In other news...

I'm in the middle of my biggest week of training that I'll do this whole year and it's going remarkably well!  On Wednesday I ran 19 miles, split across two runs, and the 2nd one was faster than the first.  I don't know who these legs belong to but I'm not giving them back!

Dinner was good AND healthy at Aqui that night.

Today (Thursday) I flew down to Arizona for a big training weekend on the IM course.  This license plate cracked me up...maybe you shouldn't be living in AZ if you feel this way?

After building my bike and stocking up on an insane amount of groceries, I got to have dinner with Jen!  It was good to catch up after not seeing her since last year's tri camp in Chicago.

I'm looking forward to a lot of fun and hard work the next few days.  I can't wait till the other Jen arrives tomorrow!

And you didn't think I'd go without posting another Puck photo, did you?

Introducing...

Skydancer's Conn Smythe aka Puck

Jeff's new baby came home on Monday, just 12 hours after we got back from Hawaii.  We're all a little sleep deprived around here but it's awfully fun!

This is the beardie reaction to the puppy crying

Kona Day 5 - Heading Home

On our last morning in Kona, I fit in a good tempo run on Ali'i Drive and an easy bike spin, packed everything up in a hurry to make the check-out cutoff, and then went to breakfast.  I finally got to meet up with a couple of blogger/FB friends at that point!

Good view of the lava fields by the airport

Looking down at Hawi

Kona Day 4 - Race Day!

There is so much that could be said about watching the Ironman World Championships take place...suffice it to say I was so proud of my friends for all they accomplished and the entire day was an inspiration.

Women's winner and 4-time world champion Chrissie Wellington

Men's winner and 3-time world champion Craig Alexander

Chrissie

Ryan

Marni

Michelle

Rachel

Beth

My coach!!!  PRing by 10 minutes and going top 10 in her AG, all just a year after giving birth

The finish line is so magical, it's hard to walk away

Kona Day 3

aka The Big Ride Day!

Wheels hit the road at 6am in pouring rain.  After about 40 minutes it tapered off and by about the 1 hour mark we weren't being rained on anymore.  But we got SOAKED.  Which was good for the next hour or two as things got warm.  The climb to Hawi was definitely not tough from a climbing perspective but the wind made it harder.  The descent in the crosswind only had me moderately terrified so that's an improvement over what I expected.  The return trip was hilly and windy but nowhere near as hot as I thought it would be (now someone will tell me it was unusually cold this year).  Overall it was a great long ride with Jeff and Nigel!  Once we were back I had a run off the bike to do - this was right during athlete bike check-in for the race so I saw everyone out there - my coach (who got the photo of me running), Michelle, Chrissie Wellington, Faris Al-Sultan and more!

Wet roads but at least it's not pouring anymore

You can't tell but I'm completely drenched

The sky is getting lighter

Rainbow!

Still stormy skies behind us

Refilling bottles

Turnaround at Hawi

I'm not a fan of crosswind but I'll fake a smile anyway

All in a day's work

Trotting down Ali'i Drive soaking in the atmosphere!

I finally got some poke!

Feeling a little tired but happy with a 7.5 hour training day

Not a bad view from dinner at all