Life and Training

Well I've been so occupied between work, home and working out that I haven't visited for a while. Nikki is playing soccer and having a great time. She gets intimidated a little in her new age group. She'll turn away if the play or ball comes directly at her. She needs to work on her foot skills too. That I guess is my fault. I should help her during the off season with her dribbling and shooting. She has shown quite a bit improvement just this season. Last weekend I finally got to go to one of her games. I took the video and got most of the game. Of course I wasn't filming when she scored her first goal of the season. Her and Kel keep on reminding me of it and I guess it's something I won't out live. "And of course grandpa didn't tape me scoring that goal!" as she relives her childhood with her kids.

Kel is doing good. She ran through her battery of tests and they all came up clean. She's frustrated because she still has a pain in her side and now there doesn't seem to be an explanation as to why. She let's me know if it is bothering her but not as often as before. Her mood seems to be on the cheery side as well. She seemed depressed and very edgy while all this was going on. Now she can focus on her diet and exercise.

Since I last checked in we added a new family member to the clan. Lady was 6 weeks old when we picked her up back in Aug. Nikki was so excited and it came as a total surprise (to me too). Kel mentioned to me one day that she had been on the lookout for Beagle pups but hadn't seen any for sale. Marina Pet was going to be bringing two in from Australia but had no papers. I was against that for the money they were asking. Then that Sunday a breeder had a new litter for sale so Nikki and I went out to see them that day. Other than the breeder's brother, we were the first to pick out a pup. Lady has beautiful markings and is quite spoiled now. We are training her and she's doing well. Noisy isn't the word to describe her. I wish she were quiet like Maka who has taken nicely to having her around. Speaking of Maka, she will be 8 this Thursday. Nikki and I just looked at some photos of when we first got her and how small she was. She was so much easier than Lady at this age but things will turn out fine. We'll get some Frosty Paws and doggie cup cakes to take down to the park on Wednesday so we can celebrate with her friends.

Training is going well although last weeks 20 mile run was hard. I ran Killa 20 which starts with hills for the first 8 miles before getting flat. My legs blew up around mile 14 and I struggled with the rest of the run. I felt cocky going into last weeks run because I had such good runs the two weeks leading up to it. I ran a 16 and 18 milers and did really well so I thought I could handle the hills thrown in. Next time I'll just run out to Kapiloani Park which has only two small climbs at Daimond Head.

Tomorrow is the KoOlina Triathlon which is one of my favorite races. It looks like it'll be Kona winds which should make for some fast bike splits. It's going to be hot and I'm in the last wave. Well I guess that gives me more people to pass. I'm looking to improve my time of 1:48:06 from last year. If I get time I'll check back in and give a race report, till then Aloha.