Rego bag goodies
Marty and Roo at the top of the Energy Lab
Undie run
The Queen K
Morning swims from Dig Me Beach
Parade of Nations
Me and my mate Crowie
The view from our Hotel room down Alii Drive
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A few pics now
Rego bag goodies
Marty and Roo at the top of the Energy Lab
Undie run
The Queen K
Morning swims from Dig Me Beach
Parade of Nations
Me and my mate Crowie
Thursday of Race Week!!
Hi everyone
Only two days to go now until race day and the atmosphere here is already electric. The town is packed and it’s difficult to get around at times because there are just so many people here. And absolutely all of them look ripped and tanned.
I’ve been having trouble getting online here because our hotel wants to charge us US$50 a week to use their internet service which doesn’t even reach up to our room, despite their assurances that it did. I’ve been getting free internet from LavaJava but finding a seat there is also pretty tough. Normann Stadler’s team have set up camp and have their “Official Lounge” there. They all look uber fit. We've just managed now to get s seat near them and FuelBelt are giving away free Helium FuleBelts to all competitors here. This place is like Ironman Disneyland!
The morning swims are great fun at 7am every morning with the seemingly thousands of other people doing the same. The Coffees of Hawaii boat has been moored about 500m offshore out on the course for the past few days giving out free coffee as usual. This morning a BlueSeventy rep was there too giving out free goggles to anyone who wanted them. Very nice goggles.
Then straight after the swim was the annual Undie Run hosted by Roch Frey and Paul Huddle. Hundreds of people all gathered in their undies (Team USA had theirs supplied by GU) and after taking a pledge not to wear our Speedos anywhere but swimming, we jogged off around Alii Drive to the King K hotel. There we were lead in some callisthenics by Huddle in a German accent and then instructed to come up with out best excuse in a German accent as to why we would not win the race on Saturday.
The weather seems to be getting hotter here at the moment. This morning the heat is already oppressive and it is a bit windy too.
Yesterday we gave LavaJava a miss and headed out to Waikaloa resort to find a beach. It might sound funny having to search for a beach in Hawaii but the vast majority of the shoreline here is rock/lava. Sandy beaches are rare and the few in town are 20-50m long and most have dangerously rocky bottoms once you get in the water. This makes for great snorkelling but terrible swimming.
Marty and I headed out for a ride yesterday afternoon including a few threshold efforts. We headed out along the Queen K past the Natural Energy Lab to the airport. I had taken my camera in case we were overtaken by Macca at any point, but I took the opportunity to get a few shots of what the course looks like from the bike: hot, windy, desolate. We were doing a surge as we went past the Energy Lab at 50km/h but I couldn’t let the opportunity for photo pass.
I also registered for the race on Tuesday. Very exciting. There was much queuing and signing of waivers but half an hour later I was the proud owner of a one-day licence for USAT and an Ironman race kit.
Will hopefully get more up tomorrow. I realise that it is Friday in Australia, so if you are keen to follow the race online it will be broadcast live streaming on http://www.ironmanlive.com/ from early on Sunday morning Australian time. The gun is at 7am Hawaii time which should be 3am Sunday morning Queensland time (not sure about daylight savings for the other states). The winners will do just over 8hr and I will be somewhere several hours after them! Through that website you can also go to “Athlete Tracker” to find where I am on the course. Just search my name or race number 1539.
A huge thankyou to everyone who has sent me emails/Facebook messages/text messages/good vibes etc this week and in the past few weeks. I really appreciate your thoughts and will be thinking back to your support when the going gets tough on race day
Thank you all.
Aloha and Mahalo!
Cam
Only two days to go now until race day and the atmosphere here is already electric. The town is packed and it’s difficult to get around at times because there are just so many people here. And absolutely all of them look ripped and tanned.
I’ve been having trouble getting online here because our hotel wants to charge us US$50 a week to use their internet service which doesn’t even reach up to our room, despite their assurances that it did. I’ve been getting free internet from LavaJava but finding a seat there is also pretty tough. Normann Stadler’s team have set up camp and have their “Official Lounge” there. They all look uber fit. We've just managed now to get s seat near them and FuelBelt are giving away free Helium FuleBelts to all competitors here. This place is like Ironman Disneyland!
The morning swims are great fun at 7am every morning with the seemingly thousands of other people doing the same. The Coffees of Hawaii boat has been moored about 500m offshore out on the course for the past few days giving out free coffee as usual. This morning a BlueSeventy rep was there too giving out free goggles to anyone who wanted them. Very nice goggles.
Then straight after the swim was the annual Undie Run hosted by Roch Frey and Paul Huddle. Hundreds of people all gathered in their undies (Team USA had theirs supplied by GU) and after taking a pledge not to wear our Speedos anywhere but swimming, we jogged off around Alii Drive to the King K hotel. There we were lead in some callisthenics by Huddle in a German accent and then instructed to come up with out best excuse in a German accent as to why we would not win the race on Saturday.
The weather seems to be getting hotter here at the moment. This morning the heat is already oppressive and it is a bit windy too.
Yesterday we gave LavaJava a miss and headed out to Waikaloa resort to find a beach. It might sound funny having to search for a beach in Hawaii but the vast majority of the shoreline here is rock/lava. Sandy beaches are rare and the few in town are 20-50m long and most have dangerously rocky bottoms once you get in the water. This makes for great snorkelling but terrible swimming.
Marty and I headed out for a ride yesterday afternoon including a few threshold efforts. We headed out along the Queen K past the Natural Energy Lab to the airport. I had taken my camera in case we were overtaken by Macca at any point, but I took the opportunity to get a few shots of what the course looks like from the bike: hot, windy, desolate. We were doing a surge as we went past the Energy Lab at 50km/h but I couldn’t let the opportunity for photo pass.
I also registered for the race on Tuesday. Very exciting. There was much queuing and signing of waivers but half an hour later I was the proud owner of a one-day licence for USAT and an Ironman race kit.
Will hopefully get more up tomorrow. I realise that it is Friday in Australia, so if you are keen to follow the race online it will be broadcast live streaming on http://www.ironmanlive.com/ from early on Sunday morning Australian time. The gun is at 7am Hawaii time which should be 3am Sunday morning Queensland time (not sure about daylight savings for the other states). The winners will do just over 8hr and I will be somewhere several hours after them! Through that website you can also go to “Athlete Tracker” to find where I am on the course. Just search my name or race number 1539.
A huge thankyou to everyone who has sent me emails/Facebook messages/text messages/good vibes etc this week and in the past few weeks. I really appreciate your thoughts and will be thinking back to your support when the going gets tough on race day
Thank you all.
Aloha and Mahalo!
Cam
Hi there again
I was in the process of uploading this post on Tuesday when my laptop battery died, so here it is today!
I'm trying to get some video uploaded but it's not working through this blog site so I've put it up on www.youtube.com/camnapper.
I'll be the first to point out that they're not the most exciting videos ever but I'm just trying to get little bits and pieces together of what's happening over here and what it's like to be here.
It's now Tuesday of race-week and Kona is very busy. Loads more people have arrived and the roads are now busy all the time with runners and cyclists mixed with lots of cars all going at "Aloha pace" which appears to be nothing faster than 1st gear. Drivers just stop in the middle of the road to look at stuff, or chat to someone and the following cars don't seem to care. Everyone is very laid back.
We did our programmed swim from the Kona Tiki to the swim start this morning which I guess ended up around 2k? It was punctuated with a few minutes at the Coffees of Hawaii boat which was out for the first time this morning. A free coffee shot and swim-cap later, Marty and I were off again with a bit more boost than before. There is even an underwater sign advertising the coffee boat along the swim course! And it's still impossible to concentrate on swimming with all the beautiful reef fish around.
We saw Macca and Chrissie Wellington at the swim start this morning too. Normann Stadler is currently sitting with his team and the table next to us at LavaJava. They all look seriously fit.
Today is when things really start happening here too. The Parade of Nations is on later this afternoon and the Ironman Expo opens after that. We can also register from today and I might head over and get that out of the way soon.
Mary and I headed up into the hills behind Kona yesterday to tour some of the coffee plantations. There were so many different spots to stop and taste different coffees and eat their chocolate-coated coffee beans. We spent quite a few hours up there and took in way too much caffeine! The views from there were unbelieable too, but most of the time you can't even see the ocean because the vog from the volcano is so thick. The upside is that it often shields Kona from the sun during the day. In the mornings the sky is blue and once the sun is up, it is DAMN hot. But then the vog rolls over and breeze picks up and things become a little more manageable.
The heat comes a goes throughout the day, as do the winds. It seems completely unpredicable and it is impossible to say what it will be like on raceday or any other day.
Better get going again.
Catch you soon
Cam
I was in the process of uploading this post on Tuesday when my laptop battery died, so here it is today!
I'm trying to get some video uploaded but it's not working through this blog site so I've put it up on www.youtube.com/camnapper.
I'll be the first to point out that they're not the most exciting videos ever but I'm just trying to get little bits and pieces together of what's happening over here and what it's like to be here.
It's now Tuesday of race-week and Kona is very busy. Loads more people have arrived and the roads are now busy all the time with runners and cyclists mixed with lots of cars all going at "Aloha pace" which appears to be nothing faster than 1st gear. Drivers just stop in the middle of the road to look at stuff, or chat to someone and the following cars don't seem to care. Everyone is very laid back.
We did our programmed swim from the Kona Tiki to the swim start this morning which I guess ended up around 2k? It was punctuated with a few minutes at the Coffees of Hawaii boat which was out for the first time this morning. A free coffee shot and swim-cap later, Marty and I were off again with a bit more boost than before. There is even an underwater sign advertising the coffee boat along the swim course! And it's still impossible to concentrate on swimming with all the beautiful reef fish around.
We saw Macca and Chrissie Wellington at the swim start this morning too. Normann Stadler is currently sitting with his team and the table next to us at LavaJava. They all look seriously fit.
Today is when things really start happening here too. The Parade of Nations is on later this afternoon and the Ironman Expo opens after that. We can also register from today and I might head over and get that out of the way soon.
Mary and I headed up into the hills behind Kona yesterday to tour some of the coffee plantations. There were so many different spots to stop and taste different coffees and eat their chocolate-coated coffee beans. We spent quite a few hours up there and took in way too much caffeine! The views from there were unbelieable too, but most of the time you can't even see the ocean because the vog from the volcano is so thick. The upside is that it often shields Kona from the sun during the day. In the mornings the sky is blue and once the sun is up, it is DAMN hot. But then the vog rolls over and breeze picks up and things become a little more manageable.
The heat comes a goes throughout the day, as do the winds. It seems completely unpredicable and it is impossible to say what it will be like on raceday or any other day.
Better get going again.
Catch you soon
Cam
Monday, October 6, 2008
Made it!
We're here!
We made it safely and everything arrived in one piece including my bike. Off to a good start.
This place is so surreal! Where to start...
We arrived after at our hotel on Friday afternoon after a 10+hr flight, but after sitting around in several airports etc we had been travelling for about 22hr. I was so pumped to actually be in Kona I got changed and headed out for the 80min run from my program: run down Alii Drive.
Wow, what a run! It was about 5pm but still damn hot and very humid. I was sweating before I started running. Five minutes in, Chrissie Wellington rode past in the opposite direction. I recognised her for a bit away and we shard a big grin. Two minutes later Natascha Badmann came past. At the turn I saw Mark Allen running in the opposite direction. A minute later I saw Macca and yelled something at him about looking good for the win again this year, and tried to make it sound as Aussie as possible. He yelled something back that I like to think was a "thanks mate" but was probably telling me get stuffed. Then Normann Stadler ran past..
Half way back to the hotel Macca and Normann both overtook me and they were having a chat together. Awesome!
We have been swimming every morning on the course which is just beautiful. The water is warm and crystal clear. It is impossible to think about your stroke because I'm too busy watching all the tropical fish in the coral below.
We're also done a couple of sessions out on the Queen K to familiarise ourselves with various sections. The wind and heat are indescribable. I had heard about it all from other people but until I experienced it over the weekend, I had no idea how oppressive the heat could be, and how dangerous the wind could be!
There are fit people everywhere strutting and posing, people belting up and down Alii Drive at extreme pace, people rolling around on the hottest bikes and wheels, people doing some very serious training sessions! It's Monday now and the town is really starting to fire up. Everything is busy now compared to Friday, especially Lava Java where we are sitting now. Normann and his team just got up from their morning coffees and left.
Have to go but I will try to post some video and some pics if I can.
We're having the time of our lives over here!! Absolutely awesome!
More soon
Cam
We made it safely and everything arrived in one piece including my bike. Off to a good start.
This place is so surreal! Where to start...
We arrived after at our hotel on Friday afternoon after a 10+hr flight, but after sitting around in several airports etc we had been travelling for about 22hr. I was so pumped to actually be in Kona I got changed and headed out for the 80min run from my program: run down Alii Drive.
Wow, what a run! It was about 5pm but still damn hot and very humid. I was sweating before I started running. Five minutes in, Chrissie Wellington rode past in the opposite direction. I recognised her for a bit away and we shard a big grin. Two minutes later Natascha Badmann came past. At the turn I saw Mark Allen running in the opposite direction. A minute later I saw Macca and yelled something at him about looking good for the win again this year, and tried to make it sound as Aussie as possible. He yelled something back that I like to think was a "thanks mate" but was probably telling me get stuffed. Then Normann Stadler ran past..
Half way back to the hotel Macca and Normann both overtook me and they were having a chat together. Awesome!
We have been swimming every morning on the course which is just beautiful. The water is warm and crystal clear. It is impossible to think about your stroke because I'm too busy watching all the tropical fish in the coral below.
We're also done a couple of sessions out on the Queen K to familiarise ourselves with various sections. The wind and heat are indescribable. I had heard about it all from other people but until I experienced it over the weekend, I had no idea how oppressive the heat could be, and how dangerous the wind could be!
There are fit people everywhere strutting and posing, people belting up and down Alii Drive at extreme pace, people rolling around on the hottest bikes and wheels, people doing some very serious training sessions! It's Monday now and the town is really starting to fire up. Everything is busy now compared to Friday, especially Lava Java where we are sitting now. Normann and his team just got up from their morning coffees and left.
Have to go but I will try to post some video and some pics if I can.
We're having the time of our lives over here!! Absolutely awesome!
More soon
Cam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)