Richard Hobson

Think it really is time to start the count down to race day!! 5 days to go and the place is really getting packed. There is an intensity that is kind of scary but at the same time exciting. I have a bit of easy training today but some other key things going on.

IRONKIDS Race – how awesome is that. Both Oliver and Oscar get to race in Hawaii and are handed there finisher medals by Paula Newby Fraser and Michellie Jones – they have no idea who these people are!

Boys ready to race

The swim – all a bit hectic, just like the real thing!

After the finish with Mette

Then straight after the race it was the Parade of Nations, kids loved it as they collected a massive load of candy and actually was really good fun and incredibly well supported.

Quite day really – time to recover from the late night yesterday, must have been all of 9pm when we got to bed!! Sad but true. Oscar fell asleep during the main course of the dinner and Oliver just before the desert – he did wake up momentarily before desert but could not keep his eyes open. I was up early and biked a fairly easy hr with Julie

and then we hit the beach.

Sorry I have been very quite the last few days but things have just got a bit manic since the Family Hobson arrived!

Anyway I do have a bit ore time of the next 24 hours so plan to catch up!

Day 16 started with everyone including Oliver and Oscar heading down for and early morning swim

A really amazing experience. But today was going to be a very special day as this was Stuart and Mette’s wedding day. And all I can say is that it was truly special.  Tiny wooden church right on the waters edge with seating for about 12 people , which was lucky as this was how many we were.  Photos to be attached shortly.

Oliver, Oscar, and Dorte arrive – very tired but very excited.

Very busy day all round today so will do a big report later.

Great day today as a lot of friends have now turned up and I bumped into them all down at the swim this morning – guess this really is one of the things that makes this race so special – it is a chance to catch up, to see people you have not seen for years! Normally I would look forward to a race been over – this time I really am not as it will be the end of such an exciting and  special journey. But less about that as I am a believer in living for today (guess that why i called my company TriLiving!) and really enjoying the moment – we have some really special days coming up and I am afraid the race for a few days will take the back seat. Tomorrow AM is going to be Stu Andersens Stag do – starting with swimming the IM course (we really know how to party) but then some SUP “Stand Up Paddleboard”. PM my family arrive and I am so looking forward to that.

Photo of the day! As we sat in Lava Java having coffee this police car pulled up with lights flashing – out got a triathlete who had obviously had a mechanical out on the highway so got a lift home ! How cool is that!

Another day down, which does mean 1 day closer to race day! Good run  this morning with Julie. If I could run that we in the race I may think of turning Pro again! Actually if I could just run as fast as we were on the recovery sections during the race I would be more than happy.

Couple of hours latter and it was down to the pool – I thought I had cracked as felt really tired and contemplated not getting in, but wanted to test my new Skinfit Plasma  race suit – AWESOME, I ended up having my best swim of the year! Its funny how different you can feel once you get started. So the suit was washed out and dried and is now locked away safly for race day. Thanks so much to Ant and Eve at Skinfit UK for getting that and the other kit to me. I may not be the fastest athlete anymore but I definitely feel I have the best kit, which is always a great way to feel.

Day finished with a coffee down at the Shereton hotel overlooking the ocean – hence the photo above.

This is the back windscreen of the German team car – we just find is quite amusing  – can not really put my finger on why! “well I can but I would hate to be sued”

Anyway enough of that – another days training done and one day closer to the race. We had a good bike with some intervals out on the course and then a fairly steady 3km swim.  Tomorrow will see the last key run – 10 miles with 6 of them at race pace at 6.30 in the morning out on the race course. Followed by a 4km fairly key swim set.

best get to bed!!!

So bit of a quiet day today with not to much to report. All I did was a 1hr run at 6.30 this morning to meet up with Julie and Frazer at the pool.  They also had an easy swim and bike followed by a massage. Things really are now starting to wind down as the race get closer, but as the athletes wind down Kona is definitely on the up with noticeably more athletes arriving by the minute. There is an excitement, I guess a nervous excitement is a better definition.  Still there are some key sessions to go, these sessions are less about gaining any fitness or conditioning but more about feeling ready to race – sort of the cherry on top of the cake. Soon my family will be on the way and will be so excited to meet them here. We then have something very special as Stuart Andersen (top age group athlete I coach and very good friend) and Mette (my sister in law are getting married on Sunday. If I can not sell the photos to Hello magazine then you will get the exclusive here!!  So really it is going to be all go in the next week or so and the finally will be the race. And that is going to be so exciting! I am excited to be part of it but I am also excited to see how the race pans out for at the front.

stay tuned

Guess it all caught up with me a bit on day 10! That my excuss anyway for this been late! The place is starting to change now as the masses start to arrive. The 1st week there really was just a handful of athletes so all very calm, but now every day more athletes arrive and the buzz of the place increases. This is where as a pro you probably want to start to hide away, just get the training done and then get back to your condo, but for everyone else this buzz is what is so special about this race so you sort of want to be out enjoying it.  We did swim on the course and it was totally different to a week ago, you really need to look where you are going now!! A group of the pros including a lot of the top contenders were swimming some out and backs to half way and really were taking no prisoners – so if you happened to be in the way you got swam over – great practice for race day though!! It still is an amazing sport how these guys right at the top who are in total competition together train and hang out and really are good friends.  I think this is still one of the best meories I had as a pro – my best friends and training partners where also my main rivals.

After the swim we drove out onto the course to about the 45km mark and then biked the back section – so this includes the climb to the turn and back. Quite a key part of the race and not because it is a tough climb but more because this is where the winds can really get strong and from the side – so the decent back down can be a bit hairy. Good ride though and it did include some efforts on the climb out. But must admit very tired after.

Not to much to report today as was bit of an easy day. But I did get to have a couple of hours just looking around a few surf shops and sit at a cafe for 30 mins reading my book, so pretty nice really.

So while it was an easy day here there was some pretty serious preparation going on for the Iron Kids race out here next Thursday!!

This is Oliver racing his 1st open water race yesterday. At 1st glance you may think they are already in Hawaii but actually it is from La Rochelle – funny thing is that la Rochelle is just as beautiful as Hawaii but maybe not as exotic sounding!

This week La Rochelle, next week Hawaii how exciting is that. I can not wait to see them and Dorte next Saturday

Oliver finished 6th in his age group

Oscar finishing 2nd in his age.