Post Race Playtime

Before you go on to look at these pictures, I'd like to share my opinion on training and racing and how those relate to playing. I train hard, take it very seriously and follow a pretty strict, pre-race regimen. My attitude is, after I finish, I allow myself to let loose, have some fun but once Monday rolls around it's time to hunker down.

Rachael and Katherine were game for anything and I had a blast playing with these two gals. Rachael is injured and was under strict orders to DNF after the bike but still managed to produce some incredible results for the swim and the bike. Click on her name to read her race report. While you're at it, check out the rest of her blog too, she's freakin' hilarious.

After Katherine's stellar performance, 1st in AG and 5th overall.....I thought it was only appropriate to do a post-race shot. Katherine had never had a shot in her life. Here I go, corrupting another. Here we are, pre-shot. I can see just a bit of fear and hesitation on Katherine's face.

Post-shot. I LOVE this picture.

Me on the left, Rachael in the middle and Katherine on the right. Love the facial expressions but I do have to point out that Katherine didn't quite finish her shot. Rachael and I emptied ours. We cut Katherine slack since we still had to head over to awards....and she'd have to walk up on stage and collect some bowls (they give out wooden bowls instead of trophies and she got TWO).

Here we are at awards. From left to right: Paul (from Lifesport, he coaches Rachael), me, Katherine and Rachael. Paul had some great pre-race tips that he shared at dinner the night before. Thanks Paul!

Speak no, Hear no, See no evil.

And of course, it wouldn't be complete without a picture of me with a World Champion on my lap. I decided to go black and white with this photo mostly because my face was so red.

The story is, I wanted to get a picture with Chris McCormack. I had to assure him he wouldn't squash me before he'd sit down on my lap. How often do you get a world champ in your lap? And, because I'm all about a good photo and this is way more original than the standard pose. To see other pics of him and other athletes I admire in action, check out my Gallery.

I had to get a picture of me with the tri-goddesses I spent my weekend with. Their legs are longer than my whole body! They are both incredibly talented, humble and FUN! Thanks girls, for a great weekend and tremendous inspiration. I am blown away by your ability. I'm not sure what I'm doing with that beer bottle. I think I felt like a Geisha among......non-geisha's.

After this photo was taken, the girls headed off to the airport and I was once again alone in Hawaii. I grabbed my camera and headed to the beach to take some pictures. Below are just a few.

After that, I walked over to the nearby shopping center to eat dinner at Tommy Bahama's. I ended up running into some folks we sat with at awards and joined them for dinner. After that, I walked back to the hotel and went to bed.

I woke up early the next morning and went to breakfast, joining my new friend Penny. Penny is 68 and lives on Oahu. She qualified for Kona and will be competing in October. I enjoyed her company and zest for life!

After that, I packed up my bike and then went to go hang out at the beach in my bikini until 7pm. Below are a few of the photos I took on Sunday.

The airport shuttle picked me up from the hotel at 7pm and I took the red eye home. I landed in Spokane at 8am this morning.