Can you tell these guys apart?
Day 3 - Tuesday Oct. 6th
"I arrived at the Kona Pier this morning at aobut 6:50 am and started my swim after a brief warmup on the pier. I got a great massage yesterday and during my swim this morning my right ankle and calf that had cramped after about 40 mins. of swimming on the previous 2 days, felt nice and loose, and I was able to swim steadily for about 55 mins without any cramping at all! I didn't see any tri-celebs in the water today but after I got out and rinsed off the salt water I saw T.J. Tollackson roaming around- looking like he had just finished his swim as well. That was it for my workout on Tuesday. I spent the rest of the day doing things like grocery shopping and walking around in the heat of midday for about 40 mins. to try to acclimatize. I have met several nice triathletes in my condo complex from all over the world: Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand to name a few. Mark Allen stays at this complex each year. I saw him in 2004, and then saw him driving in through the entrance on Sunday. He looks a lot like Clint Eastwood, only not as bulky in the upper body."
Day 4 -Wednesday October 7th
"I awoke this morning with a headache. I have been fighting a cold for about 2 and a half weeks now and started on some antibiotics on the first day that I got here to Hawaii because I had developed a sinus infection. I felt better by the next day but have had episodes each day where I willl feel sort of lousy, and I am still feeling pretty stuffed up. I went down to the pier and and ran into Lars Finanger who is from Minnesota and now lives and works in Boulder, Co. We talked for a while and got caught up with each other's lives- He is a really super young guy. He has competed here in the past, but is not racing this year. I got in the water and did my swim with some guys from Texas that I met down at the Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 race. Roger Whacker and a couple of his buddies- Tommy and Scott. Roger and I both got slots in 2004 for Kona at the 2004 Buffalo Springs race, and then each of us got slots again this year at the 2009 edition of the BSLT, Thanks to the new USAT age rules (age as of 12/31) he is now in the 50-54 y/o AG."
"I felt pretty good after I got warmed up, and swam about 40 mins. today, but after I rinsed off started to feel pretty tired, and my headache which had gone away as I was swimming was now back. I decided to walk over to Lava Java for some coffee, then I went over to the big IM Exp which was just opening up for the morning. I had the pleasure of talking with Sarah Reinertson who is an amazing young woman. She is I believe the first female leg amputee competitor to finish the Hawaiian IM. I met her at BSLT in 2004. She got her slot for Kona and then when she did the race, she didn't make the bike time cutoff and was not allowed to start the run. I have a videotape of the NBC coverage of that year's race, which did a"spotlight" on Sarah, and every time I watch the part where she is told that she can't start the run I start crying. As a testament to her spirit, she qualified for Kona again the next year and came back and took an hour and a half off of her bike split and went on to finish the race! She is not racing this year in Kona, but is here to represent the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and to promote her new book. She is truly an inspiring person!
"I next drove out to the Energy Lab and did about a 45 min. bike with a few one minute intervals just to stay fresh. As I got back to my minivan, I had an amazingly cathartic clearing of my left sinus- the other athletes nearby were giving me funny looks as I was bent over blowing my nose loudly into a big wad of paper towels that was covered in bike chain grease. My headache went away almost immediately! I had to laugh as I caught a glimpse of my face in the rearview mirror. I had white zinc oxide (which I had applied all over my nose and lips before the ride) smeared on my face with a mix of black bike chain grease- think of an intoxicated mime trying to apply their face paint.
"I then ran down into the enrgy lab and felt pretty good, depsite the heat. I think I am starting to get a little bit acclimatized.
"I got another great massage and a chiropractic adjustment in the afternoon, and then went out to dinner at a great Sushi place with Joshua Riff, who is a very talented triathlete who just moved to Minnesota within the last year or two. Joshua is college buddies with female pro Sam McGlone, so he is staying with her and her friends in the same condo complex that I am in. Our dinner party also included the family of pro triathlete Kim Loeffler. All of these people were very nice, and the food was fantastic.
"Tomorrow is a total rest day, and my family arrives from Minnesota and Oregon. I am really looking forward to seeing my posse." - RB
