2004 World Championships

10/11/04
Hi All, or as they say in Kona, Guttentag!

It is great to be back here. Let me start from the beginning though.

I'm sitting on my flight from NY to LA with an empty seat next to me, waiting for them to close the gate and get rolling. At the last minute, a woman gets on and takes the seat. She turns to me and says, "I'll try not to breath on you. I'm soo sick, and I just took a bunch of sudafed, so I'll probably be pretty wired on this flight". Great. I feel fine however.

My swim training (this week, day two) is going well. I swam 45 minutes both days and actually felt pretty good:)

I ran out on the Queen K today with Joe Whelan and Gus Ellison around noon time. Very hot! The guys loook ready to race. I can't believe how calm Joe W. is. Yes, I said Joe W. and calm!

Feeling pretty good and getting some well needed rest. I miss having Lisa out here, but she'll be here Thursday and I'm getting all the bs done that I usually drag her through with me.

Been thinking a lot about this race and the sport. In the big picture, the only way we learn about ourselves is to take some chances in life and step outside that comfort zone. I hope to learn a bit more about myself this Saturday.

Thanks everyone for your contributions in support of Rick Moisan and the Harold Leever ceneter. We are raising some good cash for them. Rick and his family won't be able to make the trip. Last Wednesday, he had some more tests done and they found some more cancer in his brain. He is undergoing an intense round of radiation therapy for the next ten days. I think about him and his family all the time. It certainly keeps things in perspective.

10/13/04
Sorry for the delay here. I have been quite busy! I moved out of the ghetto this morning and into the hi-rent district. Made the move a day early. I was staying right on Palani drive in Kailua and the noise at night was brutal. If it wasn't cars blasting music, it was street sweepers at 3am. I'll finally get some sleep tonight.

Yesterday, I took Gus, Joe and David Uri up to Hapuna beach to ride towards Hawi. We road for 90 minutes and then took a dip in what is, according to the travel channel, one of the top ten beaches. We did a little body surfing and just floated around in the pacific. Now it wasn't nearly as nice as Long Island Sound mind you. But it was still pretty nice.

While out running on Monday, I waved to every single person that ran or road past. Maybe 100 athletes. Four waved back. Most of these athletes are so intense right now. Some where in the race on Saturday, this intensity will be lifted, and they will realize that everyone has the same goal - to cross the finish line, and that it doesn't really matter whether you do it in 8 hours or 16 hrs and 59 minutes. I would bet that I get a wave from almost everyone on Sunday.

Dawn, thanks for the note and your support on Rick. Please write "Rick Moisan Fund" in the paypal note.

This morning, we swam at the pier with all the CT athletes competing, plus a few honorary CT'ers in Dan Frost and Uta Mueckel. Dan is looking smooth and fit. Uta dragged me through a swim and then tore apart my technique! But after watching her swim, I felt like I had no technique anyway, so I'm getting a lesson from her back in CT. We all went out to breakfast afterwards. Rob Straz and I had a good conversation about this message board. I thanked him for his contributions to it, and I'm thanking everyone else that contributes regularly. We can't understand why more people don't post. I know there are a lot of lurkers. This board has an opportunity for a bunch of people with similiar interests and a common bond to share their ideas, stories, ask advice, ... You don't have to be an expert to post. I think we have demonstrated that we are not here to judge, but rather to support.

Anyways, signing off for now, but I'll post again tomorrow.

10/14/04
Nice, relaxing day today. No training here. I like to take the Thursday before a Saturday race totally off. The resort I am at is absolutely great. Very relaxing and peaceful and a nice escape from the madness of Kailua. There are maybe two other triathletes staying here.

I had a good breakfast and then Gus and I drove to Kailua for the Science of Speed seminar. I got an ART treatment prior to the seminar, and this guy James from calgary did amazing work. I have been having a bit of low back trouble over the last three months. If you have an imbalance, injury, or ache, and haven't tried ART yet - get on it. This stuff works! The panel for the seminar was quite impressive: Joel Friel, Lance Watson, Chris Lieto, and, oh yeah, two other guys you may have heard of, Mark Allen and Dave Scott (Marty probably just wet himself). The seminar was just OK in that there was nothing really new discussed. One thing that they all emphasized is to do as little as possible in the days leading up to an IM. Joel Friel gave the example of the great runner Emil Zatopek (sp?). Before a huge European championship track meet, Emil was sick and in the hospital for ten days. He was bed ridden. He got out of the hospital the day before the meet and won the 1500, 5K and 10K or something like that. Pretty amazing.

We stopped for a Jamba Juice smoothy on the way back to the resort. What a bad ass business! We need one back in CT. Came back, lied under a palm tree and read for awhile, then finished getting my gear together for Saturday.

I miss my kids a bunch. Lisa comes in tonight, which I'm really looking forward too.

Gus and I had a conversation about mental strategies during the race. My suggestion is that you need to blank out as much as possible to have your best race. Thinking too much gets us in trouble. The more I can blank out my mind, the more I can tolerate an aggressive pace. When things get really intense, I will count. When running, if I take 130 strides on one leg, this roughly equals a 1/4 mile. So I just count 130 on my left, then 130 on my right. This usually allows me to blank out and take the focus off of negetive thoughts.

Scooter, the Kona Ranch House is no longer - it's now an italian joint. I did take a group to a top secret breakfast spot, but they are all sworn to secrecy about the location!

Time to go get some Sushi.

10/15/04
Slept a bit better last night. Upon awakening, I did an easy 12 min jog, then went and had a big breakfast. I just got back from an easy 20 min spin with a few efforts and the legs felt good. My bike is working awesome thanks to a mechanic that David Uri brought over from Cannondale. The new HED wheels are pretty sick. They are incredibly responsive - thank you Scooter!

I was thinking a bit about the "journey", and my trip thus far while out on the ride. I have four athletes here racing along with me, and this week was a great opportunity to spend a bit more time with them. This sport becomes a very self focused effort. As a coach, I get to delve outside myself and into the athletes I am coaching as well. To first make the decision to take on an Ironman is a huge thing. Next, to train diligently, make a great deal of sacrifice, and at the same time try to keep some semblance of balance in your life is even bigger. Thinking about it, this is the real challenge of an IM. So, Joe, Dan, Gus, and David, congratulations. I am extremely proud of where you are presently at and the journey you took in getting here. Your a winner in my book already. Tomorrow is just the icing. Tomorrow, go out there and enjoy the day. While out there, reflect back on this journey. On the sacrifice, the lessons learned, the breakthroughs, the fun training times, and the hard training times. Take pride in what you are participating in. Don't take for granted the challenge that you took on and followed up on. Again, you guys are already winners - and for that matter, so are all the rest of you that took on the challenge this year. Not just in IM's but in anything where you stepped outside your comfort zone and went for it.

The trade winds have been very light all week, although the forecast says they will be back in the morning.