Aloha
Everyone,
Less than
18 hours to go and no doubt the mood has changed here in
Kona. From the moment I got up this morning there has
been an eerie calm in the air. You can feel it with the
athletes as they check their bikes and gear in, but can
also see it from their loved ones. More than the people,
the weather was uncharacteristically cool and very calm
this morning. The water was mellow, the sun barely
shined through a thin layer of clouds, and there was
very little to no wind 20 miles out on the bike course.
It didn’t seem to heat up today until mid-afternoon.
Dare I say the calm before the storm? We’ll have to wait
and see!
|
“ |
It
becomes very personal and very intrinsic when you
are out on the Queen K with nowhere to hide. Go to
any Ironman race and watch from a spot where you
are the only fan, you'll see what I
mean! |
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|
—
Dave
LaTourette |
It’s been an interesting week here for me
as I have done a bunch of training and a
lot of observing that I wouldn’t have done if racing.
Tomorrow I’m going to watch much of the race
outside of town on the highway.
You’ll
often hear people say Alii Drive is what the Ironman is
all about. If you want to see what the Ironman is all
about you should go up on the Queen K Highway and see
what happens there. Alii Drive and the way NBC might
portray it is false advertising as far as I’m concerned.
You run there early in the marathon when you feel OK,
with thousands of fans around. When returning to town
you are running downhill for the last mile with all
those fans again. Plus the adrenaline that comes with
knowing you will finish can carry someone along way.
Stories
are created and stories will be told about the lonely
time out on the highway where the heat is suffocating
and the pavement can burn your feet. Plain and simple,
it becomes very personal and very intrinsic when you are
out on the Queen K with no where to hide. Go to any
Ironman race and watch from a spot where you are the
only fan, you’ll see what I mean! That’s where I’ll
be observing race day and hoping to see a different
perspective from the outside looking in. I hope you get
the chance to do the same someday.
I’ll sum
up Kona 2003 for you in a few days when all the
observations sink in. Have a great weekend and enjoy
Ironman from where ever you may be.
Aloha,
Dave
