Surf today

Wen and I went surfing. It was one of the last secret spots left on the south shore. Sure there was some debris in the water, and the giant shadows lurking underneath us might intimidate some people, but we knew that it would be worth it. We could still see Diamond Head, there was hardly any wind, and nobody but us out. With rumors of a good south swell on the way it will be hard to find places like this over the weekend.
Wen, Molly (his soon to be wife), and I are going to Kauai tomorrow. We will be riding horses with Danielle and avoiding the mayhem that is O'ahu on a Saturday and Sunday.

ATW Itinerary

Last night after slaving away slinging fish to tourists, I was able to get a hold of a very nice sales agent at Qantas Airlines. She helped me to purchase two Around the World tickets. Danielle and I are now definitely going everywhere in September! So here is our itinerary:

Sep 1 Sydney, Australia
Sep 5 Christchurch, New Zealand
Sep 14 Melbourne, Australia
Sep 19 Perth, Australia
Sep 26 Bangkok, Thailand
Oct 26 Beijing, China
Nov 2 London, England
Jan 3 Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Feb 1 Santiago, Chile
Mar 1 Lima, Peru
Mar 7 Denver, USA
Mar 14 Honolulu, USA

We will be moving around as we get to different cities. When in Sydney we want to see the Harbour Bridge, Australia Zoo, and go to a show at the Sydney Opera House. If anyone has any advice or a place to stay, that would help us out a lot. Melbourne is supposed to be much better than Sydney (so say all the people from Melbourne that I have met). We want to see the finals of the Aussie Rules Football and see the Fairy Penguins at Phillip Island. While in Perth, we want to spend some time in Margaret River tasting wine.
Anyway, this is getting rather long and I won't bore you with more details. Well I doubt that anyone reads this, so I won't bore myself any longer.

Today

Today was a good day. I woke up late expecting to have to work both jobs. I ended up only having to work at the bike shop. I got to hang out with people that like bikes and/or triathlons. Not a bad way to spend a few hours. Then I found out that I would have tonight free. Kurt, Matt and I went into Waikiki to take some pictures. I am lucky enough to have friends that are good at taking pictures and willing to allow me to be there model.
I am trying to have a different outlook on life lately. I am quite judgmental and I tend to think that most people are not very bright. I don't think that this is a good way to go through life. So now, I am trying to not worry about what other people think or do. It is important for me to live my life the way that I think I should and not worry about how others are living their lives.
Last week, Jimmy, Kurt and I made movies for Cervelo. The idea was to show why you love your Cervelo. (Cervelo makes bicycles).
Here are some of our videos. I don't think that any of us are satisfied with the end result, but we did it at the last minute. We really wanted to show the beauty of Hawai'i. We thought that the reason we love our Cervelo is because it shows us a Hawai'i that very few people get to see.

New Zealand

Danielle and I will be in New Zealand September 5th until September 13th. We need a place to stay and ideas for things to do. I have heard that Lake Taupo is beautiful, but the south island is the spot to do the most extreme outdoor activities. Please give us your input!

North Shore Triathlon

I had a great race today. I worked until midnight the night before and only slept a couple hours until my alarm went off. My friend Jim showed up about 3:45am. We looked at each other bleary eyed until Ryan and Sara showed up at 4am. We piled into the car and drove the 45 minutes to the race start. It was still dark, but we set up our transitions and waited for the sun to come up.
We walked to the swim start and got into the freezing (78 degree) water. The swim went well. I was 4th out of the water. Out to the first buoy, I was able to escape the madness of the crowd by pulling just ahead of them. I was right behind the main pack of the fastest swimmers. As we headed towards the beach the current was pulling us out to sea. I swam for what seemed like forever looking at the same coral head! We had a long run to the transition area so the please excuse the long 8:33 swim time for the 400 meter swim.
I headed out on the bike feeling good, but it isn't my strongest event so I was a little nervous. I pushed fairly hard (for me) during the whole ride. (Averaging 21.8 mph) About halfway to the turnaround, a guy passed me that looked to be about my age. I wanted to do well in my age group so I kept up with him. He would push hard for a half mile and I would stay beside him. We played cat and mouse for the most of the bike. When we came into the transition area, I realized that he was the bike part of a relay and wasn't competing against me in my age group.
I took off on the run feeling like I wasn't too far behind the leaders. I passed the relay guy's runner in the first half mile. I pushed pretty hard and was able to hold off the people behind me. As I hit the turnaround, I saw that I wasn't too far behind the people in front of me. I saw Tim Marr leading and gave him a high five as he passed. Eduardo was a few minutes behind him running with Chris Larson. I knew that I wouldn't catch them. There were a couple of attainables behind them though. I picked up the pace and was able to pace one guy with about a mile to go. I was going as hard as I could and just wasn't able to get to the next couple guys in front of me.
I came across the finish line in 56 minutes and 52 seconds. The best time I have ever posted for a sprint race. I came in 6th overall and 1st in my age group. It was especially fun to have some good friends there.

Around the world!

Danielle and I are planning an around the word trip this fall.
We just booked our tickets to Sydney! Now we have to just figure out the other 18 stops. I will post our itinerary as it is confirmed. Right now, we fly into Sydney September 1st. We would like to go to New Zealand for a couple weeks and then hit Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. If you have any suggestions on places to stay (cheap) and/or fun things to do, please let us know! If we can stay with you in any of these places, that would be even better! Of course we can return the favor anytime that you are in Hawai'i.

Surfing

Finally, I have had some time to go surfing. Wen and I went last night as the sun was setting. Okay, the waves weren't great, but it felt good to get out there!

Camp Bennet

I just want to mention that anyone interested in running, cycling, adventure racing, getting in shape, staying in shape, meeting cool people, mountain biking, or anything fun and outdoors, you need to know about www.amyruth.org

Honu Half Ironman

*sigh*
Well last weekend I participated in the Ford Ironman 70.3 Hawaii. It is a half ironman distance triathlon that consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. It all started a few days before the race when I started to get a sore throat. I tried to ignore it and just have fun the few days before the race.
I woke up race morning with a brutally sore throat and my head in a fog. I had breakfast at 4:30am, got to the race start and set up my transition area. I was feeling better before the swim and thought nothing of it. We started the swim and I felt that I had an advantage knowing the it was going to be chaos. There were about 1000 of us all swimming in the same direction to the same buoy. I didn't get kicked or hit too much, but I couldn't stay on course to save my life. I was swimming out towards Maui, back towards the beach, all over the place. I nearly hit the water patrol guys on surfboards, more than once. I was still happy with my swim time of 29:22.
I ran to my bike hearing friends yell words of encouragement. It feels really good to hear them at a race. I jumped on my bike and things moved along smoothly. The Queen Ka'ahumanu Hwy was typically hot and there was hardly any wind. I had a great bike out to the turnaround point. My nutrition was all working well and the after the turnaround it is supposed to be all down hill. Literally. After turning around in Hawi, you descend for about 7 miles. Boy does that feel good. At about mile 50, I got a flat tire. I pulled over, watched some friends go by (Aubrey and Wen) inflated my tire rather easily, and rode back to the transition area. The 56 mile bike took me 2 hours and 48 minutes, including my flat tire. After inflating my tire, I couldn't seem to get back into the rhythm of things.
The run started out fairly normal: Wanted to puke, hated running, thought that triathlons were a huge waste of time. You know, the usual. I made it the first two miles at a good pace, and then really wanted to throw up. I walked to the next aid station (something I have never done before) and tried to continue running. I made it about 50 feet when my legs didn't want to run anymore. I decided to try and walk to the next aid station where I would start running again. I made it to mile 3 and drank some water, then some more, and then tried to run again. No dice. As friends went by, I would try to run with them, but my legs wouldn't let me.
My mind was telling my legs to move, but my body wasn't listening. For the first time in my life I did not finish the race. I thought about walking the next 9 miles in the heat of the sun, but I was out to achieve a goal (under 5 hours) and not just finish the race. Looking back, I don't think that I drank enough water. I think that having strep throat (which I also gave to Danielle) did not help either.
I am proud to say that me Team Jet group that has been listening to me spout off about how I know everything that has to do with triathlons did very well. Do as I say, not as I do...