I’ve come to Kona with a different attitude this year. In all my previous visits I’ve not had a single alcoholic drink ahead of the race. This year I’ve had a beer every night and in fact this evening Pete lead me astray with a couple before dinner. I am absolutely determined to enjoy this (as best I can without Jo out with me). There are many reasons for this.

1. I genuinely feel that this could be my last visit. This is not because I feel I won’t be able to qualify. I know I can. No, it’s more because I feel that the cost of coming here will increase and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not prohibitively expensive much sooner than most people believe. Also, I am finding it increasingly difficult to justify air travel to myself. This is something Roger quizzed me on whilst we rode the Queen K yesterday and my justifications didn’t sound quite so credible when I said them out loud.
2. My life is in better perspective now lessening the importance of the actual race and increasing the importance of making the most of the overall experience. Reading “The Party’s Over” by Richard Heinberg and “The Long Emergency” by James Howard Kunstler whilst in the USA certainly keeps everything in sharp focus. Even a small place like Kona is completely designed for cars and filled with monster trucks being used to get the groceries. I almost want to tell the drivers they should be ashamed of themselves but of course they’re don’t realise.
3. My goals for the race are much reduced. I’m realistic about where my fitness is and I’m far from competitive so why worry too much. I enjoyed Ironman Wales so much (I’ve entered for 2012) by making a conscious effort to appreciate the race whilst it happened that I will aim to do that again. I would say my goal for race day is to have my most enjoyable Kona. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be here and feel competitive but thats for another time which I hope will happen.

So today started with an early morning swim, earlier than usual with a 6:45am meet. Roger, Brett, Pete and I swam the full course regrouping every so often. It was fun with Pete sticking on my feet for a fair while only getting dropped at the second surge I did. Whenever someone gets on my feet I’m happy for them to be there but I always feel they should get a proper practise so I will try a few surges to see how determined they are after which if they’re still there I’ll swim friendly.

We headed to Bongo Bens for the buffet breakie. Russ would have been decidely unimpressed with Roger and my efforts. We did manage a couple of regular plates of egg and meats followed by some fruit. A darn impresive buffet including a massive joint of very rare beef they were cutting hunks off.

Back at my room I relaxed and found myself dozing. I should have realised how tired I felt and just slept but instead I went to meet Brett and Roger for a planned run. Lucky I missed them because I ran all of about 50m before realising that I was completely zonked and just knocked it on the head. Not a particularly good sign particularly but I’m staying positive ;o)

Worked on my tan in the afternoon. Brett is following my approach – try to get a proper tan in order to avoid horrible sunburn on race day. I pointed out that it’s not the typical advice. Brett suggested it was important to keep hydrated if sunbathing. I’m OK because I’m also having a beer in the evening. Two wrongs will hopefully make a right.

Other than the two pre dinner beers with Pete and Susan it was another typical evening – dinner at the Canoe Club followed by Coffee (and ice cream for some, not me) at Kope Lani.