pre-IRONMAN!!

CLICK HERE to see a video I made of the day at the triathalon..

a few weekends ago a few of us volunteered to help out with the half triathlon that was happening in Kona. It is a pre-requisite for the IronMan competition in the fall which is a full triathlon. We woke up at 4 in the morning and headed out around 4:30. We arrived there around 5:30 and our first job was to help stamp the numbers on the athletes arms. It was so fun because we were the first people they talked too and we got to ask whether this was their first time or not or whether they were nervous or not. It was nice to be able to encourage them as we stamped their arms and sent them on their way. After that we watched the swimming section..they started and ended at the same spot they basically made a huge circle in the ocean. The triathlon had about 1200 participants and it was crazy to see that many people in the water at once. The half triathlon consists of:

swim: 1.2 miles

run: 13.1 miles

bike: 56 miles

and the ironman is a FULL triathlon..which is DOUBLE that! those people are seriously crazy! Our next job wasn't until the finish line so during the day we hungout at the second switchover spot and watched the bikers switch to running. Then when they started coming up to the finish line our job was to make sure the went straight to this one tent

to get their GPS's cut off. The athletes are kinda out of it when they come through the finish line because they are so worn out so my job was to make eye contact or grab their arms and direct them to that tent. It was fun because one of the first females to finish..a PRO athlete..ended up half collapsing on me haha so now I can say that a pro athlete sweated on me and I assisted her to the tent haha. Some people came through with their backs just covered in blistered from getting so burnt in the sun..others were pucking. It was crazy. Some people were in their 70's and 80's crossing the finish!! It really made me want to get in shape so that I am that healthy when I am other.. I have alot more respect for these athletes and the hard training they put into this.