The 2012 Kona Ironman Experience

While in Kona for the Ironman World Championships with Timex, I have some pretty cool privileges being part of the media. However, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to post on my blog. I’ve been posting on Instragram, Facebook and Twitter so if you want to follow, you know where to find me. 

Every meal out, I try to eat at least some fresh fruit, fresh avocado or fish since that seems to be their specialty. I had the most amazing Greek salad with ahi yesterday at Java Lava. It wasn’t exactly what I know as a Greek salad but tasted even better with goat cheese, fried capers and croutons that looked to be whole grain and home made balsamic dressing.

Katie and I got to meet Phil the owner of Cervelo bikes yesterday at the expo. It was really interesting to hear about the logistics that go behind making bikes for professionals. Every little details is given overwhelming attention. The consensus here is that if you are interested in competing in your first triathlon, borrow a friends bike. If you like it and want to buy one for yourself, get a road bike!

Each morning from 6 am to 10 am, there is a floating espresso bar about a quarter-mile out in the ocean from the official swim start. I love to swim but boy was it challenging! I wore my pink goggles and a one piece I bought at City Sports right before I left. I figured my tiny bikini would not cut it!

In the water, you could see all these little fishies swimming underneath. It was so cool. You could see the bottom the entire time. The water was crystal clear. We found this large school of fish on our journey and were amazed by the sheer number of little guys. I’ve never seen anything like it before. You may not realize it, but that dark cloud is actually the school.

I hope to be able to swim a little more. Swimming brings out the youthful spirit in me. I could swim for hours but it was much more salty than usual making it hard to dive down and get pictures of the colorful fish.

We also chatted with a few Timex amateurs. Chris Thomas was very helpful in providing his tips for how to keep going when you hit a wall or want to stop, as well as sharing his schedule prior to becoming a triathlon coach. He used to commute via bike and run to work everyday on Wall street from his home in Fairfield, CT. The amount of time it takes for these athletes to compete is astounding. To juggle a full time job is quite remarkable.

Since I am here with Timex, we of course checked out their latest models. I loved these neon women’s watches which are obviously trendy right now and great for keeping track of splits and doing intervals. If you check out Timex’s Facebook page, they are giving away Kona Ironman swag daily, including their exclusive Kona memorabilia watch!

We also were shown the rest of the products and the insight into what goes into making heart rate monitors and gps watches for athletes and regular fitness folks like me.

The parade of nations was Tuesday night and very cool to watch. I had no idea there was such an international presence here. The parade isn’t just for athletes but also the volunteers and sponsors. Lance Armstrong wanted to compete in Kona in this year but was banned from competing in any official races. This little sign was fitting for the race.

Every one seemed to be throwing out candy during the parade but Timex gave out the coolest parade swag in the form of a cowbell.

There were a couple of past winners who rode in on sexy convertibles like Chrissie Wellington and Natascha Badmann.

The kayak patrol has one of the hardest jobs. The swim start is a sea of bodies that looks like a herd of animal migrating south in record speed. The kayaks make sure no one gets pushed under and keeps people safely in the lines of the course, and of course watches out for sharks.

Although, I hope this shark is a joke, we are in Hawaii…

And of course, there was USA although I will admit, I was shocked that more of the athletes were not marching with USA. I literally have like 20 minutes to write this post, but will update it later with stats about where everyone is from.

After the parade, we checked out more of the expo center where last years winner Craig Alexander was signing autographs. I managed to snap a pretty good picture. He has won the course 3 times in the past 4 years so it will be interesting to see how he does.

I’m uploading a video from the Underpants run today in a little bit, so make sure to check out my YouTube channel. I apologize for any typos in this, I’m just trying to fit everything in without missing a beat!