Havin' Fun In Hawaii

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RANDY

2010-04-08T16:41:00.004-10:00

I'm so proud to say that I have been married to the most wonderful man for thirty one years.

Randy,

Thank you for always loving me and taking care of me. Thank you for always picking me up when I'm down, for laughing with me when I'm happy, for always caring about my feelings.
I love you not just because you love me and fill my life with beautiful and special moments,
but I love you more for the person you are...
Kind hearted, gentle, caring and understanding,
And that's all I ever wanted in my partner for life.
You will forever be in my life and heart.
Happy Anniversary Sweetheart.
I love you now and forever.

LAVAMAN 2010

2010-04-04T10:19:00.007-10:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on my blog, and I'm not sure if I will again for a while after this post, but I wanted to do something for the Lavaman race that I did on March 28, 2010. I'm not sure, but this post may show up on my facebook page. It seems like Randy set my account to do that.

I didn't start training until January 1st, and when race time finally arrived, I really wished that I would have had at least another month of training. Last year, after the Lavaman, I got sick and was sick for a month and a half. I quit training for the rest of the year and really regretted that decision when I decided to do Lavaman again this year.

Training was a little rough this year, since I didn't train as long as I did last year. Plus, last year, I worked at 7am so I got up early and did my running before work. This year, I have to be at work at 6am, and I'm too much of a chicken to go out running at 4am. Too many scary things outside at that early hour. So all my training was after work and on weekends. It was really hard to do the after work training. I get so tired at work, and really had to force myself to train after work. I thank Randy so much for pushing me, helping me, encouraging me, coaching me, and for training with me sometimes after work, and always on weekends. I couldn't have and wouldn't have done it without you, sweetheart.

About two weeks before Lavaman, I got really nervous. I knew I wasn't ready, I was way behind schedule on the bike and swim, and I really wanted to drop out of the race. Luckily, the nerves only bothered me for a day or two. Then I kept waiting for the nervousness to come back. Last year I didn't get nervous until the day before the race, at the mandatory meeting, so I was expecting the same this year. But the meeting came and went, and still no nervousness. Then race morning, and I was feeling calm. I kept expecting to be nervous, but it really never came.

I don't have too much to say about the race. My goal was to beat last years time, but I didn't think I could do that since I felt like I needed another month of training.

The swim start was in five different waves, 3 minutes apart. Me, being in the older ladies wave, started last. It is very exciting, I found out last year, to be in the last wave to start, and to pass people that started in waves earlier than you. This year I passed men that had started 9 minutes earlier than me, and yes, the excitement was there again. I ended up doing the 1500 meter swim in 35 minutes, over two minutes faster than last year.

I had a blast on the bike. I think I had a grin on my face the whole time. I was having such a great time, that I didn't notice the pain (too much) riding up Scenic and Donkey Hill. The wind wasn't bad at all, and the 25 miles seemed to go by quickly. I was also over two minutes faster this year on the bike than last year.

The run didn't go as well as I wanted. I felt slow, and was really tired. I found a friend to run with and maybe slacked a little too much. I ended up being 2 minutes slower than last year on the run. However, I made up a little time in the transition area and ended my day over six minutes better than last year.

Although I'm disappointed that I didn't do better, I did beat my goal for this year. And the best part is that I didn't get sick this year and plan to keep training for the next race. Hopefully, the Kona 1/2 marathon. Also, I'm hoping to do all the Peaman races this year, so I will be doing the 10 mile run in two weeks. That's probably farther than I've ever ran in one day in my whole life, but I'm excited to do it, and hopefully I'll see you all there.

PHONE CALL FROM DANIEL

2009-11-29T14:14:00.000-10:00

We got a phone call from Daniel this morning. He's doing okay. He missed Thanksgiving dinner because he was out on patrol. Bummer! He said they've had a lot of bullets coming their way, and 2 people have been shot, one in the face and the other in the hip, but he didn't see either of them happen. They all sleep on cots in a big tent so that's cool. He told me before he left that they would probably be digging holes in the ground to sleep in. There's lots of little kids in the streets and they hand things out to them. He said the kids like crayons, color books, candy and gum. I guess our next box we send will have stuff for him to hand out. Anyway, it was really nice hearing from him. He will be in Afghanistan until April, so please keep him in your prayers.

BLUEBERRIES DREAMIN'

2009-11-16T15:16:00.004-10:00

On weekends, Randy and I have been doing ocean swims. Nothing beats an early morning ocean swim. If you've never tried it, it's something you should do sometime in your lifetime. It's the best! It's invigorating, exciting, scary (or would be if you ran into a shark), and a ton of fun. It's even more fun to go with a large group of people. Sunday I caught a draft off of a good friend of ours and managed to stay up with him pretty well. I just got back into swimming after nearly eight months of being lazy, so we've only been doing 3/4 mile and one mile swims, but soon I hope to be able to go a lot farther.

After our swims we head over to Jamba Juice. We always order the same thing. Randy gets a peanut butter moo'd and I get a blueberries dreamin'. My drink is the best smoothie in the world. It's a drink that was never officially on the Jamba Juice menu, but it consists of soy milk, non-fat frozen yogurt, blueberries and ice. If you ever decide to try one, the cashier may not know what a blueberries dreamin' is, so just say it's a strawberries dreamin' with blueberries instead of strawberries.

The moral of this story is:
Well, there is no moral to this story but I still say you should go for ocean swims and then head over to Jamba Juice for a blueberries dreamin' as often as possible.

A LOVELY STORY

2009-09-29T15:39:00.001-10:00

One day, long, long ago, there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or complain. (That would be me...)

But that was a long time ago and it was just that one day.

MY WEEK AT THE CLUB

2009-09-06T09:35:00.003-10:00

For my birthday this year, Randy bought me a week of personal training at the local health club.
Although I am still in great shape since being a high school long distance track runner 32 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.
I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.
The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress, so here's how my week went.
________________________________
MONDAY:
I started my day at 5:00 a.m. It was tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god-- with blond hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!
Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!
Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!
________________________________
TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT! It's a whole new life for me.
_______ ________________________
WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals.
I was so sore, and Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying.
My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster. Why in the world would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. He said some other senseless things too.
_______________________________
THURSDAY:
Slave driver was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late-- it took me that long to tie my shoes.
He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. He sent some skinny Witch to find me.
Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine-- which I sank.
_________________________________
FRIDAY:
I hate that guy Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world.. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic, little aerobic instructor. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it.
Christo wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich.
The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?
________________________________
SATURDAY:
Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel..
________________________________
SUNDAY:
I can hardly move, so I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year Randy will choose a gift for me that is fun-- like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

HAWAII: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

2009-08-31T18:27:00.003-10:00

PART ONE

While Hawaii is a beautiful state, a paradise actually, like everywhere else, it does have its downfalls.
For example, climbing out of bed early one morning, I headed for the shower. I reached in, turned the water on, pulled the shower curtain closed and stepped in. Suddenly there was a cane spider running right at me.
The EEEK that came out of my mouth was loud enough to wake Randy up, but since he didn't hear anything else, he didn't know what woke him up. So here I am, a huge spider coming right at me. I jumped out of the shower now knowing what to do, but the spider kept coming toward me. I grabbed the shower hose off the wall and began spraying the spider away from me, to the back of the shower. The spider got all soggy looking, so thinking it was dead I quit spraying it. Instantly it jumped up and came at me again! The stupid thing! Why couldn't it stay dead? I sprayed it some more, but every time I quit spraying, it would come back to life. Then a great idea popped into my head. Hot water! Mine was only warm, so I reached in while still spraying the spider of course, and cranked the water onto the hottest it would go. Five minutes later, that sucker was finally dead. Just to be sure, I grabbed a shampoo bottle (Randy's, since I didn't want spider gunk on mine), and ground that huge brown thing into the drain. I was terrified during my shower, thinking that the spider was going to reattach it's legs and come after me again. I kept my eyes on that drain for the whole shower and for the next, and the next....

Cane spiders are usually the size of a can of tuna fish and will often find their way into houses. They are beneficial in the home and it is not recommended to kill them (either let them live in your home, or let it outside).
Yeah right! Like I'm going to let this monster live in my house. And who's going to catch it and put it outside, when it's only interest seems to be in chasing you???

Next comes the centipede. These are NOT for the faint hearted! These things look like Doberman Pinchers! They're huge, and very mean looking! And a bite can leave you in excruciating pain for several hours to a few days! They can grow to ten inches in length, and are said to only attack people when they feel threatened. I'm not sure if I agree with that though, since people have told me that they've been bitten an night, while sleeping in their beds.
Randy and I have had several in our house and they are hard to kill, but luckily none of us have been bitten.

Vog is another nuisance which can cause several medical conditions. The only good thing that I have found with vog, is that on heavy vog days, it blocks the sun rays, making for a cooler day.
It is so much prettier here on vog-free days. Vog is created when volcanic gasses react with sunlight, oxygen and moisture. In Hawaii, vog mostly affects the Kona coast on the west side of the Island of Hawaii. The long-term health effects of vog are unknown.

ANTS:
Ants are a huge problem in Hawaii. We have problems with sugar ants, but even worse than sugar ants are these tiny little ants that I think are called Pharaoh ants. They are so tiny that they are hard to see and they get into EVERYTHING! They like greasy foods and sweet foods alike.
Randy had an unfortunante run-in with them one day. He got out a pair of bike shorts that he hadn't worn in several months, put them on, only to find out that there was a nest of the ants in the shorts. There were hundreds of ants and eggs. If you've ever wondered what it feels like to have 'ants in your pants' just ask Randy.

I almost hesitate to put this next cute little critter on my page, but it really is a nightmare for those unfortunate enough to be infested by these pests. Although we have Coqui frogs at our house, we don't have enough to bother us, but some areas of the Big Island are so infested with them that people have problems sleeping. The noise is said to be so loud, that you can't even carry on a conversation in your own house. The noise levels have been measured at up to 80-90 decibels, comparable to that produced by a lawnmower.

The dreaded cockroach:
I know that Hawaii isn't the only place with cockroach problems, and Randy and I have been very lucky to not have a problem with them. I really really hate them. I have people at work that say that the roaches in their homes are so bad that they get on their toothbrushes, in their food, they even will eat the paste on envelopes.

There are a lot more creepy, gross, ugly, scary things here, but to list them all would take me hours, and would use up too much space on my blog, so I'm stopping here.

Stay tuned for part two. Hawaii: the good...

THE END OF THE ROAD

2009-06-14T11:51:00.003-10:00

We had a blast the last two weeks with our daughter, Camilla and her fiance, Alan. Camilla was our foreign exchange daughter from Denmark, when we lived in Oregon before moving to Hawaii.
We were lucky enough to have her come for a two week visit after not seeing her for three and a half years. We also had the privilege of meeting her fiance, Alan for the first time.
I got to go to the Pololu Valley for the first time. Pololu Valley is also known as the End of the Road because the road just ends right there at the cliff. The view from above, overlooking the valley and ocean was breathtaking.
While they were here, we went kayaking, snorkeling, to Captain Cook and Kealakekua Bay, to the Keauhou and Honokohau harbors, we went and watched Randy compete in the half ironman, plus much more.

Camilla and Alan kayaking

Camilla and Alan on the beach in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel

Randy and Camilla kayaking

Pololu Valley

Pololu Valley

A ranch at Pololu Valley

Pololu Valley

The people that live in a house at Pololu Valley were nice enough to put out water and cups for tourists. Opala is the Hawaiian word for garbage.

Randy took this photo at the Waikoloa Village Hilton. I love the birds they have there.

The Hilton

The Hilton

DEAR LORD....

2009-05-19T20:19:00.000-10:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

2009-05-10T08:38:00.004-10:00

CANOE RACES

2009-05-03T17:26:00.013-10:00

For the last couple of weeks I've been spending my evenings out paddling at the pier to get ready for the tenth annual Businessman's Regatta. I did the race last year and had a blast, so when I was asked to paddle again this year I jumped at the chance. The first regatta ten years ago had only twelve teams but has grown larger with each passing year. This year there were fifty teams, with six people per team.

Waiting for the race to start

Me with friends Jody and Karen, still waiting for the race to start

Trying to get into canoe

Heading out to the start line

Video of the first race

Just after the first race

There were four teams racing at a time, and my team came in second out of the four teams that were in our heat. Then there was a long wait to see how we did overall.
My women's team ended up being in the top four, so we made it into the finals.

The finals race

We ended up taking third in the finals. All in all, it was a fun day, too much sun, sore muscle, but a lot of fun.

Bringing the canoe in after the race

Another shot of bringing in the canoe

Putting the canoe away

My personal cheering committee and photographer, Randy

The second half of my cheering committee, Rebecca

Photographer Rebecca took this picture

At home showing off my medal

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY RANDY

2009-04-29T05:33:00.002-10:00

Happy birthday Randy!
Wow!!! 50 years old today!
I can't believe you're 50; 49 maybe, but not 50!

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Track star Randy in his teens

Here's something, Randy, to let you know what 50 is going to be like.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE 50 WHEN-

*You first forget names,
then you forget faces,
then you forget to pull your zipper up,
then you forget to pull your zipper down.
*Your back goes out more than you do.
*Your cardiologist gives you this special diet:
If it tastes good, spit it out.
*Your narrow waist and a broad mind begin to change places.
*You can finally afford the rings you want, but you'd rather no one noticed your hands.
*You wear black socks with sandals.
*Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.
*All you want for your birthday is to not be reminded of your age.
*Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.
*Your address book has mostly names that start with Dr.
*You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.
*Getting "lucky" means you found your car in the parking lot.
*You can remember when motorcycles were dangerous and sex was safe!
*You've seen it all, done it all, but can't remember most of it.
*You no longer have to worry about avoiding temptation because it now avoids you.
*According to your best recollection, you don't remember.
*You buy a compass for the dash of your pickup
*You smile all the time because you can't hear a thing anyone is saying.
*You are not grouchy, you just don't like traffic, waiting, crowds, loud music, kids, and some other things you can't seem to remember right now.
*You're still able to recall where you left your keys, but not what they unlock.

Randy in his 20's

Randy in his 30's

Randy in his 40's

HELPFUL TIPS FOR THE 50'S AND OLDER

Never attempt bending down, except under strict medical supervision.

Avoid the company of young people. They are a sad reminder of your long lost youth.

Keep a diary – it will be a great source of comfort and a handy reminder of what you did yesterday.

Cultivate friendships with people much older than yourself. This will make you feel so much younger.

Finding your false teeth can be difficult when you mislay your spectacles. Always keep these vital items attached to you by pieces of string.

No one will ever notice your frightful wrinkles if you only go out when it’s dark.

Modern science enables even fifty year old's to have the youthful looks of a teenager – a simple head transplant is all it takes.

Buy a computer, digital camera and a MP3 player. Although you’re incapable of understanding how to use them at least you’ll appear trendy.

Take the strain off your tired out memory by labeling all household objects – bed, fridge, television etc.

Look twenty years younger in an instant – borrow a baby and train it to call you ‘daddy’.

Save all hairs that come loose when you brush your hair – one day medical science may develop a means of replanting them.

Try to enjoy your fifties as much as is possible – after all, the horrendous sixties are looming.

Randy hating the 50's because he knows he forgot something for the bike race, he just can't remember what.

What Randy? You say you don't recognize yourself here?
I SAID, YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE YOURSELF HERE?
Well maybe you really are 50.
Happy birthday Sweetheart, and welcome to the 50's.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RANDY

2009-04-08T16:28:00.003-10:00

ROADS
Every road we’ve walked,
every path we’ve chosen,
has molded us into the couple that we are.
Through laughter, heartache, tears and joy,
though sometimes taking different paths,
we’ve always walked the road together,
arm in arm, side by side.
Our lives together, intertwined,
would be meaningless if on our own.
The memories we have,
the years together,
the life we’ve shared,
would be shattered if we parted.
I want to keep walking that road of life with you,
always together,
creating more memories,
laughing, happy,
side by side,
no longer taking different paths,
but always walking
that road of life together.
Karen Wrighthouse

Randy,

The thirty years I have spent with you have been the most amazing, wonderful years of my life. I couldn't ask for a sweeter or more loving man to spend my life with. I know we've had our share of hard times over the years, but those times are gone, the past, and I know that the next fifty years are going to be as wonderful, exciting and sweet, or even better than where we are now.
Thank you for putting up with me during those hard times, for staying with me, for loving me and taking care of me.
I love you and am so thankful that God allowed us to meet, fall in love, marry, and spend our lives together, forever.
Happy Anniversary.
Love,

Karen

NOTES ON MARRIAGE

When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: either the car is new or the wife is.
***********
Love may be blind but marriage is a real eye-opener!
-Unknown
***********
The great question... which has never been
answered... is, "What ..does a woman want?''
-Freud
***********
Then there was a man who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married; by then it was too late."
***********
Marriage is the process of finding out what kind of person your spouse would have really preferred
***********
My wife and I were happy for 20 years - then we met.
-Rodney Dangerfield
***********
The most happy marriage I can picture would be the union of a deaf man to a blind woman.
-Coleridge
***********
Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age - as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.
-Phyllis Diller
***********
"My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe."
-Jimmy Durante.
***********
Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.
-Albert Einstein
***********
In my house I'm the boss, my wife is just the decision maker."
-Woody Allen.
***********
The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday
is to forget it once.
***********
I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said.
So I suggested the kitchen.
***********
A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.
-Milton Berle
***********
A wife is someone who'll stand by you through all the trouble you wouldn't have had if you'd stayed single.
-unknown
***********
"If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?"
-Anonymous

SEVEN AGES OF THE MARRIED COLD
1st year--The husband says, "Oh, sweetie pie, I'm really worried about those nasty sniffles you have! There's no telling what that could turn into with all the strep that's been going around. I'm going to take you right down to the hospital and have you admitted for a couple days of rest. I know the food is lousy there, so I'm going to bring you some takeout from Tosini's. I've already arranged it with the head nurse."

2nd year--"Listen, honey, I don't like the sound of that cough. I called the doc and he's going to stop by here and take a look at you. Why don't you just go on to bed and get the rest you need?"

3rd year--"Maybe you better go lie down, darling. When you feel lousy you need the rest. I'll bring you something--do we have any canned soup around here?"

4th year--"No sense wearing yourself out when you're under the weather. When you finish those dishes and the kids' baths and get them to bed, you ought to go to bed yourself!"

5th year--"Why don't you take a couple aspirin?"

6th year--"You oughta go gargle or something, instead of sitting around barking like a dog!"

7th year--"For Pete's sake, stop sneezing. Are you trying to give me pneumonia? You'd better pick up some tissues while you're at the store."

POST LAVAMAN

2009-03-30T13:51:00.002-10:00

Whew! It's finally over. I had a blast and am so glad I did it.
I wasn't really too nervous until we went to the pre-race meeting the night before. Just hearing all the rules and having so many competitors packed into the ballroom where we met, got my nerves racing. My heart started beating fast, I felt sick to my stomach, and I really, really didn't want to do the race.
Sunday morning came early, after not sleeping too well, and we got out to Waikaloa about 5:30am. When we got there, the wind was blowing so hard and I was pretty disappointed. I was hoping for no wind. But by 6:30 the wind was completely gone. What a relief!
The swim had five different wave starts, three minutes apart, mine being the last. I was kind of bummed that I was starting last, but thankful that I wasn't first where 900 people would be climbing over me.
My swim went good, for me. I felt strong, passed a lot of people from earlier waves, and felt great coming out of the water.
The bike was also going great. I felt really strong, I passed a lot of riders, the hills didn't phase me. Usually I dread them. At the turn around, my bike average was higher than it ever has been for that ride and I still felt strong.
But then the wind came. I don't know why it couldn't have held off until everyone was done with the bike part of the triathlon, but it came hard. A brutal headwind that got worse each mile closer to the end. It totally zapped all the energy I had been feeling.

It was great seeing friends from work driving along the course. Thanks Jody, Christine, Gary and Teri for your support. (And for the picture).

By the time I started the run, I was exhausted. The first three miles of the run were in the strong headwind. I was so excited when I reached the run turnaround just to get out of the headwind and into a tailwind.
The run on the beach was hard. I've never been able to run in sand very well. I guess I need to work on it. I thought I would feel more excited crossing the finish line, but maybe the exhaustion zapped any excitement I should have felt. I'm just really glad it's over.

33 HOURS, 37 MINUTES, 17 SECONDS

2009-03-27T21:10:00.002-10:00

Lavaman- ready or not, here I come. It's so close and I'm trying not to get nervous. I still need so much work on all three events but I'm ready to do it and get it over with. My first 'REAL' triathlon. And hopefully not the last.

ONLY 31 DAYS

2009-02-26T17:12:00.003-10:00

It's getting close. My first olympic distance triathlon, the Lavaman. I'm getting excited but scared at the same time. I've been training hard, and know that I can do it. A few weeks ago I wasn't so sure. But riding the Lavaman bike course as often as I can and running longer distance runs have given me much needed confidence. I think the swim scares me the most but I've been swimming a lot and know I can do it.
There's only thirteen slots left, out of 800, so if you're planning on racing in Lavaman you better sign up soon.
Hope to see you out there...

RIDING WITH THE WHALES

2009-02-21T19:30:00.004-10:00

We've been living on the Big Island of Hawaii for three years and have never seen a whale here until a couple of weeks ago. Now we are seeing them all the time. It's kinda funny that for three years we never saw even one, and now they're everywhere.
Randy and I rode the Lavaman bike course again today. Just under a 25 mile ride with strong headwinds made for another tough ride. I rode it a little faster than last weekend but I still need to ride the course several times more before Lavaman.
Randy and I are both officially signed up now, so I can't slack in my training.
After the turnaround, I started seeing whales jumping out of the water. One whale must have jumped out about eight or nine times and the splash that it created each time it hit the water was incredible. It was so cool that I didn't even realize that I was riding up an uphill until I was about to the top. There were whales all along the coastline, and some of them seemed pretty close to shore. It made a hard ride much more enjoyable.

UPDATE ON MY LAST POST

2009-02-15T20:18:00.007-10:00

The only exciting thing about our afternoon is that we found a new running/biking path. We took Rebecca on it for about a 3 mile walk then went back after taking her home, and ran five miles. It was a blast. All uphill for the first half, all downhill for the last half (I liked the last half the best. LOL)! We saw wild turkeys, lots of orange trees loaded with fruit ready to be picked, banana trees loaded with fruit, lemon trees, pomegranate and papaya trees, and another tree with some sort of HUGE fruit things that Rebecca thought were bee hives covered with bees (see picture that Randy took, below). It was a nice quiet place to run. We saw several people riding mountain bikes on the path so we're going to see if we can get our mountain bikes up and running so we can go for rides on it. Rebecca has a bike trailer that we can hook up and take her with us. I can't wait to see how far the path goes.

Beehive Fruit also know as Jack fruit

TWO LADIES, A GIRL AND A DOG NAMED OTTO

2009-02-15T12:16:00.007-10:00

Wow, what a weekend. Yesterday on valentines day, Randy and I decided to ride the Lavaman course. It was a grueling 25 mile ride with a strong headwind on the way out which shifted directions on the way back, becoming so brutal that I could barely pedal. I've never ridden in that strong of wind before, but Randy said that there is often strong wind out there and that I need to get used to it so I'll be ready for it in case it's windy during Lavaman.
After our ride, we took Rebecca shopping, then out to Keauhou Harbor where we saw a 5 to 6 foot tiger shark in four feet deep water. It was one of the coolest things I've seen here. At least it was cool since we weren't in the water!!! We used to swim in the harbor when we were kayaking, but never again.
Today we did an ocean swim at the pier. The water was crystal clear which was great because I don't think I would have swam in murky water after seeing the shark yesterday. For any of you that swim out to the Kings buoy, the buoy is gone, so don't look for it. We didn't swim that far but were told by a friend that it was damaged so they took it away this morning.
After the swim we went to Starbucks. We were sitting at a table outside, next to two ladies chatting over coffee. There was an adorable little girl, probably around 4 years old with them, and an Australian Shepherd, that they called Otto. While the ladies were talking, the girl put a stir stick in her moms cup of coffee or whatever she was drinking, then licked it off. She put it back in the cup and then let the dog lick it off. Then back in the cup for the girl to lick off. This went on for several minutes, the girl and the dog taking turns licking off the stick, with the mom having an occasional sip from the cup. It was so hilarious, because the ladies had no clue what the girl was doing. It sure gave me a good laugh for the day.
I'm not sure what other great things are going to happen this weekend, but Randy and I still have a long run to do, which I'm sure will be awesome. I guess I'll give an update if anything good or funny happens.
Have a great day!

TRAINING DAYS

2009-02-08T20:52:00.007-10:00

Okay, I haven't been on blogspot forever. Well 21 days to be exact. Sorry. I've been so busy training that I don't do much on my computer these days. I usually get on just long enough to check out myspace and facebook to see what everyone is up to, and to make sure that Forrest and Stacey remain my pets on 'Own Your Friends' on myspace (lol Marilyn, and Deb, I know you finally signed up for facebook but you HAVE to get a myspace account also). Besides that, I haven't had time to do much else on the computer.
I'm going to sign up for Lavaman this week although I need a lot of work still before the race. I've increased my training already but am planning on increasing it even more starting tomorrow so you'll probably hear even less from me for awhile.
My swimming is going well. I'm still slow but not quite as slow as I was at the beginning of January. I've been swimming 2000 yards every Mon., Wed., and Friday after work and try to get in some swimming on the weekends too.
The last three weekends have been busy with a Peaman event three weeks ago, a 1/2 mile swim followed by a 3.1 run; a Team Mango event last weekend with a 1/2 mile swim, followed by a 15 mile hilly bike ride, followed by a six mile run; and this weekend was a 10 mile bike time trial on Saturday and another Peaman event on Sunday (today), consisting of a 5.25 mile run.
I did terrible on all the events over the last 3 weekends but I finished them all and I guess I'm happy I did them even if I did bad. For me they were all just training days for my ultimate goal- Lavaman, and hopefully by doing them I will be stronger for the Lavaman race.
Oh well, enough of my ramblings. For all of you training for triathlons, or swim meets, or bike races, or marathons, or whatever else, good luck, and happy training, and for all of you not doing any training, you're missing out, and I encourage you to start some sort of exercise program because it really does make you feel good. Physically and mentally (even though it is painful). Lol!!!

ANOTHER PERFECT DAY IN PARADISE

2009-01-18T19:28:00.011-10:00

Today was another great day. It started out with a 21 mile bike ride followed by a short run on the beach. We saw the monk seal again on the beach and saw the largest sea turtle I have ever seen, also sunbathing in the sand.
I was exhausted after the bike ride and run and came home for awhile to rest. I would have stayed home for the rest of the day but our son Aaron got off work at 2:00 again and wanted to go out to the End of the World. I really didn't want to, my body was so tired and achy, but we hardly ever get a chance to hang out with Aaron so we decided to go.
It was an amazing trip. We saw the largest waves that I have ever seen. The thundering sound they created as they crashed into the cliffs was incredible. Then to top things off, we saw whales. I've never seen whales in Hawaii and have always said that I would never move from here until I saw one. I was so excited to finally see some. We also saw another beautiful sunset. Aaron took tons of pictures. Randy and I wished that we would have brought cameras also, but I did take a couple of pictures on my cell phone.

Me watching the large Honu

The monk seal we saw two days in a row

Randy, whale watching

Aaron waiting for a new set of waves to take pics of

A wave at the End of the World

HIGH SURF, CLEAR SUNNY SKIES, AND AN INCREDIBLE DAY

2009-01-17T20:16:00.020-10:00

Today was the most incredible day. It started out with a quick trip to Starbucks for hot chocolate, a drive down Alii drive to look at the surf, followed by Randy, Rebecca and I going out to the energy lab where we took photos of the high surf. The waves exploding against lava rock were amazing.
We took lots of photos and had planned on running on the beach afterward, but decided instead to get Rebecca out of the sun.

Right after we got home, Aaron got home from work so the four us us made a trip to the movies to watch Mall Cop. It was a pretty good movie and had some pretty funny scenes.

Then it was time for our run that we had been putting off all day. We decided to go to the harbor and run on the beach. Turtle Beach, we like to call it, since there's almost always turtles on the beach bathing in the sun. We were running along in the sand, me dying as usual, Randy running up ahead of me when we heard a strange bark, and then saw a Monk seal sunbathing on the beach, instead of the usual turtles. Randy got a short video of it which I'm sure he'll post on his blog or on facebook. It was so cool seeing a seal here. It's the first one we've seen in the three years we've been here.
Sand running is a LOT harder than running on the road. I was dying and my thighs felt like rubber, or lead, or rubbery lead. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. But it was a blast. After about a 45 minute run, we noticed that the sun was getting low so we stopped and watched a beautiful sunset together.
What a great way to end a perfect day. A sunset on the beach in paradise with the one you love. Ahhhh, life couldn't be any better.

These are some of the photos I took at the Energy Lab. Randy let me use one of his good work cameras. It's amazing what a good camera can do. I think I want one!

COMPETITIVE OR NOT?

2009-01-10T19:58:00.005-10:00

I have always been competitive. In middle school I was asked to join the high school track team. I ran the mile and two mile for every track meet, and sometimes coach Velasquez threw in an 880 on top of that.
There were two senior girls who thought I should let them win since that was their last year of school and I was only in middle school.
But I was too competitive and I also thought if they wanted to win that they needed to work out harder to earn the win.
After all, I worked hard in practice, then ran the mile home, got my dog, and ran some more. Every day. So why should I let someone else win if they weren't working as hard as me?

After getting married and starting a family I did nothing athletic for about ten years. Then my neighbor saw me playing catch with my son and invited me to join a woman's softball team. I loved it. I loved the competitiveness of it all. I played on the woman's team every summer along with playing on a co-ed team. I did this for several years but a long distance move followed by a broken tailbone while rollerblading was the end of my softball career. I still miss it though and still have my old glove. (Just in case....).

After softball was five or six years of nothing. Well, we lived on a farm and the horses kept us too busy to even think of sports. Then about four years ago Randy and I started biking. We lived in Nevada and with the cold winters we pretty much only rode in the summer. At least that was the only time I rode. I loved those Nevada rides. Oh, some of them hurt pretty bad. We rode up some long long long steep hills. We rode along the base of the Sierras. That was beautiful country. We rode with wild horses running along the side of the road. I really miss those rides. Rolling hills in the country with little or no traffic. Beautiful farmland. Cattle, horses, dogs, acres of green pasture, that was the life. It's too bad it had to get so cold and wet in the winter.

Now we're here, in Hawaii. I'm trying to get into triathlons. I'm getting older and have had a lot of injuries over the last several years. My tailbone broken twice, broken ribs from a horseback accident, my moped accident, a fall off the ladder at work... it takes longer to heal as I get older. And the injuries seem to happen more often as I age.
At my age, almost 47, can I still be competitive or do I just settle for doing and finishing a race? Do I really have the time, strength and endurance to train hard enough to compete?
I guess my goal is just to make it through the Lavaman. I have a feeling that doing Lavaman will bring back the competitive nature that I've had for so many years, and make me want to work harder for the next race, but right now I just want to do the race. And finish with NO injuries.
However, after today's workout with the Wahine group, I don't even know if I can make it through Lavaman. We did an hour ride followed by a two mile run. I was dead. I was slow. I was embarrassed. I need to work harder. It's hard to be behind everyone else when I have such a competitive nature.
So my question is, do I try to compete, just try to complete the race, or just walk away?
For now I will keep training, try to train harder, try to enjoy the sport, even when it hurts, and try to figure out if I can still be competitive or if I am just doing this for fun. I guess either way, it should be fun, and that will be my goal. Have fun no matter what happens.

2009-01-08T17:09:00.002-10:00

MyHotComments

I'm so glad I live in a warm place so things like that don't happen to me.

I really didn't have anything to post, but since my friend asked me if blogger was working I decided to try posting and see if it would let me.

So if you see this LeAnn, yes it is working.

HOW COME PAIN CAN FEEL SO GOOD?

2009-01-02T14:56:00.008-10:00

Ahhhhh! I'm feelin' good. Tired, sore, but good. After working an all night shift, (1:15am to 9:45am), Randy and I went on a bike ride. The most I've been riding since my injury has been 15 miles at a time, have only ridden that twice, last weekend, and the weekend before, AND I have only been averaging about 13mph.
Today I rode 20 miles and Randy rode 26 miles. My average was 15.1 which still isn't great, but much better than I've been doing. I finished just a couple minutes before Randy, so he must have been really booking.
The ride felt great. It hurt, but I pushed myself on the hills which is probably why my average went up. I have always hated hills but this year I'm trying to get myself to like them, to push myself on them, so that I will be a stronger rider.
So now I sit here at my computer, every muscle in my body aching, but I'm FEELIN' GOOD!

JANUARY FIRST

2008-12-31T20:53:00.003-10:00

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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

2008-12-27T12:22:00.004-10:00

TOO LATE FOR CHRISTMAS GREETING

2008-12-26T07:51:00.003-10:00

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

2008-12-14T13:14:00.005-10:00

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

2008-12-13T08:13:00.002-10:00

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?

2008-12-05T20:13:00.003-10:00

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?????

2008-12-01T18:35:00.003-10:00

Glitter Graphics & Comments

2008-11-30T20:23:00.002-10:00

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

2008-11-27T07:02:00.001-10:00

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

2008-11-21T15:47:00.010-10:00

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.......

2008-11-15T12:23:00.002-10:00

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

2008-11-08T21:42:00.006-10:00

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

2008-11-06T09:16:00.002-10:00

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SURGERIES OVER

2008-11-05T16:49:00.008-10:00

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

2008-11-03T19:45:00.005-10:00

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

MyHotComments

I love you all and am praying for you.

FALL IN HAWAII

2008-11-02T07:38:00.014-10:00

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

2008-11-01T15:37:00.002-10:00

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

2008-10-31T15:47:00.001-10:00

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WHAT'S A GIRL GOTTA DO?

2008-10-29T19:44:00.003-10:00

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

2008-10-23T16:02:00.009-10:00

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

2008-10-18T15:18:00.006-10:00

* "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

2008-10-11T18:27:00.017-10:00

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

2008-10-08T11:01:00.001-10:00

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

2008-10-07T19:27:00.002-10:00

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

2008-09-30T19:59:00.002-10:00

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

2008-09-28T14:52:00.004-10:00

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!

2008-09-23T19:26:00.002-10:00

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

2008-09-03T19:05:00.008-10:00

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

2008-08-24T16:25:00.005-10:00

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

2008-08-17T17:32:00.009-10:00

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

2008-08-09T13:43:00.001-10:00

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

2008-08-05T19:35:00.007-10:00

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

2008-08-05T19:28:00.005-10:00

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

2008-08-03T18:11:00.002-10:00

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

2008-08-02T18:24:00.012-10:00

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.

ROAD RIDING

2008-07-26T16:54:00.002-10:00

Today Randy and I went on a road bike ride. I forgot how enjoyable it is to ride on the road. I'm so used to riding the trainer at home and have not taken the time in a long time to ride the Queen K. We rode almost 24 miles out to the veterans cemetery and back. I thought I would do terrible on the hills since I don't ride those on my trainer, but I thought I did pretty well. I even passed a man on a hill. Whoo Hoo. I usually don't pass anyone on hills.

We bought our airline tickets today for San Diego. Our son, Daniel, is graduating from boot camp on Sept. 5th, so we are spending a week there. I'm getting excited. Our motel even has a pool so we can get in plenty of swimming while we're there. One of our other sons who lives in Oregon may also fly down for the graduation and it will be so nice to see him. It's hard having him live so far away. We don't get to see him too often.

I decided I'm going to start riding on the road every Saturday so maybe I'll see some of you out there.

TEAM WRIGHTHOUSE - THE BIKE

2008-07-19T21:54:00.015-10:00

Today the Wrighthouse family did the Pea/Mango Trash Can Triathlon. Randy did a 1/2 mile swim, I did a 10 mile bike and Rebecca did a 2 mile run.

Randy did great on the swim. I was so impressed with how fast he swam. The end of his race was exciting as he was swimming neck and neck with a man at top speed. They kept knocking into each other trying to beat each other. I enjoyed video taping his swim. For Randy's swim story and video click here: The Kona Life.

Randy told me last night that in the worst case scenario it could take me up to an hour on the bike so I was determined to do it in 30 minutes. That would mean a 20 MPH average. I usually average 15 to 16 MPH so I knew I would need to pick up my speed a notch or two.

The first mile I couldn't get one of my shoes clipped in. I kept slowing way down every time I tried to clip it in. Finally near the end of mile one I got my shoe clipped in and took off on my ride. That's when I realized that in the excitement of video taping Randy at his swim finish, I forgot my helmet. Great. I called Randy, yes I had my cell with me, and told him I forgot it so he brought it to me on the course. Right after I called him a bug or something got in my eye and I realized I forgot my sunglasses also. I guess that transition day I did last week didn't help. I NEED another one.

I passed a racer between mile one and two which made me ride harder so that she wouldn't pass me on the hills (my weakness). At about mile 4 I was passed by a man. Bummer! He's the one who came out of the water the same time as Randy but Randy said the man took awhile in the transition. I sped up hoping to at least keep him in my sight which I did most of the race. I didn't pass anyone else, nor did anyone else pass me.

If anybody knows about horses, they should know what a barn sour horse is. It's a horse that can't wait to get back to the barn when you take them out for a ride. We had a horse like that. On the start of the ride he would plod along so slow. You had to constantly fight with him to get him to speed up, but as soon as you turned around to come home from the ride, watch out. That guy could book. Our daughter, Rachael, had the pleasure of such a ride. Coming home, the horse came tearing down the trail at neck-breaking speed, poor Rachael with a panicked look on her face was holding on for dear life. Anyway, I'm barn sour. I hate the first half of the ride, but as soon as I turn around I book. That's the part of the ride that I enjoy. Only 4miles left. I can do it. 3 miles, almost back to the barn. 2 miles, I still have some energy, I better pick up my speed. Down to the last mile and I really fly. I love it. I'm like that every time I ride, whether racing or training or riding for pleasure. I always enjoy and do better on the way back.

Sometime on the ride back, I think around mile 6 or 7, I was climbing a hill. It was probably the steepest hill on the ride but it really isn't that hard of a hill. I just really need to do hill work. There were no riders around me so I was just peddeling along, wondering if Rebecca was getting impatient waiting for me to get back so she could start her race, and I realized I was only going 12 MPH. That was terrible. I sped up but I think my top speed on the hill was only 15 MPH. Bummer! I was sure that I messed up on my 30 minute goal on that hill.

At about the 9 mile mark, just after I started my fastest speed I could do, a car turned the corner right into my path. He didn't even have his turning blinker on. What an idiot. I had to stop fast or I would have crashed into him. I can't believe the drivers on Alii Drive! Randy said that happened to him one time on a race too.

The race ended up taking me 35 minutes so I didn't beat my goal but I still feel like I had a good ride. I had a lot of fun anyway, and that's what counts.

Sometime during the ride I realized that I didn't even bring my running shoes. Randy and I had planned on running with Rebecca as she pushed herself in her wheelchair. Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it at this point. As soon as I rode up, Rebecca started her race. I loaded my bike in the car, grabbed my slippers (flip flops for you guys on the mainland, excluding LeAnn since she lived here and knows what slippers are) and started running, trying to catch up with Rebecca and Randy. It's hard to run in slippers but I FINALLY caught up with them and enjoyed the rest of the run with them. For Pictures and video of Rebecca's race click here: Rebecca's Page.

Overall, we had a great day. It was a lot of fun and it felt really good doing a race as a family.

TRANSITION PRACTICE

2008-07-13T11:05:00.004-10:00

Today we had our transition day. We swam for 5 minutes, rode trainers for 5 minutes, ran 5 minutes, then back for another two rounds.
Dawn Henry brought a couple of trainers for people that didn't bring one, Gatorade, sunblock and stayed with the bikes while we trained. She even put flowers on our bikes while we were swimming.
Thank you so much Dawn.

I had a great time. I learned that I need to do a LOT of transition practice. It takes me way to long to transition from the swim to the bike.
My bike shoes need to be traded in for something that are easier to put on. Going from the bike to the run was so easy.
I was proud of myself that it only took a couple of seconds to switch shoes. I had just taken off for the run when I heard Randy call me. I looked back and he told me I was still wearing my bike helmet. My face must have turned 10 shades of red. Oh well, that's what today is all about. Practicing transitions. So the next time around, I went from the swim to the bike okay. It still took too long. Then from the bike to the run, I pulled off one of my socks. Embarrassed, I put my sock back on but it gave me time to remember to take off the helmet. Dawn had me leave my bike shorts on for the last swim. It did save a few seconds in transition.

From bike to run I did it again. Why do I have to pull off those darn socks. Maybe I should bike/run without them. My feet get so sweaty though when I train without them.
Overall, I learned that I still need A LOT of training before I do any real triathlons!

TRANSITION DAY

2008-07-12T15:20:00.005-10:00

Tomorrow, Sunday July 13, there is a transition day at the pool. We will swim 5 minutes, ride (on trainers) for 5 minutes then run for 5 minutes. Then back to the pool for another round or more. I think it's a great way to practice the transition for triathlons.

Janet Miller from Bike Works, and Dawn Henry, massage therapist, planned this for women triathletes of all levels.

Janet and Dawn are encouraging women triathletes to participate in the Na Wahine Sprint Triathlon/Duathlon on Sept. 14, 2008, on Oahu but you don't have to do the Triathlon to participate in the transition day.

Coming up later, there will be a women's bike time trial.

If you live on the Big Island or are just visiting, and want to join us, we are meeting at the Kona Aquatics pool at 8:30 am. Bring your bike, your swim gear and your bike and running shoes, and any other gear you would need for a triathlon. Also, if you have a bike trainer, bring it.

I hope to see you there.

More tomorrow on how the transition practice went.

SUNDAY RUN

2008-07-06T18:01:00.009-10:00

"It's never too late to become what you might have been".
George Elliot

I discovered today that I am a morning runner. I love running in the morning.

We decided to go kayaking this morning so I didn't run until late afternoon. My HR was much higher this afternoon than during the early morning runs. I did beat my best time on the Hualalai loop by 32 seconds (not by much, but hey, it was better) but I just didn't enjoy the run as much as my morning runs.

Almost home from my Sunday afternoon run.

There's hardly any traffic during the early morning, and the Queen K part of my run is usually in the dark where people won't see me. There were so many cars on the Queen K this afternoon and I'm sure I heard people laughing as they drove by, at the overweight lady attempting to run.

Mornings are cooler, more invigorating, a good waker upper and I have so much more energy afterward. It's the BEST way to start the day.

Anyway, no matter what time I run, or bike, or swim, I'm just glad I'm doing it. One year ago, I would have never thought that I would get into triathlons or try to compete in any kind of race, but here I am, actually enjoying the training, and if I never compete in any tri's, (I hope I do) I will still enjoy the early morning run.

ENJOYING THE RUN

2008-07-05T22:25:00.005-10:00

If what you did yesterday still looks big to you today, then you must not have done anything today.
Author unknown

I'm actually beginning to enjoy running. Yay! I've been hating the run part of the tri but Wednesday morning I had swimming 101 so I got to sleep in for an extra 45 minutes. I woke up before the alarm went off, saw it was light out, and my first thought was disappointment that I woke up too late to go running, before realizing that it was a swim day and not a run day.

I ran Thursday and Friday mornings and REALLY enjoyed it. Hualalai is actually fun now instead of an impossible hill. My HR is getting lower each time I run up it. The first time it was 181 the whole way up the hill. The last few times I ran it, my max HR was 164 and that was only on the steepest parts of the hill.

I really wanted to run today, but Saturdays are my day off from running, so Randy and I went swimming and then I rode my indoor trainer. But watch out tomorrow. Hualalai, here I come.

You Know you're a triathlete when.....

2008-07-01T20:46:00.005-10:00

You have a lifetime supply of water bottles, safety pins, and t-shirts.

You have trouble keeping lunch under 2000 calories.

You have a $4000 bike strapped on top of your $2000 car.

You're always wet .... sweat, pool, lake, sea water, shower, bath, or rain.

Your car has at least one energy bar wrapper and water bottle on the floor

Your kids idea of playing is a race and awards ceremony.

You have far more shoes than your wife.

Your kitchen cupboards are organized into "protein", "carbs" and "etc."

You bring bottled water to a party so that you're properly hydrated for the next morning's long run.

Everyone else at the party also brought their own bottled water because you don't have a social life outside of triathlon.

You ask your wife, girlfriend, or sister for leg shaving advice.

You mention a race and somebody responds "running or biking" and you are again forced to explain....

You wear your bathing suit under your work clothes to make a fast transition from work to swim on your lunch hour.

You show up at the neighbourhood pool on your bike in a Speedo and embarrass your teenage daughters.

You've spent more on bikes in the last 10 years than you have on clothes for the past 50.

You feel like you took the day off because all you did was swim 3000 yards.

Cars pass you on the road when you're driving and you either drop back to get out of draft zone or speed up to attack!

Your bed-time reading on your night stand consists of a pile of: DeSoto catalogs; InsideTri; Triathlete, VeloNews, USMA Swim, etc.

You know you could make a killing at Jeopardy if only the categories were: - Past winners of Hawaii Ironman - Legs shaving techniques - 40-30-30 diet - Aerodynamics racing wheels - Gastrointestinal problems and long runs - How to justify a $4000 bike.

When asked how old you are, you answer 35-39.

Nobody believes you when you say 'Never again'.

You clean your bike more often than your car.

When asked to mow the lawn in 90 degree heat, you say that its too hot to do that (and you mean it) and then an hour later you go on a century ride because its so nice out.

You are convinced that if you rest more than one day, your ultra-fit body will turn into a pile of goo and everyone in your age group will beat you.

TAG YOU'RE IT NOW!

2008-06-30T11:46:00.008-10:00

I guess I'm it now (thanks LeAnn) and for everyone reading my blog...tag, you're it!
(just copy and paste into your blog and put in your own answers)

10 years ago I was:

Living on a farm in Dayton Oregon, working in advertising for a newspaper, raising five children.

5 years ago I was:

Living in the desert in Silver Springs Nevada (the worst place I have ever lived), working in advertising at the Carson City Newspaper (the worst job I have ever had), raising four children (one had moved out & was still living in Oregon).

1 year ago:

I became the seasonal dept. manager at Walmart.

5 things on my to do list today:

go running
go to work
ride my trainer
fix dinner for my family
call my parents and email my sister

5 snacks I enjoy:

Blueberry Dream at Jamba Juice
Hot Tamales
ice cream
popcorn
cheese & crackers

If I were a billionaire I would:

Help Brown Bear and Sunny with perscription/ medical costs, Buy my kids houses of their own, Pay off all of my families bills, do a little traveling, quit my job and enjoy Hawaii, just to name a few.

6 People I want to have lunch with tomorrow:

Randy, LeAnn (I can't wait to meet her), My parents, my 3 sisters, Debbie and Marilyn, all my nieces and nephews. (That's way too many so I guess I'll just have lunch with Randy tomorrow).

5 places I have lived:

Southern California
Albany/Salem/Ashland/Dayton/Willamina & Medford, Oregon
Beaumont, Texas
Silver Springs & Carson City, Nevada
Kailua Kona, Hawaii

5 jobs I had:

I ran a daycare
I was a shift manager at Jamba Juice
I worked in advertising for 3 different newspapers
I was an accountant for a Large Christian school and Daycare
I was an accountant and sales clerk for a fruit stand/ gourmet store

RELAXING DAY

2008-06-28T20:34:00.007-10:00

You never work out and regret it. You never go for a run and when you are done say I wish I would have just stayed home. You never climb a mountain, get to the top and say I should have just been content to stay where I was.
1997 Nike ad

Today was a good day. Randy didn't want to do too much since he has the Kona Marathon tomorrow so we mostly stayed home and relaxed. Kind of. I rode my indoor trainer for an hour. It was sooooo hot. I don't think I've sweat that hard in a long time. After resting for about an hour, Randy and I went to the pool. I was too tired to do much swimming but I worked on my stroke and even tried a few flip turns. I'm not great at it but hope to figure it out soon. I know Randy said I am better at flip turns than he is but that is only the somersault part.
Anyway, I'm tired tonight but it is such a good tired. We have to get up early tomorrow for the Kona Marathon. Good luck Randy, doing the full marathon, and Rebecca doing the 5K. Good luck too, LeAnn in your swim meet. I'll be praying for all of you.

STILL GOING

2008-06-26T20:27:00.006-10:00

"If you can't run, then walk. And if you can't walk, then crawl. Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and never, ever give up."
Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathoner

It's amazing how much better you feel when you work out. During the three weeks that I didn't train because of my injury, I was feeling so tired, out of shape and fat. I was just dragging through each day, anxious for it to be over so I could go to bed. For the last two weeks I have been training again, and I feel so good. I have more energy and I feel so much better.
I am trying to get more serious about my training and am doing much more training than I was before my accident. I've doubled my running time every morning and either ride my bike (on my indoor trainer) every day after work or go swimming at the pool. I'm hoping to start riding on the road on Saturdays after Randy and I swim, just to get in some hill training. Plus, it's so hot and boring riding the trainer all the time.
My swimming is getting a lot better but I still have a LONG way to go to do any real triathlons. I really need to work on distance. I'm still really slow too, but I'm hoping with distance will come speed.
My goal is to keep going, even if I don't feel like going. I really want to do the Lavaman next year and hopefully Honu, which means I have a lot of work to do. Right now I feel like my training is just training to get me to where I need to be to really start training.

SUNNY SKIES, CALM SEAS AND OLD A

2008-06-22T17:21:00.008-10:00

This morning Randy and I swam buoys at the pier. The swells weren't too bad, and the water was crystal clear. After swimming went for a hard run up Hualalai. At least it was for me. My HR was at 181 the whole way up. It wasn't anything for Randy since he runs this course a lot. I'm sure I ran too slow for him, but he was a good sport and ran my speed.

After we rested for a bit we took Rebecca to Old A so she could practice in her wheelchair for the Kona marathon fun run.

If you haven't been to the Old A walking path lately, you should go check it out. They have been doing a lot of work there since the last vandalism. It looks better than ever. They even have a covered exercise station with fitness equipment.

You can also 'adopt' a plot of ground to beautify for yourself. You can plant trees, flowers, even add some outdoor decor. Several people have been doing this either as individuals, groups or clubs. Once a month they have a beautification day where people join together to weed plots and just to clean up the path and area. You can click here www.friendsforfitness.org for more information.

MOTIVATIONAL TRAINING

2008-06-18T20:49:00.004-10:00

I believe that everyone should have a Randy in their life to keep them motivated to keep up with their training. He's extremely motivating. He makes you WANT to train, even if you're exhausted and don't feel like it.

It all boils down to this.

He will come home from work for dinner every evening and ask if I trained. If I say no, he gives me 'the look'. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to. That look he gives says it all. It's like I better make sure I train just so I don't get that look. As if that isn't enough to make sure I train it didn't take too long to figure out that I better make sure that I trained long enough because if I tell him that yes, I did train, his next question is "how long?"

I noticed it tonight with Rebecca our daughter. She's training for the wheelchair race at the Kona marathon. When he came home for dinner, he asked her if she practiced with her wheelchair. He had that same look that he gives me. I know she noticed it too because even though she didn't practice, she got a sheepish look on her face and gave her excuse that she used her manual chair to check the mail instead of her electric mobility scooter. I'm sure that tomorrow she'll make sure she practices before he comes home.

I love you Randy and thank you for being my motivation. Even though I joke about it, I really do appreciate that you keep me going. So keep asking if I worked out, and keep those looks coming when I say I didn't, because that really is my motivation.

THERE IS ALWAYS TOMORROW

2008-06-16T19:53:00.006-10:00

"If it were easy, everybody would do it."

Author unknown

Today I decided there can be no more excuses for not training. A moped accident three weeks ago left me with a lot of neck and spinal pain which I have used as an excuse for not training. I have been telling myself for the last week that I need to start back up but everyday, there is always a tomorrow. "I hurt too much today, but I'll run for sure tomorrow." Or "I'm too tired today, but I HAVE to ride after work tomorrow." I tried that riding line today. I did a lot of heavy lifting at work and my back and neck was really hurting. I came home from work and sat down for a little bit. My indoor trainer was staring me in the face and I kept giving myself excuses for not riding today. Tomorrow really sounded better. But a quote popped into my head that I had recently heard.
"Somewhere in the world is someone training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."
I really want to get better in races. I hate being at or near the back of the pack so I forced myself get on my trainer. After 5 minutes I was ready to quit, but I thought of that quote again and told myself I had to stay on for at least 15 minutes. Well 15 minutes arrived, but I told myself that quiting now was just making excuses again. After all, I have always ridden for at least 30 minutes. So I rode for the full 30. It's surprising how hard a bike seat can feel after not riding for 3 weeks.
I feel good that I forced myself to ride. Physically and mentally. It's hard to start back up when you quit. Even if it was only for 3 weeks.
I had planned on running this morning before work but (here's the excuses again) I stayed up too late last night, and then I coughed a lot during the night (don't know why) so I didn't sleep well, BUT, there is always tomorrow.......

MY NEW BLOG

2008-06-15T20:09:00.004-10:00

Well Randy has been at me to start a blog, so..........
I've been hesitating to start one because it would be weird for people to read my thoughts, and because sometimes I feel like my life is so boring.

Randy started getting interested in triathlons several months ago and although I want to do them too, I'm not as dedicated with my training as Randy. It's so hard to work all day and then try to train when you are exhausted from work. So, I started getting up early (while it's still dark out) to go running. I found that I arrive at work feeling more invigorated and ready for a long day of work than when I don't get up to run.

Randy goes swimming at the pool with me two evenings a week and we go to Steve Borowski's swimming 101 class on Wednesday mornings. We also usually do ocean swimming on weekends. Learning to swim has been interesting but I think I'm finally starting to get the breathing and stroke half way down. Now to work on distance.

Biking is my favorite part and I don't do it enough. I usually just ride on my indoor trainer in front of the TV or occasionally with a book in hand. I think it helps with my endurance but it doesn't help much with the hill climbing. Hills are what I need a LOT of work on. That and riding in the wind.

So, Randy, here is the blog you've been prompting my to start. Happy Father's Day, and thank you for being so encouraging all the time.