CLIMBING KALOKO

Sunday was the annual Run Till Ya Ralph/Pedal Till Ya Puke race up Kaloko. As Peaman says, "There's only one hill at this race. It just happens to be 6.5 miles long."

Participants get their choice of torture; you can run it (or walk, which is sometimes faster) or bike it. According to my Garmin, the bottom of Kaloko is at just over 1,500 feet elevation and zigzags 6.5 miles up to just over 4,500 feet. I think the average gradient is somewhere around 15 percent.

From the start of the race, the very first step, your lungs are burning, your legs are burning and you'd swear the air is so thin that the elevation must be more like 10,000 feet. Your heart rate sky rockets from the start and never settles down until you reach the finish. It's a 100 percent effort all the way to the top no matter how slow you chose to go. Walking provides no relief. Only stopping gives your body the relief it screams for, but where's the fun in that.

It’s hard to explain how steep Kaloko is. Even pictures don’t do it justice. Sort of like watching the Tour de France race through the Alps and hearing the commentators describe it, but you just can’t comprehend it unless you’ve been there.

All I can say about how steep Kaloko is is that Lance Armstrong once said there’s nothing as steep as Kaloko on the Tour.

Here's my stats from Sunday's race:
The top yellow zigzag line is the map of Kaloko winding it’s way up Hualalai Volcano.
The gray line is the elevation gain of Kaloko. As you can see it’s a pretty steady climb. And the red line is my heart rate.



Although pictures can’t really do Kaloko justice, here’s one Karen snapped off about half way up.


OK, that’s a little camera magic. It’s not really that steep but when you run or ride it it feels that steep.

If you ever get a chance to run or ride up Kaloko give it a try. Just remember, once you make it to the top, you still have to survive the descent ... Good luck!

Here's a few photos Karen took from race day.

Just one long hill.

Sometimes running is faster than riding.

At the finish line.

Some people have too much energy. Doug finished by running backwards.

A younger runner.

The start.

The finish. 

A long line of runners and bikers.

A rider playing "paper boy." This hill reduces you to having to have to zigzag back and forth across the road like a paper delivery person just so you won't fall over.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America



When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.



He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.



New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

-------------

If these words were written today and sent to Washington, the author no doubt would receive a friendly visit from HomeLand Security. The sad thing is, a lot of these "facts" are relevant today with our government.

TEAM LOTTO

“You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?” - Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry Callahan

Every year Ford Ironman World Championship competitors from the Big Island get together for a "team" photo for the newspaper. The athletes get a T-shirt that proclaims the year of the event, that they are a competitor in the event, and that they are a member of "Team Big Island."


Ironman, or World Triathlon Corporation- its owner, continued to drive a wedge between itself and Big Island athletes after announcing last week that beginning with next year's Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii (Honu), all state and Big Island slots (20 for state and 24 for Big Island) for the Ford Ironman World Championship will no longer be awarded through competition, but will be distributed through a lottery. 28 slots will be awarded for winners of the age groups.

The local newspaper quoted Ironman officials saying how it will help athletes from Hawaii who, under the current system, would never qualify for the world championship will now have a chance and how the ones who have been qualifying will just have to step up their game and win the age group slots (my words, their meaning).

Ironman officials say that the new system will give those in highly competitive age groups a chance to "win" a slot. On one hand I agree with the lotto system. It would give some of those athletes a chance who are competing against top-notched age groupers from the Big Island. But on the other hand, there are those athletes who train 20 or more hours a week leading up to Honu who still can't compete with the best athletes in their age group, but can compete with the best athletes in their age group from the Big Island. For those athletes now, all those hours of training get them no more closer to an Ironman world championship spot than those athletes who train 5 or 10 hours a week and plan on only "completing" the half Ironman with a goal of only beating the cut-off time. To me, it's as if Ironman took the competiitveness out of Honu for Big Island and state athletes.

It also opens the door for those brand new to triathlon to qualify for a world championship slot. I would have loved that when I first started but how many times have we seen newbies do an Ironman and then get burned out and walk away from the sport rather than take their time, build up the mentality, endurance and experience before trying an Ironman, let a lone Kona?

If WTC really were concerned about fairness, maybe they should have just forked over new slots for a lottery. Or at least they could have set a limit on how many times, or years in a row, a Big Island or state resident could qualify for the world championship.

Oh, I got a glimpse at next year's T-shirt for the newspaper photo.


Go Team Lotto!!!

OK. enough kidding. At least the Ironman fiefdom is trying to make some changes that will encourage more people to give triathlons a try in hopes of making it to the big show. Here's to next year's Team Lotto. Hope you all are feeling lucky.

Oh, and by the way, if anyone knows how you train for luck let me know. My whole training strategy has to change for next year. Instead of carrying gels, gatorade and salt tabs, I'm stocking up on four-leaf clovers, rabbit foots, or is it feet?, heck, I'll carry the whole darn rabbit if that's what it takes, and eating Lucky Charms cereal every day.

Good luck

TIME

I've been planning out my training this past week for Ironman world championship in October. I remember how burned out I got last year as I trained for my first Ironman and how I nearly walked away from it all (you can read about that whole fiasco here). So this year I have decided to take a couple of weeks off and re-energize, letting my body recover some. After six months of six-days-a-week training, it's been nice relaxing a little. The pressure of qualifying for the big show is off and mentally I am beat. It's been a long training season so far.

When I take time off from training, however, there's always the danger of me reverting back to the couch potato I once was. One lesson I've learned is that after being a couch potato for all those years, it is way too easy to slip back into that lifestyle. Being lazy by nature doesn't help either.

I haven't been completely pedestrian these past couple of weeks, though. I've hit the weights hard, trying to get a good base with some strength training. I've also kept up with a some running and even raced a Peaman event this morning (Sunday). A three-quarter-mile swim and a 5K run. But my official training for Ironman begins tomorrow (Monday).

But with less than 12 weeks of effective training before the world championship there's no time to take anymore time off. After all, it takes time to build up to 6,000 yard swims, 7 hour bike rides and 3 1/2 hour runs. An adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt once wrote, “Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put that plan into action.” And ready or not, it's time to take my first step toward the finish line of the 2010 Ironman world championship. It'll take a lot of steps to get there. Last year I figured it took me from Honolulu to beyond New York City, more than 5,000 miles of swimming, biking and running, to cross the finish line of that 140.6-mile race.

See you out there.

NEVER GIVE UP

“To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.” Nietzsche always had a way of getting right to the point.

On race day I  forgot my purpose for, oh, about 30 seconds. But that was all it took.

I know this is a little late but I've been chillin' and trying not to think about the race too much this week. But here's my experience at the Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii (Honu).

Frustration and stupidity! That describes how I feel about my race. Stupidity because I blew the swim and frustration because I let that dictate the rest of my day. On the good side, I gained a lot of experience in learning how to deal with emotions during a race.

This was the first race I haven't gotten a personal best overall time on since I started triathlons. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, though. It's also the first race I got emotional over at the finish. What's up with that?

THE TAPER
I actually tapered perfectly for this race. I felt strong and fresh on race day. I built up my training to a peak workout three weeks out from race day then backed off slightly the following week. I cut down the distance but kept up the intensity. Two weeks out I cut more distance but kept the workouts intense with some speed work and a little endurance. Race week I cut the distance even more with only one 40-mile ride and an hour and a half run early in the week then a day off, followed by short rides and runs on the trainer and tready with some interval work to complete the week. I made sure I kept hydrated all week and carbo loaded as well (my favorite part of tapering). I let coach Steve take care of the swim taper, which worked out perfectly. I think I swam 1,500 yards the day before the race with the last couple of 75s at race pace. All-in-all my body recovered nicely while avoiding shutting down all systems, which has been an issue in the past.

THE SWIM
I felt good entering the water and on the warm up. I was up front on the start line and to the left of center where I always like to start. That way I can grab some fast feet and tag along for as long as I can and get clear of the main pack that always seems to slow down about 200 yards out. This is where my stupidity begins: (Please, no lectures. I learned my lesson.) I was all set to push the start button on my Garmin watch when the cannon went off. My whole race was figured out in my head and I was depending on my watch to provide me with all kinds of info throughout the day besides just the time. Heart rate, pace, when to take salt, gels, etc. All I can say is technology sucks.

(A great video of the first turn of the race. Notice how many swimmers actually cut the corner and how violent it is on the turns)

Of all the times for my watch to fail, it failed on this race. The cannon fired, I pushed the button and ... nothing. I know, I know. I should have just forgot the watch and took off and everything would have been fine. Well, as I said, stupidity. Instead of swimming, as swimmers blasted around me, I spent a good 30 seconds (a lifetime in a swim start) trying to get my watch going. I finally gave up and took off. But it was too late. After about 4 or 5 strokes I hit a wall of flailing arms and legs and floating torsos. A literal sea of humanity. I had to crawl over people to go anywhere. People were trying to swim, as was I, but I couldn't even get my arms into the water. Someone was crawling up my back and threatening to push me under and panic was setting in. Panic that I would drown and panic that I was getting so far behind that I would never get through the swim.

My only choice was to crawl over the people in front of me. I honestly don't remember swimming more than about 50 yards the whole first leg of the swim, which was about 400 yards or so long. I mostly just treaded water as the pack inched along or crawled trying not to drown.

By the first turn I was minutes behind where I should have been. Just after the first turn the crowd started breaking up and I finally could swim. On the back stretch I opened up and swam as hard as I could for as long as I could. This was the first swim race I've done that my swim muscles were sore the next day, that's how hard I swam trying to make up time. When I came out of the water and saw my time, 37 minutes, 48 seconds, I was bummed, beyond bummed, and that's where the frustration came in.

(How frustrated was I with my swim? I think my look says it all.)

Climbing out of the water a good 5 minutes slower than I planned I lost all concentration and began dwelling on my mistakes in the swim. I made my way to my bike but still couldn't concentrate on getting past the swim. Even Karen and the boys said later I looked lost or confused in T1.

THE BIKE
On the bike and on Queen K. I found myself still fiddling with my watch trying to get it started. I nearly ran some poor guy off the road at one point. After that I accepted my fate of no watch, no pacing aid and just went on perceived effort. So with the whole swim and watch fiasco behind me I focused on the bike. I tucked down into the aerobars and took off. I pounded the pedals and pushed my pace harder than normal for the first 13 miles or so. I felt strong and was glad my taper worked.

Nothing exciting happened on the bike this year. No crashes, no pushing or shoving. Just riding. I had missed the pack I should have come out of the water with. The wind slowed me down some here and there. It was a head wind on Queen K that turned into a gusty cross wind but I stayed in the earo position and overcame my fear of being blown off the bike.



On the way down from Hawi, my quads started cramping just as they did during Ironman. I tried squeezing my leg with my hand and that helped stave it off some. I finally tried standing up and pedaling and that seemed to work to get rid of it.

It happened again just before getting back to the resort at the end of the bike course and standing up pedaling solved the problem. My time on the bike was slower than last year but I felt stronger and I felt like I was riding harder so I'm just going to blame the slower time on the wind. Bike time: 2:52:21 last years time was 2:45 but no wind.

THE RUN
This is where I really needed my watch. I had trained by using the watch to track my pace and heart rate. AS I ran out of T2 I yelled over to Karen that my watch wasn't working. She knew how dependent I was on using my watch for pacing and I needed a sympathetic ear, even if it was only for a second.

Since I was passed on the bike by one of my main competitors for the Ironman slot from the Big Island I figured I either lost my chance for Ironman or I had to HTFU and run as hard as I could for as long as I could, basically my theme for the day. Shortly after starting the run, I saw one of my Ironman slot opponents just in front of me and passed him in the first mile. Now all I had to worry about was the other 7 or so Big Island competitors in my age group vying for the coveted Ironman slot.

I only knew who one other guy in my age group was so I kept an eye out for him. Just as I entered the long "road to hell" section I saw him exiting. He was at least 3 miles in front of me and I had less than 5 miles to go. I knew then that if my age group were to get only one Ironman slot I wouldn't be the one to get it. A mix of despair, frustration, disappointment and anger swirled inside me. At times I felt like giving up and other times I felt like giving it my all.

(Someone once said, "disappointment is the nurse of wisdom," and I'm definitely a lot wiser after this experience) 

As I approached the finish line I remember wondering why, at that moment, I wasn't more upset that I probably didn't make Ironman. I just felt sort of numb about it. When I crossed the finish line, as you can tell from the photo, I wasn't happy about my race. Karen asked me if I was all right and all at once all the emotions from the day flooded out of me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk. I was just glad I had sunglasses on ...

In the end, my run time was faster than last year but slower than my race goal. But again, I felt strong for most of the run and I was happy with that. Run time: 2:06:34, last years time was 2:13:45. I finished 14th out of 68 in my age group. Not great but I moved up a few spots from last year. 

Oh, by the way, I did qualify for the big show in October. We just happened to get two Ironman slots in our age group and I finished second. I guess the saying, "never give up" is my new motto.

“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.” - Robert Kiyosaki

RACE DAY COMETH

Tomorrow is race day. The Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, or Honu as we call it. I'm all registered and have my number. The bike is delivered to T1 at Hapuna, Missed most of the mandatory meeting so I hope I didn't miss anything new. I've eaten dinner and now me and the fam are watching "ALice in Wonderland" and blogging. The butterflies are beginning to swarm and the second guessing my training is coming on strong.

This is the race I'm trying to qualify for the Ironman World Championship with, and therefore, I'm pretty nervous about the whole affair. But the truth is, I'd still be nervous even if I had already qualified.

I always seem to get a bad case of the jitters before every race, even our Peaman races.



My racing top says it all. I would have put Proud Grandpa too if it would have fit. I'm race number 219. If you see me out there give me a shout.

(VIDEO)

Hapuna Beach. This is where we will swim 1.2 miles at 7 a.m. tomorrow. If you look closely you can see the orange swim buoys that mark the swim course.

Good luck to all the racers tomorrow - all 1,500 or so of us. I hope everyone of us has a great race and enjoy the day. See you out there.

JUST GRAND

Madison Lynn Permenter

May 23rd our daughter, Rachael, became a mother and Karen and I became grandparents. So, being the proud grandpa that I am here are more than a few photos of the cutest granddaughter in the world. (photos by Karen)

Heeeeere's MADDIE!

Mom and daughter

Grandma and granddaughter

Auntie Rebecca and Maddie

Grandpa and granddaughter

My girls

LABOR OF LOVE

Water leaking, water gushing; 2 centimeters, 4 centimeters; dilation, balloon inflation; IV fluid, amniotic fluid:, stretching, tearing, new mom forbearing; contraction, distraction, uterine inaction; tears of pain, tears of joy; soon we'll say "it's a girl, not a boy." waiting, waiting our breath abating ... a gift of God, new life creating.

Our daughter Rachael is at the hospital in labor. I'll post more when our new granddaughter is born ...

GO FOR IT!

Three and a half weeks until Ironman 70.3 Hawaii - Honu.

"That's the way to run, up front until you die." One of the great high school cross country coaches, Joe Newton, said that a few years ago, and that's how I plan to race Honu. Well, I won't be up front but I'll be giving it my all, which I normally hold back a little so we'll see how long I can hang on for.

'YOUR DEVICE IS IN A BAD STATE'

"YOUR DEVICE IS IN A BAD STATE."

"I couldn't agree more," was my first thought as I read the message on my computer that had popped up when I plugged in my Garmin Forerunner watch after training today. That message pops up every so often when I don't quite get the watch plugged in all the way.

I don't know about my watch, but that is exactly how I am feeling physically and mentally. I'm in a bad state. I'm drained and with the race only a month away training is only going to get more intense over the next two weeks. Longer, harder, hotter and faster until my peak training day.

Today on my 10-mile run I felt like giving up. Just walking away. I seem to feel like that about a month out from a race. The pressure of the race and life, doubts about my training and just plain old lack of motivation wear me down and cause me to wonder if all the effort is worth it. After all, it's only a race and it's supposed to be fun, not work. The couch is calling these days louder than the road and it is taking everything I have to keep pounding the miles away.

I have a training plan and a race goal and somewhere between last year's race time and my race goal is reality. Somewhere between now and the starting gun that reality will shift either closer to my goal or closer to last year's time depending on the effort I make over these few short weeks.

As fatigue and the pressures of life mount over the coming weeks, my grit, endurance and will power will be put to the test. If I fail and give up, shortening my workouts and lessening my efforts, race day will be a sufferfest and I'll be lucky to match last year's time. If I endure for just a few more weeks, hang in there and complete my plan, race day will be, well, it'll still be a sufferfest, but a well-earned sufferfest with a whole different meaning.

As the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, "Great is the power of habit. It teaches us to bear fatigue and to despise wounds and pain." So my plan is to just hang in there and stick to my training plan and even though my Garmin watch is in "A Bad State," come race day, hopefully, my mind and body will be just where they should be.

PEAS IN A POD

Here are a few images from Sunday's Peaman race. Sunday's event was a guys-only race. Following the race was a pinata smash for the kids. Check out the video below. (If you are reading this on Facebook you'll have to go to my blog to see the video.)



Next Sunday (Mother's Day) will be a girls-only race, or if you are 19 or under and a boy you can also do the race.

One of the kids trying to break open the pinata.

Peaman giving directions before the swim.

Peaman as colorful as always.

Me talking to Rob before the swim.

At this Peaman you get shot at the finish apparently ...

In Hawaiian, "pau" - pronounced pow - means finished. Oops! where's the copy editor?

Peaman was kind enough to honor me with the "Perpetual Pea" award. So I get to keep the ancient healing stone until the next Peaman before it is passed onto someone else. Thank-you Peaman. Proudly displayed on our bookshelf.

After the race.