Day 14: What I learned in Kona

Before I go into what I learned, I'll recap yesterday's ride. I saved the best for last, doing a solo 120 mile ride out to Hawi, then up to Waimea and back onto the Queen K (I put 120 miles into five minutes of video). I tried all week to get some company for the ride but nobody was biting. The day before I kind of relished the fact that I would be doing it solo. Thus, I set some other rules: no whining, no expectations, and no ipod for at least the first 75 miles (I wanted to be with my thoughts and see how I would process the trip thus far). I finally got to do the entire section to Hawi and this I found to be the most difficult part of the ironman bike course. It was a gradual uphill and the wind was barking. But yet again, just like in Waimea, I had lunch at an awesome coffee shop in Hawi, with the happiest of happy workers. Then it was on to the most beautiful stretch of road I've ridden in my time here, the 21 mile gradual climb from Hawi to Waimea. A must do if you are in Kona. And I finished the workout with a 10K on Ali'i negative splitting the 5K's and averaging 6:58 pace. And with that, training camp was officially over. Unofficially, I ended up swimming with Bree and the Kona crew today, how could I not? And then I ended up escorting two teammates (Scott and Jeff) for 26 miles of the Queen K, once again, how could I not? Now my legs are definitely toast. Here's what I learned the past two weeks:
1. The dead things on the side of the road are not squirrels but mongoose.
2. I can ride 400 miles, run 40 miles, and swim 15,000 yards in one week and not spontaneously combust.
3. I might be able to do this long stuff after all.
4. I overpacked for this trip.
5. I can pass as a local or a pinoy.
6. Bree lives up to all the hype and more.
7. The Kona crew (Wendy, Monroe, Manny, Kaitlin, Sam, Dave, Jason, Coach Steve, Scott, Eric) rocks!
8. If you ride 300-400 miles in one week, your cycling tan negates your speedo tan.
9. I have a whole new respect for working amateurs who go under 10 hours for an ironman.
10. The ironman course is not as hard as I thought, but the competition is harder than I thought.
11. There's more but I started this entry way too late and need to go to bed so enjoy the pictures.