Reid Cousteau...

Today started with the plans to snorkel on a charter and changed to underwater diving for the boys.

I've never underwater dived and the snorkel cruise we were on had an "upgrade package" and I asked Reid if he wanted to do it. I was surprised when he said, "sure". He seemed okay about it, I was nervous. It definitely took me out of my comfort zone, just like horseback riding after IMLP.

The instructor spent a lot of time teaching us the basics and what you can do to hurt yourself before we dove. The more he explained the more nervous I got. Reid was fine, his attitude was, "Let's do this".

We suited up and jumped from the boat into the water, "it was on". The instructor took us down to the bottom of the ocean floor via a rope tied to the boat and both Reid and my ears were feeling the pressure. It was a little scary when I couldn't get them to clear and was worried I could rupture an ear drum. Reid was having the same issues.

Eventually both of us were able to get our ears to "pop" and got down to 40 feet and started exploring. It was the "coolest" thing I can remember doing on a vacation. We were down there for 41 minutes according to the instructor and it seemed like only 10 minutes.

There was all kinds of fish and coral and we even got to look into a cave and when the instructor shone a flashlight inside there was all kinds of fish with "big eyes" in there.

When we got back on the boat, the instructor said that with one more lesson we could get underwater diving certified, which means you can rent equipment and dive or go on boat dives. Reid loved the diving so much we set up an appointment for him to get another lesson on Friday and he'll receive his certification. Reid's pumped.

The instructor had to rank each of us after our dives and Reid got 5 out of 5 and I got 4 out of 5. The instructor said I was too wild under the water and Reid was much more "cool, calm and collected". I have a feeling, with Reid's love of water, that underwater diving could become his thing.

After we finished up the underwater diving, I went for an easy bike ride and then hooked up with Cowman, he wanted to show me his new Cow Horns. Alice and Reid dropped me off and then drove down a few miles to Magic Sands beach.

While Cowman and I were sitting and talking at table outside of Java Lava Cafe, a 77 year old gentleman from South Africa named Vivian Francis walked by and said hi. He was disappointed that he didn't make the bike cut-off.

Vivian was returning from the doctors office. He was getting some blood work done, he has prostate cancer. It never ceases to amaze me the obstacles and sub-stories that many of the athletes carry with them. I told Vivian he was an inspiration and had a picture snapped with him. He seemed truly touched by the gesture.

There is more to Cowman than just the horns. He's now 66 years old, never been married and spent most of his life in Construction. He came to Oahu for his first Ironman in 1979 from Lake Tahoe and loved it so much he stayed.

Cowman helped build a lot of hotels in Kona. He's a live in the moment kind of guy and doesn't have a lot of money, nor seem to care about not having money. At 62 years old he decided "he was no longer going to work for someone else". He lives on a small government pension and does the odd landscaping job from time to time.

The one thing about Cowman is he is "strong". His hands and bone structure is big and muscular and he's never lifted weights. I asked him how many times he did the Ultra Man and he said, "I think 15, I'm not sure, after doing so many you lose count".

Even at 66 years young I bet Cowman is physically stronger than most of the athletes who competed on Saturday. I've never met a guy his age, who is his size. He's still 230 lbs and not fat.

I must say I was a little freaked out by Cowman. We met at a coffee shop and he wanted to show me his horns at the secluded Old Kona Airport 45 minutes away. He was disappointed my family wasn't here and offered to take me in his car and told me the passenger door doesn't open. My "spidey senses" were tingling big time.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was the last time I was going to see my family alive. I've come to realize that Cowman is just the kind of guy that wants to "give you a good time". He wanted to find a nice location with a good back drop for pictures and have fun shots with his horns".

I told him that I couldn't. I didn't plan on staying away from the family for more than and hour and was going to join them at the beach. My plan was to spend the rest of the trip doing family stuff and non-triathlon related stuff.

Instead, he drove me to the beach where Alice and Reid were hanging out. Because the front passenger door didn't open, I had to sit in the backseat of his beat up old Toyota Camry. It was the box style, probably late 80's, lots of dents and sea shells covering the front dashboard on the driver side. I told him I felt uncomfortable and awkward sitting in the back seat as he drove, like I was being chauffeured. He said it will make a good story for the blog.

The beach was about three miles away and he pulled out his new horns. They are amazing. Essentially, they are real cow horns that are attached to an Army helmet and covered in sheep skin. His original horns and helmet were brown and looked like a buffalo. For the new horns, he couldn't find brown and went with white sheep skin from a seat cover, which isn't a bad thing, it matches his beard.

The photo's don't do justice to the "coolness and quality" of the horns. He had put reflective tape on them for running the Ironman late at night and they don't look real. In person they are awesome looking and real. Actually, if you look at the Matador photo of Cowman with Reid you can see the real horns without the reflective tape on them.

I asked Cowman why he got banded from Ironman and he said it was because of USAT (United States Association of Triathletes). According to Cowman, three to Five years ago, he wasn't able to get a qualifying spot from one of the local races to race at Kona. He had done every Ironman since 1979 and was not going to be deterred to keep his streak alive, so he did it illegally.

Afterwards, he was warned if he did it again he'd get a lifetime ban from the USAT, which is the insurance carrier program that Ironman Kona uses. Cowman had the same problem with getting a qualifying spot again the following year and did Kona illegally again. Hence, the life-time ban.

In fact, it wasn't the Ironman that banned him, it was USAT. For a few years Ironman used a different insurance carrier and allowed Cowman to race legally. Cowman raced illegally again this year and within the week will finish the Ironman. He calls it "finishing on Hawaii time".

I told Cowman he should write a book and I think he'd like to, although I find he had an inner turmoil between "corporate" and "in the moment". In the past he's been paid to fly and given appearance fees to do races all over the world, it's all been based on serendipity.

When I suggested he get a sponsor or start to market himself, I could see he was struggling with that thought or the thought of even launching a website. I offered him my help and told him it's easy to do. I sensed some resistance. It's the old saying, "You can lead a cow to water, but you can't make him drink".

After our goodbyes, I went into the ocean and swam with Reid. On the body board the wave threw me around like a rag dog. Reid and Alice told me they were "vicious", but I had to learn for myself.

The wave was so strong, it took me and threw me end over end under the water at least three times and when I got up my goggles we off my head. Lost forever. My favourite, perfect fitting, took forever to find goggles, were taken by the sea. Not to mention, the "crank in my neck" that hurt when I'd turn my head.

When we got back to the hotel, Reid was too tired to go out for dinner. He just wanted to lie down. The underwater dive instructor said it's not uncommon to get tired after diving. Alice picked him up some taco bell and then her and I went out for dinner.

I've got to say, the general service in Kona is "poor" and it's consistent where ever you go. It's like they don't care if you come back. We ate at one restaurant tonight, then bar hopped at three other places and each were the same "poor" level of service. Even talking to locals, they told us that's standard fare.

We did have one really good waiter and the locals we met said they know who we are talking about and he was imported from Alaska, all expenses paid. They also told us about a great burrito place we're going to check out before we leave.

I was "perfect" on my diet for 36 hours until I had a dessert and when we got back to the hotel had a late night snack of Domino's Pizza. Reid was hungry and I couldn't resist.

On the "what's next front", I've got 24 days until the NYC Marathon. I'm not sure how the training will go, I felt extremely weak riding today. In a way I wish I didn't have the marathon, I can sense my body needs some time to heal and rebuilt itself after a near two seasons of straight training and racing.

Easy Bike - 30:24 / 13.60 km / 26.84 avg pace

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