Kona Day 1 & 2: Sleepless

Kona Day 1:

We departed the Spokane airport at 9:30am, and for our first two flights, the twins were well behaved. On each flight, we had a little bag with chocolates and disposable earplugs that we handed to our airplane neighbors. Included inside the bag was a cute and tiny note that read:

“Hi, we’re River and Terran! This is our very first plane ride, and we’re very excited, but we might get a little nervous, so please be patient.”

People dug it. How can you give a dirty look after getting a note like that?

The note was not my idea. I stole it from someone. I also do not crochet doilies, arrange fruit baskets, or do sponge painting. I am not that guy.

Nonetheless, despite the good karma of our goody bags, on our final flight (LA to Kona), the kids totally sucked for about the entire first 3 hours of the ride. And when I say sucked, I’m not talking about mommy booby. I thought I was going to lose it several times as they squirmed, screamed, and hollered bloody murder for nearly 180 consecutive minutes.

About the time I was ready to just take them into the bathroom, shut the door, and spend the rest of the trip sitting on the can with my babies, they finally fell asleep and we made it through the landing without incident.

It’s a freaking chore to take car seats, stroller, diaper bag, baby food AND all my Ironman triathlon gear across the country. But we learned quite a bit about baby travel on the way down. Important lessons in life, like that the Sonic milkshake trick really *doesn't* work.

Day 2:

At 3:30am, the kids were up and screaming.

After comforting, playing, and hanging with them until 6:30, we figured we might as well go do something fun since we were awake. So Jessa signed up for the local 5K, stopped at Lava Java and grabbed a coffee, then she ran while I pushed the kids around. We got a picture that I'll post later, but mommy was the #1 female.

We went grocery shopping, then I assembled my bike, rode an hour, swam 20 minutes, then did a 20 minute infrared session with my Kenkowave. Tried to nap after with the boys. Kids still screaming every time they hit the crib. I'm a walking zombie rightnow. 4 hours of sleep so far in the past two days.

Kona was not hot today. I was windy, overcast and a bit humid. If race day is like this, it'll be a breeze. There I go, jinxing it! Just thank me when it's 104 with 70mph gusts and 94% humidity. Remember that you can track the big race on Saturday at the Ironman Live website.

Later this week, I’ll be recording a really cool podcast with some fantastic endurance research from BenGreenfieldFitness.com.