Kaua'i update

Hello from Kaua'i. Here's a pic of the giant koi that live in the pond in the hotel's courtyard. One of them is 226 years old. Later today we will send out our Happy New Year! from the Na'Pali Coast.

The kids are getting up to get ready for the most beautiful hike in the world. Bob and I hiked the centuries-old trail when we were last here in '96. It's whale season, so hopefully we will see one while we are up there.

Below is Bob with Ally - After a couple hours at the beach watching tropical fish swim beneath them, we got then into dry clothes and went to watch the spouting horn "geisers" for a while. I had forgotten how noisy they were.

Have a great day everybody. Thanks for being a part of my 2007. You all enrich my life and I am grateful you are all a part of it!

xoxoxo

Jenny

Family vacation

So there was about a foot of fresh snow in Minneapolis when we left. But we're in sunny Kaua'i right now, and it's beautiful! Yesterday the kids ran down to the beach jsut as we arrived - below they are actually putting their feet into an ocean for the first time.


Here the kids are on the beach at sunset near Waimea. Bobby and I ran down this beach for about 30 minutes. Bob and Ally drove the car down and picked us up. Bobby never tires... my little endurance athlete. Who know that the age of nine would mark the time that he can run farther and faster than I.


The temperature calls for more lows of 70, highs of 80 degrees... I went running for about 75 minutes this morning and found a cute church called Kaua'i Christian Fellowship, so I ran in, borrowed a cell phone, and called Bob to bring the kids down. It was a nice service - very casual (which I like). The lead singer in the band didn't even have shoes on, and the pastor wore jeans. But the message was true and beautiful in its sincerity.

We have spotty connection here in our room, but I will try to get some more pics loaded later.

Happy New Year everybody.

Well, we are off to explore the island.....

We did... and here's proof!

It was -4 degrees when I got up, and Laura and I had to do an 18-miler today. So we agreed to help each other tough out a dreadmill run - and we did it~! This is the furthest either of us has ever run on a machine, so we are really proud of ourselves!

Thank you to IronGreg, Rachel, and IronNick for talking us through the tough moments. Woo-hoo!

Confession time...

First I have to confess that isn't really me in my last post. If you thought it was Shame on you!!


Well, it's my head, OK? My girlfriend Holly is a whiz with Photoshop and when she has a spare moment and needs to amuse herself, she does things like this. She's the one who travels to marathons with plastic fake poop and leaves it on the floor in bathrooms and stuff. I love having her around and I am so glad she's my friend because I think it's just hilarious when these pictures come over unexpectedly. I just can't stop laughing!


It all started about three years ago when somebody sent me a picture of a really fat lady and I forwarded it on to Holly with a note that said, "this is why we run". She sent it back with a reply, "yeah"... only now the picture had my head on it. I laughed so long and hard that I ended up using this picture as my profile picture for the Tri Club. It still makes me laugh. You can actually see her belly button sticking out from under her dress. C'mon - it's funny - admit it!!!



Below is IronGirlNyhus also having a fat day, and killing time at the casino after the Deadwood Marathon:



...yet she's also been spotted having days when she just needs a decent meal:



... and this is our Gear West Triathlon coach, Kris:



Remember when I went to Brazil to do Ironman with TriNick? Well, Holly caught him sporting a swimsuit we've never seen him wear back home. Busted!!!




So who is this Holly? Well, here she is below (in black arm warmers and hat), racing in the NYC marathon with our friends Deb, Rom, and Cathy-Mac.




Ahhh... anyway, I love when these little pick-me-ups arrive in my inbox.


My other confession is this:
I know I told a few of you that I was "done with Ironman". I felt ready for the "next adventure", I'd already done it five times, and it's so expensive and with business so slow it's just not a priority, (three completely valid reasons) but when push came to shove and the deadline approached for submitting my slip entry for Ironman Florida 08........ I buckled. I went ahead and registered. I couldn't help it. I love this sport and want to keep it in my life. It's who I am and it's what I do. I LIKE having an Ironman on my calendar. I like hanging out with true-blue fantastic people, meeting more truly fantastic people, and having a decent reason to watch tv (on my trainer). Watching tv by itself makes me feel like I'm doing something I shouldn't be.

So. I'm in.

My girlfriend Erin will be doing her first Ironman in Florida, raising money for Team Ortho, and I want to be there. She hasn't even done her first triathlon yet, but that's okay. She ordered a bike and it should be here in about a week. She said she remembers how to ride one because she had one as a kid. [Gosh, don't you just have to love that spirit??] I'll try to get her to blog because you all will just love her. Those of you doing/ spectating Phoenix Rock and Roll will get to meet her, as she is rooming with me, IronGirlNyhus, and Greg.

Have a good night everyone.

IRONJenny ;-)