Aloha!

The Musketeers are in Kona and settling in nicely. The weather, whilst hot for most, it's actually quite mild for this time of year. Temps are around 29 degrees with 60-70% humidity.

As you can well imagine, the days have been filled with swimming, cycling and running. Todd has been in Kona since Tuesday. An average day for Todd since arriving has entailed 90km on the bike, 2-3km swim and some good runs.

John and Brenton, having arrived on the Thursday, have cracked straight into it. Yesterday the guys hit the swim course (encountering dolphins and turtles along the way) followed by riding 90kms of the cycle course. This was the first taste of the Kona cycle course for Brenton, but old hand or new, all were taken by the sheer heat of the road and the huge cross winds that threaten to throw you from your bike.

The team seem to be embracing the heat and getting on with the task at hand. Today Todd Brenton and John are doing the full 180km of the bike course to get a good feel of what to expect on race day and tomorrow will consist of a 20km run. In order to ensure that the guys don't smash up their legs too much, the run will be broken into 2 x 10km runs. One in the morning after their swim, and the second at approx 2pm to replicate the conditions that will be experienced on race day.  

For those that have never been to Kona....its a little town on Hawaii's big island. The weather is terrific and the water as clear as you've ever seen it.  Though once a year, it becomes the triathlon Mecca. You have no doubt come across a few die hard Ironmen at some point. Well, get 1800 of them, plus their die hard Ironman partners, friends and kids, throw them into one sleepy little town, and you have the IM World Championships.  One can expect that the only conversations you will have with strangers (or overhear for that matter) will be revolved around race nutrition, kit, swim speeds, marathon times, race weights, wheels and of course the ever compulsive sizing up of potential opponents, 'so, when was your last race, how many Kona's have you done, What is your expected race time' etc etc...

Might I mention I've never seen so many tremendously fit looking people gathered in one place. It truly is a congregation of the worlds fittest men and women. The Four Musketeers are certainly amongst their own.

Check out our Facebook page for photos of today's ride.

All for one.