Day 7 -Kona

You wanted photos - you got 'em!


So tell me - do these images fit the nice ass count, or famous people count!  HA!  You gotta believe this!

OK

Nice Bike Bling - Saw a Felt, and a new Giant today - these are what really stood out from the crowd.  They are all looking so space ship like now!

So, the day that was - just another day in triathlon paradise.  Did an easy 40min swim with Pam, her confidence ios improving, but the sea is still really surgy and rough.  Pretty bad in fact.  Dropped Pam off at the Energy Lab so she could run her last long run of 17km and deal with some heat - and she did really well!  While she was out there sloggin'it with the bodies above, I was devouring yet more waffles at lava Java with a local, Eric, whom I have known since 2004 on my first visit here.

Easy afternoon browsing the shops with Pam, but overcast and even rain preventing time by the pool.  Read book, chatted to neighbours here at the condo and basically chilled out!  NICE.  next week the news and gossip will get hotter, so stay tuned!

Ali babes

Day 6 - Kona

Hey everyone - sorry about the typos yesterday, but in a hurry and didn't check it - I'm on holiday, so who cares anyway?

At the pier again this morning and belted out another hour on the course - man was it rough!  Huge swells, nearly ended up on the rocks, or better still, plopped at a table at Lava Java! Did a sudden 90 degree turn and swam like hell towards Japan to avoid getting blended on the Lava!  Then struggled to get back into the pier the rip was so strong - lets hope it's not like this for Pam on race day!  loved every minute of it though i might add.

Then 40min bike ride out to Energy Lab and back with some big gear efforts with Pam.  Sent her on her merry way to do 4 x hill repeats up Palani Road while I scooted around to the soccer fields to do a 7.5minute run on grass!  YES! and the best bit, I did the first 2 laps 30s quicker than Monday without trying!  ha - oh to get so excited about improvements and even splitting a 3 lap, 7.5minute run!  Hillarious!

Lava Java next stop for waffles, maple syrup, eggs over hard and portugese sausage and a latte - superb, could eat it again a second time straight after.

Spent the avo back at base camp and had a visit from English Ben and girlfriend Dani!  A lot cooler today - just off to watch the sunset then dinner at Thai with the neighbours!

Nice Ass count - 5 - Awesome - Mr Brisbane was met at the showers at the pier,  10 points.

Nice bike bling - Scott Plasma's ruled today, the odd P4 and some average cannondales!  Ha!

Famous People - O today. Sorry.  They were all in hiding or in disguise. But you just have to check this out from Terrenzo-Cam!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHmrbvtnnQ8&feature=player_embedded

Kona Day 5 (I think, it's all a blur....)

At the pier this morning for a swim lesson with Laura Lou - she thinks I killed her, but I killed myself as I was trying to simulate race white water by thrashing my kick action and getting her to draft!  i was buggered after only 100metres and suddenly had an epiphany - he who swims inefficiently gets buggered really quickly.  So my advice to everyone still remains the same - just feel the water and push it behind you....gracefully!

Then Lava Jave with Oam and Bill as it was Pam's rest day today - spot of grocery shipping and then lying like a lizard by the pool.  Then to a local beach with Laura and chatted the remainder of the afternoon till the sun nearly set.
The day that was - bliss!

Nice Ass Count - OMG - Sensational - the town is filling fast with, with,....words can not do it justice.  Bit like the winds here I guess - you gotta see it to believe it!  Lets think, about 15 memorable asses today!

Nice Bike Bling - new Specialised set up at Bike Works with a feiring over headset and front brake mechanism - sexy, but plonk me on top and all elements of aerodynamics will be eliminated!  Also nice Cervelo P4 there too - what's with the aerobottle near the shank - when it's empty, let's see how many unsponsored athletes toss that bottle at an aid station target!  Also saw very nice ASS on the NEW SCOTT PLASMA - YES!

Famous people count - YES - Craig Alexander, only feet away.  Jo and Armondo, hugs and chats - great stuff to see them.

Day 4 Kona

Hi eveyone!
Started the day with a one hour up tempo swim - nearly did the whole course , so am stoked - I felt good, not sure how fast I was going, but was surprised managed to hold a good effort for so long!  heaps of fish and a Manta Ray was observed from my surface viewpoint!  Then a 40min ride with pam around the 'start/finish' loops around town, then my first run in about 6 weeks - yippee!  i did 2 laps around 2 soccer fields, very slowly, in the almighty time of 5mins 35seconds!  Wow - unbeliveable - I haven't run without pain since the week before ironman NZ !  That was February!.

Then lava Java, then swim in pool, lie in sun by pool, then read book in shade, then work emails, now this.  Life's a beach!

Nice ass Count - 2 very, very nice asses ran by like poetry in motion whilst ralaxing at lava jave.  What a sight!
Nice Bike Bling - A few nice set ups observed, but nothing seen so far worthy of a photo.

Kona - Days 1, 2 and 3

Day 3 Kona

Day 2’s blog got deleted just as I tried to click save  - my online connection was dumped, so this time I am writing in MS word then will cut and paste!  DOH!

So, in summary – weather not as hot as usual.  My need for heat has not been fulfilled, with temps around 84 which is approx. 27.  You know me – has to be over 30 before I feel I have my money’s worth!  Winds mild aroujnd Kona, as usual, but even out at airport not too bad, so Pam thought I was overselling the place for heat and wind!

Day 1 – Arrived, picked up rental and got upgraded (for free) to a big American tank, so feeling very much the part here on the big Island.  Just need to raise the chasis, put huge wheels on the thing, some spotlights and a few surf boards and we will really look like locals!  Pam and I put bikes together and were on the road by 4pm for a recy ride around Kona, and out to the Energy lab.  There was even a chill in the air can you believe it!  What a contrast to the first time I went in there with Heather and it was about 50 degrees!  This ride brought back amazing memories from the my race day in 2007 – every feeling and thought.  I was almost crying grovelling back into town on the bike into a head on wind at about 25kph – this time with Pam, we had a tail wind and were cruising at about 40kph!  Dinner at Lava Java, then spent US$311 at the supermarket to get supplies in for our 3 week stay.

Nice Ass count – 1  - didn’t know who he was, but he looked amazing!

Nice Bike bling – 2 – Pam’s Cervelo P3 and my Scott Plasma.

Day 2

At the pier at 8am for a lesson with a client – ha – gotta work to justify the expense to the IRD!  Then I swam for an hour at Pam’s side.  She was pretty nervous, the swells unsettling her, so I felt like a good pixie/coach swimming along enjoying the scenery – the corals looked fab, and saw heaps of fish.  Even saw dolphins playing about 200m away, but they didn’t come over to us.  Swam back in to the pier and then to Lava Java for coffee as Pam ran past – gave her loud applause as I sat, looking out to sea, watching the world go by!.  Then clothes shopping in the afternoon, barbe dinner at home, and the day was done.

Nice Ass count – 0  - Sad but true!

Nice Bike bling – 1 – Saw Jo Lawn ride passed Lava Java as I sat, watching the world go by.

Day 3

Up, out the door, and easily piled the 2 bikes into our big monster truck and headed off to Waikaloa.  Dropped Pam off and said Ta ta!  She was off, into a head wind towards Hawi.  Poor bugger I thought, she is going to get the shock of her life.  Wind was really getting up, white caps emerging in the channel between us and Maui – the true indicator of a hell ride to Hawi and back.  I continued on to Hapuna Beach in the truck, unloaded the bike, then I was off into a world of pain, big hurt box, blah blah blah to do a 60km TT with a goal time of 32.7 to 33.7ave.  The winds were really getting up, and at one point on a straight piece of road I was zooming along at 45kph, then with a bat of an eyelid I was grovelling at 25kph…then up a hill at 16kph….ARGH!  And do you know what I was thinking?..”Why, why, would I want to come back and do this god forsaken race.  This sucks! Thank goodness I am NOT doing it!”  Then I really started to worry about Pam on her own coming down from Hawi – I really wanted to ride with her, but it would not have worked in with my programme.  Anyway, I worked really hard, hit an all-time max Heart rate of 163 and managed to pull out the prescribed 33.7kph ave (1hr 46).  My legs were screaming but I felt OK.  GPS data can be viewed http://connect.garmin.com/activity/50513122.

I had a swim and read a book in the sun for a few more hours, then Pam returned to the beach slightly ahead of time – she was buggered.  We shared a moment together.  This is not a nice place to race.  She had her eyes opened to how horrible, and how utterly soul destroying it is.  This is what makes this race what it is – it is SO tough, words can never describe what it’s about.  We do it for the honour and glory alone of saying we qualified, and we finished. The bit in between is a total mind F*** and race day is worse.  ‘And that’s all I have to say about that’.

Home again, did 30mins aquajogging in our pool here, some exercises, yummy meal, waves crashing against the rocks, what more could one ask for?  Nice bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir would have gone down nicely I think.  Night night!

Nice Ass count – Numerous – lots of athletes out on the course today!

Nice Bike bling – Numerous – Concentrating so hard on keeping bike on the road I couldn’t look!

Getting Started

Hi Everyone!

Just getting Ali Bogg's Blogsite blogged!
Is it Ally or Ali?
Is it Boggs or Bloggs?

Ali gets spelled Ellie, Elle. Ele, Ali, Ally...any way you like.  It's atually Ali (short for Alison), but for business correspondence I always recorded my name as ALLY, specifically to avoid being called ARLEE as in Mohamad Ali, and to offer some suggestion as to my race and gender!

So Ali Boggs it is!

With the advent of everybody 'blogging', texting, face booking, twittering, skyping etc, I receive an increased amount of correspondence under the name of BLOGGS.  Save yourself typing extra letters, skip the L and just write BOGGS!  Gotta Laugh!

Time to get on with the BLOG!

Just getting all geared up for the trip to Hawaii to support friends and fellow Kiwis in the Ironman World Champs - so thought I'd use a blog instead of email - add this to your favourites and visit every so often to check out what I am up to, and the famous faces I bump into along the way.  Looking forward to coffee at Lava Java, lying in the sun, riding the Queen K Highway, listening to the waves crashing on the rocks below my room, and just chillin'.

Happy days
Ali babes!