IMWC - THE OFF SEASON: PART 1

SINCE I CAN REMEMBER, I HAVE ALWAYS TUNED INTO NBC AND WATCHED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE IMPOSSIBLE. THESE FREAKS OF NATURE RACING FOR 140.6 MILES ON AN ISLAND FORMED BY A VOLCANO. INCASE THE DISTANCE ALONE WASN'T ENOUGH, THEY WERE PERFORMING IN CONDITIONS THAT MOST WOULDN'T CONSIDER RUNNING A 5K IN. THE THOUGHT OF EVER BEING A SPECTATOR FOR THIS RACE NEVER CROSSED MY MIND AND THE IDEA OF BEING AN IRONMAN MADE A BETTER April fools PRANK THAN REALITY. THIS ALL CHANGED A FEW WEEKS AGO. MAYBE A PARTIAL MIDWAY MIDLIFE CRISIS OR A IRRESPONSIBLE SWIPE OF THE AMEX, I'M NOT REALLY SURE. WHAT I AM SURE OF NOW IS THAT IT WAS ONE OF MY BEST DECISIONS I'VE EVER MADE.

KONA. A MAGICAL WORD FOR ALMOST ALL TRIATHLETES. FROM WHAT I EXPERIENCED, IT'S A MAGICAL WORLD THAT I CAN'T EVEN FIND THE WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT FAIRLY. IT IS SIMPLY SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE EXPERIENCED FOR ONE TO COMPREHEND. WHILE THIS JOURNEY PROBABLY STARTED THE SECOND I JUMPED INTO THE WATER AT MY FIRST TRIATHLON, IT DIDN'T BECOME A REALITY UNTIL SHERPA KIA SIGNED UP TO VOLUNTEER. NO PLANE TICKET WAS BOOKED, NO LODGING BUT SHE SIGNED UP TO VOLUNTEER ON THE KONA PIER. NATURALLY, I QUICKLY SIGNED UP TO ALSO VOLUNTEER ON THE KONA PIER. OUR TASK WAS TO MAN THE INFORMATION TENT BUT THE REAL TASK WAS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THE TRIP A REALITY.

​PROBLEM #1 WAS THE PLANE TICKET, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH CHEAPER IF WE PURCHASED ONE WAY TICKETS! PROBLEM #2, THE LODGING, WHEN $250/NIGHT IS YOUR CHEAPEST OPTION YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN TROUBLE. AFTER A FEW STRESSFUL DAYS OF LOOKING FOR A HOTEL, WE FOCUSED OUR ATTENTION ON VACATION PROPERTIES. A FEW EVEN MORE STRESSFUL DAYS PASSED AND WE DECIDED ON AN APARTMENT LOCATED JUST UP THE HILL NEAR THE KONA AIRPORT. AS I WENT TO BOOK IT, SURE SHIT IT WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND WE WERE BACK TO SQUARE ONE. WOOF. BY PURE DUMB LUCK, WE CAME ACROSS AN APARTMENT THAT LOOKED ALMOST IDENTICAL AND UPON FURTHER RESEARCH FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS THE EXACT SAME LOCATION, JUST THE GROUND LEVEL OF THE APARTMENT. WE LATER FOUND OUT THAT THE UPSTAIRS APARTMENT WAS ACTUALLY SMALLER AND DIDN'T HAVE AIR CONDITIONING EITHER. WE LUCKED OUT ON THAT ONE!

NATURALLY, WE LIKELY PLANNED THIS TRIP ASS BACKWARDS IF YOU CAN EVEN CALL IT PLANNING. WE STARTING BY SIGNING UP FOR A VOLUNTEERING JOB, THEN BOOKED AN APARTMENT AND LEFT THE PLANE TICKET FOR LAST. AFTER LOOKING AT TICKETS FOR A FEW WEEKS WE FOUND OUT THAT FLYING TUES TO TUES WAS A LOT CHEAPER. LUCKILY, ONCE AGAIN, WE HAD TO EMAIL THE LADY WITH THE APARTMENT AND SHE ALLOWED US TO CHANGE THE DATES WE HAD BOOKED. SLOWLY AND SOMEWHAT PAINFULLY, WE OFFICIALLY HAD THE TRIP PLANNED. EVERYTHING WAS BOOK, WE JUST HAD TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING! IN ALL HONESTY, IT WASN'T THAT BAD. YES IT WAS EXPENSIVE BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT I HAD IMAGINED.

THE COUNTDOWN WAS ON, I(WE) WERE GOING TO KONA FOR THE IRONMAN. EVEN WITH IT ALL BEING A REALITY NOW AND BEING BACK HOME FOR TWO WEEKS, IT'S STILL HARD TO BELIEVE. I STILL FIND MYSELF LOOKING AT PICTURES FROM THE TRIP AND NOT BEING ABLE TO WRAP MY HEAD AROUND IT. CHECKING OUT SOCIAL MEDIA AND SEEING ALL THE POST REGARDING THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AND THEN REALIZING I WAS THERE. IT'S JUST PURE CRAZINESS AND STILL A DREAM. I WOULD SAY IT'S A ONCE IN A LIFETIME TRIP BUT THAT WOULD BE FALSE. WE HADN'T EVEN BOARDED THE PLAN IN KONA FOR HONOLULU YET AND WE WERE LOOKING INTO RETURNING NEXT YEAR. THE ENERGY AND EXCITEMENT FELT ON THE BIG ISLAND FOR THAT WEEK WAS UNREAL AND WE WILL BE BACK.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS RIGHT? WELL THIS ONE MIGHT CAPTURE THE MOMENT AND THE FEELING BUT IN ALL HONESTY, IT FALLS WAY SHORT. YOU CAN GLANCE AT US IN THE PHOTO AND ASSUME WE HAD A TRIP OF A LIFETIME. ALL SMILES AND CAREFREE. YOU WOULD BE CORRECT BUT YOU'RE LIKELY UNDERMINING THE TRUE FEELINGS. THERE IS JUST NO WAY WORDS OR PICTURES CAN ACCURATELY CAPTURE KONA.

CONSIDER THIS PART ONE OF WHO KNOWS HOW MANY. PART TWO TO FOLLOW SOON, LIKELY CONSISTING OF SOME GUTS AND GLORY FROM RACE DAY. STAY TUNED!