Kona

I spent most of the day yesterday yammering on about the Ironman World Championships. While I usually get sort of excited around the race, I think this year had more yammering than usual. Hannah knew what to expect though and let me wander off to the computer throughout the day to check in on the race's progress.

I think a big part of the excitement I was experiencing was because I know people that were racing there -- a bunch of people at that; many of whom I've actually met in person. Having a personal interest made the race that much more compelling.

What's also interesting is I have no desire AT ALL to go to the big show in Hawaii. Putting aside the fact that qualification is little more than a pipe dream, if I were to somehow qualify, I think I'd turn the slot down. I can completely understand the appeal of Kona to 99.99% of triathletes, but it's not a draw for me.

I used to think the same thing about 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater, Florida. Not only do I have less interest in visiting Florida in November than I do in visiting Kona in October, but the course would be the absolute worst place for me to race well. Unless I somehow pack on 10 pounds of muscle in my quads, I don't have the juice to be competitive in a pancake-flat half ironman.

Honestly, this is all just my roundabout way of saying I don't like palm trees.

However, now that 70.3 Worlds are moving to Nevada, I just might have an interest in dreaming about something a little bigger.

...Of course, there's the little fact that I'm about an hour outside of qualification speed... someday... maybe.