Back to Lava Java
this morning. Graham Frazer came by and chatted for a bit.
I guess he’d been out roller skiing. Why anyone would want
to do this is beyond me but I guess I should maybe try it
first - in my next lifetime. There’s been a ton of rumors
floating around Ironman Canada this year. It’s the 25th
anniversary of the event and there’s been talk of 3,500
people starting! I’ve done the mass start there with
2,000. It was a riot in the true sense of the word. 3,500
would end badly for someone, I’m sure. They would have to
break down and concede to the wisdom of the wave starts. I
was hoping to do the race next year, along with a few
friends. I think Pete
should
do it with us. His last race was St. Croix. That was no
way to end a career. He wouldn’t have to train more than he
is now to finish the event with dignity. Some arm twisting
may be in order! Next time I see Frazer I think I’ll hit
him up for an entry. If I can talk Pete into doing the damn
race, I’ll have earned one! Regardless of his fitness he’d
have to race as a pro. It wouldn’t be fair to my buddy Jim
who would be in his age group! Can you imagine training
like a demon all year, you have the race of your life, go
9:45 and Reid beats you by 15 minutes without training more
than 3 weeks. That would leave a bad taste in your mouth.
After Lava Java we
signed up at the volunteer check in. That is going to be
the highlight of this trip. I know that hanging out there
(Energy Lab) for five or six hours is going to be draining
but what better place to see the athletes go by!
From there we
checked in for a little ART at the pier. That is some
miracle shit!
On our way to the
salt chuck for a swim we bumped into Jimmy Riccitello. I’d
never met the guy before. He missed his calling. He should
have done stand up! There was a lot of penis talk but it
left me in tears!
Still chuckling, we
jumped into the water for a couple K. Felt pretty good but
came out with some uncomfortable ocean water chafing.
Pete had to suffer
through several signing sessions today (see pictures!) then
we hooked up with Lori, Tyson and LB’s mom and dad for an
awesome dinner at a secret non-triathlete restaurant in town
– from there we finally managed go and get some groceries!
Fruit Loops and a cup of coffee in the AM!!
The final chore
today was to put together our betting pools for the race.
We decided to write our guesses for the podium and then we’d
each get to pick a dark horse. The rule for the dark horse
was they must never have stood on the podium in Hawaii
before.
Interestingly we
picked the same three men but with a different dark horse.
I find that
interesting because I think it’s could be anyone’s race this
year. There’s five or six guys who could win! So, 1st
McCormack, 2nd Al-Sutan, 3rd Beke. My
dark horse is Tissink and Pete picked Luke Bell. I think we
will both regret not picking Cam but fun is fun and done is
done! For the Women we went slightly different directions.
I went 1st LB (and that’s not Lisa Bentley), 2nd
Badmann, 3rd Jones. My dark horse is Zieger. I
realize this is going way out on a limb but I’ve spotted her
around town a few times this week and she look relaxed. She
didn’t look relaxed last year. Pete went 1st
Badmann (too easy, coward!) 2nd LB, 3rd
Ficker. His dark horse was last years 8th place
finisher, Kim Loeffler.
So it looks like
it’s going to be the woman’s race that determines who will
win the bottle. I say Pete took the safe bets. I think my
bold predictions will take the day!
If I had a dream
team to pick (translate – who’d I’d like to see take the
medals) it would go like this: 1st Cam, 2nd
McCormack, 3rd Faris. In the women it would run
thus: 1st LB1, 2nd Fuhr, 3rd
LB2 (this time it means Bentley). What can I say – I’m a
patriot!
Well, it’s fun to
talk about it and even more fun to bet drinks over it!
