2008 IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

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

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



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


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


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

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

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

INVENTORY AND IRONMAN

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

RACHAEL

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

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

Hawaii or the Mainland

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

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

ANOTHER TRANSITION DAY

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

FINALLY! A NEW POST!

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

Sea World

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