It was a pretty easy day - coach had instructed just a light swim to do and so we met Dave down at the Pier at 7.00am. I had been experiencing more mental issues with the swim than usual over the past couple of weeks and so this morning was the opportunity to put them to rest and get happy in the water again. Swimming (/freezing) in an outdoor pool over winter probably didn't help and so this morning's swim was the perfect tonic.
A row of orange buoys had been set out along the course and so we headed out, enjoying the warm water and being entertained by the fish below us. At around 750m there was a white marker post indicating the turnaround for a 1500m swim and so we turned there and started heading back for shore.
The return trip was potentially hazardous as it turns out, as we suddenly found ourselves swimming back towards athletes still swimming out.
Think two-way traffic on a single lane road.
Here we were in the middle of an ocean and everyone wants to swim (both ways) in a strip of water around 1m wide! I realized the problem after about 50m of swimming back when the first person swam over the top of me in the opposite direction. After that I swam wid(er) but still had to sight often to make sure no one was making a beeline for me and still ended up having to take evasive action a couple of times.
Anyway, we made it back to shore, stopping enroute to chat to one of the volunteers sitting on a kayak watching us. Well actually Dave stopped to chat to one of the volunteers sitting on a kayak while he waited for Irongirl to catch up! Turns out WTC arranges for volunteers to do a 3 hour stint in kayaks each morning from now until race day to ensure everyone's safety in the water. Evidently we'd be surprised how many people turn up to the world championships having never swum in the ocean before...
After our swim we headed to Lava Java for breakfast, devouring a plate of grilled fish, scrambled eggs and fresh fruit while watching the world go by. Oh, and the coffee wasn't too bad either.
Breakfast done we headed back to our condo to get changed and then it was out the door again and a trek to the closest supermarket, about 30mins walk away. There we stocked up on supplies for the next few days and I bemoaned the lack of decent yoghurt available. Everything was low fat, high sugar - no wonder America has an obesity problem. Yuk!
With fully laden packs we made our way back to the condo - think 30 degrees, 70% humidity by then, stopping briefly at a fresh fruit market not far from where we are. Fresh pineapple, papaya, avocados were there to tempt us and I figured we should make the most of it!
The rest of the afternoon we took the opportunity to explore the downtown area of Kona, checking out the shops and generally trying to get adjusted to the temperature and humidity. A highlight of the wander was a small detour to the waterfront where we were entranced by several turtles in the shallow water having a good feed of something. They were engrossed in their dinner, occasionally popping a head out of the water for a second to have a look around but generally it was just the top of their shells or a flipper that we saw poking above water level. Didn't matter though, just seeing them potter around in the shallows was enchanting enough.
We finished off the day in the pool back at the condo - a cooling dip was in order and then a dinner of freshly cooked tuna and salad. St Pete is back in the kitchen!
Tomorrow - another swim and a bike in paradise.
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