|
October 9,
2007: HUNTING
THE PROS
Well, I arrived in LA to an email from the
champ. He wouldn’t be coming to Kona this
year. He’ll be missed by many, that’s for sure
but when you just don’t feel good, you just
don’t feel good.
Got to the house to find Cliff and Sam had
already retired for the evening.
I was hungry and thirsty but was surprised to
find the fridge barer than Lady Hubbard’s
cupboard. There wasn’t even a beer in there.
When I confronted Cliff on this matter in the AM
he could only stare at his shoes in shame.
He hadn’t gotten around to picking any up since
he’d arrived. Shameful yes, but fixable.
After our “talk” we headed off to the outdoor
pool where Sam and I did a few thousand
“meters”.
Peter and I swam regularly at the pool every
year but this is the first time I’ve come to
Kona with anything resembling fitness. In the
past I’ve splashed through a few laps then got
out and worked on my tan. I never even kept
count of the distance.
This morning I actually jumped in the water with
a workout in my brain and a desire to do it!
When I hit my main set of 8 x 100 I was shocked
at how fast I was swimming. It’s been twenty
years since I kept my 100s under 1:20 – and
today all 8 of them were there!!
So when Cliff informed me the pool was only 25
“yards” I was, needless to say, a little
deflated.
Ran into Johnny Caron there. He sure was a lot
more relaxed then when I saw him before IMC. He
was looking forward to going out there and
seeing what it was all about – just a learning
experience. With that kind of an attitude he’ll
probably win the thing!
After the swim Cliff and I filled the van with
groceries and I snuck in a little run before
lunch. Traditionally my first runs in Kona are
fraught with high heart rates paired with slow
running. Today was no different.
Ran into Mike Neill out there. He was, like a
lot athletes I know, catching up on old episodes
of Law and Order.
He looked good and said he was looking forward
to racing.
After the run I inhaled some Nutello and banana
on toast, then slipped into an afternoon coma.
Woke up not knowing where I was. When it dawned
on me that I was in Kona I instantly missed my
home. Funny how that is.
Shook that off and jumped on the old mt bike
that goes with the house here and headed down to
Lava Java to work on my “Inside the Pro Scene”
column for
www.Triathletemag.com. If you’re hunting
pro triathlete in Kona the best spot is the Lava
Java. Late in the afternoon the picking is
often sparse but I had a nice conversation with
Kai Baumgartner. We discussed Stadler versus
Macca versus Al Sultan, the sequel – the subject
of my first column for the site. Mostly we
laughed. He invited me for a swim with him and
Faris tomorrow in the Captain Cook bay. A few
years ago Pete and I got swarmed by a pod of
dolphins while we swam there. I’ve been itching
to get back, so I’m looking forward to that.
Michellie Jones then joined us as Kai had
arranged an interview with her. I pulled the
typical Canadian move and declined his kind
offer to sit in on it. I was being polite. I’m
suppose to be writing about the pro scene and I
refuse a sit down with last years champ? I
better check my meds.
But all was not lost. I received back to back
emails from Jazz Blake and Tim DeBoom to arrange
meetings.
Any time with Jazz is always time well spent and
mining Tim’s thoughts will be valuable
obviously. The man’s a gentleman and I have
high hopes for him to bring a little grace back
to the race this year.
This evening McGlone’s parents came over and we
all enjoyed some Ahi Tuna and salad.
There’ll be a lot of Ahi eaten here this week.
You just can’t get it back home without selling
some off a good chunk of your RRSPs!
Until tomorrow. |
