North American MultiSport

2004 KONA IRONMAN
OK. Matthew Jourdan’s recent race report has inspired me to finally get this out to the team, so here’s my belated race report on the 2004 Ironman World Championships.

I flew to Kona on the Sunday before the race, so I would have almost a week to acclimate to the heat this year. I flew from Indy to Houston, to Honolulu, to Kona. The first two flights were pretty good. On the flight from Honolulu to Kona, on a plane with open seating, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a four-year old girl. She was a cute little girl and immediately wanted to be friends. This would have been fine except that in addition to being very talkative, she was also sneezing and coughing on me. As we began our descent into Kona she announced, “I have pinkeye!” ... “ Well good for you!” I responded and vowed to find some zinc lozenges as soon as possible.

When my parents decided they weren’t going to make it to watch the race this year, I asked Matt Zinno, a friend from Iowa, if he and his wife would like to share my condo with me. Using frequent flyer miles, they wound up on different flights and Deanna’s plane landed just 10 minutes after mine. She found me just as I got my luggage. She guarded my luggage while waiting for hers and I went to get my rental car. I parked the rental and by the time I loaded my bag and bike into the car, Deanna’s luggage was still no where to be found. The baggage agent said it might come on the next plane, due in 20 minutes. I knew there was a little shopping center near the airport, so we went out went to Costco for provisions for the condo and to get some zinc lozenges. When we returned, we learned that her luggage was still not there. It would eventually be delivered to her the next morning.

Deanna and I checked into our condo with a couple hiccups, but we were eventually settled into a great place with two big bedrooms (with separately controlled air conditioning), a decent kitchen and a big living room. The condo was just about a half mile from the house my parents, John, Candy, Heather and I stayed in last year. Deanna and I went to Huggo’s, one of my favorite places to eat in Kona, for dinner. Huggo’s doesn’t have great food, but the food is decent, and it’s great to sit outside, feel the breeze come off the ocean and watch the waves crash on the rocks. We picked up some pasta for Matt on the way back to the condo and he was there by the time we got back.

On Monday, Matt and I went to the King K Hotel and registered for the race. We had all week to do it, but Matt wanted to get it done. We went at about noon and it took no time. I weighed in at 172 lbs. I think the scale was high, and I probably had a few extra pounds on me between shoes, belt, wallet, cell phone, pocket of sand and all the bling bling I’ve begun wearing, but I’m sure this is the heaviest I’ve ever been for an Ironman distance race. Too much working and eating over the prior couple months; not enough cycling.

Matthew Jourdan
CITGO/Gray Goat Multisport Racing