Cow Man...

It was ANOTHER beautiful day in Kona. Alice and I both agree we could move here and wouldn't be surprised if one day we do. We love the climate, the pace and it feels natural.

Today we drove and explored Kona and hoped to find a beach to swim at. Before we got started we picked up Reid some Taco Bell, which he brought and ate at a restaurant Alice and I wanted to eat at, it was a place called Lulu's. Awesome "feng shui".

The food was great and they have a tradition where a customer can write a message on a dollar bill and staple it to the wall. Which we did.

Reid also went across the street and bought some artwork from a street vendor. I felt sorry for the guy, Reid's quite the "haggler". Trust me, I know firsthand.

This morning I decided it was back to clean eating and other than the beers I had today, I've been perfect. Salad for lunch and fish for dinner and even when Alice and Reid had ice cream, I didn't.

After lunch we drove to the Southern part of Kona and stopped at an Antique shop and Coffee factory along the way. At one point we stumbled upon "Magic Sands Beach". As we got out of the car and walked to the beach I saw a familiar face, it was "Cow Man".

For those that don't know Cow Man, he is a legend in the sport of triathlon. He did the second ever Ironman on Oahu and most all since and he races wearing a pair of cow horns. In 1987 when I did my first Ironman Canada he was there.

Back then he was about 43 years old, a big 230 lbs guy with a mountain man brown beard. During Saturday's race I saw him on the bike course. I noticed the horns on his helmet and he still had the beard, but it was now white and trimmed shorter. When I saw him, it brought a huge smile to my face, it was just like old times.

One of my inspirations for "The Captain" is "Cow Man". I always remember he brought some fun into triathlons and put smiles on spectators faces. I like doing the same.

I introduced myself to him. Alice and Reid went swimming and I spend the next two hours talking with him. He told me he just got new horns as his original ones went missing at a party in Maui. He then also told me he "crashed" this years Ironman race.

He explained the USTA had given him a lifetime ban and he "sneaks" into the Ironman. For this years race he made up a fake swim cap, bike and run bib with the numbers "MOO" on it. As we were speaking a young girl walked by and said "you're cowman, I've heard about you, my teacher said she saw you in the water at the Ironman with MOO written on the sides of the cap.

He's now 66 years old. This year he got through the swim and made it to just outside of Hawi and had to stop on the bike due to darkness and wind. When I saw him today he was going back out on the course to finish.

Cow Man is an interesting guy. He shared so many stories with me. I loved hearing how he used to swim Ironman races with the Cow Horns on. He'd breast stroke it and not get his helmet and horns wet. Cow Man is a larger than life character. As we spoke, people were constantly honking horns or walking by and saying high to him. It's like standing beside a celebrity.

He also told me he was only the second person to do the Western States 100 miles and the first person to receive the 1000 mile run buckle after doing 10 Western States 100 mile runs. He said when he did the run it wasn't even yet called the Western States 100.

As you can tell, Cowman is also an Ultra Endurance Athlete and has also done Hawaii Ultra Man many times. In his younger years, he ran at 2:48 marathon, which beyond impressive for a Clydesdale. He's even run Boston Marathon with the cow horns on. He said it was amazing how wildly enthusiastic the crowds reacted.

We hit it off so well that we set up a "play date" for tomorrow afternoon. He's going to show me his new horns and I'm going to bring my Captains hat and we'll mess around a bit.

Just when I thought the Ironman experience was over, it keeps getting better.

No Training - Recovery

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