Kona - 2008 - Day 4

It is now the day before race day and the nerves are starting to surface. (: I was unable to send a blog yesterday as the internet was not cooperating so I will combine yesterday and half of today as I don't think I will be sending one tomorrow! (: Even I cannot text that fast.

Yesterday was the last short bike ride before race day. Suzette and I met Kim and rode about 40 min (some of which was hilly as it's hard to avoid the hills here) and we had a fantastic view from a cliff overlooking the ocean. The downhill was way faster but a little scary but all in all I think everyone is feeling really rested and ready to do something..........which is usually the sign of a perfect "taper." We have been pretty "lazy" in comparison to a lot of the athletes here but at this point in the game, the more rest the better! Yesterday afternoon we went to the "iron prayer" which was started by fellowship of christian athletes I believe. It was held in a cute little church right in downtown kona so that was cool. For those of you who are familiar with the sport, one of our local Florida professionals (Heather Gollnick) was a featured speaker. Heather has been involved with the "iron prayer" ever since it started 5 years ago. She is actually not even racing to do a hip injury but she wanted to come and be an encourager at this awesome race. It was a great opportunity to thank God for the privilege of being here for this awesome experience, the journey it took to get here and all of the wonderful family and friends who have supported me all the way. What was kind of "ironic" also (though I really don't believe that anything happens without a reason) was the woman sitting next to me in the church. I have to go backwards a bit for this story to actually seem that 'neat" but while I was waiting for our flight to leave Maui to come to kona, I met John Blaze's mother who was coming to be at the finish line of the race. For those of who you don't know who John Blaze was, I will fill you in. A few years ago there was a young PE Teacher who always wanted to race the Hawaii Ironman but had never been able to qualify. He was then diagnosed with ALS (which is Lou Gherig's disease) so he was awarded a slot. He was one of the featured stores that year at Ironman. When they interviewed him, he said that he would cross the finish line even if he had to "roll himself" across. So that year when he came to the finish line in the dark, he dropped down and literally rolled himself across the line. The following year, his ALS had progressed to the stage where he was in a wheel chair and unable to use his arms or legs. A young guy named Brian did the race for him while raising money for ALS and wore John's number "179". He also rolled himself across the line as John did the year before. The next year John had passed and Brian again did the race with his number as his number has now been "retired" to very special individuals. So now we are back to the church (please excuse the length of this story) and the lady I was sitting next to told me that her son was doing the race and he was going blind and that she lost her husband to ALS last year so her son was going to wear John Blaze's number. Perhaps that doesn't seem significant to any of you but in a race where there are 1800 athletes and 5,000 spectators and volunteers, I found it really amazing that I would meet those 2 people connected with such an amazing story. I think that perhaps the next Ironman I attempt my need a greater cause then myself............but let's get thru this one first!!!!! (:

So after the iron prayer it was on to the "carbo loading dinner" which usually entails pretty lame food but free is free and there is usually a good presentation. The food was as I expected and the presentation was great. They did a whole thing on the culture here with the "ahi" (fire) and there was dancing and drums, music etc...it was cool. Then they took some time to recognize the original participants as this is the 30th anniversary of the race. This year a guy that raced the first Ironman is back and this will only be his 2nd Ironnman ever. So he basically waited 30yrs to do his next one. I think he will have a much better bike than the 60lb free spirit he was riding! (Rob I know you know what I am talking about!) There were a lot of amazing stories of some physically challenged athletes, the oldest, youngest, last year's age group winners etc. It was very motivating. The race will be aired Dec 7th I believe and if you get a chance to watch it, you should. There will be some great stories.

This morning we went for a short swim (really more like we played in the water and looked at the fish) and tried to hit the espresso bar out in the water but it started moving away and we decided not to try and catch up to it the day before the race. (: Then we went and had latte's at a place called "lava java" with all 300 other triathletes that had the same idea but we did get to see the coast guard boat pull in while we there. I apologize for my lack of military knowledge but its' the USS something......anyway there will be 2 navy seals who will be parachuting into the water before the race start and then doing the race with us. wow!!!!!

In a few hours we will take our bikes and gear bags down to transition area and get all that set up. It's a lot of crap to lug around for these things!!!! Then back home for an early spaghetti dinner as we try to stay calm.

Ok well that will have to do until Sunday as I will be a bit busy tomorrow. www.ironmanlive.com will have race coverage so if you are still awake and want to check things out please do! My race number is 1364.

Til later,
Heather