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Yesterday was the 5th and final race in the Honolulu Marathon Readiness Series. Generally I'm a slacker at race reporting. But I realized I have the opportunity to kill 5 birds with one stone, so here goes. Plus, since this is the second time I have run the entire series, I can compare to last year and end up with data from 10 races, all in one little post. So almost like 10 birds? Brilliant.*

Quite possibly better running form exiting a whip-lashing wild 2.4 mile ocean swim with strep than in any of these road races? Gotta work on that.

Sweet! Finally snuck into a mid-race picture with Doom (he was 15 minutes late for the start).

Stoked about one less parathyroid, and 10 less minutes.

Aloha Keefe!

It's true what they say: everything's better in three's. Amigos, stooges, sheets to the wind... 

My passion is triathlon. And as a therapist once pointed out, I dig triangles and would probably rather hang out with both of you, rather than one of you. Maybe it's an only child syndrome. Maybe it's Grandma teaching me the Japanese way is to always buy three oranges, not four. Serve three on a plate, not two. But I'll spare you the psychology of my attraction to everything triplet, and share my excitement about my big day on Wednesday!

Quick background: earlier this summer I was diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism (try say that three times fast!) Hyper-para-what? Here's the deal: most of us have four itty-bitty pea-sized glands behind our thyroid in our neck whose only role in life is to regulate calcium. When blood calcium is low, these guys kick out a hormone to go grab calcium from your bones. My little peas are incredibly hyper and insist on sucking out all the calcium they possibly can! Greedy little buggers. 

So what? Well hyperparathyroidism (do NOT click on the youtube surgery video!), because you are losing plenty bone to your hungry little peas, leads to symptoms like kidney stones, dehydration, fatigue, achy bones, abdominal pain, and muscle weakness and soreness. And if ignored, eventually osteoporosis, bone fractures, and stupor. Sweet. So, long story short, getting the ultra-hyper and enlarged fourth parathyroid gland surgically removed on Wednesday. Which means I will only have three! Perfect :)

And while I my calcium levels are now elevated to the almost-scary threshold (official medical jargon), I have managed to keep the dehydration and muscle/bone soreness under control. Pretty good for someone who finds seemingly endless joy in swimbikerun-ing. And at this point I MUST give serious props to Recovery e21 Electrolyte Balance AND Joint Health. Some wickedly effective supplements made from pure gems of the sea: a single-cell marine algae and green-lipped mussels. I don't know what it is about those green lips, but the stuff works. Mom's friend who is also dealing with this condition has way lower blood calcium than me and way more pain. So while I can definitely feel that something's not all right, I have managed to get through a whole lotta swimming, biking, and running, relatively pain-free! I mean what's the alternative, let a pea-sized gland win? 

Speaking of dehydration, I have been having an absolute blast experimenting with my new food dehydrator! I slice and dice whatever fruits and vegetables I can get my hands on, put them in their little trays the night before, wake up and I'm like a paleo-kid on Christmas morning: dashing out to the kitchen to see my little shrunken treats!

Chewy and sweet apple bananas, kiwi fruits like gummy bears, tangy dried white nectarines, yellow peaches, plums, and tiny homemade kimi-dried tomatoes!

Dried strawberries and blueberries make my morning cereal purple!

And in celebration of Wednesday's surgery, incredible shrinking peas! Cheers to happiness, health, and trilogies :)

Kona is in the air! On my endless search for inspiration, I'm not missing my chance to share some shout-outs to a few super special folks heading to the most magical place in all of triathlon. 

Michelle Simmons: Superstar who has directly (talking) and indirectly (stalking) taught me the most about triathlon. Swear that was her on this month's cover of Runner's World, but on second glance that RW chic is way less fit.

Nalani Kaun: She'll be the one on the race course smiling bigger than Chrissie. Golf and cowbells after, I promise!

Emily Boll: My roomie and training partner for the Boca Honu practice weekend back in June. She chanted Buddhist prayers on our lanai that first morning to keep us safe in the Hawi crosswinds. You will be showered with prayers next Saturday.

John Harris: Ran with this guy last night and he is 13 pounds lighter and ready to kill it. Expect great things.

Trish Havey: 6am at the pool has never been the same without her, but know she is filling her new pool with laughter and love on the west coast.

Rachel Ross: Fresh out of the Kaiwi Channel, and continuing to amaze.

In our hearts and thoughts the whole way! Go get it! And thanks for the inspiration. 

I know what you're thinking. Another cavewoman joke, go ahead. I can take it.

Full credit goes to Will Doom for my latest craze. He's the guy behind the mask, always rallying around new and creative ways of living to make us all better human beings. He's the guy who attaches parachutes to us and holds us back with giant rubber bands while running to make us stronger and faster. When he first made the leap to paleo we teased him endlessly about chasing chickens on our bikes up tantalus, catching fish in his teeth on our swims, and sucking down applesauce on our long runs. Meanwhile, Will's running got sharper, faster, smoother, and more efficient. Now I can't keep up with him to heckle him. If you can't beat em, join em, or something?

But seriously, what's not to love? The paleo diet is all about eating real food. Way easier to say what you CAN eat rather than what you can't... nothing processed, no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no soy, no legumes, you name it, it's probably on the list. So let's focus on the bright side, shall we? Check it out, you GET to eat all kinds of fruits, vegetables (ooops not corn), meat, seafood, eggs, seeds, and nuts! And as it turns out, these simple choices provide a spectrum of goodness, and make for a super satisfying variety of meals. Quick breakfasts can be a challenge (bagels/granola/energy bars are history), but I have been enjoying my own version of a paleocereal (almonds, raisins, and peaches, with almond milk) or a banana with almond butter while I figure out more options. There's really nothing wrong with leftover eggplant for breakfast either.

A minor complication with my version of this diet is that I'm not a meat-eater. But love everything from the sea, so have been working in all kinds of shrimp, salmon, mahi-mahi, and even some fresh Maine lobster when I was there visiting family last week. It doesn't have to be fuzzy or feathery to be protein. And gotta be honest, while I was super strict the first 30 days of this adventure, I've let my hair down a bit now. Fessing up: I still eat GU's, drink gatorade, and even sprinkle on the occasional shoyu here and there. I am a half-Japanese athlete, work with me.

So why do it, anyway? There are a million arguments for and against. I stay far away from the arguments advocating that cavepeople were healthier than grainpeople. For me, I was simply intrigued by the idea of eating real food, all the time. It's been 45+ days and I feel fantastic. 

ps. It really helps if you like almonds on this diet. And coconut oil makes the world go round.

pps. Thanks to Lectie for guilting me into blogging again. She's always tagging trimichi in her new (and awesome) blog, so I figured I better get busy. Oh, and while I'm handing out the appreciations, Lectie is also largely responsible for my IMCdA 2012 registration, though Aaron shares in that responsibility too. And Doom gets all the credit for the paleo-livin. I am nothing without peer pressure. Love you guys!

Another enlightening Sunday evening Bikram session with Manny. I know those yogis are supposed to be peaceful and positive but I swear I saw him roll his eyes when I tried to get into Garurasana (eagle). I used to be flexible. Splits, Baddha Konasana (Cobbler's pose), backward bends, you name it, this body could contort into it. Long and limber, with none of those pesky muscles to get in the way, or tighten up on me*. Then I started swimbikerun-ing. With pools and trainers and track, who has time for stretching? I mean really, it takes like 15 WHOLE MINUTES. Hmm. Why is it SO hard to fit in the ever-important stretch? Some theories:

Oh, swimming. You elude me so. Working my heart out for you, for so many years, and still, we don't understand each other. Don't misunderstand me, gains have been made. Last week I was able to hold 1:40's for my 100's (long course) for 3 whole sets of 600, and I practically called a press conference of everyone that has ever seen me swim to share the news. My real swimmer friends smiled and politely restrained their giggles but still, it was a proud moment. I've been swimming 1:45-1:50 100's for at least two years, so Monday at the pool has a BRIGHT shining star in my (imaginary) training log (I don't actually have one but yes I know I should). 

So what's the problem? Where to begin? It's not like I don't know what I'm doing wrong, the trouble is getting my brain to correct my responsible body parts (from fingers to toes, everybody is guilty). To start, the dreaded dropped elbow. Here's a visual:

To correct this, the EVER enthusiastic Coach Joe Lileikis has been helping me with the basics: stretch cords and open and close, Kim. Open and close. Elbows up, elbows in front of your chin. But can you see in this video how my brain has soooo much trouble with this? You can practically hear the wheels spinning in my head trying to figure out how to get my elbows in front of my chin... 

(download)

Click here to download:

openClose.mp4 (5.76 MB)

Other issues? Breathing late, head wiggling around, over-kicking (Coach Kevin says he can close his eyes and know exactly where I am and which direction I am headed at any time), arms crossing the middle line, entering too early, short recovery, kicking from knees not hips, head too high, butt too high, core bending too much, fingers pointing out not in (Coach Joe's infamous "you're the better swimmer" reminder), to name just a few. 

I try not to let the depth and breadth of the list get me down. Really! I actually love swimming, just wish I was better at it. All this said, I am 100% committed to focusing on the first event this summer. The North Shore Swim Series kicked off with the Summer Sprint yesterday, and though it felt like I was fighting every stroke (why IS that), was pleased with the result once I reached Ehukai: 35 minutes, 7th in age group, and 6 minutes behind the winner of my AG (yay Kelly!) The past two Summer Sprints I ended up in 19th and 22nd place in my AG (stop laughing!), and more like 15-20 minutes behind the winner. Hooray for small victories!

In other swimming news, the Oahu Club (and the Oahu island) is losing a shining swimming (and biking and running) star to the Pacific Northwest this week. Trish's positive energy and spunk will be dearly missed at 6am. Best of luck to her!

The winds have been hard to ignore lately. From the strong trades of Honolulu to the high desert gusts of Santa Fe, they keep coming. On my recent retreat to the land of enchantment, this little twirly never stopped spinning.

With wind comes change. A change in seasons, a change in temperature, a change in perspective.
Observations of change from New Mexico:

Sarah and Kari dominate on the Wii Short Run and Super Hula Hoop, but I got them on the Lotus Focus. Though with their newfound Bikram love, my crown won't last long. The three of us have a whole new relationship, and I couldn't be happier.

Cycling in the high desert sounds splendid, no traffic, no stoplights, just miles & miles of straight roads and unobstructed views of the mountains. In reality, it's hard to breathe, the wind is simply a given and it's the gusts that knock you down, and giant tumbleweeds can be much scarier than speeding cars. I had a blast, and came home with lungs like balloons.

Time is no match for the oldest of friends. I have always credited Rhea for my sense of adventure (she is much more adventurous than me, but what little spark I have I owe to her). My beautifully brave Rhea is embarking on a whole new color of change, with her amazing boys by her side. I sense joy without boundaries in their future.

Change is in the air. Will you resist the gusts, or embrace the breeze?

It's been a few days since I joined the Boca crew on their Ride to the Sun (um, what sun?), a bike ride from the Maui Seaside Hotel (seaside as in sea level, aka 0 ft) to the summit of the majestic Haleakala, towering 10,023 ft. over the island of Maui. Needed a little while to come down from the post-climb buzz and fully process the experience. Raul claims it's the steepest bike ride in the world, rising over 10,000 feet in only 30-something miles. A monster climb to say the least, even on a perfect day. For better or worse (what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?), Sunday was not that perfect day. Friday and Saturday I watched anxiously as the big green blob on my iPhone's weather radar app moved towards Maui, over Maui, then directly beat down on our mountain. Miraculously, we woke Sunday morning to a sky full of stars and a clear view of the top of Haleakala, rare even in the best weather. We rolled out of the Seaside feeling optimistic, excited, and ready to tackle our challenge. I mean, what could go wrong on a day like this?

Pretty early into the climb, we noticed the winds picking up. I'd say we were only at about 2,500-3,000 feet when the giant cloud we were all ignoring to the north started to move directly overhead. Then a gentle sprinkle. The higher we went, the darker and less gentle the sprinkle. Soon enough it was a full blown storm, freezing cold and pouring rain. The rest of the climb was full-on guts and glory. At the visitor center at 7,000 ft. there were rumors of park rangers not letting us go to the summit, and there were several quiet mentions of hypothermia from the staring tourists (in cars, and seriously confused as to what we were attempting). When our (awesome) support van arrived, we changed clothes, put on more layers, and kept climbing. After about 8,000 ft. I lost all feeling in my hands and everything below my knees, especially my feet. Thank goodness for quads and the pedaling upstroke. I just kept telling myself to yank my leg up, since I couldn't feel the downstroke. That's Raul below (it's not your eyes or a blurry picture. It was really that bad).

But we made it. This shot was taken as soon as we reached the top. Thanks to Katy for helping me get there and for all the prep and pep talks that came before the climb. And for holding me up in this picture.

I learned a lot from the mountain that day. Camaraderie; acceptance (yes I really am in my easiest gear, same one as the last 4 hours); how to open a frozen GU with 1 numb hand and my teeth; patience; that e21 really is a miracle supplement; an efficient upstroke; even faith. But most of all, I came down from that summit with a new sense of confidence on the bike. Pre-Haleakala I had nightmares about riding in the rain, riding alone, riding in a group, riding too fast, riding in town, riding in the country, riding up Tantalus, riding down Tantalus, about riding in general. Post-Haleakala? Bring it ON.

Mahalo plenty to our amazing support crew, to the Boca coaches for preparing us for this journey, to e21 for powering me up the mountain, and to Stacia for the photos.