I get by with a little help from my friends...

Apologies to John, Paul, George and Ringo but I'm changing that to "I get by with a Lot of Help from my friends".

Back from Kona and have started to put the experience into perspective. Will write up a race report later but in short, the race was hot, humid and (at least for me) hard. Heat and humidity have never made for great race conditions and Saturday, they were present in abundance. I tried to stay on top of my salt tabs but by the time the bike was done, I was too. Almost. I made it through about mile eight on the run before I was experiencing full body cramps. I knew I was in big trouble when I tried to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and my bicep cramped. Chills followed and I was ready to call it a day. Fortunately, I saw my friend Scott and he walked with me for a couple of miles. I started to feel a bit better and even found a way to shuffle run. At my next low point, I once again had an angel land on my shoulder as Stephanie arrived on a bike and delivered tums and a dry shirt. That did it and I knew I'd finish.

As I mentioned, full race report later. But until then...thanks Friends!