JANUARY FIRST

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How true! Between my moped accident and my ladder fall, I think I have been in pain for half of 2008, so here's to health, happiness and NO injuries in 2009.

Happy New Years to all my family and friends.

MY FRIENDS

TOO LATE FOR CHRISTMAS GREETING

I had planned on getting on here yesterday and wishing everyone a very merry Christmas but we were so busy that I didn't even get a chance to turn my computer on.
So I guess I'll just say that I hope you all had a great Christmas.

FEELIN' GOOD

Randy and I went swimming at the pool this morning and then on a 14 mile bike ride. "Coach" Randy made me spin the whole ride and keep my cadence between 85 and 95. I have always hated looking at my cadence. I prefer to see how fast I'm riding and I can't see the mph and cadence both at once. Soooo, I NEVER look at my cadence. We rode from the pool out to the airport and the ride out seemed more like a warm up than anything. I'm so used to riding the hard gears, so spinning all the way out seemed easy. We took it pretty easy anyway. Randy had me practice unclipping one foot from the pedal at a time and ride with one leg. That was hard at first but got a little easier. Not much though. Don't know why anyone would want to ride with one leg at a time anyway!!!!

The ride back was a blast. I felt like I had a really good workout and I kept my cadence at about 90 the whole time. The uphills seemed easier than usual which I thought would be a killer since I haven't been out on the road for a few months, and on the trainer only three times this month, and not at all for a few months before that.

It felt so good to be out on the road. I didn't realize how much I missed it until today. Hopefully I'll be a little more cheerful using the indoor trainer this week knowing how much stronger it'll make me for my next road ride next weekend.

TONING UP

It sure is hard getting started back on a training program for me after not training for awhile. I'm so tired of injuries. This last one with my back is taking so long to heal. I still have another week until I go to the Doc. Hopefully she'll say I can start swimming, even though I have been a little bit on weekends.
Anyway, after only twelve days of training I am already starting to tone up. Just a little, but imagine after twelve weeks of training.


Maybe that will give me some incentive to keep it up. I used to enjoy riding my trainer in the house but I've come to hate it for some reason. I would much rather run on the tready than do the trainer. It used to be the other way around before my injury. Go figure.

Randy and I are going on a bike ride today (I think), my first road bike ride in forever, and maybe that will get me motivated to ride the trainer more often.

So here's to working out, getting fit, toning up, and moving closer to Lavaman.

NORTH CAROLINA?

We got a phone call from our youngest son, Daniel (PFC Wrighthouse) today. He graduates from the SOI program in the Marines next Tuesday. We thought he would be home for Christmas next Thursday or Friday. But he got his orders and will be flying to North Carolina on Tuesday and will probably not be home for Christmas.
I guess North Carolina will be his permanent base for the next three years. He said that he probably won't go for active duty for about six months.
We are so bummed. North Carolina? What kind of place is that? It seems so far away. We were so looking forward to seeing him next week and spending Christmas with him. He sounded pretty bummed also. The only plus is that most of Alpha Company, which is the company he is with, will be going with him. He's made some good friends there and so they'll still be together.
Well I guess I better go google North Carolina to see what it's all about.

WHAT?????

Glitter Graphics & Comments

I really PIGGED out for Thanksgiving (must have gained ten pounds) so I've got a lot of work to do to get ready for Lavaman. Training starts tomorrow and although the Doc says no swimming (my back is still having some swelling and quite a bit of pain), I can still bike on my trainer and run on the tready.
Only sixteen weeks until Lavaman so hopefully my back will be better soon so I can swim. That is my biggest weakness in the triathlon so I need to be in the water as much as possible.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY

Fred in Dallas calls his son in New York just before Thanksgiving and tells him, "I'm sorry to tell you this but your mother and I are going to divorce. After 45 years of living with her, I just cannot take any more of her moaning. We can't stand the sight of each other any more. I'm telling you first, Eddie, because you are the oldest. Please tell your sister."

When Eddie calls his sister Julie, she says, "No way are they getting divorced. Lets fly down there tomorrow and tell them we will not allow them to divorce."

Julie phones her parents and tells them both, "You must NOT get divorced. Eddie and I will be there tomorrow. Until then, promise you won't take any action until we get there. please listen to me," and hangs up.

The father puts down the phone and turns to his wife and says. "Good news honey. Eddie and Julie are coming for Thanksgiving and they are both paying their own way."

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

LEFTOVERS

I love making Thanksgiving dinner, mostly for the leftovers. Turkey dinner with all the trimmings, turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey pot pie, turkey for a week until you're so sick of it you don't crave it again for a whole year. And while the turkey's cookin' we're goin' down to the pier to do some ocean swimming. Our Thanksgiving tradition. I haven't been swimming since I fell off the ladder and so maybe our Thanksgiving swim will be the first day of my training for Lavaman.
Here's to all of you making turkey dinner, and to all of you just eating turkey dinner, and to all of you who aren't planning on having turkey dinner- let us know. We'll have plenty to share.

SO THE DOC SAYS.......

I went to the doctor yesterday and she said that I have swelling and strained muscles in my back and shoulder. She put me on light duty at work. No lifting anything over ten pounds. I don't know how I will get my job done at work. A lot of my freight weighs a lot more than ten pounds. Like all those Christmas trees and heavy cases of lights.
She is also ordering PT but she said workers comp takes about a week to approve it so I'll be hearing from a PT in about a week.
What I think is strange about the whole thing is that I don't know how I fell. I fell about three feet, straight back and landed on my back. I just happened to be right under a camera and the upper management has seen the video but every time I ask one of them about it, and how I fell, they say they're not the one that saw the video.
However, after I fell, they took every ladder in the store and examined them all and threw away several defective ladders.
So my question is, was I on a defective ladder? Is that why I fell? I had people on the safety committee tell me that there have been several ladder accidents but this is the first time they checked out all the ladders for defects.
I go back to the doc in two weeks and hopefully I will be better by then. I think the reason my back still hurts so bad, is from all the heavy lifting I have been having to do at work.
Anyway, I really want to be better so I can start training for Lavaman. I only have fifteen days left until I start training.

LAVAMAN TRAINING

Only twenty three days left until I start my serious training for Lavaman. I was starting to do so well with my swimming and then hurt my shoulder. I couldn't even lift my arm above my head so it's been a few weeks since I've swam. Then just when my shoulder was starting to feel a little bit better, I fell off that ladder at work. My back still hurts pretty bad, so all I have to say is that it had better feel better by December first. Otherwise you may see me out there crying instead of training. Or crying while training. Or crawling instead of running. I really want to do the Lavaman.
Randy's doing so much better from his surgery and is anxious to get out there to train. His knee feels so much better than it did before the surgery and hopefully once the swelling goes down he'll feel as good as new. Otherwise he may be out there crawling with me.

I'M NOT FAT

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SURGERIES OVER

Well as far as we know the surgery went well. What was supposed to be a half hour surgery lasted for an hour and a half. The doctor didn't come in to talk to either of us afterward so we don't know why the surgery took so long or if everything went as expected.


Driving to the hospital. Randy didn't seem too nervous until right before we got there.


The two hour wait for the surgery seemed to take forever.


Right before they took him away for surgery.

Five hours later we are home. Randy is feeling okay, icing his leg and watching tv. Thank you all for all of your thoughts and prayers today. They really helped.

THINKING OF YOU

For all my family and friends that are going through a hard time right now, here is



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I love you all and am praying for you.

FALL IN HAWAII

I've been looking at other peoples fall photos on the mainland and I'm missing the beautiful fall colors so last weekend while we were out and about, I tried to find fall here. I didn't find the beauty of a mainland fall but I found a Hawaiian beauty. Flowers everywhere. Palm trees, trees full of fruit. I only had my cell phone to take pics with so the pictures aren't the greatest but I had fun trying to capture the beauty that I saw and even though I didn't find fall, I had a blast spending the weekend with Randy and Rebecca.

NO STICKERS

Had to be at work at 2:30 this morning (my sixth day in a row) and worked until 12:30 then went to vote. There was no line (yessss). However, they didn't give out stickers that said we voted. :(
Hope you all had a good halloween yesterday and are having a great weekend.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

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WHAT'S A GIRL GOTTA DO?

Okay, Randy kept encouraging me to create a blog on blogspot so I finally did a while back. Sometimes it's so hard to think of things to post. Sometimes, no, most of the time, I wait too long between posting new posts. Sorry!!!
So then our daughter, Rachael kept bugging me to start a myspace page. I checked it out once but that was about all I did. Well one day a couple of months ago, Rachael came over and got me started on it. I didn't do much with it at first but I finally just recently started posting pics on it. It is a good way to keep track of all of our kids. All five of them have myspace pages.
Then my friend LeAnn kept telling me I should join facebook. I wasn't planning on it but LeAnn said she posts more pics on it than on blogspot so I decided to go check out her page. When I logged on, it made me create an account before I could see her page. So now I have THREE online pages that I have to keep up with.
I have no idea how I'm going to keep up with three when I couldn't even keep up with one. I guess the other two are good for posting pics, but this one is better for keeping track of what everybody is up to.
So I'll keep on doing posts on here though maybe not often enough, my photo albums will go on my other pages, and I'll try to keep up with my swimming between it all.

POOL'S CLOSED

As the busy holiday season is here things have gotten busy at work. Being the seasonal department manager at Walmart is hard this time of year. I'm supposed to have six associates helping me set the modulars and stock all the freight but for some reason we are on a hiring freeze and I only have one person this year. So things have been stressful at work.
I started going swimming at the pool after work because I need to get better and faster for Lavaman but I've found that swimming right after work also calms me down from all the stresses of the day.
TODAY THE POOL IS CLOSED!!!!!
So if you see me around town tonight, or tomorrow at work, you may not recognize me.
Here's a picture just in case....

CYCLING

* "The hardest thing about learning to ride a bicycle is the pavement!"

* Randy an Karen have just climed Le Alp de Huez on a tandem: "Phew that was a tough climb" said Randy "Thought I was going to bonk". "Yeah good job. I kept the brakes on the whole way up," said Karen, "or we'd have slid all the way back down!"

* My granny started cycling at 97 years old. She has been doing ten miles per day - and now we don't know where the heck she is!

* Randy, on his tandem is stopped by a police car. "What've I done, officer?" asks Randy.
"Perhaps you didn't notice sir, but your wife fell off your bike half a mile back . . ."
"Oh, thank goodness for that," says Randy - "I thought I'd gone deaf!"

* Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. (Mark Twain)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE ADDICTED TO CYCLING IF....
You hear someone had a crash and your first question is "How's the bike?"
You have stopped even trying to explain to your other half why you need more than one bike...you just go buy another one and figure it will all work out in the divorce settlement.
You buy your crutches instead of renting.
You see nothing wrong with discussing the connection between hydration and urine color.
You find your Shimano touring shoes to be more comfortable and stylish than your new trainers
You refuse to buy a settee because that patch of wall space is taken up by the bike.
You have more money invested in your bike clothes than in the rest of your combined wardrobe.
You see a fit, tanned, Lycra-clad young thing ride by, and the first thing you check out is his or her bicycle.
Despite all that winter weight you put on, you'll take off weight by buying titanium components
You use wax on your chain, but not on your legs (girls).
You use wax on your chain, AND on your legs (boys)
Your bike has more miles on its computer then your car's odometer.
You wear your bike shorts swimming.
Your bikes are worth more than your car.
When you move to a new area the first thing you look for is a bike shop.
You take your bike along when you shop for a car - just to make sure the bike will fit inside.
You view crashes as an opportunity to upgrade components.
You clean your bike(s) more often then your house.
You and your significant other have and wear identical riding clothes.
You put your bike in your car and the value of the total package increases by a factor of 4 (or better).
You can't seem to get to work by 8:30 AM, even for important meetings, but you don't have any problems at all meeting your mates at 5:30 AM for a hundred-miler.
You know your cadence, but you have no idea what your speed is.
Your car sits outside your garage because your garage is full of bikes and cycling gear.
You experience an unreasonable envy over someone who has bar end extenders longer than yours.
There is no time like the present, for postponing what you ought to be doing, and go bicycling instead...

2008 IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

There's nothing like watching the Ironman World Championship to motivate you to work harder to be a triathlete. I saw so many athletes competing of all sizes, shapes and ages and even several with disabilities. They were the most motivational of all along with the competitors in there 60's and 70's.

At 18 and the youngest female competitor, our friend from Kona, Ariel Henbest, is just starting the 26.2 mile run after completing the 112 mile bike and 2.4 mile swim.



Lolly Rodgers, age 66, not the oldest, but one of our local girls, says this is her last Ironman. I guess we'll find out next year if that's really true.


One of several of the disabled athletes, Jason Fowler, from Kingston, Mass. Way to go Ironman!!!


Our local beloved pro triathlete, Bree Wee, on the right, is also our local pro on the cheering squad. Here she is cheering on the women's winner World Champion, Chrissie Wellington, of England. Bree is such a motivation to the competing athletes and I know how much they appreciate having her cheer for them. NEXT YEAR BREE! You did great for your first year as a pro and we all love you.

The final three hours of the night, from 9pm to midnight is probably the most exciting. Watching the final athletes cross the finish line, some of them just minutes or seconds from missing their 17 hour deadline, and wondering if your friends will make it in time is both nerve racking and exhilarating. Two people that we were watching for came in in the last fifteen minutes. We didn't know if they had dropped out, or if they were still somewhere out on the course, perhaps miles still from the finish, so it was such a relief to have them come in.
It seems like thousands of people were watching, mostly spectators, but also ironmen that had already completed the course, and the cheering for the competitors is LOUD. We went home for dinner and could hear it from home, just over a mile away.

All in all, we had a great day watching the race. It was a super long day but it was a blast to be a part of such a momentous time in people's lives.

INVENTORY AND IRONMAN

It's been such a busy week for me. We've been getting ready for inventory at work which is a huge process at Walmart. I've been working a lot of hours so if I haven't been leaving comments on everyone's posts, I'm sorry. I haven't been on the computer much.
Between all that, I had volunteered to help put Ironman preregistration packets together and also to be water patrol for the Iron Keiki biathlon, so between work and volunteering for those two things, I've been exhausted.
On the bright side, I only got one day off last week so I get a three day weekend starting Friday. YeeHaw! I'm looking forward to watching the Ironman race on Saturday and getting in some swimming this weekend, along with some much needed rest (and catching up on reading and leaving comments on everyone's blog).

RACHAEL

She was so beautiful the first time I saw her. I just couldn't take my eyes off of her and I couldn't believe that she was going to be mine. The picture I had seen of her didn't even begin to do her justice. It was a picture with her hair up, none of her beautiful curls showing, a picture that showed very little of her beauty.
We stayed and played with her and her brother for about an hour that first time, my eyes devouring her the whole time. This beautiful girl was soon to become my daughter. I loved her from the moment I saw her.
She was six years old, her brother Daniel had just turned five. We had planned on adopting a little girl but God had other plans for us and gave us the two of them.
It's so hard having your children grow up and move on, and the fourteen years since she came into our lives have blown by so fast. I miss the times that we spent together. She was such a special blessing, my daughter, my friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHAEL. I love you so much and pray every day that God will show you how much He loves you also, much more than ANY person ever can and that He wants to have a relationship with you again. I know that life has been tough on you this last year and even though we don't see much of you anymore I think about you and pray for you every day.
I love you so much and I hope you have a great birthday,
mom

Hawaii or the Mainland

I miss the mainland.
I miss the excitement of the first snow in the winter.
I miss malls.
I miss my boys, Jon and Daniel.
I miss my parents, sisters, and the rest of my family.
I miss hiking up Table Rock in Medford, OR.
I miss the cheap prices of groceries. Cereal at Safeway costs $6-$7 a box. Milk on sale is $5 plus. Today I paid almost $5 for a bag of Doritos.
I miss the variety of grocery stores.
I miss our horses and bloodhound that we had to sell to move here.
I miss racing the horses down the middle of the river with friends Rich and Karen in Nevada. There's nothing more exhilarating than galloping through the river, water flying everywhere, knowing if you fall off, you'll have a soft landing.
I miss the colors of fall. We only have one season here. Summer.
I miss the beauty of cherry trees blooming in the spring.
I miss seeing the deer grazing in the pasture and beaver swimming in the pond out our kitchen window in Hopewell, OR.
I miss Bethel Church in Medford, OR and the best preacher that I have heard in years, Tim Olson
I miss playing softball.
I miss the beautiful bike rides at the bottom of the Sierra's in Nevada.
I miss watching Randy and the boys having paintball wars with friends Rich and AJ in Carson City, NV.
I miss riding my bike in rural country.
I miss the beautiful green of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
I miss the feeling of living in civilization.

On the other hand, in Hawaii,
I love the warm weather year round.
I love the flowers that bloom in the middle of winter.
I love having a huge tomato plant that is still vibrant and producing fruit after two years.
I love that I learned to swim.
I love our tradition of swimming in the ocean every Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I love that we have free triathlons and/or biathlons every month.
I love that we can ride our bikes year round without getting cold.
I love that it's still warm out when it rains.
I love the friends that I have made here.
I love the palm trees.
I love the beauty of the ocean.
I love the most amazing sunsets. You've not seen a sunset until you've seen the ones in Hawaii.
I love swimming with the dolphins and sea turtles.
I love seeing all the beautiful fish when we snorkel at snorkel beach.
I love having a free city pool to swim in when the ocean is too choppy or dark for swimming.
I love wearing shorts and slippahs (flip flops) year round.
I love that I don't EVER have to wear coats and long pants. Shorts are so much more comfortable.
I love Hawaii!
I miss the mainland!

ANOTHER TRANSITION DAY

This morning we had another transition day at the pool. We had planned on swimming, biking (on our indoor trainers) then running and then repeating it all a few times. However, the pool wouldn't let us swim there. They said that groups had to have a permit to swim there, and although we all swim there regularly they wouldn't let us swim. So....
We biked seven minutes then ran seven minutes, switching back and forth between the two for almost an hour. We practiced the transition each time we switched events.
I hadn't planned on going but changed my mind at the last minute. I'm glad I did it but the running part was hard since I haven't been running lately. I guess I have to start back up.
Thanks Randy for encouraging me to go and not letting me give up on the triathlon. I know I can do it. I just need some of Bree's positive thinking.
I had a few good swims this last week which was very encouraging, then Randy and I swam after our transition day and instead of working on distance I worked on form. I still have so much I need to learn but I'm feeling so much more comfortable in the water.
Thank you Dawn and Janet for putting on these wahine events. I really do enjoy them and they do encourage me to keep going.

FINALLY! A NEW POST!

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. I've been kinda depressed or discouraged or something.
I really wanted to do Lava Man in April but I guess I gave up on it because I can't get the swimming down. I'm slower than a snail and can't seem to get my stroke and breathing right. Even if I could swim a mile, I probably couldn't do it in the time limit since snails are so slow and I'm even slower.
Anyway, when you're depressed, the last thing you feel like doing is writing a post. After all, who wants to read about your discouragement????
I finally went swimming tonight after not swimming for a couple of weeks and actually got a glimpse of hope that maybe I CAN do Lava Man. I still don't know, but maybe if I work really hard I can do it. I at least have the goal back in my head which hasn't been there for awhile.
So if you see me out there swimming like a snail, don't laugh at how slow I am because I'll just be working on getting stronger and faster so I can do Lava Man.

Sea World

We made it to San Diego last night and spent a LONG day at Sea World. It was a blast. We saw so many cool sea creatures and watched an amazing killer whale show. We enjoyed it so much that we may go again on Sunday.

TIME TRIAL

Today was the First Annual Wahine (women's) Bike Time Trial in Kona. We met at the bottom of the Palisades and rode North on the Queen K.
Leaving the starting point at 30 second intervals, eight women who participated in the race, each rode ten miles.
I felt like I had a terrible ride, was nauseated the whole time, hit a wall at the 8 mile mark where I felt like I was going to pass out, but all in all, my average was 17.9 mph, my best ever for this ride. Those hills kill my average. I always say I need hill work but never do anything about it.
I guess if I want to do Lava Man or Honu next year, I HAVE to hit those hills once in awhile and more often starting in December.

TREADMILL TORTURE

Okay, I couldn't keep using my work schedule for an excuse for not to work out so I finally pulled out the treadmill on Wednesday. A few months ago, when I had just starting running, I was using the tready quite a bit. Just thirty minute runs on program one which was plenty hard for me then, but would probably be too easy now.

So, I started out on program two, also a thirty minute workout. It was going well until the speed increased to 5.5 mph. Just as I was barely getting into the groove of it, the tready sped up to 6 mph. For all you runners, running 6 mph. is the norm, but I was holding on for dear life afraid I was going to fall off. Finally I took my hands off thinking that I wouldn't have anything to hold on to if I was running that fast outside, but I had just taken them off when the speed decreased.
The next day at work I was telling a guy who I work with about running 6 mph for maybe five or ten minutes or longer and how hard it was. I told him I really had no idea how long it was but it really felt like at least fifteen minutes.

Thursday after work I jumped on again. It was harder than the day before, but maybe because I had used the indoor trainer for thirty minutes on Wednesday before getting on the tready. My legs weren't stretched out or something because they really hurt this time. Well I got to the 5.5 mph mark and that seemed too fast so I was getting worried about getting up to 6 mph and having to run that fast for five or ten minutes. It finally got there, I had to hold on again but this time I timed how long it lasted. It was a whopping......................................

two minutes. LOL
Slowing down to 4 mph, the light started flashing to pick up the hand weights. It's so hot running in a hot house in hot weather so I sweat really really bad. I had sweat dripping down my arms, down my hands, down the hand weights and every time each arm flung forward on the upswing, sweat would fly off the hand weights and land on the dog which was laying right in front of the tready. He kept giving me funny looks but he didn't move. Crazy dog!!!

I took Friday off but went on a twenty something mile bike ride on Saturday. I didn't push myself hard enough though.

Today, Sunday, I did the Brown Bear Bash and Sunny Sprint with Rebecca. I swam the 200 yard swim with Rebecca on my back and then jogged/walked the 1 mile run with her. To see photos and hear Rebecca's story click here: Rebecca's Page

When we got home I got on the tready again. Program two seemed a little easier. I didn't have to hold on as long. One of these days I'll be able to run 10 minute miles and probably look back and laugh at how hard it was to do just two minutes on the treadmill.

A HARD RUN AND A GOOFY GUY

Today Randy and I swam at the pool and then did a three mile run. I'm getting out of shape FAST because I am tired! I haven't been running much, mostly just weekends, since my hours changed at work, and I can sure feel it today. My legs really HURT on the run. I will pull out the tready today and make myself use it after work until my hours change back and I can start running in the mornings again.

I haven't seen our son Jonathan, from Oregon, since February and really miss him. Randy and Rebecca haven't seen him in almost a year and a half. We were hoping he would come to San Diego for our youngest son's graduation from boot camp but he has to work so he won't be there. I'm pretty bummed about it. I don't know when we'll have another chance to see him for a long time.

Jonathan in Virginia City, Nevada, trying on goofy glasses

THE CRUCIBLE

Our son Daniel has been at boot camp since the beginning of June for the Marine Corps.
He will graduate September 5th but first must complete The Crucible.
It's a grueling 54 hours of pain, starvation, and sleep deprivation which every recruit has to complete to earn his/her right to be a Marine.

If you think about it during that time, please say a prayer for Daniel and all the other recruits. The parents of the recruits have come up with a plan so that there will be someone praying for the recruits at all times for the whole 54 hours. People chose which hour (or more) that they wanted to cover and we have prayer coverage for the whole time. A lot of the time we have 2 or 3 people praying each hour.

Here's an example of how the 54 hours may go - Source: "Into the Crucible" by James B. Woulfe

Tuesday Aug. 25th Starts around 2am (times in California – PST)
Many of the things they do represent what they would be doing on a battlefield/combat scenarios.
3am- hike 5 miles to first station
6am-four hours into the Crucible and already hiked more than 6 miles
630am- 49 hrs. left in the Crucible/moving to warrior station (to learn about medal of honor recipient and do a task that simulates something that warrior went through)
7am-ready to move to next station/ missed first meal
Bayonet assault course (close combat)
1-1/2 mile hike to infiltration course (barbed wire obstacles and culverts) very muddy
Not only negotiate course, but drag heavy ammunition cans (20lb. each) and crates (30-40 lbs) with them.
STILL NO REST BY NOW. Next challenge stretches hundreds of meters
Day movement course-25 minute time limit with booby traps
10am= eight hours since reveille and not even 1/4 done. Will have to clean weapons before anything else. They are hungry, wet, tired, already hiked 10 miles and may already have painful blisters
1030AM, mud caked on, HOT and sweaty, stomachs rumbling, feel miserable, feet hurt
Walked 10 miles already and feel overwhelmed
Learning to work as a team
Reaction course (6 obstacles) requires more decision making and imagination
5PM Awake 15 hours now (continual teamwork) hiked 12 miles and missed their third meal
520PM uniforms filthy, caked with mud, muscles feel empty, temperature dropping, crucible only 15 hrs. old or so and they have been on their feet the whole time, 39 hrs. to go, missed three meals, hiked 13 miles
7PM Crucible 17 hrs. old and 37 to go, covered 15 miles already
Night infiltration course (pitch black and grueling
11pm clean weapons and prep gear and then tend to their feet, sleep 4 hours, drinking water to reduce hunger pangs
Combat scenario next
DAY TWO, WED. AUG.26TH
5AM only 1/2 done with crucible
39 hrs. continuous operations, little food and sleep, hiked 24 miles and missed 4 meals,
Reaction course, extremely tired, impact of fatigue on decision making evident,
1PM 25th mile
230PM 26 marching miles claimed & 37 hrs. a complete blur by now, time no longer exists for them, moving forward instinctively, NO FOOD LEFT!
Confidence course
530PM 1 1/2 miles to bivouac course, clean weapons, focus on feet, medic checks each recruit (may not be able to continue if feet too bad, and won’t have a choice in the matter)
42 hours of continuous operations= pain and discomfort
Almost midnight/46 hours, exhausted, intoxicated with excitement about next day, 4 hours sleep only (3 if guard duty)
Day 3 Thursday Aug.14th
5am already awake an hour, now doing 9 mile hike on hilly trail/several peaks at slow pace, 51 hrs. of almost constant activity already
Final hike= ”grim reaper” Mt. Suribachi, 450 feet vertical
7am hurt but didn't quit, helped the weaker ones up, thighs burn from fatigue, nauseated/dry heaves
10 minutes to first rise of last hill (50 foot plateau), skin stings from salty sweat (drenched), slimy mess, dehydrated (heat stroke threat) chests heave and choke for oxygen
18th minute and 31 minutes to final rise-all hit wall, helmets bite into heads/headaches, nasty, sweaty, smelly
Failure not an option at this point…the point of no return
SERGEANT MAJOR (SENIOR DI) GIVES TITLE OF MARINE TO EACH RECRUIT AND DI GIVES EAGLE/GLOBE/ANCHOR
DELIRIUM/ELATION-
WARRIOR BREAKFAST/CLEAN UP/SLEEP

EVENING SWIMS

It's been so hot and humid here. This evening Rebecca and I picked Randy up from work on his lunch break and we went down to the pool. The water was almost too warm, but it sure cooled us off. Randy and I took turns swimming laps while the other swam with Rebecca and played in the water with her. It sure makes for a cooler night at home when you swim in the evening.

A funny underwater picture. Thanks Randy!!! Rebecca stole my goggles for this one.

I'M BACK

What I thought was going to be two weeks of working early morning hours may end up being permanent so I need to find a different time to run. I will truly miss the early morning run.

After no running for two weeks, Randy and I tried running last night with the dog but instead of the dog pulling me along, I had to pull the dog so I didn't get in too much running. Just enough to work up a sweat and let me know how much I missed running.

This morning we did an ocean swim and then ran along Alii Drive. It was so much fun. I usually go running alone and thought I preferred running alone, but it was so much more fun having Randy with me. Too bad we work different shifts so we can't go together more often.

ANOTHER WEEK IN PARADISE

This was a busy week for me. Not trainingwise, but daughterwise. Monday and Tuesday I rode my indoor trainer outdoors after work (it's cooler out there). I swam Tuesday and Thursday evenings and that's all the training I had time for.

Rebecca has been so bored lately so Randy and I took her to the pier to watch the boats come in from the billfish tournament. The day before they had caught the second largest billfish in the tournament's 49-year history. Nearly 1,000 pounds of fighting blue marlin. Randy said that they usually weigh their fish in around 4 o'clock so we went down right after I got off work Wednesday. We had to wait almost an hour for the boats to get there. They finally arrived, but no fish. The fish they had caught all day were too small to keep (all under 300 lbs.) so they did the catch, tag and release thing.

Rebecca was so worried about a wasp that kept buzzing around that even if there were any fish, I don't think she would have even watched. So I was surprised when she asked if we could go again the next day.

We arrived at the pier on Thursday around 4 o'clock and this time we didn't have to wait too long for the boats to arrive. But again no fish. That is until the last boat motored up. They weighed in a 388-pound blue marlin. After the tournament that day we met up with Randy on his dinner break and went swimming at the pool. We took family pictures of us in the water to send to Daniel at boot camp.

388-pound blue marlin, one of the fishermen on the Japanese team and Miss Billfish



Rebecca watching the fish weigh-in. There was quite a crowd watching.


Friday when I got home from work Rebecca was waiting outside for me. Before I even turned off my moped she was asking if we could go again. So off we went. This time they had another marlin. It ended up weighing 365 pounds. The same boat also had caught a 123-pound Ahi (yellowfin tuna). I will admit it was pretty fun to watch.

Volunteers hauling off the 365-pound blue marlin. This catch moved Team Malaka, from California, into third place.



Weighing in the 123-pound Ahi, the last fish of the tournament.


I enjoyed a shopping trip Friday night with Rebecca. She bought some new clothes for our trip to San Diego.

I had fun hanging with Rebecca this week but I really have to get more training in next week. I did start out the day today with a 23-mile bike ride and am planning a swim and run for tomorrow morning with Randy, so that should get me off to a good start for another week in paradise.