A week update: Looking for a new camera.....

The surf was smaller then forecasted from last week. :( Typical Kona style!

The picture above is from my old camera. This past week it would have been great to have a camera. The Big Island is a very photogenic place! If you have a picture its easier to describe events going on, instead of writing books. So, until I get a camera my memories will stay in my head.

My week was filled with work, entertainment, the beach (3 in 1 day), hikes, tour guiding ;) and having fun with the friends! All the great things during the off-season!

I'm starting to feel the itch of wanting to run. On Saturday, it will make 6 weeks of no training (swimming and biking every now and then and no running). When I swim or bike it's spurt of the moment, free time. Just waiting for the right moment to get back into the swing of things. In the mean time I have a few other things I'd like to do. The Adventures of Life! CHEEHOO!

REFRESHING!!!

During the past few day's Kona has seen a bump in the surf. Just a little bump. The waves were perfect size to take my little brother and his buddy out to magic sands. The sets were around 4ft. but to them it probably seemed like 10ft. I went to the point where the waves were a little bigger. The wait was long but once the waves came in it was well worth it. On a couple of the waves I was able to ride it all the way from the point into the bay. This is called a "bay runner". Sunday's surf forecast is looking good so far. Possibly the biggest swell all year! The only sad thing is waiting to see if we get hit. You just never know! Oahu's forecast is a North West Swell at 20+ft, but we usually get 1/2 of what they forecast, if we get any at all.

This past weekend I went on a road trip with my friend. At 11:00 Saturday night we decided to drive to Hilo. We stayed at his cousins house who was happy to see us. We meet up with some friends and had a night in Hilo town. We liked Hilo so much we didn't come back until 10:00 on Sunday night. Spurt of the moment adventures! GOTTA LOVE UM!

The next adventure is a camping trip in the mountains. I've done once before and it was a blast. It's like survivor man! Take the essentials and rough it! We get dropped off at the top of the mountain and start hiking until the sun gets ready to set. Then, we set up camp for the night. The next morning you pack up and hike out until you see a road. You see so many amazing things, I'll try to get a camera and take pictures. I've heard from a few sources about a parrot cave. This trip I'll be on the lookout for that!

Earlier today I went out for a great ocean swim. My friend was leading the way on his stand up paddle board. This was awesome to have company! The weather was great and the ocean was smooth. It felt like I was stretching out good, which made me feel like I was gliding in the water. Now my Triceps are sore! Good indicator that things went smooth!

LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER GOOD WEEK AHEAD!

A couple weeks later!

Bodyboarding can be a great workout! Hawaii gets some of the best surf in the world. Kona has been fairly mellow for the past 2 years. No BIG surf, I'm talking about 12+ft. The pictured wave is approx. 6-8ft. Yes, the picture is me. This was taken at Magics Sands Point.

HALLOWEEN was so much fun! If I get a picture I'll post it. To many fun details to describe.

I voted on November 4th. Won't tell anyone who I voted for. TOP SECRET! Get this, Hawaii is trying to pass a law to make Marijuana the lowest priority crime. TOO FUNNY! Voting made me feel like a true American! :)

Besides going to the beach and working I've been riding my bike. My rides are anywhere from 1-2 hours. INTENSE RIDING! Mostly hills and decsents. You might be able to catch me going up Hinalani down Palani-Alii Drive, back up Kam 3-Teshimas to Old Mamalahoa-Down Hualalai- Down Lako. 34 miles of Fun, Intense riding with steep inclines, all this in under 2 hours. I tried bringing a riding partner but they turned around halfway up Hinalani. OH WELL! Better luck next time! LOL!

I love this time of year! Off season triathlon training which means do whatever, whenever. Bodyboarding when Kona is pumping. Halloween, Voting, MY BIRTHDAY tomorrow! I'm not gonna lie! My birthday will be FUN! ALL DAY! HAHA! :)

Still sleeping in! :)

Sleept through Master's Swimming this morning. HAHA! I'm still in lazy mode, turtle pace. Today feels like a good day to go bike! My front tire on my training wheel set is all buss up. Guess I'll just have to ride on the race wheel set. ;) Can't wait, in just a few more hours! No planned workout. JUST RIDE! w/ the cellphone in case I flat! LOL!

SHE'S A VICOUS ONE!

BACK AT IT!

SWIMMING IS ALL ABOUT THE STROKE!

Why do I always want to go fast when I start back training? Coach Steve reminded me today that I should be focused on stroke and not speed. The surf shorts helped to slow me down. Going from a Blueseventy suit to surf shorts is a huge difference. It felt like I was pulling parachutes underwater.

Check out Ian Thorpe's stroke when he was 14! My biggest problem at the moment is the pull and follow through!

Sneaky me! sneaky me! I got in a 25 mile bike ride today! AHAHAHA! Couldn't help myself. Lots of up and down hills. Again all I wanted to do was go fast. Time to control myself and do the right things.

Well rested and anxious to get started!

Dad's wedding, goofing around!

The chaos of Ironman and the mass influx of people in Kona has faded. I've taken 8 days off with NO training! I've been in the Ocean twice to Bodyboard. A SSW swell was hitting Kona at 1-3+ft. It was small but fun! Just paddling around and having fun, it felt GREAT!

I'm definitely ready to start back training! Once, I get my schedule figured out I'll have a better idea of how to go about training. At the end of last season I told myself "I wanted to be a better climber". So, I did more climbing! For next season I want to run faster! I'm still deciding on the Honolulu Marathon. December 14th? $130 (flight) $105 (entry) ?(food) (Free shelter and transportation).

10 days off will be my limit before training begins. Start back with swimming and slowly start running and riding again.

IRONMAN RECAP!

October 11th, 2008 was a great day! The day went by really fast, I can only remember bits and pieces throughout the day. I'll start from the beginning.



Swim: 1:01:18
The swim always goes by the quickest. With all the battling for position in the beginning it helps the time fly. I started towards the front right again just like last year. For the first 5 minutes I had to swim with my head out of water and tread what little water I could. It almost felt like a doggy paddle. There were so many people all around me I felt stuck. People kicking and hitting me, grabbing my feet and ankles. It was absolute chaos! By the time we reached the second buoy I was with a good group of people. I mananged to draft behind someone about 90 percent of the swim. From the boat turnaround I stayed with a group of about ten the entire way back.

My Goal for the swim was 1 hour. Missed it by 1:18!


Bike: 5:10:17
My favorite part of the race! Coach Mitch told me the hardest thing for me, will be to hold back. To hold myself back in the beginning I just spun in my little chain ring all the way until the little down hill by the police station. By this point I must have got passed by at least 50 other riders. The majority of the riders that passed me were in peloton packs, drafting like no body's business. When I reached the police station a big group of 20+ went flying past. A guy wearing number 90 started to yell at the pack as they passed. I pulled up next to this guy and started talking to him. As we were talking the first marshal of the day pulled up and harrassed me for drafting and told me to fall back. This got me furious and started yelling at him "ARE YOU SERIOUS!, ARE YOU BLIND! DO YOU NOT SEE THE GROUP OF 30 RIGHT IN FRONT OF US AND YOUR HARRASSING ME!" His reply was "Fall back, I'm starting now, I'll go get them next." I was harrassed a total of 3 times throughout the bike segment. I blame it all on the bright orange helmet!

The plan was to feel good when I reached Hawi. When I reached Hawi I felt good and almost had to jump off my bike and go get my special needs bag myself. It was extremely windy and hot! I ended up taking double the amount of salt tablets I was planning on. The wind was gusting extremely strong, which was great. I saw people crumble mentally when we hit the wind. I've been telling everyone all year that it was going to be windy and prepare for it.

The goal for the bike was to go under 5:30 hours. ACCOMPLISHED with the gusting winds! I was the 2nd fastest rider from Hawaii behind Tim Marr. 1st from the Big Island!

Run: 3:29:31
The game plan for the run was to go out at 8:00 minute pace and hold that as long as possible. If I held this and felt good the last 10K I could pick it up. Coach Mitch told me again "the hardest part will be holding back." He said "your first few miles will feel like your jogging." Sure enough I come out of the gates feeling like I'm jogging. At mile 1 I checked my watch and it read 6:45! OH SHIT! I'm digging my grave early! At this point I had to pee and the porta potty was open so I jumped in. I was thinking this should slow me down a little. The next few miles passed and still too fast! The first 5 miles averaged @ 7:29 pace. Going back into town I felt like a zombie running at a comfortable pace. I knew the real work would be after Palani. I actually did a slow shuffle/jog all the way up Palani. One of my goals for the run was not to walk. Well this lasted until the Coscto aid station at mile 15. I sucummed to walking my first aid station and just about every aid station after that. By mile 16 I was out of salt tablets and my left hamstring was cramping pretty good. I made it through by walking the aid stations and running in between. I kept checking my watch to make sure I would meet my goal.

The goal was to run at 8:00 minute mile pace and come through at 3:30 hours. ACCOMPLISHED! 7:59 pace with a finishing time of 3:29:31.

TOTAL TIME: 9:46:53 (204th place overall)

Compared to last year I took off 42 minutes and moved up 331 places.

Season recap;
Lavaman, 14th
Hawaii 70.3, 34th
Ironman, 204th

I find this odd everything ending in 4. HAHA!