Surf's up!

Renting a surfboard..........................................$10

Coppertone Sport, spf 30..................................$6

Riding my first waves under a beautiful Hawaiian sun.......priceless :)

Race for the Cure....Hawaiian style

Another early weekend morning for me....today was Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure in Honolulu. Hundreds (thousands? not sure on numbers) of runners, walkers, survivors, kids, and families gathered this morning at Kapi'olani park to celebrate the Race for the Cure. I had signed up with the Hawaii Pacific Healthcare team and met some co-workers at the hospital's tent. I wasn't sure how the actual race would go, since I've barely been working out (let alone training!) and I know all-too-well how painful 5K's can be. My only goal for the day was to not puke up my Clif bar breakfast.

The race started at a fast pace and, per my habit, I went out too hard. By the end of the first mile my lungs and legs were screaming. I knew there was only one girl ahead of me, though, so I sucked it up and kept going. If the race had been 4.9K, I would have finished second female. This chick running a full-out sprint passed me right at the damn end of the race, though, and dropped me into 3rd place. It was all good, though....they gave the top 3 men and women these cool hand-carved Koa wood running-man pendants. And it was really inspirational to chill afterwards in the park and listen to the survivors tell their stories. Yay for a fun morning!

A vacation day on the Big Island

On Sunday, the Ironman race site was being turned back into a sleepy Kona resort town and I was ready to see something new. My flight didn't leave until 8pm, so I had all day to poke around the island and play tourist.

I rented a car for the day and headed to the southern end of the island to see the Volcanoes National Park. The Big Island is actually STILL forming, with new lava floes expanding the edge of the island every year. The park felt like you had stepped off a spaceshuttle onto some other planet. Barren black lava fields with steam vents, looking like nothing more than holes into the center of the earth. You could smell the sulfur from the volcanic clouds and there were signs everywhere warning not to breathe the fumes. There were also signs warning of "fault zones," basically warning drivers to watch for cracks opening up in the roads. Eek!
After I left the park, I headed back around the southern tip of the island, which is actually the southern-most point in the U.S. I stopped along to the way to check out the black sand beaches that I had heard about. Amazing...the sand was soft and fine, like any other sand, but it was midnight black. This beach is also a nesting ground for green turtles, which were really cool to see up close and in person.
On my way back north, I stopped back into Kona and had lunch at this amazing little seaside cafe. I ran into some people I had met while volunteering and chatted a bit, but mostly just sat and relaxed, watching the ocean while I ate a late lunch.
As late afternoon turned into early evening, there was one last thing I wanted to see. Every triathlete has heard of the barrenness of the lava fields along the Queen K highway and I just had to see it for myself. I drove north along the coast for a bit and was amazed at the totally foreign landscape. Bushes won't even grow on the lava fields....just these sparse grasses with shallow roots. All along the highway are new and old signs made with white coral rocks that show up well against the black lava. Names, hearts, and inspirational sayings are all laid out along both sides of the road to cheer on the Ironman athletes during their long day on the course. An acceptable form of Hawaiin graffiti....very cool!

I can't believe I'm in Kona for Ironman....

No alarm clock needed this morning....I was awakened at 5am by the sound of the loudspeakers in transition blaring instructions to athletes. Ahhh...the sweet sounds of nervousness, anxiety, and straight up panic from the crowd. It was actually rather nice to be on the spectating side of an Ironman this time. I headed to the seawall and secured a front row seat to the swim start off the pier. The pros lined up first for a deep water start and the age groupers followed 15 minutes behind. I nearly cried during the national anthem, remembering my own Ironman morning like it was yesterday. I wished badly that I was out there, treading water and getting ready to start a long day.
I stayed on the seawall long enough to see most of the pros exit the swim and then headed over to the volunteer area to begin my morning shift. We set up the medals tent, organized all of the pre-swim bags, and basically worked our butts off all morning. I didn't realize volunteering would be such dirty, sweaty work! Things slowed down around midday, just when some of the pros started coming back into T2. It was so cool to see them all zoom in on their bikes, head into the changing tents, and then zip back out to start the run.



The fun really started in the afternoon when the pros started finishing. I was working the medals tent where athletes picked up their finisher medals, t-shirts, and pre-swim bags. By some stroke of luck, I secured a seat handing out medals for athletes numbered 1-200.....otherwise known as the pro men (1-100) and pro women (101-200). This meant I got to talk to, drool over, and basically lose my cool with every pro that came through. The highlight of the day was Chrissie Wellington, who didn't just cruise through to get her stuff, but actually stuck around and hung out for a bit. Yes, she is really THAT nice in person!

I worked my post until around 10:30 pm and then headed to the finish line for the most inspiring part of the day....cheering in the last minute finishers. Ali'i Drive was a huge party, just packed with spectators as far as you could see. I wiggled my way through the crowd until I was up against the barrier, right at the finish line. AMAZING!! We (the crowd) sang, danced, and cheered until the last finishers came through right before midnight. At the 17-hour mark, Hawaiian fire dancer guys came out and did a performance up and down the finish chute. Lucky for me, when the party was over, my hotel was right there and I literally crawled into bed, wiped out. I am praying for the day I can come back and crawl into bed at midnight after DOING the race here!!

Kona, Big Island, and Ironman

There was no way that I could be so close to Kona and not go over for Ironman. So on Friday afternoon, I hopped an inter-island flight and headed east. I met some fellow triathletes at the airport and was lucky to score a ride into town.

My luck continued when I got to the race site, because I managed to secure a hotel room across the street from the pier and race site. I had amazing views of Ali'i Drive and all of the action from the balcony at the hotel. I watched all of the set-up going on as volunteers transformed a little local seaside town into the Ironman world championships.
The sheer number of pros (and their bike, above) was awesome to see. I had dinner at a little seaside burger joint with the Ford guys, who I had met when they were setting up the Ford Edge display on Ali'i in front of the hotel. Totally didn't expect to hear "Michellie, over here!" and to look down and see a table full of pro triathletes below us, all hanging out and having a beer the night before Ironman. (Chrissie and Craig were notably absent).