Im Hawaii 2013

Unfortunately the wonderful time on Hawaii is already over. These lines are being written on the flight back to San Francisco, where I’ll be spending the next 1.5 weeks. One thing is certain: I have to come back here. Physically I’m doing a bit better than a few days ago — the nasty sunburn has finally faded, though it’s left behind a few minor burns. The muscle soreness is mostly gone, but the incredible joy of having been “allowed to be there” has stayed 🙂 I’ve already set another record: 4 days in a row without any sport, and more will follow… I didn’t bring any athletic gear with me — it’s all in my bike case, still on Hawaii, flying back Saturday (thanks Alex & Sandra). ...

One last update before the race: Nations Parade: √ Triathlon Expo: √ Underpants Run: √ Pasta Party: √ Bike Check-In: – How I’m feeling about the race: getting better by the hour, excitement is building fast What I expect from the race: it’s going to be hard My goal for the race: have as much fun as possible

After yesterday’s rest day (= watching fish at the pier for a bit), today’s last longer session was on the schedule. At 7am we headed out together with the rest of the crew toward Hawi — bikes loaded into trucks, athletes loaded into yellow school buses. Those were unbelievably cramped with zero legroom — even flying budget airline economy class feels like luxury by comparison. Oh well, it was only 1.5 hours. Once in Hawi everything was unloaded and we rode back to Kailua-Kona on the bikes. The first few kilometers were more about “how do I stay on the bike at all” — it felt unbelievably windy to me — but more experienced Hawaii athletes and even the bus drivers were of the opinion that it was calm 🙁 You can only hope it’ll be that way on race day too. ...