people off on the bike. Once we saw the majority of the people we were looking for, we went to cheer in the final swimmers. It was neat to see all the older athletes coming out of the water and starting the bike. Men and women in their 70's and 80's about to take on one of the toughest physical challenges on earth! So inspiring, I want to be like them when I grow up!
Next we cruised around a bit, rested a bit and finally took up post at the hot corner. As it turned out we were right on the corner and as the leaders came around and I tried to take pictures, I had to move quickly not to collide with them as they hugged the fence. It was pretty cool.
We then took our bikes out onto the Queen K and experienced some of the desolate, hot and windy conditions the athletes face. We were able to meet up with Craig Alexander who was on his way back in, leading the race. We followed along side him and were able to ride in for his final mile. He was FLYING! I hope to see us on the DVD :-)
Finally we found a spot along the finish chute and screamed, clapped and cheered for the next few hours. By 7:30 we were pretty hot, sweaty and tired. We decided to head to our place and shower. Not before discovering we'd lost the bike lock key, which meant sawing through the cable with various implements provided by a nearby jewler, and finally a couple of cops. It was pretty funny to have a cop sawing through a bike lock :-)
We finally got home, showered, ate and decided to rest for a bit. Unfortunately we crashed out completely and missed the final hours of the finish line :-( We will have to save that to see on the DVD.
* Our final dinner in Kona, we went out with our new friends Tania and Danny. We first went to try some Kava, a drink made of Kava root, that looks like dirty dishwater and tastes like dirt. It is supposed to make one feel relaxed and happy- when in Hawaii how could you feel anything but!? It did make our lips go numb and it was funny to watch each other choke the yucky stuff down. We then made our way to Lulus for dinner and drinks. Dinner was great and we all had a couple drinks. Then the rain started. Now Hawaii rain is not like normal rain. It is like the sky opens up and pours down full force. We decided to wait it out, since once again we had the jeep with no roof or doors. We continued to have great conversation and more drinks. Our waitress started bringing shooters to us, unsolicited, and next thing you know we were all a bit inebriated. Tania and I switched to water, but the boys kept the drinks coming and by the time the rain stopped and we were able to leave it was pretty funny to see my soon to be husband, as drunk as I'd ever seen him.
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We actually had to bail out the jeep before we left, it was full of water! We went back to our condo and continued to visit, well 3 of us did and one disappeared to bed..lol.
The next day we were scheduled to fly to Oahu in the afternoon. I left in the morning for a run, I needed to pick up a roll of film at walmart and we had returned our bikes the day before. D was not feeling well so he stayed in bed :-)
It was a great run, although all uphill to get there! I ran just over an hour and was gone nearly 90mins including time in the store. By the time I got back D was up, so we packed up and made our way to the airport.
* Final Kona highlight- the airport. It is all outdoors! It is beautiful, warm and like no other airport environment I have ever been in.
