I just spent a week on the big island of Hawai'i training in the little village town of Kona. It was an amazing experience. I learned an endless amount of information about triathlon. And of course, I got in some killer training as well. I can definitely say that I will have a better season because of it. No question about that.
My first challenge upon arriving in Kona was to put my bike together
It took me 1hour and 20minutes, but I did it. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to Adrian at Bicycles Plus for teaching me EVERYTHING about how to build up my bike. Cheers bro.
Here is the view from my condo
We swam at the pier every morning...right on the corner where Palani turns into Alii Drive. It is the same spot where the Ironman World Championship swim start and run finish are located.
The swims were so beautiful. The water was perfectly clear and I could see the bottom of the ocean the entire swim. Most days consisted of a 1.2mile swim followed by 1hour of open water swim start simulations.
The open water swim simulations were not beautiful! They were more violent, but really good practice for racing.
Most of the rides we did were along the west coast of the big island on a road called the "Queen K." I would ride for 100 miles and never clip out, all while looking at the ocean while I was riding. Not kidding. Unreal, eh? Well, there could be some pretty unreal winds as well! Which was really nice when it was a tailwind, but the headwinds...oh my. On Thursday we cycled to Hawi and back, which the same route they ride on the Ironman Championship course. It was an experience because we got into some pretty chilly, wet weather in Hawi and we weren't sure how long we were going to have to deal with the nasty weather. It ended up fine and we rode a tailwind for a good portion of the way home. With inclement weather and all, I did the Ironman course in under 5:30 and that was in my training pace. Those of you who know my cycling ability just thought, "Damn that must have been a HELLUVA tailwind!" haha, it was though - i looked down at one point and we were holding 37mph for quite a while. When we stopped for a break once, Ahmed said, "This is what we do in heaven." Well, I think heaven will be a little better than that, but it was still sweet. What a great finish to the week that ride was...
Here's a pic of a small group of us at the halfway point in Hawi (from L to R: Chris Moody - my roommate for the week, Aaron Patel, me & Wayne Reid)
The runs were on Alii Drive. I ran alongside the ocean...it was sometimes hard for me to focus on training because the scenery was so breathtaking to me. It's been a long time since I have experienced God's beauty like that. I found myself staring into the ocean a lot and watching sunsets, marveling at God's creation. I mean, come on, it's not like you see those kinds of things in Dallas, Texas ever!
Chillin' after a tough tempo run
Me taking in some Accelerade at one of the SAG stops on the run
Just enjoying a run...
When I wasn't training, I was sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping, I was eating!
When I wasn't eating, I was in a lecture
So by the end of the camp I got around ~30hours of training in. That consisted of 7-8hours of swimming, 16-17hours of cycling and 5hours of running. I ate A LOT!! And as hard as the camp was, my body responded well and I feel great. I am more confident about my abilities and am more excited as Ironman day approaches.
I will return here one day :)
The best part of the camp was the people I was able to train with. The people involved with Playtri are such amazing people and I consider it a honor and a pleasure to get to know all of them.
Last day in Kona
Cookout
Here is a picture of everybody after the Kaloko climb (the HARDEST climb I've EVER done)
Until next time, hang loose!!
-d
1 comment:
you will go back...but this time to race it :)
hahah i didn't hear about ahmed's "this is what we do in heaven" comment...that is hilarious!! where does he get this stuff???? hahahah
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