Twas the night before race day.....

And all through the condo, not a beer was drunken (because I'm saving it for tomorrow).

Hard to believe that the time has come. Today was uneventful, as I just went out and checked my bike and gear in, and then came back to the abode to eat, drink fluids, watch some t.v., and then it's off to bed after I finish this up.

Not nervous yet. Not sure if I want to be...but I'm sure that once I get in the water I'll start to get excited. Of course Ruth called me today and told me if I needed to laugh while swimming to just ask myself "Hmmm....does the ocean make my butt look big?"

Which of course brought a laugh to me, and this is probably what I'll think about once I get out there. Hopefully the surf will go down a bit, but the good news is that I've been swimming out there all week and it really isn't that bad (of course it might be totally different tomorrow).

What I will think of tomorrow is the following:'

The swim - I know that Betsy will be right in front of me so I can draft off of her (mentally). Of course it will probably be some dude from Germany, but I can pretend.

The bike - I know that I'll have Shelley on my rear wheel drafting off of me like the Tick she is....and I'll imagine her laughing at me when I try and shake her off my wheel. Seeing as I've only done that once in the past 3 years. And then there will be Sherry thinking too much behind us.

The run - Ruth. Running stride for stride with me like she did all summer.

Thanks Guys....as I wouldn't have been able to do it all without you!

Oh...and special thanks to Graham for building a great training program to follow. I promise I only swore at you once. I think it was when I was doing the 4 x 3 mile repeats.

Until tomorrow!

My Brother

Well....he does sort of look like me doesn't he?

This is Peter Reid - two time champion of this race. He's recently retired, and he looked like he was really enjoying himself when I interrupted him for a picture.

But like a true gentleman he took it in stride, and got someone to take a picture of me with him.

Time slides by when you're doing nothing!

Last two days have been fairly uneventful.

On Wednesday I first went for a swim with Tony Lyons at the Beach where we will start and swim. It's kind of fun to go out with a few hundred other folks, and then it gets interesting as you try to avoid running into someone as they are either coming in or going out.

Tony swam to the right of me most of the way out. I could always see him, and occasionally he would stop and look around like this Seal. I would then bark out 'Marco'...then after awhile he figured it out and would see me and shout 'Polo'. Then as you get out of the water you get to get your gear you checked in and a water bottle AND a bottle of Gatorade. Talk about service!

After our swim we went to Java Lava where it is rumored to host many a Pro Athlete's...and in civilian terms I guess you could call them 'Stars'. In fact I found one so good looking I had my picture taken with him.

After all this I got myself registered. For those of you who normally run races this just means that I checked in, got weighed, and given a huge spiel on what each and every bag is designated for come race day by my helpful volunteer Don (see above).

This race probably has twice the number of volunteers that Marine Corps Marathon does, and our government doesn't pay them to show up either :>)

Last workout for the day was an easy 60 min ride and 10 min run off the bike. It would have been easy but Jack and I decided to take a different route (trying to avoid the traffic in town) and ended up climing for about 3-4 miles. But it was fun going downhill for several miles.

Thursday: Go to the beach again for a short swim with Tony. Jack opts for the pool. After that I head over to find the Masters Women Breakfast. I had hoped to meet a few more athletes that are in my age category, but since I arrived late (due to my inept reading of e-mails and directions) I didn't get a chance to really schmooze with any of them. Did get to finish hearing Joanna Zieger giving a talk and taking questions though.

Then the afternoon was spent spending money at the expo (don't worry Niki, I didn't get you anything, but I did get Cam something), then going to the ART (active release technique) tent to get adjusted, then it was off to the condo to eat lunch and then hang out at the beach next to the hotel.

Where one of the local 'white' boys started to give this German guy grief about wearing a speedo. Of course this kid was drunk, plus it kind of was funny to listen to him call the guy a Wahine (white guy) when he himself was white. Or whatever slang term the folks here use for non-Hawaiians.

Off to the banquet where I drag my husband to eat some really crappy food, but the atmosphere is sort of cool. Oh...it was worthwhile going to the breakfast because someone gave me that extra ticket!

Dumped Jack, and got a new guy. Does this make me a BadAss? Or just a DumbAss?

Spandex.....it's a priviledge, not a right!

Just to go back a bit......here we are on the little island jumper plane leaving Honolulu. My husband is sitting near these three young girls (who I thought were hookers, but were surfers) when one of them starts talking about how her Dad always says that spandex is a priviledge, not a right....this is so true even in the world of triathlon.

Some men should not wear spandex. Especially light colored spandex. I will say no more.

And what is it about women triathletes with boob jobs? You'd figure with all the unbelievably fit bodies out there you would figure that most are all comfortable with what God gave them. Obviously not. I even ran into a woman at the pool locker room today, who must be in her late 50's, who had them done.

Even so....Kona is covered with people who look like they've been genetically altered in some form. From normal people to these 'uber' people - If all Americans looked like this town I know for a fact that we would never have problems with those pesky oil countries. They'd be too scared of us. We'd all look like 'Arnold', only with really expensive bikes.

As you can tell I'm starting to go stir-crazy sitting around with not much to do. Yes, a envious position, and trust me I'm not whining. Just stating some facts.

I did swim today, nothing much, but I felt like I hadn't swam in over a month. Heart rate was up, I felt nauseous, and generally like a slug. Which is a good thing, because it means that I'm tapering. Or I am a slug.

Celebrity sightings for the day: Karen and Donna Smyers at the pool. Karen is a Pro, her sister is my competition (well...she wouldn't call me her competition). Even so...Karen did smile at me and say hi ;>)

More ramblings later!

Having a Rock n' Roll good time in Quakin' Kona!

Well...we got her Friday night. After 18 hours of travel we arrived at our condo, as which you can see is RIGHT on the WATER. The waves crashing outside our window will either put you to sleep or wake you up. That and having all that water pounding outside your window will really get your bladder working overtime!

I met one of my clients yesterday for the first time (face to face) - Tony Lyons from Canada! It was great to talk to him, and get to spend some time with him. We're also going to meet for a swim on Wednesday.

Well....as you know from the news, we had an earthquake hit here this morning. I was just finishing up my breakfast when I felt this big shockwave. It was almost as if a bomb had been blasted a mile or so away, but instead of dying down, the quaking built up slowly to the point where it was time to move!

We headed for the kitchen door, but glasses were flying off the shelves, I had no shoes on, so decided to get in the bathroom door. After about 30-45 seconds later all was quiet. We did make our way outside, and then went back in after a few minutes to get our car keys (and the rest of my coffee and cell phone) so that we could get to higher ground in case of a Tsunami.

There was no radio station in operation, and all electricity was off. Good thing I was able to call my son and daughter to find out the news (like how big it was, and what caused it). After about 30-40 min we headed back to the condo, assuming that all was safe (and it was).

It's turned out to be a gorgeous day. I went for my first open water swim (where we saw last year's winner - Farris al Sultan), then it was time for lunch and a nap at the pool!

Will report more later!