Kona.
For a triathlete, it is the Holy Grail of
racing. The Ironman World Championships! The race that
started out when I was a mere 8 years old. I have watched it,
countless times on TV. Every year rooting for my favorite
male/female athlete to cross the finish line on Ali’I Drive. I have
watched as they have talked about the heat, the humidity, the Queen K, the
Energy Lab, Digme Beach at Kailua Pier, and the struggles these incredible
athletes go through, to not only get to the starting line, but to finish this
Ironman.
So this year…., many, many years after
watching, and dreaming about this place, and 10 years after I started racing
multi sport, I finally got go.
It’s funny, that even though, I have only
been racing Triathlons/Duathlons for 10 years, I have kept up on the racing in
Kona. In my 20’s, I watched and thought, what an amazing event to be
a part of, and ALWAYS knew I would race in Ironman. When I met my
husband, as a young 20-something girl, a runner, a non-swimmer, and mountain
biker, I told him, I would race an Ironman! And always dreamed of
Kona.
Well, as the story goes, I was not in
Kona to race, but to cheer on a couple of friends who were
racing. One who qualified, and one who got in through the
lottery. Both equally incredible!
Of course, when our friends called the
morning that they found out he had been picked in the lottery, I was doing the
Happy Dance in my bathroom. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on at
first, when she called, Greg answered my cell phone because I was brushing my
teeth. His face! If I could’ve snapped a picture of his
face…..he was standing there in amazement. Saying things like, NO
WAY!! SERIOUSLY!! OH MY GOSH!! ARE YOU
SERIOUS! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! I am looking at him, toothbrush
vibrating in my mouth, saying, WHAT???? Then…I hear
it. Kona! Our friend has gotten into
Kona. Pause. Butterflies! Tingling! Eyes that
feel as if, they might bubble over with tears. I start to
dance. Wildly dance! Our friend got into Kona through the
lottery! I dance in my PJ’s in the bathroom, with Greg
shouting, “WE’RE GOING TO KONA!!” And thus starts the
adventure.
Quickly, in a manner of days, us girls
are on the phone, meeting for coffee, and figuring out our trip, our flights,
our condos, cars. Of course, we all need to fly
together. Our excitement was insane! Kona was all we
could talk about. We had dinners together and talked about
Kona. Us girls shopped together, and talked about
Kona. We worked out together and talked about Kona.
Then, finally, we were going.
We flew over together with so much
excitement. Laughing, drinking Kona Long Board beers on the
plane.
When we arrived, it was hot, sticky, smelled
of Plumeria. We loved it, and were ready for an adventure!
We got to our beautiful
condos. They were gorgeous! HUGE! And right up against
the ocean. The waves crashing, the salty air, the heat, was
intoxicating!!
This tiny little town of Kona is
amazing! The energy that this place puts out is
inconceivable. The people are all outgoing and
hospitable. It seems the entire island comes alive from the
enthusiasm of people landing daily for this race.
Living in an Ironman city, like Coeur
d’Alene, we are used to “everything” Ironman….but Kona, WOW!! It’s
spectacular!!
Before race day, we took full advantage
of what this tiny island has to offer. Every day some sort of
adventure was in store for us. Of course, we had our mornings,
rushing down to swim, and watch athletes swimming down on Digme
Beach. We HAD to get in a swim here. The place where
Ironman starts. And even though, some of us weren’t racing, swimming
here is like an out-of-body body experience.
Digme Beach/Kailua Pier
Our 1st morning, we were up early to run a
10k. This was also an amazing experience, since the run was along
Ali’i Drive, part of the run course for Ironman. The heat that
morning was stifling. The humidity came in and slapped you in the
face when trying to take a breath. My gosh, how does anyone run a
marathon in this heat, I thought. AND…after swimming and biking?? At
this point it was 8am. I found myself a couple of times, getting
chills, thinking about running along Ali’i Dr where so many amazing athletes
had run before. It was surreal. I soaked up every single bit
of the experience.
The gang after the Path 10K
After the race that morning, we were off
to the beach for the day. Thank goodness.
Most of the time, I feel like a fish out
of water…living in Idaho, with no ocean, makes me feel like my gills dry
up. I adore the ocean. And could, like a kid, stay in the
waves, for hours on end. It’s where I am most at peace. I
feel my most natural. Serene. And like when I am in the
mountains, feel the closest to God. So I could not wait, to get in!
We enjoying the sunshine, relaxing,
snorkeling, and loving all the sea turtles swimming and beaching themselves
next to us. That night…a Luau!!
At Kahaluu Beach
Huge Hibiscus outside the condo!
Kahaluu Beach
Luau at The Hilton Waikoloa Village
Sunset from our Luau
Before we had even left on this trip, one
of the points of interest for us, was to see the Green Sand Beach or Papakolea Beach.
There are 2 of these in the World.
One in Guam, one on the Island of Hawaii. This entire day, was
unimaginable!! From start to finish, I knew, this was going to be
"quite the day"
We knew that to get to this beach, it was
going to take, a 4x4, a good pair of walking shoes, water, resolve &
determination. We had heard about parking, and walking in. Reviews
I read, said it was a "hard" hike in. Some said,
"un-walkable, too far, too windy, don't wear flip-flops, DON"T drive
yourself, you name it. We thought, "Huh? We are ALL
athletes, how freakin' hard can it be?" This was laughable, once we
saw what was in store.
We jumped into our Jeep....SIX of us,
with the top down. We thought, if there was the slightest chance at
driving to this beach, we better take the Jeep. We pile in, like a bunch
of teenagers, going to a beach kegger. Being that we were
limited on space, Alicia and I decide we will take the back. Like as in,
the cargo area. No seat. We fix our beach towels into make-shift
seats, and think....easy enough. The drive to the beach took 90 minutes.
We should've thought better about this decision. Her and I sat in
the back, like we were the Labradors heading for a swim with the redneck in the
back of his pick-up. It was hilarious!! Her and I laughed our
butts off sitting back there. It truly made me feel like a high-school
kid. Thank goodness neither of us got car sick.
We finally make it to the "parking
lot" of the beach, climb out, and think we are going to start this walk to
the beach. Up pops David, this sweet, funny, sweaty little Hawaiian man.
He is ready to drive us. We look around and think, we can walk.
"3 miles in" David tells us. We are taking the ride!!
This proves to be a fantastic decision. Even in our Jeep there
is NO WAY we would've been able to drive. This road he takes us on is like Mr.
Toads Wild Ride. We are all crammed into (this time there are 7 of us,
including David) into his old, extremely worn-in Expedition.
He is taking us over boulders, and dunes, and ruts like I have never
seen. I wish, I would've jumped out to snap a picture. David, our
driver, and in the front passenger seat, Dennis and Brenda....Bren sitting on
his lap. Backseat; Greg, Alicia & I, and our Ironman, Randy, crammed
into the back cargo area. All of us bouncing up and down, smacking our
heads on the ceiling practically. The wind is blowing so hard, sand is
flying EVERYWHERE! Some of the windows work.....either in the all the way
down position, or the opposite...which is making us all sweat to death in this
cramped little SUV. We are sticky, sweaty and sandy and thankful to make
it out of this car alive, by the time we reach the beach. The wind in
this area is incredible. We all step out and look over the edge, where we
need to climb down, and are utterly amazed at what we see. This tiny,
little cove, turquoise water lapping up onto this stunning, olivine beach. It
truly is green. I was taken aback. I have seen all sorts of sand,
but never green. We make our way down, and all of us just stand in
amazement of this place. God, you really know how to create a
masterpiece.
Looking down on Green Beach
Awesome blow hole that people were jumping into.
Water was amazing from 50 feet up.
Green Beach Facts:
If ever in Kona, this place is a must
see. It was like nothing I have ever seen. We splashed and played,
took pictures, and sat digging our hands into the sand. It is just so
unusual to see green sand. We REALLY wanted to bring some home, which is
not allowed.
We climbed back out of this bowl, and
back into the SUV ride from hell. **Another note: If you do ever get to
Kona, and decide to go to the Green Beach, park and look for David. This
man, was so sweet, full of the funniest stories, and made the experience that
much amazing for us! And although, I say it was the "ride from
hell" this has nothing to do with David's driving skills, which were
top-notch.
We bid our driver, Aloha, climbed back
into the sardine car (Jeep) and set off for Ka Lae or South
Point. The southern most point of the USA!!
The waves here were out of control! Huge, crashing, and scary to stand up to. We watched cliff divers, and divers jumping into a giant blow hole. It was spectacular!!
Leaving there, we climbed back into the Jeep to make the journey back into Kona. We drove past lava fields, coffee farms, rain forests, and tiny little towns. In one town, we even spotted a silly looking animal, that Alicia and I laughed about for days. We were unsure if he was a sheep, or goat. It may have been the heat, the jostling around in the back of a Jeep, the humidity, or too many Mai Tai's, but we thought our (cleverly named) Hawaiian Geep, was something to write home about.
Our Hawaiian Geep....just so you all know he wasn't fictional!
On our way back, with no tops for the Jeep (we left them in the condo) as we are driving through beautiful, tropical, coffee farms, we are hit by a torrential downpour. A DOWNpour!! We just had to laugh. We were getting soaked!! When in a rain forest....right? At that moment, we knew, and proclaimed it...THE BEST DAY EVER!! (which we found out soon enough, we would say many more times over the next 9 days!!)
~To be con't
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