It was inevitable that our flights to Hawaii would be packed full of screaming children and excited foreigners making their way to the islands. The only thing missing were the farm animals running down the isle of the plane! Ryan and I waited for Peter to get off his plane. He approached our car with a series of f-bombs and a lecture about the "Little Johnny" sitting next to him that crapped in his pants and the soccer Mom apparently lacked the abilty to smell what the entire plane had been gifted with earlier in the flight. We picked up our race car red Dodge Magnum rental car and worked our way to the condo. We are set up in the Alii Lani condo complex less than 2 miles from Kaihula Kona. Our conditions this year are much better and will make a huge difference in our race preparation and ability to keep Peter rested, relaxed and ready to take on this brutal 3-day race. We took a quick trip to the grocery store, picked up some race supplies and have our meal plan set for the week. Our staples for the week consist of espresso, oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and pasta. We woke and spent the majority of the morning getting the supplies for the race, assemblying Peter's bike, setting up the blog, and setting up Twitter. We also fit in a morning swim at the Kona pier. This afternoon, Peter took the bike out for a quick spin and Ryan and I made our way to the City of Refuge for a bit of site seeing.
After returning home, Peter had his best friend from Czech, Daniel and his Wife Egi visiting. They are traveling the world over 4-months and happen to be in Kona at the same time of the race. We cooked 2 pounds of pasta (jacked up with enough hot sauce to kill a small child), ate bread, and watched an outstanding Matt Damon documentary called "Running the Sahara" for the third. This documentary is about 3 guys who ran the entire Sahara desert, 7500KM over 111 days. That's 12hrs of running and 2 marathons a day in temperatures ranging from low 30's to 140 degrees. Incredible. It makes running a double marathon (52.4 miles) in sub-7 minute pace seem like a cake walk. (Not really!) Our only limitations are in our own minds. I guess when you get in the world of Ultra Endurance eventing, this group of accomplished athletes ask the question... "why not?" Many of these athletes have their own personal missions, however all of them contain an internal drive and confidence that quitting in not an option, and are wired to meet whatever goal and challenge stands in front of them at the time.
Our goal is clear, win the world championship. Peter is relaxed, and no doubt ready. Tomorrow, we will check in for the race, get the bike inspection completed and loosen up with some swimming and running.
Maholo to all of our local sponsors in Greenville. We would not be ready and able for this race without the help of our local sponsors: Signature Patio and Pools, Orthopedic Specialists, Metro Reproduction, Dhillon Cosmetic Dentistry, Carolina Foot Care, Joe at Raymond James, and of course our friends at Run In.
Maholo to all of our merchandising sponsors including Jim at Beyond Fabrications, Blue Seventy, First Endurance and Rudy Project for supporting Peter.
To our special friends Stan and Paula Bilkulege, Ashli Gaines, Ben Renfrow, David Godwin, and Cliff Brown for their personal donations and assistance to this race preparations. Your gifts were generous and Peter is grateful for your support.
Finally, a special thanks to WYFF 4 (Mark Dopher and Geoff Hart) for following Peter and the race, and to Richard Osbourne for his great story on Peter in Go Magazine and offering visibility to this great sport we all love.
No comments:
Post a Comment