A NEW SEASON

It was a great day in Kona today. The sun was out, the wind had blown the vog (volcanic fog) away making for a clear day. The wind also blew away the smoke from all of our brush fires. Today we could see the where the sky meets the ocean - a rare treat these days. And we could see Hualalai (the volcano kona is closest to) clearly, which is usually shrouded in vog.

(Queen K at the bottom of Scenic hill looking toward Waikoloa.)

(Lava rock - red and black - the ocean and the sky. The horizon. A rare sight most days.)

(Just me and my shadow ... and some go-fast music to make you fly.)

It was a great day to welcome my first official training day of the 2010 season. I started the day at 5 a.m. with a chilly, well let's call it what it was, freezing swim at masters. It was soooo cold that some of the swimmers wore wet suits. The pool is closed the next two days hopefully to fix the heater. It was a great incentive to swim fast though, just to get warm. I think I bumped into some ice early on. My goggles were too fogged up to see if it was ice or just a frozen kick board. I guess it was great training for anyone who is planning on swimming in the North Atlantic this winter.

OK, it wasn't that cold by world standards, but by Kona standards, 74 degrees is freezing. Are we spoiled? 

After swim practice I hit the bike for a beautiful, windy 40 miler. On days like today I could ride forever, but I only had one water bottle and half a power bar and two hours so 40 miles had to do. 

The sun was just rising as I hit Queen K, casting long shadows of me and my bike across the road. Just me, my shadow and some awesome music piped through my earbuds made for a great way to spend the morning and thaw out from my morning swim in the Kona arctic. 

No Lance Armstrong sightings today. Lance is in town and out on his bike quite a bit. I think I've seen him riding two or three times in the past week or so. 

The only bitter note on the start of this season is I'm carrying over a couple of injuries from last season that are being stubborn in healing. Hope everyone is getting off the couch and getting active even if it really is cold where you live. Stay healthy and have fun.