Rolling the Dice

It began at 4:30 this morning... the cars leaving from my condo's parking lot, carrying nervous athletes to their final pre-race ritual: the body marking.  It gets earlier and earlier every year, but the last thing you want is to be stuck in a 45-minute line with less than an hour to go before before the starting cannon.

Today's race contenders are going through their rituals, too.  Among them:  deciding "Will I roll the dice today or just let it ride?"

Tomorrow's Underdogs and Bike Powers

OK, we all have Faris, Michellie, Macca, Natascha, Normann, Cam Brown in our list of favorites for tomorrow. But there’s always an underdog that rises up, nips at the heels of the heavies on the bike, and pulls off a surprising run that puts them on the map. Among them are a bevy of gun bikers who promise to make the day’s dynamics exciting.

Getting my goat

Every morning Ali’i Drive, which runs along the ocean from Kailua (where the Ironman swim starts in Kailua Bay) to Keauhou, about five miles to the south, is packed with athletes running and riding, getting in their last few workouts, spinning out a bit of pre-race nervous energy.

Each morning I’ve been on the island I’ve tried to get in a bit of a run – with mixed success. You see, working out here is hard, unlike anywhere else I’ve been (except for maybe St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands – home of the St. Croix 70.3 race). It’s not just the heat (which can be oppressive at times, but I lived in Colorado for a time, and summer temps there can top an, albeit bone-dry, 100 degrees on a regular basis), it’s the wicked humidity, which can be suffocating.

Slowtwitch Brunch

This morning the founder and maestro of Slowtwitch.com, Dan Empfield, hosted a brunch at his seaside Kona home.

Dan and his lovely wife Toni laid out an impressive buffet for their friends, loyal Slowtwitch readers and colleagues in the multisport industry.  The turn-out was strong and the location was amazing, only 40' from the breaking surf.

These private, casual parties are just as interesting and fun as the official Ironman activities, because they allow you to catch up on the latest triathlon buzz and gossip in a relaxed and intimate setting.  You never know who might drop by...

Sick Rides

There are a ridiculous number of exotic time trial bikes tooling up and down Alii Drive this week.  Triathletes' love affair with carbon and Kevlar continues to grow, and here at the Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championships composite frames are clearly the racers' top choice.  Let's take a look at a couple of the sick rides that we spotted today...

Kona deconstructed

Every year I come to Kona for the Ironman (this is year seven for me – still but a paltry number compared to many of the tri journalists and athletes who have been coming to the Big Island since the early ’80s), I experience two visceral reactions: 1. It’s hot and 2. Where did all this traffic come from?

Yes, Kona has grown big time since the race first was held here in 1981, but add several thousand athletes and their friends and families to the mix and it’s gridlock city. And don’t even think about trying to drive along Ali’i if you want to travel at anything quicker than a slow walking pace.

Those of you who have been to Kona know what I’m talking about. But for those of you who don’t, let me try to create a mental picture of the town for you.

Pro Bikes, in Studio

In the span of about five hours, the Triathlete magazine house—the staff fortress housing our crew—had some pretty esteemed guests when we took in six bikes as part of our Pro Bike Studio shoot—it's essentially the same Pro Bike feature we run every month in the mag, but under beautiful studio lighting and the sharp focus of Triathlete staffer John Segesta, who, again, killed it with unbelievable shots.

Alii Drive

The first thing I want to mention on this blog concerns the story I don’t want to report: A severe accident involving a car smashing into a runner or cyclist. This hasn’t happened this week, but based on what I’ve seen in being here just one day, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise.

First Impressions: Kona 2006

We arrived in Kona last night in the middle of a deluge.  Rain was so heavy that no one wanted to leave the plane to make the mad dash across the runway to the terminal.  I'm talking cats & dogs... 

Competitor Magazine's Bob Babbitt and John Smith were on my flight, as was 3-time world champion Peter Reid.  We all got drenched as we sprinted to the luggage carousels to the shouts of "don't run!"  Right.

Earthquake Energy

I’ve started hundreds and hundreds of running, cycling and multi-sport events, and can now get to the starting line without those gut- wrenching butterflies that used to turn me inside out in the early years. Racing simply doesn’t horrify me any more. Maybe I’ve lost the oomph in my middle age, like an old cat. However, just arriving in Kona as a spectator immediately flips my stomach, reminding me of those sickening moments as a kid just prior to a race.

Reporter's notebook

You may or may not remember (or care, for that matter), when CNN's Anderson Cooper was reporting from the Lebanon-Israel border last summer during the fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. One of the more insightful segments of the coverage was Cooper's 'Reporter's Notebook', which provided some insight into the story behind the story -- what day-to-day life was like on the front line of the conflict.

No, I'm not going to cash in my Ironman press credentials for the role of  war correspondent this week--despite the fact that covering an Ironman may, at times, feel like a death march; thanks to the often-oppressive heat and humidity. (Every year in Kona I feel more decrepit and increasingly feeble while stuggling to shuffle through nine-minute miles during an easy three-mile jog down Ali'i Dr.) However, I will do my best to provide a more robust picture of what's happening on the ground.

Earthquake rocks Kona

(This article reprinted courtesy of TriAthlete Magazine.)

Oct. 15 – An earthquake has rocked the Big Island of Hawaii less than a week before the scheduled Ford Ironman World Championship on Saturday, Oct. 21. According to a report by the Associated Press, the quake, which was followed by several strong aftershocks, measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and was located 10 miles north-northwest of Kailua-Kona.

First Look: Normann's Kona Ride

When 2004 Ironman World Champion Normann Stadler pulled into the parking lot at Starbuck's in Cardiff, CA, I couldn't help but notice the incredible bike inside his SUV.  After a little sweet-talking by Jessi, we convinced him to give us a glimpse of the latest work of art from Kuota.  Let's take a look...