Sunset City

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

SUNSET CITY

The thing that freaks me out most about an Ironman is its inevitability. You wake up on Wednesday, and you’re one day closer to Saturday morning. It’s not like a training ride, which can always be deferred, or avoided, or delayed, or rescheduled. Nope, they mean to start at 7 AM on Saturday, whether any of us are ready or not. By the looks of things, people are ready TODAY. Out at the pier, there were hundreds of people testing the waves on the swim course this morning, and even more milling around watching them. I gave it a shot for 25 minutes or so, and felt – ready.

……….

In the changing room, I met up again with Keith Greenough, from UK, who’d been around the world doing Ironman races, qualifying at New Zealand in March, then coming in second to me in Idaho.

“Hey, Keith. So, have you done any other Ironman races since Coeur d’Alene?”

“Oh, no, just a half ironman and a few Olympic distance (about 1/4 ironman). But doing all this ironman stuff has made me slow. Seems I can just go on forever, but haven’t got any speed.” Keith is a short man, and had developed a chin up posture from a lifetime of looking up at people. He also seems to have only one good eye, as he’s always turning to one side to look at me. But he’s got a great smile.

“Well, that’s one thing we lose as we get older, some top end speed, I think.”

“It’s frustrating to me; I could do a 2:50 marathon 20 years ago – I’ll never see that again.”

I allowed as how I hadn’t started running until I turned fifty, so I’m still getting PRs at 57. He chuckled.

“This IS better than what most guys our age are doing, you know,” I pointed out.

He chuckled again. “Right. The sunset years. I’m not going to spend them propped up in front of the telly, eating chips and getting fat.”

……….

I looked down at his legs. I’ve been looking at a lot of legs these days. Everyone here, men included, seems to shave and polish their calves, the better to show off their veins and muscles and tan, I think. I’m checking out all the old guys (meaning anybody my age or older), to see if they are shaving too. I’ve never quite gotten the theory about cyclists and triathletes shaving legs. I understand swimming and shaving, at least at the elite end of the sport. Any little edge to reduce drag; I tried it myself in college, but I still never won anything. I did Ironman Canada twice, and shaved my legs the second time. I went no faster than the first.

I’ve heard the following justifications for leg shaving among cyclist/triathletes: reduce drag when pedaling; easier to treat road rash if you fall; better sweat evaporation, etc, all of them quite loony, if you ask me. The only reasons that make sense, I think, are vanity and tribal identification. If I don’t shave my legs, I’m worried I won’t really be one of the tribe here. So I’m eying the can of Barbasol under the sink in my condo. But first, I’m looking at my clan within the tribe. And the majority of the old guys still have furry legs. But on some of us, it’s hard to tell, as we lose our hair down there just like on top. I’ve only got to resist the temptation for 48 more hours.

……….

The pre-race briefing for competitors was notable for just one fact: the race route is unchanged. We did get warnings on what to do in case of tsunami or nuclear attack. But we will not have to divert from the Kohala Mountain seection; while the bridge north of Kawaihae is reduced to one lane due to cracks in the railing on one side, we will nonetheless get to bike all the way to Hawi and back.

……….

In the evening, the sky cranks up for another stellar sunset.Sunset over my balcony
Looking north from my balcony, here’s what I see:
Puffy clouds over Kona

Tomorrow my family arrives, and can draw off all this excess energy I’m starting to accumulate.

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