Kona Day 3

Today we decided to ride up to Hawi, the turn around point on the Ironman bike course known for it’s long uphill ascent and extremely windy downhill. Sena and Rachel were going to meet me at a small snorkeling spot at the bottom of the hill.

On they way there, I stared out the window at mile after mile of desolate lava fields with the sun baking down on the occasional bike rider. Man oh man, it's going to be a long day on Saturday.

The hill leading to Hawi is fairly gradual and I was surprised when we actually got there because I didn’t think we had climbed enough. At the top of Hawi, we got out and I reassembled my bike (it wouldn’t quite fit in the trunk without removing my wheels and aero drink holder) and took a couple of photos for the bike club at home (wearing my WCCC Jersey of course).

Sena and Rachel decided to stop and get sandwiches in Hawi for later as I started my short 7 mile ride down the hill. It was still a bit early for the high winds and I didn’t see any white caps in the ocean below.

I flew down the hill at speeds between 27 and 35mph, occasionally getting a blast of wind from the side, but nothing serious. I got to the snorkeling spot really fast - Sena and Rachel weren’t there yet, so I started to climb back to Hawi until I saw them ata at a fairly slow pace (13-16mph). When I saw them coming in the opposite direction, then I turned around and met them for sandwiches and snorkeling.

The snorkeling was interesting – and old sugar factory with massive chains and machinery at the bottom of the ocean floor. The fish were somewhat sparse, so we made it a fairly short swim, then the long ride back to Kailua Kona.

Back at the condo, I took a 6 mile run up to Queen K highway in the heat of the day. Unfortunately, there was a lot of cloud cover, so I didn’t get a feel for the conditions that I might encounter on race day, but it was still a tough run, particularly the short ¼ mile up Palani road which is about mile 11, and then the long gradual return on the Queen K to Palani – which is about mile 25 of the marathon course.

The rest of the day we hung out at the pool, went shopping, drank some beer and just relaxed.