A rest day .... without the resting

Tuesday was a rest day for Pat, and packet pickup down at the King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. While Pat went to pick up her packet around 9am I wandered across the pier to the swim start to watch the athletes doing their training workouts. It's a little late (630-7am seems to be the 'in' time to go) so the crowd isn't as thick, but there were still plenty of interesting things to watch.

A constant flow of athletes swimming from the beach.

Random guy about to start his swim. The TYR Torque speedsuit is VERY popular here.

The world's fittest couple. We saw these guys several days in a row (in my next life I would like to have her build, please). The guy swims the course while the girl follows on the paddle board with a camera. 

The super-fit paddleboard girl following the super-fit swimmer guy. Notice the Go Cam on the front of the board.

I watched the tan guy in front do his pre-swim warmup for a good 10 minutes ...

... and then I watched him rush to help a physically challenged athlete out of the water the second the other guy carrying him asked for help. Then he stood on the pier talking to these folks for quite a while before shaking their hands and going back to the beach to start his pre-swim routine all over again. THAT'S what makes you love this sport.

After Pat got her packet we grabbed some lunch at the condo and she and Tom went to the bike store while I headed out for a ride. The bike store checked her wheels and tires and confirmed that the whacky hole in the tube was probably a manufacturing defect - they'd seen several in that lot with the same problem. It gave her some peace of mind ... especially since after several failed attempts to teach her how to change a flat (from me, Tom, and a few others) my best advice is to look as  pitiful as possible and hope there's a support vehicle nearby (or an extremely altruistic fellow racer). I am DETERMINED to teach her - I know she can do it - but I fear there just aren't enough hours left between now and the start of this race. Maybe as a winter project.

Meanwhile, I went for a ride which mostly consisted of hills (I seriously didn't know Hawaii was so hilly ... but pretty much anything that's NOT the ocean is a hill - it is a volcano afterall), and of course ran into miscellaneous cyclists, runners, and surfers. I had a lot of fun seeing how long I could hang at the back of small packs of similarly-dressed cyclists (usually longer than I thought I could - I'm telling you, tri bikes are magically fast! Well, and those competing are all in full taper right now too so they've knocked it clear down to 20mph). While we point out potholes and roadkill back home, here they point out small weasels crossing the road (like our squirrels) and palm tree debris. After one long twisty downhill (yes, I did realize I'd have to come back up) I ran across a hidden marina with a handful of moored sailboats, and briefly remembered a past life in which I'd be more likely to be tacking or jibing from the cockpit of a Catalina or a Beneteau than listening to my heart thump in my ears while climbing hills on my bike and loving speedy descents. After I got back up to the top I turned around and did it again ... simply because I could (only this time I didn't need to stop at the marina, I was fresh out of nostalgia and just wanted to hear my heart thump again). On the route back I stopped by a local beach for a few minutes to watch the surfers do flips off the tops of waves, disappear into the crash of foam, and immediately turn around and paddle back out to do it again. I can understand that thinking.

My wheels on this trip. The first tri bike I've ever ridden. He even looks fast, doesn't he? (Notice the little speck of Colorado that came with me?)

The tiny hidden marina at the bottom of a really cool windy steep downhill. When you're at sea level everything from here goes up.

The standing dude rode the wave until it pretty much disappeared, then hopped off and headed back out. The other guy had a much more colorful dismount before he headed back out.

Different strokes for different folks. I could've easily taken a 20 min nap here (I can pretty much take a nap almost anywhere)  ... but anything longer than that would probably send me into a boredom coma.

After my ride we headed downtown for the kid's triathlon (50m swim/.5mi run for the microkids, 100m swim/.9mi run for the slightly bigger ones), and the Parade of Nations. All the athletes are invited to come march with their countrymen, while spectators line Ali'i drive near the pier and the finish line (right now it still just looks like a normal small town road with a tiny little local beach - the finish line construction won't start for another couple days). Pat wasn't sure if she wanted to go, but she did, and she had a blast (yet another case where it's proven better to risk regretting what you do, than what you don't do). I was glad she went because I had a blast watching, hollering, and talking to the myriad of folks around me (Australians, New Zealand'ers, French, Germans, South Carolina'ns, Colorado'ns, one nationality I never figured out ... and one guy from a town 15 minutes from my house).

The start of the parade. The beach and swim start is literally just to the left of this picture. Behind them and to the right is the infamous Palani hill. We must've walked up Palani half a dozen times - it's quite a hill.

These kids finished a pint-sized triathlon (swim-run) about an hour before the parade. We watched Chris Lieto's kid race, one little girl cry clear through the swim and the run (she kept going though, and finished sobbing), and one little kid do the entire run while holding his pants up (the announcer, an ex Pro who's name I forget, tells this little guy to ask his dad to buy him a belt). It was inspiring and exhausting - Pat and I were almost in tears from cheering and laughing.

None of us could figure out what this thing was, but it was pretty comical nonetheless. A sea monster was the best guess from the peanut gallery. Anybody know?

The Aussies were ... well ... being Aussies. And there were a LOT of them. They seemed to be having quite a lot of fun.

The Germans were the most coordinated, with fancy moves and cheers that even their countrymen in the crowd knew!

The lady in the pink behind the sign mobbed the Italians before I had a chance to come up with that idea. They were a small contingent. Apparently triathlon is not particularly big in Italy.

They kayak safety crew. They kayak'd on make-believe waves all the way down Ali'i Drive.

The Grim Reaper got heckled all the way down the street and threw it right back, leaving everyone laughing. Poor guy is just doing his job.

This is Elaine Dowden. I met her husband, Will, while watching the parade (and ironically, Pat met Elaine separately while marching in it). She missed the swim cutoff last year but is determined to make it this year! Go Elaine!

U-S-A! U-S-A! The front of the large American team. Notice the uber-fit chic in the red shirt right behind the United States sign? Way to represent!

I followed this guy down the street, behind the parade, while trying to catch back up with Pat. It's a really good t-shirt.

The parade ended at the expo, where we met Mark Allen and Luis Vargas at the MarkAllenOnline tent (Pat has been using MarkAllenOnline for her coaching). Luis pulled up Pat's story in Lava Magazine as soon as she walked up - they loved it of course, since she mentioned MarkAllenOnline. Check out the story here: http://lavamagazine.com/features/pat-puchalski-one-fit-iron-grandma/#axzz1aAWG5QcW

We also hung around to see Craig Alexander, who was at the Newton tent (one of his sponsors). We were 2nd in line and Pat said something to Craig about Road ID (another one of his sponsors) while I said something that I can't recall, but I'm sure was idiotic (cut me some slack, I had just met -and chatted with- living legends - my head was already on the verge of exploding). There are pics of us with Craig, but they're on Tom's camera (and his memory card doesn't fit in my clearly-not universal card reader. I'll have to add those later). All of those guys were incredibly nice and down to earth (again, more humble than some of the folks at our local races). While posing for the pic with Craig you could feel the guy was outrageously fit - literally all bones and muscle .... and a cheery smile. Personally, I'm rooting for him ... though it's a little worrisome that he just got a bunch of new gear from his sponsors this week and is undoubtedly obligated to use it. Fingers crossed that it all works out ok. I really wanted to hand him a cookie just to see if he'd eat it. 

Pat and THE Mark Allen. He may be getting older, but he's still a ridiculous fit guy. We talked to him about the ride down from Hawi and asked for tips. He said: 'Don't stop pedaling'. His book just came out on Oct 1 - if my brain was functioning I would've gotten a copy and asked him to sign it.

Pat and Luis Vargas. He was pulling up Pat's interview in Lava Magazine on his phone while standing at the expo. He and Mark Allen were both thrilled with her story (she mentions MarkAllenOnline, of course). Luis is racing, but is injured and says he may be walking the run. He's still hoping to smoke his age group on the swim. I think he can do it!

Craig Alexander was autographing these little cards at the Newton tent. He walked up, saw them and said 'Oh hey look at that! That's a nice picture!' He seemed like a seriously humble and genuinely happy guy. I'm hoping he has the race of his life!