New job.

I am the race course manager for the 2010 Boulder Marathon. Come and run with us. BoulderMarathon.com

Kirland and last WA races.

We are now in Los Angeles. The only thing nice that I have to say about it... well we are leaving in 3 days. I can't wait to a) get out of here b) go to Hawai'i. We drove for 3 days straight to get here, have been busting our butt at work and tomorrow I get to race the LA Tri.

This is from the sprint in Kirkland a couple of weeks ago. I was laughing with my new friend Cody. He used to be stationed on O'ahu so we got to talk about Hawai'i while racing. I think that it made me faster, but he still beat me. I like talking to people while racing. Sometimes they like it too.

The following week, I ran a half marathon. Here is the only (bad) picture that they took of me. I think that every race should have plenty of photographers and a coffee truck. I don't drink coffee, but they make a killing at every race where they show up.

Texas Man pics.

Here are some pics from last week's race, the Texas Man Tri.

We made it to Austin. Tricia was here for a few days before leaving town. We got together with her and Ben over the last couple of nights. They are fun people and awesome athletes. It has been great weather here which is really nice.

Ben and I before a run at Barton Springs.

I have been training a little more now that I have races coming up. Tonight, I go to pick up Michael. He also works for my boss, Craig. He will be manning the soy milk booth next to our USAT booth. He will also be staying in our room with us. Barton Springs is closed on Thursdays. That is something that we found out the hard way. It looks like a fun place to hang out in the sun. It is a spring that is contained by man made barriers. The water is constantly 68 degrees. I get to wear my wetsuit for the 2nd time.

Last week.

Before we left Pasadena, we were able to see my cousin Hunter dominate one of his rugby games. It was a lot of fun and he was awarded the "man of the match".  He is threatening to do a triathlon next month, so look out Newport Beach!

 

Hunter. (Not the small Asian kid.)

Then B from HIC suncare made this awesome poster for me from my travels. I took pictures everywhere that I used their sunscreen and lip balm (all over the world) and he put it all together for me.

It was too big to take a picture by myself, so here it is alone:

 

After being spoiledby my family last week, life on the road has been more... what it should be. Well I would say it is what I expected, but that is a lie because I expected things to be more comfortable. We were told that we would have a 40 ft RV that sleeps 6. What we have now deserves its own blog post.

One night in Lake Havasu, we slept in our tent, the next night in our new minivan. Tonight we are in a hotel. We put the tent between the car and trailer to block as much of the sun as possible. We thought that we might cook of the sun hit our tent directly.

 Eating meals on the road is always difficult. Road trips are too easy to eat fast food. So we load up with salads, and eat them at rest stops with truckers. This no RV thing is making life different.

 

The addition of bike racks to our vehicle has made life a million times better. This was our trailer before bike racks. Can you spot Mojdeh? Oh yeah, check out the new HIC Obama love!

Almost over.

I leave for Hawai'i in two days. I can't believe it. I can't believe that I have been in New Zealand for 3 1/2 months. I can't believe that I have done so much here.

Another amazing day.

I can't believe that I got a job. Everyting in the news is about how bad the economy is. Everyone is being laid off. People can't keep their homes. Obama is having trouble getting his economic stimulus package passed. I am having a great time. I have had an endless summer since... February 2008 when I was in South America. Looks like that will continue until November 2009.

 I no longer have to beg for rides with strangers.

I have learned lots of Kiwi slang. I have tested my outdoor gear in all kinds of conditions. I can survive with the gear on my back for about a week. I want very little and need even less. That being said, I love coffee shops that offer free wireless internet. I enjoy Starbucks, but not as much as Rachel. I found a new passion, fly fishing. I have amazing friends all over the world. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. The more I think that I know, the more I realize that I know nothing.

 I had a lot of fun learning about NZ wines.

My life is great when I eat a lot. Traveling has made me appreciate good food. If you can't laugh at yourself, life will be miserable.

 

Good food and good friends.

I have been traveling for over a year, but I don't feel like it is coming to an end. I have learned that I love the beach and the ocean. It is difficult to swim with seals, but easy to outrun them on land. Going home to Kona will be my first vacation in a while. I watched "Into the Wild" and "Slumdog Millionaire" recently. I liked them both. SM imressed me more, but one thing that I remember from ITW:

HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.

what a week

Being back in Boulder has been better than I expected. I got to meet Mark (triathlete, cool guy, friend of many friends), reunited with Will (pro triathlete), met Louis (NBA player), and played tennis with a physicist. I also applied for a job. Boulder has a wonderful network of trails for running and cycling. After the first rounds of interviews, the company was cooler than I expected. Next week will determine a large chunk of my future.

Now that graduation is over, the bars will calm down, the students will leave, and the weather will get better. I hope. The forecast doesn't look good for the near future, but I am sure that summer will be really hot. Now I am off to swim and run.

Aloha.