Oh my god there is Paula! I can still remember Heidi screaming out loud on her first trip to Kona. She virtually popped out off her car seat when she saw Paula Newby Fraser out at the Kona airport. Heidi was a friend I helped and coached to a Kona spot and Kona podium back in the early 90’s. The first time you come to Kona can be very intimidating and I tend forget this fact. I live in Boulder and see these professionals all the time. It has become part of my environment. But if you live in a more normal town it can be very intimidating to come to Kona and hang for a week with the best in the sport.
Our team has a number of first time Ironman athletes and as I observe them I noticed they are getting caught in the whole hoopla. This may be one of the reasons many people struggle on their first Kona outing. Even Mark Allen when he was racing stayed away from town to relax. If you have any doubt about your fitness and your physique you will have trouble hanging in town. Just about everywhere you go there are fit bodies. Heck even people not doing the race look fit. I have about 20 to 25 pounds to lose before I feel in shape like these folks. But luckily I do not really mind hanging around them.
This morning I met the team at the pier and we all went for a swim. My swimming is probably my strongest sport at the moment so I can swim with most of our athletes. But as I was swimming back some guy went by me like a torpedo. I decided to up my pace and get on his feet. I hung for a while until he stopped at one of the buoys. When I caught my breath I said “good swimming’. He replied “you too, you look smooth”. He asked me if I was racing and I said “nope”. Then he replied “neither am I” and we both cracked up. I am not sure what that meant but I guess it was funny. Later I gave a little stroke analysis to some of my team members. The tips are not necessarily going to help them Saturday but now I know what to do with when we jump into training later this year.
Later in the day after working the expo I went on a ride with two of my “extended coaching” athletes. That was fun. We rode for 90 minutes at a steady pace. That will be the longest workout until race day for them. Tomorrow is an off day and the workouts Friday are real short. Ironman day is almost here.
Tonight we had a reception with Ironman sponsors and other race people. That was fun. I am getting to know more people. Surprisingly enough some have read my blog. Cool! The first couple of times I went to these functions I felt like a kid at someone else’s High School reunion. But this time I actually chatted with quite a few of them.