TOTW: Kona Discussion Thread: Georgia

First and foremost, I am still ticked that he took my @#$%^ lottery slot!

Seriously, one look at his logs and you can tell that Jonathan has stepped-up to the challenge a scant few days before him.  Few have taken the opportunity granted as seriously as he has and even fewer still have logged the miles and yards necessary to be ready to toe the line with some of the best athletes in the world.

I will continue to curse him for taking my slot root for him all day.

Favorite pro? Macca ... of course.  The man is just so dang passionate about the sport - and a card to boot.  Rutger Beke, walking to the finish line out of respect for the distance, his fans and his ability to race again, rates him highly in my book.

Faris Al Sultan and 'the bro' is too much as is his German brethren Normann Stadler. Stadler lost more ground by flipping off the crowd and by throwing down the lei given to him during his repeat victory than he could ever gain by winning again.  I hope he flats again - just for the comic relief.

Female athlete? Can anyone compete with Desire Ficker?  (Rraaaaawwwwhhhl)

Best of Luck to Jonathan. He went from a reluctant lottery winner to an extremely focused training machine- even more impressive is that he put up the massive training time all while being a great provider and family man. Ninja deserves a huge chunk of credit for helping him get there.

It has been great watching his progress over the course of the last several months, And it looks like we will be pulling an all nighter to watch the finish (Jonathan- that means you need to HTFU so we can go to bed!   )

Good luck Jonathan.  You AND Jamie have put a whole lot into this.  I second Greg's "machine like" approach that you have taken to this.  I have enjoyed riding with you and watching you progress the way you have.

Jonathan is going to kill this race, although I would be so proud to know him even if he crawled over the finish line. I remember talking with him at Taco Mac by the SCT before he decided to do Kona - how far he has come since that night. If you haven't been following his logs before now, this is the week to start. He is an amazing athlete and how cool to be able to follow him on this week leading up to the big race this weekend. Good luck Jonathan!

- oops, this is Heather posting under Kirk's name!

I've already been plenty sappy about it, but it bears repeating.

I met Jonathan just a month or two before he did his first tri.  It's been amazing to watch him grow as an athlete, not just because of the physical and mental strength and endurance he's gained, but also to see a shift in his training approach and attitude.  I'm stupidly excited to see it all come together next weekend!

I too cant express enough admiration i have for J22 and his accomplishments. He has come so far and is the "every day" guy we all have inside of us. All we want is to live up to our own challenges and internal doubts about our ability to race our own "big race". While he may be humble, the example he sets for his peers and more importantly his family and mine is more valuable than i can express.

Good luck! We will be watching!

Get a pic with Desiree! (Rrraaawwwhhhh)

ETA: check out the blog entries ... pretty neat stuff. 

I'm so excited to watch this coverage.  This race always moves me to tears.  How cool to be able to read someone's thought and preparation for this race.

I will be tracking (did you see the athlete tracking at http://ironman.com/?).  I will be watching Andy Potts.  He didn't get to race in Bejing, so I'm hoping he'll tear this up.  He's not an iron distance specialist, but he is my friend.  I was his babysitter and swam with him at the Hershey Country Club when we were kids.  Our parents are close. So, I am rooting for him!

What is the name of the gentleman with the artificial leg from Atlanta who was feature so promenently last year?  Is he racing again this year?

Best of luck to you! The biggest thing to remember is to HAVE FUN! (That is why we do this right?)

I'll be watching a cheering from here.

J22 - can't wait to watch and root for you online.  You have come SO far this year and your dedication to your training will carry you far.  I don't need to say this to you cause you are so smart about training and racing but it doesn't hurt to hear it again - race smart.  Follow your plan - which we know you have down to a T (hoping you'll post it so we can know your goals and follow along).

Good luck and have a blast!

I agree with the things so many others have written about J22. He has definitely prepared well for his day with 140.6. I am so excited to watch the online coverage.

I didn't know Andy Potts was going to race. I was sad he didn't get a Beijing spot because I'm definitely a fan.  Abbagej next time you see him or his family if you can grab me an autograph.... just kidding, well sorta.

My two cents ... are you all ready for this ... the good, bad and ugly

 The good:

 Jonathan is more than ready to do this race.  He has trained with many of you, so it is like a bit of each of you is here to.  For that, I thank you all for not letting him die on his bike rides, stop running and let up on the swim.  He is ready to race and is pretty focused.  We have had a ton of conversations about this race. One of the most recent was on a "revelation" on his run to the Energy Lab.  He said that he was going to have fun this race.  I know many of you said to do this, but it takes him a while .. a long while, to digest and think about things then decide it is a good idea!  (Trust me, I have problems with this daily )

The Bad:

That we are actually "fat" here .. it is crazy! 

The Ugly:

He is letting me get whatever I want here.  I think that he is trying to buy me off for the last 6 months of training. I think that the expo is also going to bad!  I think that actually the waiting is the worst part!  He is ready to race and just over swimming, biking and running.  Who can blame him?  Doing the same thing for 6 months gets old.  Having to keep a schedule is getting old.  

 Final comments:

 This is an amazing experience for our family.  If you even come out here to watch, it is something to see.  I am really enjoying the time with my family, seeing all that it takes to put this on and the amount of triathletes in one place.  Many of you have been with us since the day we found out.  (it went something like this ... Jonathan called from Houston because he was doing the MS150 there.  Mila just called and said that I got a lottery spot.  Me:  No f'in way  JC:  Yes   Me:  Let me get home and I will take a look ... 15 minutes later Me:  No f'in way.  How the hell are we suppose to do that?  JC:  I guess it's true then ... and the rest is history!

So thank you all again for the time that you all have given to our family.  The encouragement has been amazing and moved me to tears at times.  I wish you all were here to share it with us, because you all have been such a huge part of this!  Ok, that is as nice as you all will ever see me.  

 Ninja out!

Cool update - thanks!

We all know that there is no way he could have done this without you - while J22 was training you were taking care of life.  Pretty awesome for him - so yeah - keep on spending!  You've earned it.

And keep us posted and the pics coming - it's our way to be there with you.

Jamie, I second what Lisa just said.  I do not want to take anything away from everything Jonathan has done because no one is more impressed with his training than I am, but when you are a family it takes two adults to hold things together so you deserve a great deal of credit too.  That being said.  Spend away!  Jonathan will let you know when you are even.