Relaxing

Arild, Rune and me - the 3 Norwegianmales with most Hawaii-qualifications.

Rest-day: Early up, biked to the pier (start of race, 8km from hotel) and had a 30min swim. Nice to meet several of the other Norwegians, Solveig (w/family), Rune and Arild(+Anne).
We had a coffie afterwards (smoothie for me - no caffeine in race week).

Then I biked back to the hotel and spent some time on my work (I have a real job).

- And I spent a lot of time on 3 different beaches. Love to feel the heat from the sun - and then cool down in the clear water.

From the hotel

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I'v been here 4 times before, and I still get amazed by the sunset every evening....

The weather has been strange one of the locals told me - there have been rain, and it's cold.
It's not as hot as last year, but still no need for anything warmer than a t-short and shorts when it gets "colder" in the evening. And no rain today, partly cloudy and enough sun for my skin. (I guess the temperature was down to 20centigrades before sunrise this morning, with a maximum of 30-35 in the middle of the day)

Had a nice 45min swim in the ocean after breakfast, then some shopping and collecting my rental bike. (I need a bike to get around, don't want to park my racing bike outside shops etc.)
Afterward it was time for the main training leg, 2hours cycling on the Queen K - parts of the bike leg in the Ironman. Did some hard work (4*10minuetes treshold intervals). During this part I met and bypassed Chris Lieto, the fastest cyclist last year. (Well - I had only the fast tempo for 10min, while he had a constant speed...)

There is not much time left for training now; I'll do some serious swimming and a little bit cycling and running - and relax and enjoy the area.

This weeks training:
Mon: Intervalls on bike to work, low intensity on the ride home (approx 1h30min total). 1h20 swimming –intervalls
Tue: Low intensity bike to/from work. 1H on tri-bike, including 3*10min intervalls – up to maximum speed.
Wed: Low intensity bike to/from work. 20min run – still pain in the achilles
Thu: Low intensity to work – intervalls on my way home. (A bit heavy legs)
Fri-Sat: Travel + 20 min swimming
Sunday: 45min swimming, 2H on the bike in cluding 4*10min treshold intervals
Totally 2h swim, 20min running and 9h on the bike.

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Early morning view from hotel room veranda

Ready for breakfast followed by a swim.
(I'll warn you, you might get bored of the pictures of palms, sea, blue sky - but I'll never be bored watching it, feeling the warm sun and water, listen to the sea and birds...

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Nice to be back (in Kona)

After a long journey, including an exiting security control in LA*, I finally arrived. Got a wonderful swim in the ocean amongst fish and turtles before sunset.
Then back to the hotel room (with open doors to the veranda, listening to the ocean) while mounting the bike and following Thor Hushovd's win :-)

*The official that scanned my bag in the security control called an officer for manual check. He opened the bag, searched around and noticed my cycling shoes. Used a stick to check them - and "EXPLOSIVES DETECTED" appeared on the screen.
- He commanded me to sit down, while he continued the checking.
And 20?minutes later I was cleared, and could continue.

Long travel - quiet morning

Travelled to Minneapolis via Amsterdam yesterday. Now I'm waiting for the flight to LA (4hours); then the final (more than 5hours) flight to Kona. If no delays, I reach a swim in the ocean before sunset

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