This is the way to kick off summer time

Ahhh..................... HAPPINESS!!!

After the race on May 30th, I had a few weeks off from the normal routine. My dad was here for a few days after in which I indulged in Golf and some chilling time which was fun. After that I was back to work as usual, but something wonderful happened.

The south shore started firing! The cool thing about this is that it wasn't your typical 1-2 day iffy sutff. This swell was consistent for over a week. When one surge would die, another would come and great us with open arms.

I am so thankful for my dawn patrol sessions and those days after work spent in the water until the sun would set.

I just wanted to share a few picutres of how great the surf was in my little "favorite south shore spot" and notice how few people are in the water.

PARADISE!!

Of course since I have been outta the water for a few months, I did get rocked and rolled out there on the big sets. I forgot how exciting it is to have a huge wall of wave coming at you and you are there in the water saying to yourself...... "I am taking this one on the head" I also love the feeling of being in the perfect spot for that nice long left of excitement. WOW!! I am getting a smile on my face by just writing about it.

I would love to have some pictures of me on these great waves, but unfortunately I don't have someone to sit and take picutres of me when I am in the water. Maybe in the future..... I did see this awesome sign I wanted to share with you. After a good surf sesh, any food is fun to eat

Bike Riding Fun!

My weekend started Friday when I got off from work :-) I went home and ate leftover pizza and watched a movie. After that I decided that I needed a nap. WOW!! Pretty exciting huh?

Yes, my life can be boring but I love it. After getting woke up from my nap by my brothers' need for some loud heavy metal music.... I woke up for a few hours to accomplish some household cleaning and called it a night. YES, I am the ultimate party animal when it comes to Friday nights.

I took this picture on Sunday :-)

I was exctied about Saturday! Allison is training for IronMan Louisville and during the Honu training I told her after I finished the race, I would continue to do long rides with her to support her IM training. I really enjoy these rides, it keeps me motivated and they are fun.

Her and Chris left from town and rode over the Pali and I met up with them in Kaneohe to continue up to Haliewa and back to the "Quick Release" house for the weekend festivities in support of our Time Trial on Sunday.

Here is a picture of Allison and I on the back porch after we got a hot shower. Allison and Chris put in 5 hours, me only 3:45. The 30mph wind made the finish of this ride very interesting! GREAT JOB ALLISON!

So, the rest of the afternoon was spent at the QR house doing packet and race waiver preps. I couldn't ask for a more entertaining group. I love spending time with them all. We had a family style dinner in the evening and the boys set up 4 tents out in the yard so all of us had places to sleep. There ended up being a total of 32 people at the house on Saturday night. (this made Sunday morning entertaining for me, while creeping through the house in my compression tights.... people were rising up from every little corner in the house) I guess you had to be there.

After sleeping in a tent again this Saturday night, I had a pretty good 40k race on Sunday. The morning started early with 20 people in the kitchen craving coffee and toasting bagels ;-) I just enjoyed being in the family like atmosphere that I have never really got to experience. This has made race weekends with friends the best weekends ever!

Race Registration went smoothly and then right before the athlete meeting the rain came down. It cleared up for a bit and at about mile 9 or 10 of the race the rain paid me a visit again.

I felt good and strong and positive on my bike and regardless of what my finish time ended up being, I was just happy about my race. After I seen that I averaged over 21 mph in that wind and rain I was even happier. My brother attempted his first time trial but a piece of glass in the tire got the best of him a few miles in. I am hoping that he wants to give it another shot in the near future. Racing yourself is fun!!

After a nice relaxing afternoon back at the QR house, we headed over to Turtle Bay for some snorkeling in murky wind swell water and "hot tub time". During the winter this is one of my favorite things to do after a nice cold surf sesh on the north shore. Since Sunday was so windy and cool it felt like winter. The hot tub is outside along the Bay's edge for the most breathtaking scenery.

After we made it home, I spent some quality time taking care of my bike after the fun weekend we had together. I am currently ready to buy a TT bike and I am very excited. The only thing is that I HATE SHOPPING!! I wish I didn't have to go look for it, I would rather use my free time to surf than shop.

I am soooo not girly in that department :-)

Hopefully I will have a new bike to post pictures of in the near future!

Brent "my brother"

Aloha, Since this blog was created for my family I wanted to post a blog of pictures of me and Brent. He has been living here with me for a year now and we have had some good times.
To the right is his first hike up to Olomana Peak, it was a great hike with beautiful views.

Here we are to at the beach on his birthday! Not long after he first arrived on the island.

Right is our visit to the Volcanos National Park on the Big Island. And below is the Race For a Cure 5k (3.2 mile) run around a park in Waikiki. Brent survived!!

As brother and sister there has been lots of ups and downs, but I am very happy that Brent came here to live with me and experience life in "Paradise" for a year or so before I have to say goodbye in in the next few months.

Of course, this is Halloween..... and below is a day on the Big Island before we went to snorkel.

LOVE YOU MAN!!

Pretty Flowers

For those of you who don't know, I am a lover of flowers and pretty things. I know this sounds super girly, but it is what it is :-) I sure hope that my best friend Melanie reads this blog for sure!! Melanie has always enjoyed making fun of me and my love for the "Pretty Flowers" Once I was on deployment and I received a postcard from Melanie when she lived in Denver that was AWESOME!! It had dried flowers between clear plastic on the card with Melanies' handwritting..... Terri, Look at the "PRETTY FLOWERS"

So Melanie, these pictures are dedicated to

you and your great sense of humor that I lub!!

Isn't Hawaii beautiful! I am so happy to live in a place where I am surrounded by beautiful things on a daily basis. I really never want to leave here!!

North Shore Triathlon

Sunday 7th of June was my first North Shore Sprint...... The fun of this triathlon was camping down the road on the beach the night before. Here is a few shots of our campsite :-) I am glad that Chris came up with the idea, I ended up having a good race even after sleeping in a tent :-)

The race started at 6am which didn't give everyone much time in the morning to get their motors running if you know what I mean. We loaded our bikes in to Chris' car and headed to the beach park. I was glad he drove me the 100 yds or more to the start so I had no chance of crashing my bike before the race start like I did at the Lanikai race. I find it hard to believe that I had a faster bike on the Lanikai after that mishap..... oh well, I did just do a Half Ironman the weekend before so I am using that as my excuse (ha,ha)

I got in a little 5 min warm up run and headed down to the rocky beach to check out the water entrance and exit.... All that I can say is that I am very thankful I didn't have a run in with the reef. Some of my friends were not so lucky, but they had amazing races!!

I am very excited to start my swim clinic next week because this girls needs alot of swimming!! It took me 11+ mins to do a 400m swim (even though there was a long run after the water exit) that is just not an excuse! I will get better!!

I loved the bike (as usual) The only thing about being a slower swimmer I like is getting to pass lots of people, nothing to brag about that is for sure :-) The bike was fast and fun!

I had the quickest T2 ever of under a minute, this is a record for me and hope to get better with time and practice. Last September when I did my first sprint at the Na Wahine, I thought it was ok just to chit chat and smile to everyone in T1 and T2.... I am learning that these are just as important as the swim, bike, and run stuff :-)

I finished my run hard and I feel like I pushed as good as I could for the run. I am happy with my results and honestly this little race is exactly what I needed to get out of the "post Honu" slump that I was in. I am ready to try and get stronger and faster!!

I had a bunch of friends that were racing and I was so happy to see my cycling buddies doing the relays!! Everyone did so great!! The coolest part of this race was just being on the North Shore early in the morning with a bunch of people getting sweaty and smiling!! This is why I love this stuff so much and what better place to do this than Hawaii, do I really have to leave this place?????

PS: Don't worry Zach, your bikes will be here soon so you can play! Thanks for the pictures and joining us for some quick camping :-)

18 holes, surf, and BBQ

JUNE 2nd 2009

OK, today I did even worse on the golf course, but atleast we got to play the back nine of the course that runs along the ocean.

This view is worth my humiliation of my brother beating me, but I had a great time out there!!

I got to entertain myself with the golf cart and my plaid shorts.

I suck at putting.... but atleast I did PAR the last two holes of the day so I kind of redeemed myself before we finished. Now were are off to the beach!!

Dad braved it and got on a surfboard for the first time in his life! I have to say that I am pretty impressed with his bravery and paddling skills. GOOD JOB!!

We had to get a family photo with our boards!

I forgot how painful it is on the ribs when you are a new surfer. I have been surfing for a few years, but since I have been wrapped up in triathlon I haven't surfed much at all and my ribs really suffered from the surf sesh from the day before OUCH!!!

Back on Oahu

1st June 2009

After we return from the Big Island, I take the focus off me and place it on my dad and brother. It is time for me to get schooled on the golf course!! Brent's first time ever touching golf clubs and he still manages to whoop up on me.

I had a great time out on the course even though I am a little rusty! Before I fell in love with surfing, I would spend my after work hours and weekends out on the golf courses here in Hawaii and I was pretty good. You would not know that if you had been here on those days....

After the green, I got to get in the blue..... my favorite!! Dad and Brent chilled out in the shade and have a few beers while I got to catch some waves EVERYONE IS HAPPY!!

Later I took them on a quick "Terrish" version of a tour of Pearl Harbor. It turned out to be a nice evening and I think that Brent and Dad enjoyed the shorter version of what could be an all day event.

This tower is one of the few things that still stands from back in 1941 (date of attack) If you watch the movie Pearl Harbor you will see it.

Of course Brent had to end the day by taking Dad to his favorite local kine grinds..L&L Drive In

While they ordered their BBQ Mixed Plates..... I found some interesting things hanging on the walls inside.

Day after the Race

31st May 2009

Ahh.... I feel accomplished

RACE COMPLETE, QUADS TORN Yep, I think that I need some more hill training since my legs were so sore.... that is just a guess?? Early this morning I wanted to drive dad up our bike course of the race to Hawi and beyond to Pualolo Valley shown here

and then we made our way to the beautiful country of Waimea! Here are some photos: The temp at our beach house was around 80 and up here in Waimea was around 68 and it felt really nice on my sunburn body!

Later that day we got to snorkel down the road from our house at Puako Bay and that was super fun... Thanks Chris for entertaining us all with your sea creatures!

We got all packed up and got to stop by Kona Brewing Company for a beer before our trip back home...... who could ask for a better weekend??

Mahalos to all my friends and my family for making HONU 2009 one of the best trips of my life!

RACE DAY!!!

30th May 2009

It is 4:15am and I wake up before my alarm.... I am ready for this!! I kinda beat the Distraction to his coffee duties since I was up so early :-) This mornings agenda is to drink, eat, go to bathroom and get to the race start :-) Oh yeah... and finish the race of course

While Dad, Brent, and I were walking to T1 I couldn't contain my excitement, I wanted to run. This is the biggest race that I have ever been in and I was ready. I pumped my tires, got my water and my food on my bike, and strolled down to get body marked. It was crowded and loud and I liked it. 5 years ago, I would have needed to be in a club or bar for kicks, but this is WAY BETTER THAN THAT!! I ran into a few old friends and got my picture with Mike before the start, he decided to do this race last year about the same time as me.

I think both of us were clueless on how to swim or ride a bike at the time. WAY TO GO MIKE, you had a great race!!

I was excited to see Brent and Dad when I came out of the water (5 mins faster than I had expected) and now I am off for a nice hot 56 mile fun ride ;-)
The bike for me was great, I felt good and kept telling myself to remember that this is a longer race and not push to hard in the beginning. I had to remind myself to save it for the 13 fun miles of running that was next. After the bike leg I get to T2 and the volunteers made me play Where's Waldo with my bike slot..... they had me going all over the place. I think it would have been better if they wouldn't have told me anything and let me find it on my own :-( Oh well, I am sure that someone else had a longer than 6 minute T2 (isn' t that crazy!!) I put on a bandaid, some sunscreen, and took another pee and I was gone.... all smiles coming out of T2!!

HOT HILLS LAVA HOT

These words pretty much cover the run course :-) I was in pretty good spirits the whole time, I was just so stoked to be doing this thing!! I stopped at mile 3 to get another bandaid for my hot spot on my toes and I took a little to much time enjoying the aid stations, but I had a good run. I didn't start hating myself until about mile 10 so I was happy with that.

After the race, I couldn't really enjoy myself. Something was "off" with my body! My head hurt and I just wanted to cover up my head and lay down. I didn't have the energy to do anything, but managed to force some food in my mouth. I think it took me an hour to be able to have a conversation with my Dad and Brent. Thank you both for being there for me and treating me like a superstar after the race! I really appreciate it!

So we headed back to the house after my attempt to feel normal again. I don't think that I ever really felt normal for the rest of the day. I am happy with that because it makes me feel like I gave that race everything that I had in me.

I want to say thanks to my supporters at the race.... Thank you Brent, Dad and Debra!!! It is so nice to see your faces while I am suffering with a smile!!

I also want to thank my friends (you know who you are) Who were out there racing that day.... I look up to you all for being such great athletes and friends and just great people in general. You are all what makes this sport so much more fun and I love you for that!! YOU MOTIVATE ME!!