Kona Ironman 2011: Settling In & The Swim

I'm here!  The Holy Ground!  It hasn't hit me yet, and I almost feel that it won't ever hit me that I am finally here...but I have reached my Destination...a place that 15 years ago was dream, 10 years ago was dream given up on, 2 years ago was a dream re-ignited, 10 months ago became a reality, and week from today, it comes true.  There are no words or ways to describe what this means, but for you triathletes reading this, you understand it...to my family and friends, you know my passion for this sport, and while you think I'm a bit off my rocker, you believe in me, support me, and I hope next Saturday, I can show you that anything is possible if you put your mind to it---that is what I prove to myself next Saturday.

Half of my family is here, and I am missing Jenny, Sophia, and Andrew more than you can imagine---I've only been here 36 hours!  I'm enjoying catching up with my family...it's been forever since I have sat down with them, joked, relaxed, and just lived a "normal life" around them versus over a decade of weekend trips to the Bay Area for brief visits.  I am soo happy that they are here with me...it makes this that much more special!  My mom and I had about a day alone, and it was great to catch up with her, and my dad, Jeanette, Vito, Beth, and Christopher came in yesterday afternoon---the gang is gathering!  My mom and I made a stop by Lava Java after the swim from dig Me Beach, and we had dinner at Huggos with the family---good times!  I miss my babies A LOT though (yes, jenny is included as one of my babies ;-).

The first 36 hours have been fairly smooth...although I think I destroyed my phone with my off the charts sweat rate.  It is sitting in rice as we speak, but I think it is toast, and maybe that's a good thing for the week ahead...less distraction.  FaceTime is amazing BTW...being able to see Jenny, Sophia, an Andrew versus just a phone conversation makes it a little more tolerable---have I said that Jenny is an angel before? Well, she is a godsend ;-}

I've caught up with Kenny a few times....a couple rides from town out past the airport and back, and we also swam on the course friday morning.  It's good to have my training partner back!!  He's giving me some heads up on the course, and today we are going to go out for a 3 hour ride/30 minute run---excited!  I think my mom will drive us up to Kawaihae, and from there, we'll ride up to Hawi, then back to town and head out on our run on Alii Dr...should be a blast!

Outside of that, I'm looking to keep things mellow, rest up, and relax...A LOT!!!  I did do some multimedia stuff (the camera kit I have with me is pretty obnoxious...DSLR, GoPro, defunct iPhone, Kodak Flip Cam)....so you get to benefit from that with my first installation of Kona Ironman 2011---it's a little lengthy at about 12 minutes...but enjoy!  I am especially proud of the one armed drills :-)  BTW, not knowing the course, I didn't realize I had swum almost the entire thing until I was at the turn buoy...that must mean my swimming is in good shape then...enjoy!

Link to YouTube Video: Kona Ironman 2011: Swim Course

Just Keep Moving... (Dory from "Finding Nemo")

Finishing at Marquee

Marquee Bike

So I am somewhere in between races...all healed up from Marquee and feeling good again--and have Rio Salado Olympic Triathlon coming up on May 7---we'll see what kind of speed I'll have.  This past weekend I ended up racing at "Pat's Run" which benefitted the Pat Tillman Foundation...a simple enough 4.2 mile sprint through Tempe.  Some of the girls at work decided to do the race, so we were there to do this event together, but I couldn't  break the competitive spirit and toe the line for time.  Because of my last minute entry, I was in corral 11, but used my "veteran" abilities to sneak into corral 1 (the trick:  jog out on the race course and jog back to the starting line to enter the corral---works every time!).  I had no plans, no prep...I was in it for the fun of it!  The horn goes (via Jake Plummer), and the sprint was on.  I literally ran as fast as my legs permitted--sprinting!  It's runs like these that make me think I have a lot of work to do on my form---how the heck does Lewis run so fast?!!  I ended up running 5:44/mi pace average, finishing 37th out of 22,000+, so I guess I should be happy, and I am ;-)

Otherwise, training is going great...I'm off to Tucson with Dan Cadriel on Friday for testing at the Carmichael Training Center for Blood Lactate Testing.  Testing always is a scary thing for me for some reason---it's where we find out the results of the training, OR, if I have been following the plan correctly.  It's been so long since my last test (Sept 2010), and that test result basically showed that I was well overtrained to the point that Craig Upton wanted me to take a week off...completely off, so my heart rate would become reactive and I would be fully recovered.  Well, I ended up riding 400 miles over the 3 days after that test...so I think you can see my concern!  And therefore, we ended up throwing out those results.  The only tests that have been encouraging have been road tests, so lets hope this friday we see some good numbers, which means tight heart rates/power zones that are scientifically correct, improved from previous tests, and are setting me up for the big build to come for Kona.  To be honest, so far this year all of my workouts on the bike and run have been more or less guesses on which HR I should be at, and I am not educated enough to know how to interpret any of my training numbers.  It will be so nice to look at my log and see:  5 hours, zone 2, and know that  I will be riding at 125 BPM...I like to just plug in the number and go!

Plans for Kona are moving along---by the end of the week my Dad, Jeanette, Vito, Beth, and Christopher should all have their flights booked, joining my Mom, Inta, John and Cyndi Dean.  Every so often the thought of racing Kona pops into my mind, and I am sure these occurrences will be coming more and more often.  This is going to be a long year of training for sure...but having dreamed of this race for 15 years, it's easy to re-set the motivation and keep firing away...lets hope it stays that way when it's 110 out, there's 8 weeks to race day, and I can barely pull myself out of bed sunday morning, staring a 20 mile run square in the face, having ridden 200+ miles and running 15+ between friday and saturday. That's when the insanity is in full swing!

Equipment Tidbit:  I recently switched back to Nike's as they tend to fit my narrow foot better than most (KSwiss are still in circulation though...).  Here are my racing shoes...5.5 ounces!!  The typical running shoe weighs twice as much!!!  The support and cushion is not lacking either...you would think the shoe would have no sole, but the Lunaron foam is amazing stuff, giving this ultra light shoe comfort---two things that used to not go together!  (The KSwiss Blades are very similar, I think these Nike's have a bit more support AND cushion).