A little church with a blue metal roof sits seaside on the lava about 4 miles down the road from my condo. Besides being a favorite spot for weddings, and maybe the most photographed church on the island, it also marks the turn-around point for the first segment of the Ironman marathon.
We run down Ali’i Drive to the church, staying within 50 feet of the ocean all the way. Open spaces between the condos allow sea breezes to faintly blow away the accumulating perspiration. The buildings, banyan, and coconut palms all provide some shade, if the afternoon is sunny. So far, four out of the six days I’ve been here, clouds formed high up on the volcano have floated down past the shore, hiding the searing radiance, and even spilling the very occasional rain drop.
Today’s run took me from my door to the church and back. Near the end, I had done my scheduled hour, and so I walked for ten minutes to “cool” down while getting back. Up ahead, I saw an angular older man, stiff-leggedly shuffle-running towards me, wearing a bright yellow Pearl Izumi biking vest and an Ironman Arizona cap. He grimaced, held his left upper thigh for a moment, and started walking. He looked my way, and caught my eye.
“Say, where is the turn-around?” he asked.
“Well, let’s see … we’re here at about mile post 1.5 [they appear every half mile along Ali’i]. Past 4.5, there’s the little blue church…” I started.
“So that’s where the turn around is?”
“Actually, about 100 yards past the church is a bright orange dot on the pavement, with ‘TA’ next to it. That’s the turn around.”
He started up again, but I called after him, “Oh, I see you’ve got an Ironman Arizona cap – is that where you qualified?”
Well, he had, and so did I of course, so we introduced ourselves, and commented on how many people over 60 there are in the race. He had noted 23 in his age group, 70-74, which does seem pretty amazing. But then, as long as one person is entered in a race in that age group, there will be a slot for Kona, and there are about 25 qualifying races around the world. We parted by exchanging names – he’s Cliff – and promised to meet again at the “Iron Gents and Ladies” dinner Monday night, for those of us 60 and over. I will be the YOUNGEST competitor among them!
I got back, and marveled at just how good I felt. I’d swum 75 minutes in the morning, almost the whole swim course, and then run the first hour’s worth of the marathon course in the afternoon. I had finished the swim strong, going out in 41.5 minutes and back in 35. My time for the 7 mile run was exactly my long run pace in cooler weather, 8:50 per mile. My ideal day in life, no matter what else happens, provides me with about 2 hours of exercise; less than that, and I feel logy. More, and I’m getting tired. But 2 hours a day – I could do that 365 a year. Turns out I do; that’s my average amount of swimming, biking, running, weight lifting and/or skiing I do each day, according to my training log. I really worry what would happen to my mental (and physical) health if I couldn’t do those 14 hours a week, +/-.
Once home, I leaned out over the balcony, and spotted 7 bright yellow fish, about the size of my hand, schooling together, trapped in a tide pool. I’m sure they will do OK, and will be gone with the next high tide. But they added a bit to the magic here on the littoral.
