The Vibe

Well, it's exactly about 36 hours till the canon fires and I take off on my first attempt to finish Ironman Hawaii. I know that I said I would keep up with this blog pretty regularly, but I must say that I completely underestimated the power of this island. From the moment you show up, the place just engulfs you with energy, excitement, emotion. I have spent way too much time down around Ali'i drive just "soaking it all in". I have chatted with people from all over the world, ran into and visited with some of the top triathletes  across all the distances, and seen a natural beauty in this island that can only be described as breathtaking. But with all of those fancy words and feelings, there is still a race to be run out here. I heard once someone say that the best races are left out on Ali'i drive the week before the race, and I totally agree with that. I have this overwhelming desire to be around so I'm sure to "not miss anything", yet it's way too easy to keep walking around till you look around and realize that you're exhausted. There is just so much to see and do, and it's way easy to forget that you have kind of a big race coming due.
As for the course, uh well it ain't flat like the Queen K. We drove it today, and once you get to the T (end of Hwy 19 aka Queen K highway, that's when the fun starts). I probably should have gotten out of the swamp one or two more times to do some climbing that was more than an overpass.
Overall, I think the whole experience so far is just humbling. I'm excited to be here, honored to represent south Louisiana (even though I would have picked someone better looking who doesn't mumble), and just humbled to be in the presence of so many great athletes. While we drove the bike course, Melissa mentioned something about the sacrifices people made/make to get here. That spurred the conversation to ponder collectively how much work everyone has put in to be on this island fit and ready to race. And I mean everyone. Lottery winners, qualifiers, pros, special interest people, and so on. No one's work made them more "worthy" to be here. The suffering on Saturday will be genuine, it will be shared by everyone, and the course will serve it out regardless of how you got here. It's a special venue and a special race. I'm so stoked to be a part of it.
Thank you to everyone for following me and sending out encouraging words along my journey to get here. Only 36 hours till I get the opportunity to put together the race that I'll carry with me for a lifetime.