Stadler, Jones Win... but the real story is...

Macca, wow, what an effort from Chris McCormack of Australia to nearly run down a 10 minute deficit.

Lisa Bently, with another great run, and after having already raced two Ironmans this year, including IMC, finishes in third.

Apparently though, some 26 year old kid from Portugal decided to light up the energy lab with a blistering 2:43 marathon. This after a respectable 4:50 bike split. You'll be hearing about Sergio sometime near in the future.

Ah, to be this fast... maybe one day. I better get to bed early, get up early tomorrow and hit the pool. Feeling a bit better than earlier, actually want to eat again.

Race Day: its on!

I'm sitting here suffering through the online coverage of Kona Ironman. I'm suffering, not because the coverage is bad - although the extensive product plugs are getting a bit old - but because I have managed to pick up a bug or some food poisoning in the past 24 hours.

A few surprises at this years race. Normann Stadler is riding away again. He did this a couple of years ago. The pro men let him get away, and then Peter ran an amazing marathon split to try and catch him unsuccessfully. I would have thought that the men wouldn't make that mistake twice. However, it could well be more that they aren't letting him have the time, more like he is taking it from them.

Nice to see Dr. Tom Evans, a dentist from Penticton, BC, is doing very well. This guy is pretty amazing. A practicing dentist and a pro triathlete with several Ironman wins to his name. He is up in the top-ten and staying fairly close to the overall leader.

After a less than perfect swim, it seems as though Lori Bowden, one of my all time favourites, is too far back to be in contention. But I've watched her race for years and it always seems like she turns it on half-way through the bike and then has an amazing marathon to get herself into the mix. My prediction: if she gets off the bike near 20 minutes of the leader, she will run herself into a top-three finish.

More later...

Kona Week: Welcome to the Big Show!

It's the start of Kona week. And we all know what that means: hype, groundshaking hype and online chat galore on web forums like Slowtwitch.com and Trinewbies.com. I like these forums, don't get me wrong, but any venue that allows anonymous posters to write just about anything they please will become less-than-accurate sources of the street-level goings on of Alii Drive.

Over on OstomyAthlete.com, I have a bit of a remedy for this: follow the journals of 3-time Ironman World Champion, Peter Reid and his good buddy, and incidently one of my coaches, Writer Guy. Just follow the links on PeterReid.com to hear all about the shenanigans of two triathletes focussed on participating in the race-community rather than in the race itself.

I love this week, it always gets me motivated to take my training to a new level. Though I am approaching it with a different mindset this time. When Peter won Ironman in 1998, I decided to take up the sport. No other single event has had such a motivating impact for me. And I have watched with baited breath as he has raced almost every year since. Pete's not racing this year. I refused to believe he had retired in 2002; he was just too young still, had too much to do in the sport. I know he's gone now. And I am aware he won't be back. It feels strange to not have any one particular person to follow on race day - Jasper is opting out this year to focus on ITU Long Course Worlds. Oh, to be a fan with no iconic figure to worship!

I am going to do something different this year: I will take this week to turn my dreams into a plan to get there - to the big show - sometime soon. 2007 will be the start of a likely long campaign to arrive at the World Champs, to race. So I will ramp up the mental part of my training, and lay off the potato chips as I play arm chair athlete on Ironman Saturday. You can follow the progress of the race live at Ironman.com.

Ran a local race today

Yesterday was World Ostomy Day. To celebrate, Christine and I ran in the local 8K road race at the Royal Victoria Marathon this morning. The weather was wet; but I rather enjoy running in the rain so it was nice. Didn't look at the watch at all, but now I have the racing bug again. It was pretty cool to see the fast half-marathon runners whip past us at the halfway point.

Bean did really well. She ran the whole time which is good for someone who doesn't run on a regular basis. I think she's encouraged and may run the Island Race Series this winter.

Then we had breakfast, but not before a big cup of Americano from Fantastico; man how I love that coffee... Happy WOD everyone, hopefully you did something to recognize yourselves.

Feels good

to be a triathlete again. I'm into my second or third week of training; everything's a blur with school pressures mounting up again. This weekend is thanksgiving up here in the frozen land that is Canada. Ok, that's a tired joke, 'cause everyone knows we're not that frozen. Back to training.

So running, swimming and biking feels good after a prolonged period of just cycling. We're moving away from doing so much drill in the water, which I am glad for because drill is tiresome mentally. My run volume is back up to 2.5-3 hours per week, which is fine for base at this stage; it will increase exponentially in the coming months. The biking has definitely decreased in volume, but I am still getting 10-12 hours in every week, and six 1.5 hour swim sessions.

This weekend, on Saturday, its World Ostomy Day. To breathe the "Live Life to the Full" into my weekend, Christine and I are going to run the 8k event at the Royal Victoria Marathon. The marathon is consistently one of the top ten destination marathons in the world. It usually gets over 10,000 people registered in the various events. I have never done the 8k, just the full marathon in 1999 and the half marathon in 2004, where I had my PB in the distance. I'm looking forward to just running for fun with Bean. We have never run together, so it should be interesting. I'm predicting a 45 minute 8k with her carrying me across the finish line - she's tough; she used to play pro-hockey so she can handle my weight.

Been paying attention to all the media on global warming lately. Its good; it makes me want to use the car a lot less. I've learned that it isn't the corporations that are the biggest polluters, its us. I turn off the lights more, think twice about leaving the computer turned on etc. Its a complicated issue for sure, but we can all make lttle differences incrementally just by practicing a bit of awareness and common sense. There, that's my random thought of the day.