This year I had two choices on where to stay.  The Specialized house with Peter Reid or the Lifesport house with Lance Watson, Paul Regensburg and the Lifesport staff.  The latter being on Alii Drive right near the turn around point of the run while the Specialized house was up the hill near the highway.  Being that a fifty pound mountain bike is my mode of transport, the choice was an easy one.  I’m just not fit enough to go up and down that mountain two or three times a day and the utter opulence of the Lifesport house was a bit undeniable.  It’s set in the middle of a coffee/fruit plantation!

I was scheduled to arrive here Tuesday night but a flight delay saw me staying overnight in Honolulu so I didn’t arrive till Wednesday morning.  Being one of the last to arrive puts one at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to room selection but considering that I was an invited friend offering no benefit for Lifesport, I most certainly wasn’t going to complain where ever I ended up.

Where I did end up was sharing a room with Dewain Emerich.  Dewain is the run director for the Subaru Half Ironman Series.  He very kindly left me half the drawers and closet space.  My bed was to be a cot.  It was running a bit soft so I just put the mattress on the floor and spend my first night thusly.  I did not sleep well and woke in the morning giving serious thought to calling up to the Specialized house.  However the morning brought some news.  It seems Lance wasn’t able to make the trip this time and his room was free.  I’d struck gold!!  So now it’s been three days here and a better situation you couldn’t imagine. 

These guys are working hard over here.  They’re the official coaches for the Ironman organization, as well they’ve got a number of athletes racing – Linsey Corbin, Haley Cooper and Chris Lieto to name a few.  I’m picking Chris to take the whole thing this year and it was only being rushed when I wrote my “picks” article for Triathlete magazine that I forgot to pick Linsey as my dark horse girl, as I did last year.

Not racing this year is last year’s overall age grouper and Lifesport athlete, Bree Wee.  She wasn’t able to qualify as a pro this year – despite placing 2nd at IM Japan.  I must say it seems like kind of a queer call on the part of the race organizers to not make an exception for her.  They do all the time and Bree is the first female pro to come out of Kona.  She now holds the all time age group record but that all aside, she’s a huge crowd favourite and if you don’t please the crowd the crowd will eventually stop coming.

Dan Smith, a Lifesport coach, is the only guy in the house racing tomorrow and I can’t wait to cheer him on.  He’s a good coach and a dedicated athlete. 

They’ve also set up the Lifesport Lounge in the Kona Beach Hotel right at the finish line.  It’s a sofa filled open room with a big screen TV and a refrigerator.  It’s where I’m writing this right now and it’s going to be a great place to hang on race day!

If you’re in Kona, come by and say hi.  You won’t meet a nicer group of people.

Living the good life


Coach Dan picking coffee


Giant fruit


View from the LifeSport house