Slow Leaks and a Slowtwitch Party....Day No. 4 on the Big Island

Day No. 4 was one of those crazy, scrambled days….with a lot going on (intentionally and unintentionally), but also one where I just didn’t take too many pictures. The day started early, as usual. I had two conference calls set up with media outlets for my Shriner’s charity….the first at 10am with the Arlington Advocate and the second with WBZ Radio at 10:30am. So, I had to get my workouts in early. I had planned to walk down to the swim start to meet my friend, Jen, to swim around 7:30, then get back to the condo by 9 so I could get my :45 minutes done on the bike. Then meet the family at the Felt industry tent to drop my bike off for a final tune (or so I thought) and do the interviews at 10. Of course, this was pretty aggressive with very little margin for time error!

As I was walking down to the pier to swim (it takes about 30 minutes), Jen informed me that she was running late. Given my margin for error, I had to swim without her. But, we actually ran into each other at the ends of our respective swims anyway. I quickly walked back to the condo to get on the bike. I noticed that my rear wheel had lost a lot of air, so I filled it and decided to get it checked out later. I then headed out onto the Queen K for my 45 minute ride with 2x 10 minute harder efforts. I made it back just in time (maybe 3 minutes late!) to do the interviews. This is really the first time I’ve ever done these types of things….so it was kind of fun. Time consuming, however. I figure that there will be a write up in the Arlington Advocate in the coming days….but I have zero clue if or when things will air on WBZ. Be on the lookout!

From there, I had a scheduled appointment with Felt Bicycles to have my bike tuned….something they offer for free to Felt owners. We then walked the expo to check things out. I decided to do a quick Normatec session at the booth, not for my legs, but for my arms to see if it would help with the bee swelling. It didn’t do much. We then stopped by the BlueSeventy booth so that I could get some mirrored goggles for the swim….and get some other schwag. THEN, I realized that I didn’t have my phone!!! Jenn walked the kids back to the car while I retraced my steps. Back to Normatec….Blue Seventy…and other spots….no phone. We called. No answer. I was freaking out. We went back to the condo so that I could look at my options. I used GPS to find it and it appeared to still be at the Ironman Village. FINALLY, after several attempts, someone answered it. It was at the ROKA tent. ROKA! Of course, the one place we stopped (to try on glasses) and the one place that I completely forget about! Disaster averted.

We quickly drove back down to get the phone. While we were down there, Felt texted me that my bike was done. So, Jenn left me to pick it up….figured I’d just ride it home. However, the Felt tech said that I should probably have the rear wheel (running tubeless) checked. He didn’t have the right equipment to do it. So, I stopped by Kona Bikeworks around the corner. They could do it, but it would take around 90 minutes. So, I left it….and trekked back to the condo. After getting back, I tried to relax a bit (something that was tough to come by today). I headed back down to Bike Works around 3 to get my bike. All looked good….or so I thought.

At 4pm, I headed down to the Slowtwitch Party with my plus one, Ben. It was only down the street from our condo, so pretty easy to get to. They were raffling some serious product, so it made sense to go and stick around. While there, I chatted with Emilio DeSoto, who I met earlier, and is staying one condo above us. I also ran into local Charlestown triathlete, JP Dowd….who despite being in my age group….I’ve never met. Really good guy….and he’ll be bike racked literally right next to me on Saturday. Later, a few other local triathletes showed up from Zoom Multisport….Suzannah, Lindsay and Mark. It was nice to see some local peeps there! However, no raffle prizes for me! Just an awesome sunset!

Ben and I headed back around 6:30 to meet up with Jenn and Hannah who were getting dinner ready. Again, we were gifted with a beautiful sunset! After, I started getting anxious….and started to organize my nutrition, etc.. That’s when I noticed my rear wheel….completely FLAT! Not good. Just one more thing I have to worry about. I guess I’ll be taking it back to Bike Works to get remedied. I just hope that there are no further issues.

Tomorrow is the famous UnderPants Run (both Hannah and Ben are running with me) and the Opening Banquet. Things are starting to get real now. Time to get ready! T-Minus 2 days!