A Little Bit of Everything....Day No. 3 on the Big Island

So, going into my fifth Ironman World Championships, and what will be my last, I decided to take it ALL in. Experience as much as I could and not take the race too seriously. Not that I don’t plan on racing hard or anything. But, unlike an IMLP or IMMT, when I shooting for the Age Group podium, I’m not going to worry as much about being off the legs, etc.. So, with that, my Big Island agenda is pretty full. No more so than today….with the Ironkids race in the late afternoon/evening, followed immediately after by the Ironman Parade of Nations (more on both later).

The day started early, as usual, around 4am. I had a 45 minute run on the schedule, with 8x 90second intervals up to zone 3 heart rate. I wanted to get it in early, so I could get down to registration close to 9am, when it officially opened (I like to get it out of the way). My kids got up around 6, and were already in their racing gear, which didn’t start for several hours….it was pretty cute. They were all primed up for this event! The run went pretty well and my legs are feeling pretty good. Although, it’s hard NOT to get motivated when you’re running down Alii Drive. On my run, I was able to get fluids at various industry brand stops along the way…..Gatorade, Skratch, Clif….they all had hydration stations out along Alii, as well as free product for the taking.

After the run, we headed down to registration. Jenn took the kids to register for Ironkids. My registration was pretty efficient….and it was a bit different than my races of past. They moved me from table to table….and, after signing all my waivers and getting my bag (which is way nicer than the NA Ironman races), I was out within 10 minutes. From there, I met back up with Jenn and the kids.

After registration, we took a quick detour out to Greenwell Coffee Farm to check things out. We didn’t do the tour, as we had done it before and didn’t think the kids would find it all too interesting. But, we did pick up some Peaberry and Macadamia Nut Coffee! On our way home, we stopped by the famous Da Poke Shack for some poke. I cannot believe that I had never tried it before. It was beyond good…and I’ll definitely be making another visit before our trip is over.

After we got back to the condo, we had some downtime and pool time. One cool thing was that I had a conference call with Dave Weinberg of the Atlantic City Press, my old hometown paper, who wanted to do a write up on me. It only took me 5 times doing this race! Kidding Dave! I was very appreciative. So, Cape May friends, be on the lookout for the article! Around 3pm headed back into town for the kids race. While Jenn walked them down, I did a quick run through the expo to see what was what….and pick up some CO2 for my bike. I ran into my friends Jana and Jorge and chatted with them for a bit before heading down to the kids start. As always, it was a bit of logistical mess. While the kids had planned to do the mile race, Jenn was confused about the start and they only got to run in the 1/4 mile race….and Hannah was not too pleased! That said, Hannah better step up her game, as Ben was right on her heals. In fact, I didn’t even see him (he was right behind her….see video….he’s in dark colors). Kid’s got sneaky speed!

Following the kids race was the “Parade of Nations”. While I had watched this in the past, I had never marched in it. To be honest, in the past, most of the big nations….Germany, Canada, France…..all had matching shirts and coordination. The USA always looked a bit “ragtag”. But, in the past year or two, USA Triathlon as gotten their act together and started to coordinate better. I received an email in advance about picking up a USA shirt at the parade staging area…..and a reception for US athletes after the parade. So, I decided to do it. And, I talked my friends Jen and Carolyn into it as well. We all brought our kids to march too. I will say that the “staging” took forever. Being the host country, we were last….and there were 75 countries being represented, with the US with the largest contingent of athletes at around 600. All in all, it was a pretty cool experience. And, once we started marching, I think the kids really enjoyed it.

All of that said, it was LONG. We went to the reception after. However, they didn’t have any “real” food (they said that they were going to remedy this next year). The only reason we stayed was because they were doing a raffle with some good items….Gravel Bike, $500 Normatec Gift Cert., etc. . But, since we hadn’t eaten, Jenn ran over to Lava Java with Hannah to pick up salads for dinner, while Ben and I stayed for the raffle. NO LUCK! At this point, it was close to 8pm. On our way out of the reception, we came upon the cutest little hula dancer. OKAY, it was Hannah….taking direction from a real hula dancer. AND we got it on video…once in a lifetime! SEE BELOW FOR SOME HULA DANCING!

On a side note, Shriners Hospital is setting up some media opportunities for me. Tomorrow I’m supposed to interview with WBZ radio and the Arlington Advocate. So, this is just a reminder, I’m doing this to support this great organization. So, please consider making a donation! Aloha!