Ryan and Amber: Ultraman training and vacation!

This hasn't been a normal training year for for me. When I initially signed up to do the race this spring I wasn't in the best health physically or mentally. It's been a tough year dealing with health problems and the resulting frustration and depression. Many days it was tough to get out the door and when I did I was too tired to do anything. Riding and running had once been what I did for fun but neither was fun anymore. I started taking thyroid medication in June and it hasn't been the quickest road back to health but I'm starting to feel more like me again. I still have some abnormal labs and need to go back to the doctor next month for another workup, but things seem to be headed in the right direction. I'm still on night shift and not sleeping, but I've started finding joy on the trails again. So while I don't have the best fitness or training this year I decided to come participate anyway. This years race will be a celebration that I am able to do this event at all because a couple of months ago I wouldn't have thought it possible.

This past 10 days in Hawaii has been pure heaven. It is so nice to sleep at night!! I forgot how nice it is to get more than 4 hours of sleep and feel rested when I wake up. It's been a whirlwind of a trip so far, and I've managed some last minute training. We left Tahoe on the 13th after getting off work at 730 in the morning we raced to the airport in Reno and arrived in Kona by 8pm that night. Really crazy to go from work to the islands in 1 day. Saturday and Sunday were to be my longest and only really long rides of the year as we rode around the island. Ryan rented a bike and off we went. It was a real treat to get to spend two days going around the island with him!! The weather was perfect and treated him to a wind free day in the Kohalas. Thanks to Bike Works for the loner wheel after I broke a spoke on my training wheels!

I haven't done any long runs while here. It was just too late by the time we got here to do any good. I guess working 36-60 hours of nights a week really doesn't leave time for training or sleeping. I'm hoping there is some muscle memory in my legs from prior years. What I have done a lot of is swim. Even when I probably should take a day off, I just can't stay out of the water. It's such a treat to swim in the aquarium here. This morning a large group of us swam across Kealakakua Bay to the monument and back. As we parked a local said he saw a whale over near the monument and off we went. Marty and I ended up a small bit in front of the rest of the group and when we were about 300 meters from the monument I saw a dark shadow right below me. I grabbed at Marty's feet but he kept on swimming for a short distance before stopping. As the dark shadow got closer I saw a large Humpback whale!! I watched in awe as it surfaced next to us. By the time the rest of the group got to us the whale had dove back down and wasn't visible. At first they didn't believe us, but about 20 minutes later the whale came back up close by them and stayed at the surface for about a minute before diving straight back down. It was a truly magical experience that I will remember always. We are truly blessed!

The best part of the time here so far has been hanging out with my Ultraman family that has been arriving from around the globe. It is my last year at this race, and I'm really going to miss what has become my annual family reunion. Only a couple more days to go before this years journey around the big island starts!