My trip to the Ironman World Championship- Pre Race

Go big or go home..

That is the saying right?

Well true to the saying, my first experience with a full ironman event was the biggest you could find, the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For my non triathlon friends, this would be similar to your first football game being the Superbowl. It's a big deal!

Earlier this year, we found out that a friend of ours was selected for a lottery spot for Kona and we all volunteered enthusiastically to go along for the ride as spectators. It sounded like the best excuse for a vacation in Hawaii while supporting a friend in the biggest race ever. Lucky for me, my coach qualified for the World Championship back last September at Ironman Wisconsin, so Kenny and I had two friends to cheer for.

Meet "Crazy" Joe- Just after Registering!

Meet Marni- My Coach and Her Husband Karel- Kenny's Coach!

So consider this my reverse race report of the Ironman World Championship. The "I didn't race but still have plenty of things to say that won't fit into one blog" race report. :)

From the get go, I was super excited about immersing myself in the full Kona experience. I wanted to get as much from this without actually racing. After a week in Hawaii, I can definitely say that not only was it a phenomenal vacation but a rockin time at the most competitive triathlon race in the world. (For me this is way more exciting than the Olympics).

We were lucky to arrive in Kona a week before the race.

Leaving home and the gross Dunkin Donuts- I am forever a Starbucks girl!

In the air on the way to Kona- Kenny hates self portraits!

At one week out the energy in the air was both electrifying and extremely intimidating. Driving out to the hotel from the airport on the first night, there were gobs of people rocking 6 minute miles in the rain up and down the main strip of Ali'i Drive. Holy crap, these were some amazing athletes. While we do have our share of elite/egotistical asses in the sport of triathlon, I would say for the most part triathletes are an extremely amazing, welcoming community, more than any other sport I have seen. Kona was no different.

I mean seriously, what other sport has professional athletes that are so personable and approachable. Some incredibly awesome people!

Rinny After Checking Her Bike

Macca after a casual swim- Not competing this year but hanging out on the big island

Crissie heading to check her Bike

Two great things I "participated" in during Kona week were the coffee boat and running in the Hawaii Natural Energy Lab. Both of these experiences helped me better to appreciate the triathlon community and the difficulty of this particular race.

First, Imagine a sailboat about 400-500 yards offshore in choppy water serving shots of espresso. Add several hundred athletes at any given time and you have the Kona Coffee Boat sponsored by Coffees of Hawaii. I was lucky to make this swim twice during race week any LOVED it. I grew up in Florida and have been in the ocean plenty. However, since my days as a triathlete, I have never done an ocean swim. The waters at the Kona pier are rough and the waves don't mess around. It's nothing horrific but when you are used to a lined pool or lake/river, it takes some getting used to. My swims in Kona to the coffee boost gave me a boost that I can do salt water triathlons and possibly do them well. Oh did I mention the espresso was free. Seriously, the best swim idea ever.

I also took the opportunity to do a short run the Natural Energy Lab with Joe and Randy. Well it was more like Joe went for a visualization run, Randy photographed Joe while he ran and I huffed and puffed it behind them just trying to keep them in my sights and not die. The energy lab is somewhere around miles 17-23 of the marathon which are already horrible miles to begin with any marathon but the energy lab makes to so much worse. Big wide open spaces with no shade and typically no cloud cover surrounded by lava fields. To say it is hot is an extreme understatement. My short 3 miler was no exception. I was drenched by a mile and half before I realized at my turn around point that the return route was all uphill. Even though the run felt horrific, I actually made good time and am so happy I experienced that part of the ironman course.

The ironman village which is set up all down Ali'i Drive by various vendors is amazing. There is tons of "demo"ing of the latest and greatest products for our sport and tons of swag that can be had. The accessibility to each of the companies is incredible and it is really an enjoyable walk up and down the road. Kenny and I must have visited Ali'i Drive 5 of the 6 possible days while in Kona. We talked to Trek, Bontragger, 110% Recovery, Rudy Project, Nuun, Sram/Quarq and many others with questions we had or problems we needed solved. All were resolved or addressed by those we met with. I now have enough visors to fuel my runs for the next 3 years!

Hanging out at the 110% Booth. My Favorite Recovery Gear!

An awesome new paint option for Trek- Safety Green!

 
Aside from the ironman festivities, we did take some time to enjoy our vacation with friends. Basic observation of Hawaii for those who are thinking of visiting, it is expensive. There is lots of money to be spent. Going out to eat is super spendy, groceries cost a bit more, hotels can cost a fortune, gas is high, etc. There are better ways to stretch your dollar. When we visit the world championship again, I think we are likely to get a condo closer into town so that we can cook our meals instead of having to depend on restaurants. Groceries a expensive but cheaper than eating out all the time.

That is the short and dirty of our visit to Hawaii minus actual race day. Here are the photos from the trip. Actual race day report coming next!

Views from the Hotel

We stayed at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort which was about 7 miles south of the Kona Pier. Overall observation of the hotel is that it is  your basic hotel. Nothing fancy but nothing worth complaining about. Basic amenities. We choose it because it had an included morning breakfast buffet which turned out to be amazing. As mentioned above, next time we likely will rent a condo instead of staying here but it was just fine for our first visit!

Bird on our Balcony

Birds staying warm at the Breakfast Area

View from our Balcony- Left Side

View from our Balcony- Right Side

View from the Hotel Lobby

Downtown Kona

We explored downtown Kona just about every day we were in town. It essentially exists of  Ali'i Drive and a few side roads. The actual vendors in town for the race made the atmosphere on Ali'i amazing and we enjoyed just hanging out and talking with everyone. Tons of tiny restaurants with excellent food!

I loved this sign at the visitors center

The view from our table at the thai restaurant on Ali'i Drive

Kenny and I waiting for Joe to emerge from Registration. 

Group Snorkeling Trip

Our large group of 20 decided to do a group snorkeling trip in addition to a luau while we were in Kona. The snorkeling trip was lead by the Sea Paradise which was awesome. It was a morning 5 hour trip with a small breakfast and full lunch provided. We visited two locations and even got to see a ton of dolphins.

Goofing off in the water! I loved swimming!

Cool view of the coral! (And our camera survived the water)

Hanging out on the boat

Some of the many spinner dolphins that swam next to our boat

 Volcanoes National Park

Kenny and I took a side trip to Volcanoes National Park. We figured if we were this close to a volcano, we better go and see one. Total we spent 4 hours in the park and could have spent way more time there. 4 hours was not nearly enough time.  The volcano is about 2 hours away from Kona so it was quite the trip. Oh and virtually no radio stations work on the 2 hour trip. LOL

Here are a few high lights of our day trip.

Steam coming from the Caldera

A steam vent

The Sulfur Banks

Heading to the Lava Tube

Lava as far as the eye could see

Where lava flow closed the road

 

Standing on Lava where it closed the road

The Water Arch

 

A view from the Water Arch

Amazing View from the Water Arch

Black Sand Beach

On our way back to Kona from the volcano, we stopped at the black sand beach on a recommendation from a friend. It was really neat to see the black sand and I wish we could of had more time to get in the water.

Captivating Black Sand from Lava

My foot on the black sand

An amazing view on the black sand beach