Another one bites the dust

Marianne and I attended the retirement ceremony of a friend of ours a few weeks ago. Col Scott Kimsey served in the Hawaii ANG for almost 25 years and retired as the C-17 squadron commander. Somewhere in that time he also became a kickass triathlete.

His ceremony was held at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island. Ford island is an all but abandoned military airfield and docks in the middle of Pearl Harbor. It is were the USS Arizona monument and the USS Missouri battleship is located. This museum just recently opened and was a perfect venue for the ceremony. Sitting among the old aircraft and displays was great. I like history and old machines of any kind so I was in heaven.

I never had much contact with ANG guys while I was active duty but they seem like a professional, tight knit bunch. Similar to the active duty AF but without all the PCS moves.

One of the stories that was told was of a sign that used to hang on the wall at the squadron that read, "There is no regulation we can't waiver" which is of course, how it should be.

So Scott gave a good speech, (not too long) and we enjoyed some tasty food and beverage. He is now moving on to fly interisland with Aloha air. Good luck Scott, see you on the road.

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Triathlon training

I haven't been posting anything lately because of the fact that we haven't been doing much.

Marianne and I did ride over to Ford Island yesterday before my long run and I showed her this giant banyan tree out there. They just opened an aviation museum also which we want to get to soon.

I've been on a mission for the last 3 weeks to get super consistant with my training and yesterday marked the end of a tough 3 week cycle. I have all the time I could want this year and am determined to make the most of it. My limiting factor in the past has not been the time to train but the time to recover, ie naps, sitting around and eating right. This allows for a quality workout the next day and the day after that and so on. I'm happy to report that it went well and I managed to hold it together with out one of my "crashing on the couch for three days while pigging out trying to recover " episodes. Out of 47 workouts I had scheduled for the last 3 weeks, I only skipped 5. Three of these were the gym which is the hardest to make myself do. I don't chase after miles while I'm training, I just stick to the program I'm following, but out of curiosity I added up the last 21 days.

Swim 8 hours----12.5 miles

Bike 27.5 hours----469 miles

Run 13,5 hours---106.2 miles

Weights 4 hours

So that works out to about 17.5 hours a week which is just right. We'll see if all this translates into faster racing this year. Now I have a recovery week coming up. Time to let all that good work soak in.

Pearl Harbor, Chinatown and Waikiki

We are definitely staying busy. Toured the battleship Missouri which is awe inspiring. Walked around Chinatown and had lunch on the beach at some hotel on Waikiki. Even saw the world famous Hickam medical clinic. It was our first visit to Waikiki since we moved here. Too many people and too much shopping for my taste.