Too many horses in the barn?

The Primo horse - Giant TCR Advanced Womens specific sweet ride!

Too many horses??

Just thought, since we were cleaning out/organizing the garage (as much as can be with 9 bikes!) I'd line up the horses for a close up. Pretty scary to think there is still a bike hanging from the rafters from our vacant home in Largo! We'll eventually find some way to store these but for now, they keep each other company!
Happy New Year to all and go Gators!

Enjoying the holidays

The chef in his element

Not as surprised as I look over my new gadget!

One week of vacation time down, one to go. I really like not having to rush off to work every morning. We are getting some good training in. I have been able to ride a lot more which I like and need. Haven't run a lot this week - felt some left heel pain after the 10 miler on Thursday morning so am backing off a bit. Not sure why I'm having these issues but am trying to prevent any long-term layoff. I am getting new orthotics tomorrow which are much needed - have been duct taping my current orthotics for a while now! We rode in the hills on Sat (because it was warm) with a small group and this was relaxed and fun to be back out there again. There was a lot of traffic which wasn't nice but oh well. Did the Sunday group ride today, rode the Giant TCR Advanced women's specific demo bike and it is truly a dreamy ride! I hadn't ridden it with any real tempo until today and it did not disappoint! Thanks Val for letting me test this bike out! Legs weren't too bad considering we did over 3 hours in the hills yesterday. Tried to run but the foot was hurting so cut that short. No need to push any workouts this time of year! Thanks to my family for such wonderful gifts, we loved them all! Aloha!

Feeling blessed

I want to thank everyone for such a wonderful Christmas. We have had such wonderful weather all week and have been having "epic camp" training since we don't have to work. This is lovely and civilized! Getting up a reasonable hours to train vs getting up at 4:30 am the rest of the year and racing off to work prior to having second training session of the day is really nice. We did a 10 mile run then a weight training session in the gym this morning prior to enjoying the spoils of Christmas day. We feel tired and great all at the same time. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve meal of roasted duck ala Danish Christmas dinner last night which was wonderful. Tonight's menu is linguini with clam sauce and a wonderful cab! I love vacation time!
I am riding a Giant TCR Advanced women's specific road bike demo, thanks to Val at Outspokin and Giant bicycles, which is an absolute dream! This bike makes me want to be a bike racer. It is smooth as silk and faster than it's rider! More to come on that and pics to boot! I have temporarily installed my primo X-mas gift, Garmin Edge 705, on the bike and cannot wait to ride it more. May need a new horse in the garage soon!
I wish all a very Merry Christmas and great training! Or, just good weather to walk around and enjoy the world.
Training with aloha.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I am sitting awaiting my Christmas Eve dinner that the Dane is cooking, yummy. Poor duck didn't have a chance! Inserted a pic of our little Christmas tree - my first real tree in many many years! We enjoyed a couple hours on the beach today as it was a perfect weather day. Sorry to all of you freezing but, hey, I chose to live here!
Love to you all!

Sunday ride

Resting after racing on Saturday, not in our world. We have gotten on routine to do this group ride on Sundays which is good for me since I don't love group rides (fear of crashing) and it gets really hard at times which, I hope, will make my overall cycling stronger. Today, we had a guy that is leaving in a couple days to begin training camp as neo pro for a European pro cycling team. This guy leads out sprints at 42 mph and that doesn't feel good when you're at the end of your rope as I was! Anyway, hard ride today but the weather was awesome, no fog today, just sunny skies to greet us. This ride seems to get bigger every week but at the end, the same folks are still there. Lucky for me, I'm one of them! I like that I have moved up a notch on my VDOT (for the run) and am able to stay in the front group for the Sunday ride. Hope it pans out for faster bike splits in my '09 tri's! I'm ready for a recovery day tomorrow. The Dane and I are off for a couple weeks but are staying home this holiday which allows us time to train and rest which we surely need! Just for good measure, we went to the gym after the ride today to lift weights for 45 minutes. Sitting watching football now and enjoying a nice cab - doesn't get better than this! I forgot to mention part of my "winnings" for the 5K yesterday was a free entry to the St Pete Beach Classic in Jan (which is very competitive) and a night's stay/VIP party the night before at the Sirata resort on St Pete Beach! I never would have gotten any of that in the local race! Like I said, Wendy Johnson puts on a great event!
Got a swim and ride tomorrow which will be at recovery pace!
Training with aloha!

Ok, I'm back....er....5K RR

So, as I was saying pre-first meal post race/beer! I love races that have beer at the finish! Quality event. Anyhow, we did the St Pete Bowl (new college bowl game) Fan 5K this morning. It was on the calender after we did Turkey Trot. The Dane really wanted to score a good time here. I, on the other hand, felt this was my "speed work" for the month. Honestly, we have been running during the week, nothing faster than about 8:something pace which is comfortable this time of year. The Dane has been racking up the run miles in his quest to return to FOP fitness. (FOP=front of pack) I merely wanted to try and go sub-20 which I haven't done for a couple years (sad, I know). Based on my 10K 3 weeks ago, I felt I should be able to go sub 20 on a fast course. We get to St Pete in pea soup fog and find the start area. It was wet, soggy but not cold. My second go in the Nike Lunaracers - highly recommended racing flats (if you can find them)! Got our packets and sat around and scanned the competitors. I seem to be very "bitchy" at the start of a race but I actually like to chat with others at the start - which likely drives them nuts! I had no plan other than to go out fairly hard but not too hard. The Dane got out good, ahead of me......until about 400meters. I went passed him and he let it happen so I knew he was having heavy legs (he blamed it on last night's sushi). I went by him and sat on a couple college guys, never a bad place for a 40-something woman! Even split miles one and two (6:10) but once we turned back on to Central Ave, I felt the false flat and began to suffer a bit! Felt the fitness from IM Hawaii would pull me through but if I needed to "kick", let's just say, not happening! The Dane told me during warm up exactly where he was going to start his sprint.......hmmmmm bad idea! So, running in the fog up Central Ave in the lead, for the women, I knew the Dane was back there, stalking me! Suddenly, the sounds of the finish line rang in my ears before I could see anything. I would take it, the illustrious household trophy! I had no kick, just a will to try and not slow down. Why do I love the Dane, well that would go on forever but let's just leave it today for the fact that he allowed me to have the finish banner to myself. He was sprinting like Carl Lewis to catch me at the end but allowed me have my "glory". All is fair in love and war.....and I have the trophy for the 5K! We enjoyed some networking post race and then had to get back home. One of the cool things about this race is every finisher gets tickets to the St Pete Bowl football game. We had every intention to attend but once back at home, we tend to stay home. Thanks so much to Wendy Johnson for such a great race, we'll be back for sure! We are now kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the time off from work. As I said, the Dane won the men's masters which he was very happy about and had to fight for in the last 100 meters! He is going to be a force come April, no more household trophies for me! Or, I will get REALLY fast! Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Whew!

Ok, I am still alive. Just got through the last week of work and now we have two weeks off to sit and do nothing........except train! Yipee, I love training. Anyhow, I'll do a mini-race report but the gist is we ran the inaugural St Pete Bowl 5k run this morning in the fog (it's snowing everywhere else in the country, so I can complain about some fog). There were a couple other races this weekend so you never know who will show. The Say No To Drugs race is closer to home but I like to support the MSM races, they are nice to me! Anyway, I won overall for the women and ran sub-20 minutes which was my goal. The Dane won Masters for the men too. Good day, all in all. Now we are going to eat. Later...
racing with aloha

20 hours in St Pete

The Dane and Mary D, we're out on the town

Room with a view

Pics taken with phone, not so good
Another ordinary week for the most part. Wonderful thing is that the week ended with the Mad Dog Triathlon Club Christmas party. A perfect chance for the Dane and I to test out the Vinoy in downtown St Pete (plus, we don't have to drive anywhere once there). It's always nice to see people we haven't seen in a while and hang out. The Vinoy was great, we loved our executive suite (got this on points!). Didn't really eat anything at the party so the Dane, Mary D and I went to Ceviche which was really great and really crowded! Had little more vino waiting for our table but the food was worth the wait! Once we emerged from there (after experiencing the loud Latin band in the basement, really cool), we headed over to where the post-Xmas party was to be held. To our dismay, they were packing up already! Guess it was a little late! Certainly felt late since we were up at 4:30 to swim and worked all day. Decided to call it a night and went back to our lovely suite. Slept in then ran the St Anthony's tri run course, since we were right on it! All in all, a really fun experience. We don't have much of a social life so it's fun to get out to new places and see so many friends every once in awhile. Sunday, we did the now routine hospital ride. Local group ride with some really sane people but also some fast people! Very female friendly ride. It's, technically, a no-drop ride but you better be near the front if you want to keep up! This is something I've gone away from in the last few years but during the winter, now, I want to do some hard group riding to keep my bike fitness up. Believe me, this ride is sufficient for that! It was windy and cold but pretty much has been every Sunday since we started doing this ride. All good, keeps the pressure on and the heart rate up! The Dane and I also started our power weight program this week, three lifts in and I've not got complete full-body soreness anymore, just partial body soreness! Hopefully, I'll get stronger, that's the goal. I love training this time of year because it's all just by feel and opportunity. We have the opportunity for a nice, hard group ride on Sundays, road running races and getting back in the weight room which I hope will all help when the season kicks off next Spring. We shall see..
Training with aloha.....

Turkey Trot '08

First off, happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I'm thankful for so many things that I couldn't list them because it would be too boring to read and they would all be at the top of the list. The Dane and I are chilling at home this year, cooking our little turkey and watching football, movies, whatever. We did the Turkey Trot 10K this morning. We saw a lot of friends and got to catch up with some folks that we haven't seen in a while. That is one of the biggest reasons for doing this race. It was chilly by Florida standards, in the mid 40's for us at race time, perfect for racing. No real goals but with what I've been doing in "training" lately as far as running, all base pace, no tempo/speed/long. Felt if I could break 42 minutes, that would start the winter off pretty well. Went through the 5K faster than I ran the stand alone 5K last year at this race, good sign. My main goal, other that getting my VDOT score for my half ironman program, was to really try and even split this. I had a not so hard time until about mile 5 when we head uphill a bit. Ended up breaking 41 minutes and nearly even split the race, ran the second 5K only 9 seconds slower which is pretty solid for me. I was 4th overall female and first Masters. Crazy on no real run training! Very happy with this. I will note that the Dane regained the household 10K trophy by going 30 seconds faster than me! He's been running a lot, frequency only at this point. I'm very proud of him and we both got our annual coffee mugs (which we need like a hole in the head). All in all, really good effort, had to pass the girl in front of me at the six mile mark, that hurt! I also had a really good speed swim, for me, yesterday. Hit all my 100's (SCY) 1:16 and below - doesn't sound like much, but a breakthrough for me! I really want to swim under an hour at IM Canada (have 1:02 PR) and I have to keep getting my 100 time down to do it. One thing's for sure, I'll die trying! So, we will enjoy our day relaxing, eating and having some tasty wine. Best to all.
Also, congrats to IMAZ folks - Lisbeth setting AG record and 3rd female amateur, Val finished with vertigo, Jennifer got her Kona slot.
Racing with aloha!

A hole in the ice

Another beautiful sunset in Kona


Yes, yes. I'm in Florida. That said, this has by far been the coldest November since I've lived here (since '97). As I mentioned before, we are trying to swim 2-3 times per week in this "offseason" portion of the year at our OUTDOOR pool. Well, it has been pretty chilly, even for here. We slept in Monday, no swim, it was cold. Wednesday was not to be missed. Another cold front came through (we're getting 2-3 per week as opposed to 1 per week in normal fall/winter). Unfortunately, it was 41 degrees on Weds morning. Gotta swim, can't miss. Got to the pool at 5AM, coach is there but nobody else. So, the Dane runs over and tells coach that we can live without a swim if nobody else shows up. Then the headlights, other cars showing up....hmmmm. Out of the car, here we go. There were only three of us initially, so we can swim in the 2 lanes in the middle of the pool between the tarps which means we didn't have to pull the tarps off half of the pool. It felt like swimming in a hole in the ice. The water was warm, thank God. The air was not. Dashing out of the locker room through the cold air to dive into the pool. Getting out is worse. This, after all, is the winter of HTFU. The weather is living up to the bill. Thanks, Mother Nature! Anyhow, our two swims this week were of high quality. I can add volume later. We have Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, looking like we'll run the 10K this year and not the 5K. I've never just done the 10K here but I have absolutely zero foot speed but plenty of endurance so looks like the 10K will fit the bill. We'll see. It'll be fun. The household trophy is in serious threat this time, the Dane is running a lot. (I wouldn't be upset to lose this one anyway!).
As before, best of luck to those out in Tempe, AZ.
kia kaha.....still

Mad Dogs

Serenity and safety in Kona

Today was the Mad Dog Tri club anniversary party......and early sign up for St Anthony's tri in April! It is always fun to regroup with people we haven't seen for a while. Especially having the Dane with me, every encounter is always more fun. He has done some amazing feats of late. Since a little before we left for Kona, he has lost over 13 pounds (he's not fat, just not at "race weight") and has been running like a fiend. I can barely keep up with him anymore......except in the pool!! Anyhow, we are having fun doing training that is just what we feel like doing. I do love being back in the gym lifting weights! You may not know it by looking at me, but I do love lifting weights. I am holding off on the leg weight training until Dec to give the little chicken legs some recovery from a hard Kona effort. None the less, doing some very challenging group rides on the road bike and swimming with the masters group is all I can handle right now! I will continue to try and increase the run mileage as much as my body will allow - stupid to get injured in the off season (like last year). Running fast is such a powerful weapon in my age group now I'm really seeing! We'll keep plugging away and staying healthy!
Best of luck to friends doing IM Arizona next Sunday. Mostly to Val, my only sponsor and best of friends! Also, Mark, Pam, Ken, Jennifer and Lisbeth. Go get em! Better you than me at this point!!

Clearwater....glad we live here!

BEAUTIFUL VIEW!

JZ GOING FOR THE WIN

This weekend was the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater and since we live literally 2-3 miles from the start, we rode out to spectate and cheer everyone on. Truth be told, I didn't qualify (which I'm sure is known if you follow along here) but only had one qualifier this season. The course (Rhode Island 70.3) didn't suit me the competition was quite strong and I wasn't fast enough. After seeing the times and the pelotons coming (here at Clearwater) on the bike, I didn't miss this race and may never wish to do it again. Anyhow, met some friends on the top of Memorial causeway bridge with cowbell in hand and cheered like it was my job. We had a great time and saw some really impressive performances and were truly impressed. I'm really happy that at the age of 38, JZ was able to win. She dominated on the run and suffered. The other impressive performance on the women's side for me was Nina Kraft. Say what you want but she dug in and had an impressive finish at 5th at 39 years of age! She has had some adversity in her career, chosen and otherwise, but has overcome. I have met and talked with Nina and she is a very nice, down to Earth woman and I have the best wishes for her. We missed the post race festivities because we were just too tired. Back to training though, easing into it. Trying to run with some consistency, swim 3 days per week and ride on the weekends. Back in the weight room full on in another week, can't wait to get STRONG! We had chamber of commerce weather and truly enjoyed it. You can talk about moving the race from Clearwater, but you won't get better weather but you'll always have drafters/cheaters. As you were.......
Racing with aloha

Another biathlon......aka anaerobic nirvana!

Ouch!

Brrrrrr! Glad to get out of the water!

Erin and me prior to start

Ok, I haven't done anything anaerobic in several months building up for Kona. So, today was the race formerly known as Strangeman's Biathlon. A grueling 2 mile run, 1/3 mile swim (brrrrr) and 2 mile run. I thought it would be fun, silly me. My goal this winter is to HTFU against the cold and get out in it, embrace it and get faster. This was day one. It would figure that we had record breaking cold weather this week to boot, enough to cool the Gulf down below 70 degrees. No wetsuits here, we're running first, no time for such luxuries. The weather this morning was much nicer, 60 degrees, as opposed to the 40's during the week. The Dane decided to run to the race site (Clearwater Beach) and cheer me on instead of racing - waiting to unleash his new found fitness on the AG next year! I was out here for fun and a good workout so no goals as usual. That said, I wanted to win depending on the competition. Ironman 70.3 World Championship is next Saturday at this very site so I felt maybe a great age grouper or pro might show to sharpen their form. Lucky for me (not the men, congrats Darby from Finland), that didn't happen. I went out hard on the first run and felt I could survive in the water, however I never actually got in the water to see how cold it was! I lead at the beginning with two gals not far behind. Into the water, it was COLD! I almost couldn't function and certainly couldn't dolphin out because when my face went into the water, I went into a full spasm. When we got past the sandbar, it was swim time so I dove in and went. Wow, it was cold. The swim was uneventful otherwise but I could see the second girl, Erin K, not too far behind. She is a solid swimmer so I couldn't slack and claim hypothermia. Got out and had trouble putting my shoes back on because hands were numb. The Dane was letting me know that Erin was "right there" so I ran scared. I am not in shape enough to run scared for short distances but I managed to pull it out for the overall womens win. Whew, it was indeed painful and cold. The winter of HTFU is in full force! Some friends are currently surviving IM Florida as I type, best of luck to them and I can honestly say, I'm glad I'm not there (even though they are having record-breaking conditions). I'm done. We will do Turkey Trot in a few weeks just to keep the running going and it's super fun. We'll be out at Clearwater Beach next Sat to cheer everyone on as they fulfill their dreams of competing in the 70.3 World Championships - it's actually much more fun to watch!
Cheers and race with Aloha!

volunteerism

view from our new favorite bar in Kona

Yesterday was the Suncoast sprint tri which I have never actually competed in. I let the RD know early last week that I wanted in, I can do a sprint tri two weeks out from Kona. Yeah, sure... with who's body. Certainly, that was a crazy idea. I ran four miles on Tuesday and the last two felt just like the last two in the marathon of IM. Later in the week, decided I would volunteer and give something back to one of the best RD's out there! Anders ended up staying home this week so we have had some nice time together reintegrating into work life. So, up at 4am, we drove down to the Fort to volunteer. It was pissing rain and it's hard to body mark wet bodies. There were a lot of brave souls that showed up, even I was surprised. After body marking, we headed to the boardwalk to keep the spectators off the race course - fun to boss folks around there! hee hee. Then, I went on to the run course to cheer people on. It was fun and I got to catch up with a few friends. The Dane and I then went for a 5 mile run while they were giving out awards. We got back from the run and one of the original Mad Dogs (www.stpetemaddogs.com) walks up and hands me an award. I thought she had certainly mistaken me for someone else! It was the prestigious Ralph Perry award for volunteerism. I was informed that they did a nice speech about my race in Kona and I was speechless to hear all of this had happened. What a cool thing to get a volunteer award and completely unexpected! I really really appreciated it and we had a lot of fun down there, especially giving advice to first-timers and cheering on complete strangers! You tend to forget how all of this just comes so natural now. I could have used some advice when I was a first-timer! The water was rough, winds were blowing and rain was falling but I saw so many smiles on so many faces - makes me certain I selected the right sport for me! It was a rough week getting back to work, the usual payback for being gone! The Dane is here though and that makes me happy. I got in a couple swims, three runs, a couple weight workouts and bike ride today. I can only take so many days off before I start going nuts. There is a beach biathlon on Saturday (2 mile run, 1/3 mile swim, 2 mile run) which I'll do if the weather is good, otherwise we'll be out riding. Nothing hard or serious, just keeping it fun. I mentioned that we are doing IM Canada in August, but didn't mention that we also intend to do IM 70.3 in New Orleans in April, that should be fun!
Go Rays!

Hawaii hangover

No literal hangover, just wishing I was still in HI. We had a blast and don't want to get back to the reality of full-time work weeks and time management. I learned a lot in Hawaii, mostly about myself and what I can survive. I really want to return in to Kona '09 to race. The bad news is, I'm not signed up for one of the qualifying races. The good news is, there are a lot of North American Sports Community Fund slots still available for all the North American qualifiers. The Dane's favorite and first IM race was IM Canada so that's where we are going to race on 8/30/09. It is, along with IM Louisville (ugh, no thanks), the last qualifying race for Kona. It is hard to do two IM races in 6 weeks but I am willing to try this. HTFU and give it a go. At least we have 10 months to prepare! So, for anyone who wants to join us in Penticton, Canada the end of August, we welcome the company. I will try my hardest there to get a Kona slot and get back to Kona and make bigger goals. I've not got 'Kona greed', just ended my season on a good note and want to plan ahead. My fallback is IM Cozumel 11/09 (which I've already signed up for) for Kona 2010 ( I seem to be on an even year schedule for Kona). We rode 100 miles this weekend and I don't feel as shattered as I thought I would (or as bad as I did last year after IM Florida). I am going to postpone running a few more days because I have a little tenderness in my left achilles, weird. I'm in no hurry to get injured! I'll get back into the pool this week because I obviously need the work. I have somehow managed to inspire a couple people here who are great swimmers to help push me to get faster in the water. Other than Kona and St Anthony's, I've had a great season in regards to swim improvement, I want to continue this. I know one thing, not swimming won't help me at all! Bottom line, I am motivated still to continue and, Donna S, I'll try the 'running every day in December' - will you join me??? Come on! Last but not least, GO RAYS!
Racing with Aloha!

My favorite part of awards banquet

Got video of the banquet before the skies opened up and a very meaningful bit of words from this native Hawaiian.

IM Hawaii race report

Not smiling anymore

OOoooops, caught me walking

pre-race, still smiling

Overall, no glaring rookie type mistakes like last time I was here. I had the opportunity to meet some other athletes leading up to race day and for the ones who had been here several times, asked about different strategies. One of my concerns (and something I messed up on in '06) was where to line up for the swim start. I made sure this time not to get into the water too early and waste a lot of energy treading water. I stood around in the water while the pros were still filing in and that was pretty cool to be in such great company. I decided I wanted to avoid the bulk of the fray so lined up on the outside and several rows back. I definitely lost some time here but felt it was better than getting the crap beaten out of me for 2.4 miles! I also wanted to be conscious of how much sea water I was inadvertently consuming - this has been known to wreck many stomachs out here. I ended up likely swimming a lot extra but I decided when I wanted to mix it up and when I wanted to have clean water. All in all, decent decision but definitely cost me some minutes out there. My swimming this year, with the exception of this performance, has been great so I'm not totally happy with my time. Through T2 and onto the bike without any problems. The first 30 miles or so are pretty hectic because the guys out here are so aggressive so I just motored along on the right side of the lane and let them have their space. I saw a lot of them again in the last hour of the bike. We had a nice tailwind leading out of town on the Queen K which was nice to build some rhythm; I just kept thinking this is going to end so I had better make hay while the sun shines. Thank goodness the Dane reminded me to take a bottle of plain water with me to dilute some of the sea water sloshing around in my stomach! I did have some nausea on the bike but that would end up being the least of my worries. The crosswinds started really early this year (from what I hear). Once we hit Waikaloa, I was getting bounced around like crazy. This really tested me mentally. The entire way up to Hawi from there was very stressful. I started to lose quite a bit of my nutrition and hydration at this point for fear of letting go of the death grip I had on the handlebars. People who know me know that the crosswinds were indeed my biggest fear of this race. We were then faced with the usual head-crosswind all the way up to the Hawi turn around. The trip down was even scarier! I had hit about 33 mph at one point when a real blast of wind nearly tossed me into the lava fields. This is something you always hear and read about but you can't imagine how terrifying it is and there is nothing you can do. I rode my brakes the entire way down so I could better control the bike at a little lower speed. It was easy to remain focused, if you didn't, you'd end up blown off the road! When there seemed to be some respite, I would try and drink, get calories in and take salt. Otherwise, it was survival. Heading back towards Kawaihea, the wind subsided and it was hot! Once we turned back onto the Queen K, about 35-40 miles from the end, the headwind was relentless. It was a sudden crosswind at times as well but mostly a block on head wind. I actually got more comfortable here, hunkered down and stuck with my designated wattage. I must have passed a hundred people here, there was serious carnage for those who went out too hard. Got back into town and was never so happy to have to run a marathon. It was pretty hot but all the heat training over the summer definitely prepared me for this. I don't think I've had such dead legs coming out ot T2! Granted, I started way too fast but I always do! I began the first few miles wondering how in the world I was going to be able to finish if I felt this bad already. I had a lot of mental battles and thank goodness the Dane was all over giving me great words of encouragement and telling me that I was in this race and just needed to keep it going. I settled in a bit around 10K and started to feel a little better in the legs. I remember being sooooooooo thirsty this whole time, not doubt being dehydrated from the bike. I found a few people to run with and that really helped me along. Went through the half marathon at 1:45 and decided I wasn't going to look at my watch anymore. My long run going in was an 18.6 miler so I knew I could make it that far, beyond was just going to be me having to tough it out. My quads really started hurting around this time and I wanted to just walk. I thought about people who go through more pain and agonizing situations every day and this really helped me keep going; at least all I had to do to make the pain go away was stop! I didn't stop but did walk about 5-10 seconds through the remaining aid stations just to give my quads a break. About mile 24, the Dane was out on the Queen K and this helped me keep focused and keep running when I wanted to walk soooooo badly! I hit mile 25 and decided to look at my watch again and saw 10:49 and knew if I could push it in the rest of the way (which is mostly downhill), I could break 11 hours (one of my personal goals here). This was extremely painful but I managed to sneak in under 11 hours on one of the toughest days there has been in recent years. I was very happy and content with my effort and still have no idea how I managed to run a sub-3:40 marathon! Ended up 13th in the AG which satisfied my other personal goal, top 15 finish. Ended the night going back out to watch the greatest spectacle on earth, the late finishers at IM Hawaii. This is an experience that cannot be duplicated. I threw my finishers lei into the sea this morning in hopes that I will be privileged enough to be able to have this experience again. It is truly an honor to be able to come here and do this magical race and I'm trying to figure out how I can come back even though I cannot walk without a limp still. Mahalo to everyone who helped and supported me - none of us could do this without great support. We return tonight (actually tomorrow) but I have many memories to keep me motivated to keep training in my quest to accomplish more wonderful personal goals. More pics to come.....
Racing with aloha!

ahhh, the crosswinds!

Pre-race - a nice volunteer shot this pic


I'll post a full RR from IM Hawaii later but just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their kind words and support. This was the worst I wanted to quit a race but I didn't and am really happy with my results. Could swim faster and bike faster but never thought I'd run sub-3:40! The winds were pretty terrifying on the bike, I nearly lost it several times! Couldn't drink as much as I wanted on the bike too because of fear of letting go of the handlebars and getting blown off the road! Felt really bad starting the run, worst ever that I can remember but once I slowed down and settled in after about 10K, I started feeling a little better and got into a pace I could hold. Very happy to finish under 11 hours, there was a lot of carnage out there! We left the awards banquet early after getting poured on for about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, we missed the VIP post party also (thanks Lisbeth for the invites) because the rain just never stopped. Just as well, no hangover today! We'll head out to Lava Java for a bite this morning and relax today. Many mahalo's to everyone for their great words of support. It was a tough day and I needed all of it!
aloha

Friday in kona, pre-race (pre-shower)....

Guess I should've showered first. You get the idea.
aloha

Thursday swim at Pier

Ahh, lovin my day off!