Kona... the beginning...

I've sat down like 18 times to start this blog, but it's not easy. There's just so much good stuff to talk about when it comes to Hawaii + Ironman. I'm not gonna lie, it's been pretty cool NOT qualifying for and racing Kona yet; I think I have more fun just floating around the scene stress-free for the week+. What will I do if I ever qualify... No Lulu's before the race? No pre-race adventures and craziness? Ah! I think I could handle it if it came down to that ;)

So I guess my plan for these next few blogs is to not write too too much; although, that probably won't happen. If you want more of my story, let me know... maybe I'll let you buy me fro-yo and we can talk. This first blog is more about my experience and less about the Ironman itself; i.e. what do you do in Kona as a non-participant/reporter/roommate to racers?

I got picked up by D at the airport Tuesday afternoon (Maggs was napping) and within minutes it felt like D was a sister... no not because we were fighting! We got along just fine :) It seems the rest of that day revolved around food somehow... taco stop for D, Thai food for dinner with the girls (Maggs, D, and Laura), Costco run, grocery shopping and snacking later on in the condo. By the way, D got the same veggie/chicken dish as me at Thai -- she does eat healthy despite what she says.

I was pretty stoked on my roommates for the week, not to mention our condo... I'd stay there again in a heartbeat (Wyndham something at mile marker 1.5 on Ali'i). Did I mention the spa has a sandy bottom and is enclosed by rocks, waterfalls & plants... very nice. And there are barbecues scattered all over.
Unloading the groceries. Their Costco and Thai restaurants have really good things we don't get in California, no fair.
Great sweet potato/almond butter snack a la Maggs... a new fav of mine now. Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. I began work with Triathlete.com. This was completely new territory for me, and I was frankly a little nervous. I didn't know any of the crew except via email, I've never done real on-camera work, plus I really had no idea what my job was even going to be. Turns out my job was to walk around Dig Me Beach with the microphone interviewing everyone from pros and "legends of the sport" to age groupers, sherpas, etc. That was the gig for several days. It was fun and definitely something I'd like to do more of, but in the meantime I need to work on my comfort level behind the camera. I felt very awkward at times.

On the beach doin my thing (photo by Brian Hayes Patterson).One of my many interviewees. I was asking if his handlebar mustache was aero (photo by Brian Hayes Patterson).

My favorite part of the camera work I did was at the expo -- interviewing all the reps of the major bike companies and talking about their top bikes. We had more fun talking off-camera than doing the interviews. I learned a lot of good stuff and I'm now debating what tri bike I want next; thought I knew but now I'm not so sure. They're all so rad.


Talking with Murray from Cannondale about Mirinda's bike; the change to 650s was key to her success in my opinion from talking to her about it, and Murray!

While out and about, I was told by my Zoot friends to stop by Bike Works and check out a couple things in the store. Uh, embarrassing!!...Btw, nice compression socks Zoot... can I get some?! :)

Moving on. I got in my first run on Wednesday... I love running down Ali'i, south and away from town because I hate being that person who goes by Lava Java 85 times a day -- oh, they're out there. They just do LJ laps, I swear. Within 5 minutes of my run I felt that crazy ass pain caused by Hawaii's heat & humidity, passed Chrissie on the bike and she looked solid. Like a machine. I ran 6 miles and was done. D was smart for doing her runs at 5:30 a.m., but then again I do like to torture myself so it's all good.

Wednesday at sunset I had a mellow swim planned at Turtle Bay. The plan was, of course, to see some sea turtles. But it wasn't our day... all we saw was a squishy sea cucumber. Oh, and I got a nice gash on my toe from the coral. First of many wounds to come! After the swim I did a quick shower/change and headed to a Kswiss dinner. I was sort of the oddball out, but the food and wine was damn good, the group was beyond friendly and by the end of the night I was playing doubles pool with some of Kswiss' hot athletes and company peeps.

Later on we headed over to Lulu's. Ahhh Lulu's... where everyone who's NOT racing goes and parties every night before/during/after the race. Always a good crowd. I ran into lots of folks who I've met in the last year or so. Think I stayed until closing. The next day, Maggs said that would be the last time I was allowed to stumble in so late until after the race; curfew was set to 9 p.m. Oops. Totally understandable, and I actually felt really bad. I can't even imagine the stress they were under leading up to race day, and the last thing they needed was an annoying roommate. At least I wasn't belligerent. I swear :) As a side note, Maggs was the most chill person I've ever seen going into a huge race. I learned a lot from observing her and the dynamics in our condo.

Lulu's in the sunlight... not the same, but it works...

Thursday after Dig Me Beach, it was time for the Underpants Run!!! Funnn!!! I was managing the mic for Triathlete.com and trying to be on camera, all while trying to run with friends I saw and take my own pictures. Stressful! At some point I lost my camera guy, John. Oh well. I found Bree Wee and she captured this precious moment....Can you guess who this is?

After that if was off to Huggo's with the Triathlete peeps again. I think that was the day I had a good convo with Matt Dixon, which was like talking to a celebrity in my world -- I'd like to say my coaching style is similar to his, so it was awesome to pick his brain. Super nice guy. Huggo's was where Triathlete did a lot of filming, and it was fun to hang/work their every day because someone cool was always stopping by for their shows, "Breakfast with Bob" (Bob Babbit) and "Tri Center." Plus there was good coffee and fresh fruit :)

Bob interviewing Yvonne...

Terenzo's helmet. It's official, we now live in a Twitter-obsessed world...

I don't remember what I did Thursday afternoon, probably hung out with the girls. D & Maggs were quickly becoming my favorite people in the world; unfortunately Laura wasn't around as much so I didn't get to know her as well. (She's in love, does the long-distance thing and BF was in town so totally acceptable, haha.) That night was another amazing dinner overlooking the beach at one of the nice resorts. At that point I could predict my future -- rich meals and daily desserts were the name of the game. No complaints! (Although, now that I'm home I can see the indulgence has caught up to me when I button my pants... ouch.)

Friday. Pre-race day. Got in a solid swim the race course that morning (not not a full 2.4, probably only half the course). I was just stoked I didn't get stung by a jellyfish -- this year, unfortunately, Maggs was the victim in that case.
At some point D & Maggs discovered we had access to beach cruisers via our condo, so that helped walking back and forth for miles each day. We had fun cruisin.
Around town, things were starting to get surreal, just as I remember from last year.... It's more quiet (or is it quieter?) and tension is in the air. Workers do the final touches on race course setup, athletes check in bikes/gear and way fewer people are out running/biking/swimming. By Friday I had run into nearly everyone I knew who'd be racing (Beth, Tatiana, Caroline, Jen Chalmers, etc, etc, etc), and everyone looked solid. I was slightly jealous of them, but not jealous at the same time. Hard to explain.

I hung out at bike check in for quite a while... found out my good buddy from GU, Tyler, is also doing IM Canada next year. Yay! I love that guy, and it will be fun to do our first Ironmans together.Maggs checkin in with the rest of them...

Ok... think that's enough Kona for now.

Next up race day, etc.......

(PS- more pics on my FB)

Kona 2010 --- Yea, That Just Happened

This is cliche to say, but WOW where do I even begin? This year's trip to Kona for the Ironman World Championships turned out to be so much more than I ever anticipated. All together I spent 1.5 weeks on the Big Island -- I extended my trip because it was just that good (plus it was D's b-day, etc). I just got into LAX at 5 a.m. today and am pretty much feeling like crap... tired from the red-eye flight, possibly sick or just suffering from vog and feeling a major post-vacation low. However, I can tell you one thing, no matter who I'm working with or whether I have a job at all during Ironman, I will be going to Kona for the race every year as long as I can swing it. It's truly magical.

There are so many stories to tell, as well as stories that will remain between the island and me. More often than not, I did not play the media role on this trip. Yea I did quite a bit of work with Triathlete.com leading up to the race/race day (none of which I've even seen b/c I've been so busy!), but I made an effort to enjoy free time with some amazing people in the triathlon world. I could blog for weeks on all the dinners, events, parties, hang-out sessions and adventures I had, but sometimes not every story is meant to be told and sometimes it's better to just forget about the camera. This trip became more about developing real relationships with people I once just "knew of" and admired from afar -- whether pros, industry leaders, product peeps, photographer or whatever.

Besides my personal experience, there's the race itself. Saturday was unbelievably rad. I couldn't have been more thrilled to see so many of my friends out on the course, as well as the world's best pros killing it. Truly inspiring. No matter how each person's race ended up, I admire you all for toeing the line and giving it your best. You never hear stories of people giving up just because they were "over it." No. People fight to almost a deathly state if that's what it takes. How rad is that?! Watching it all go down live always brings tears to my eyes. So thanks for a great effort out there everyone. One day I want to be out there too... but I'm glad it hasn't happened yet because I've enjoyed the stress-free non-stop fun I get in Kona :)

I have to give a special thanks to D, Maggs and Laura for giving me an AMAZING place to stay and being great company. I didn't get to know Laura that well unfortunately (she is miss popular and always on the go! :) ) but I did get to spend a significant amount of time with D and Maggs, and bottom line: I love those girls. If we all lived close I'd want them as roommates, and I don't say that about many people. But those girls are special.

Alright, before I start sharing highlights from my Kona experience I have tons to do... but first I think I need nap #2 and more food. Speaking of food, oh man did we eat well in Kona! Not too often do I have dessert every single night. And D even ate/liked veggies, tried tofu and drank alcohol ;)

Triathlon-filled day

Even though I'm a triathlete on the mend and racing has been non-existent, I still immerse myself in the tri world. Yesterday was a good example of that, and it made me thankful for all the amazing relationships I've developed.

It started with an early wakeup and drive down to Balboa Park in San Diego for a daylong video shoot with Triathlete Magazine / Competitor.com. There was a lot of biking, running and sports-med sort of stuff, including "muscle shots" and massage, haha. Sadly swimming got nixed because of freakishly random thunder & lightening storms, which pretty much guarantees pool closures; ocean swimming was an optional but the videographer had no waterproof equipment and it was raining a lot.

Our work will come together in a new video series called "Med Tent" featured online. Stay tuned.

I then sat in traffic forever and had to cancel the fitness class I teach because I'd be too late, bummer (you'd think two hours would be enough to travel ~70 miles, but not in SD with rain!). So straight home it was, where I found a few goodies waiting for me...

GU was awesome enough to send me their yummy new Watermelon Chomps. Are you allowed to eat chomps when not training? Well I did! They taste so darn good, like candy! You guys also HAVE to try out their new Nectars line. If anything, they come in the cutest packages I've ever seen! There's a free 6-pack available online. Click here for details!!!

Also, looks like SCAPE wants to keep me well-protected in Kona. As Maggs said, I might need sunscreen just to shield me from this bright visor! SCAPE sunscreen continues to amaze me. The bottle lasts forever and I never have issues with greasy/sticky/stinging-eyes feelings when I use it. Most recently, SCAPE got me through the Catalina Channel Crossing, last week's heat wave among other outdoor adventures. Gotta say, I think the face stick is my favorite! (Notice the cute Kona '10 logo on the visor!)

Then last but not least I got some love from Zoot. They take good care of me and I'm grateful to work with such a fun team that makes all-around quality tri gear. Just wait till you guys see their Spring '11 line, so awesome!!! I want one of everything haha. We have another shoot coming up later this October, I can't wait to see their new stuff.

Anyways, a good day in my little triathlon bubble.

Again?! Really?

Last week ended on a high note with work-related stuff so I celebrated with a couple glasses of wine. But I made sure to have them early, as our Saturday morning activities would get underway well before sunrise... I was eating brekkie at 5:30 a.m., almost like an actual race day!

The morning workout was perfect until the last mile...

It started with my mom and I participating in the annual mile swim at Lake Mission Viejo. Normally, you have to swim within certain boundaries at the lake, but on this day they open the whole thing and send us off in waves for a timed mile swim. Only catch: no buoys, just a lifeguard boat with a flashing light to mark the turnaround, a few paddleboarders and some permanent lake buoys about the size of basketballs (aka useless). It'd be a real test in holding a line! The course was basically the same swim as the OC Tri, for those familiar. I loved it... nice, warm morning with that race-high-adrenaline vibe as we got going in our wave. I needed some of that.

View of MV Lake:

However, if you read my last post, you know I haven't been swimming so I wasn't planning on a PR performance. My forearm is starting to feel better, so I decided to let pain be my guide this time.

As we headed out, I felt great. Surprisingly strong, sighting well and staying in the pack. But after the turnaround point we turned around into blinding sun and from then on it was a little crazy. No more feet to follow, no buoys to look for, just me and a general idea of where to go. Not easy! My forearm started bugging me every time I got the the catch portion of the stroke, so I stopped probably 10 times to let it calm down a bit.

Finally I could see the boat ramp, aka the finish. It came quicker than I expected even with all my stops. I ended up doing the whole mile swim in 28 minutes, which I'm totally ok with all things considered.

After that I waited for my mom, she was only a few minutes behind me, and then hopped on my bike for a planned 40 miles through Santiago Canyon.

Ride was going great, despite a temp of 91 degrees before 9 a.m., which continued to rise. It was the best I've felt in a while; maybe it because I ate my new favorite cereal, greek yogurt and homemade pumpkin muffins for fuel.

The end of my 40 miles was nearing, and I was definitely thinking a little t-run would happen. I was practically home, but only at 39 miles, so I decided to do a pointless mile of basically a big circle around my house just to reach 40... ughhhh, so dumb...

At 39.1 I felt something go into my helmet. I reached my hand to feel around, and within .2 seconds I was getting stung. By a bee. Again.

I freaked, got out the stinger, but it was too late. The damage was done. This is #5 bee sting in the last few years (2 face, 1 thigh, 1 back, now 1 finger), and I've clearly developed an allergy. The sting was on my finger, but within 10 minutes my entire body broke out in hives that were itchy like you wouldn't believe, my face was swollen, eyes nearly swollen shut and I felt like pure death. I took an ice cold shower then just laid on the floor for 30 minutes while my parents kept a close eye. I continued to say, "Don't worry I'll be fine, just give it time to fade off." At least my BP was fine & no wheezing/chest tightness.

I eventually started feeling better, at least well enough to consume large amounts of food -- bee stings don't affect hunger rates after mega workouts!

Here's a few lovely photos of the damage, but, really, pics don't really do this sort of thing justice....

Face of misery (note: for once I decided not to show the really bad picture because it's that bad):A glimpse of the rash:
Swollen finger the next day (hand is swollen too, hard to tell though):

Thankfully everything cleared and I was fine about an hour later--except for the mega swollen hand/finger--so I was able to continue with my plans of hanging out with a good friend in San Diego for the rest of the weekend....

SD never fails me. Lots of good times, got in another PCH/Torrey ride, and I ate too much good food (the very unhealthy and healthy kinds).

Ahhh La Jolla:
B's Godiva brownies, which came before the pizza and the world's best pumpkin froyo:
PS - You'll be happy to know I've already gotten a prescription for an Epi Pen. 1) I don't want to die from a bee sting; 2) at this rate I'm bound to get stung again; 3) I clearly won't stop riding my bike/running outdoors. So that's that...

Minor (New) Injury?

Yesterday was my first time swimming in about 2.5 weeks. I "tapered" a few days before the Outrigger adventure, and then after that a new issue kept me from swimming. I guess you can call it an "acute overuse" injury aka seven hours of paddling in 48 hours, something my body isn't used to doing.

The issue is in my forearm. Basically the tendons of my extensor muscles are pissed off and aren't sliding against each other smoothly. Every time I lift/move my wrist there's this gnarly grinding sound/vibration. No joke, it's crazy! It sounds/feels like I need WD-40 in there! I've become quite a freak show to my friends. At least the swelling died down.

Before the onset of the grinding sensation it was just pure pain and very swollen, and at first I was afraid of something worse, i.e. stress fracture in my ulna or radius, but that's definitely not the case. I've had it checked out, and bottom line according to the pros: "Tawnee, you did a crazy thing and you're lucky that's the only issue you walked away with. It could be a lot worse." Hahahaha. I'd do it again :)

It's been annoying though! At first I couldn't lift the coffee pot nor could I write normally (3 hr classes and note-taking? yuck!). And, like I said, I couldn't swim. As of yesterday, it hurt during the swim but not too terribly, so from here on I'll just go in moderation and let pain be my guide. Funny thing, I can do pushups and some upper-body exercises sans pain.

But again, the outriggering was worth it... Did I mention we started a "mooning" tradition?
That's us mooning the first-place men's team during our Sunday funday paddle home. I'm the middle one inblack. I like how mostly girls were on the shift that got to do the mooning. Btw, that took some legit balancing skills haha...


In other news, I'm working on some new recipes to post. I've had some amazingly good cooking/baking sessions lately. Like pumpkin muffins, turkey chili and grain-free zucchini bread to name a few...


Also, if you haven't seen my video, check it out. (Warning: Do not view while eating or after eating a big meal, it's graphic haha).


Lastly, I might be a little MIA for a while... lots to do before my departure to Kona on Oct. 5!

Must-See TV by Me: Endurance Sport Extremes

Before I get to my gory video (trust me, you don't want to miss out on seeing it so stay with me)... a little update on my training/recovery status.

Last week the effects of outrigger were still lingering, but I got in some solid rest and good workouts. By Saturday, it was time to test my injury-free status. We met for a "long" ride just before 7 a.m. at Santiago Canyon, and holy crap it was freezing. The seasons are definitely changing, and that just sucks. It was high 40s/low 50s for probably the first 45-60 min before the sunshine/warmth started dominating.

All in all, I rode 40 miles of pretty much all hilly terrain. It was hard and I struggle compared to the old me, but I enjoyed every minute. I'm actually excited about the hard work I have ahead. I even voluntarily chose to do some hill repeats just because I clearly need to work on that.

After the ride was the real test, the t-run. We had a transition area set up along the bike path by my house (same spot as OC Tri T2), and my plan was to run/walk the 3.5 miles home. Well, I ended up going 4 miles with mostly running. It felt amazing! Yay!

I'll be honest, I was sore the next day, and I felt it in my knee, but nothing that scared me in terms of sharp/shooting pains. I ran again yesterday, and it seems to be good.

Now...


Drum roll....


For the HIGHLIGHT of this blog...


Remember that gory/gross photo project I was talking about? Well my creative juices got flowing, and thanks to all your contributions and my Mac iBook Pro, I think I created a masterpiece using a program that was new to me, iMovie.

I must say, I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I will present this to my class on Monday, so consider this a sneak-preview special-invite showing :)



CLICK HERE to check it out :)




(Warning, it's graphic!)



Please let me know what you think!

Outrigger Canoe Race Across the Pacific... and Back

Our means of transportation (human power only! I'm third back in black)...Our destination... a mini paradise only 30 miles off the California coast...


Here's how it went down...

I thought paddling/racing an outrigger canoe for 5+ hours TO Catalina would be enough. But what happens when your team wants to paddle back the next day just for fun? Huh?! At first I was reluctant about doing a double. But how often does one get the opportunity to make the Catalina Channel Crossing twice in 48 hours with an awesome team?

I think it was sometime Saturday night, after a beer or margarita, that I made the commitment to paddle home and not take the easy way, the $35 Catalina Flyer. Hell no. Above all, I wanted to prove to myself that I am strong enough to handle mega miles on the sea. Plus, I couldn't let my team down. They needed all the helping hands possible. Thankfully, I had made extra sandwiches just in case I chose to paddle twice. I know myself too well :)

Glad I did what I did. This trip = me stepping outside my comfort zone and doing something crazy but amazing. I surprised myself in how strong, prepared and motivated I felt for the entire duration. Of the ~12 hours we spent on sea, each person probably paddled 7+ hours total.

Sat. morning loading the escort boats... Goal is to keep your crap dry!

I got to pretend to be a lifeguard, our team theme (notice escort boat #1 to my right -- this trip is not about traveling luxuriously haha)...

Escort boat #2...

Before I get more into our adventure, I have to describe the "shift changes" that occur during nine-man outrigger canoeing. Simply insane!

The outrigger holds six people, but there are 9-10 on a team. A few are always "resting" on the nearby escort boat that leads the way and holds all the baggage, food and jackets. You only paddle on the outrigger for 20-40 minutes at a time, then someone comes into relive you while you rest for 10-20 minutes. Shift changes are constantly occurring because everyone's timing is staggered.

This is where it gets interesting. Instead of the escort boat leisurely pulling up alongside the outrigger for a "dry change" you have to jump into the ocean -- no time to think about how cold it is -- and swim to your next destination, either to the outrigger to paddle or to the escort boat for rest. If you're going on to paddle, you swim full speed to the outrigger and hoist yourself up into the canoe while it's still going full speed -- a rush I can't even describe. I thought a lot about sharks every time I made a shift change. Those changes also served as our only potty breaks.

Imagine doing that constantly for hours. Never a dull moment. Of the whole experience, the only part I didn't enjoy was resting on the escort boat because I was wet, freezing and shivering, thinking, "Put me back in, coach! I can paddle all day! Just throw me GUs and coconut water, I don't care! Wanna be warm!" But whatever. I just borrowed wet jackets and dealt with it :)

See me huddled on the escort boat, freakin freezing...

So anyways backing up a tad. The race got started on "Hawaii time" Saturday morning right outside Newport Harbor; the sea was filled with floating plumerias and hundreds of energetic outriggers. We were entered in the co-ed division; the women's team raced Saturday too but started ahead of us (we passed some by the end haha).

The funny thing about our team of guys & girls was that nearly everyone had just met that morning and none of us had ever paddled together, some had never paddled ever. We were just a randomly assembled group of lifeguards, endurance athletes, etc. I knew Sara and Stuart, and they are tough, so based off that I figured the others would be the competitive type who'd want to go hard. I was right. All studs.

View of the start in the distance (compliments of my parents)...

I was on the first shift. The start was a rush. We quickly fell into last place, but that was not how we ended up! Our team got in sync fairly fast, and soon after we started making passes.

Speaking of being in sync -- keeping rhythm among the six paddlers is the #1 most important part of outrigger. It's intense to do this, and there's no time for chit chatting or screwing around. If just one guy is off, you slow down significantly, even if you have the strongest guys ever paddling. I was stoked on my team's coordination and power.

Looking very in sync here (I'm #2 in black)...

I sat in the #2 position for most of Saturday. Each position on the outrigger has a purpose/job; #2 is in charge of calling when to switch sides with the paddle. About every 13-16 strokes, you yell "HIKE, HUT, HO!" and everyone changes in unison.

That goes on and on and on and on. But the hours were flying by and it wasn't long before I got a glimpse of Catalina. Then in just over five hours, we arrived in Avalon. A pretty solid time for a rookie team! (Don't know our final ranking.) The island destination was rocking and full of energy with outriggers, partying, sunshine, cocktails, bathing suits, music... play time!

I had gotten to know my teammates a little while on the escort boat, but Saturday night was when we really bonded. There was no established plan on what would happen once we arrived in Catalina; no hotel reservations for the group, no agenda. Just got with the flow and live in the moment and make sure you keep your sleeping bag dry. There was good chemistry in our group.

It was awesome. We totally bummed it. No showers. No brushing hair. Maybe some deodorant? We were at least able to change clothes in our boat driver, Dave's, mini hotel room big enough for one. Then we just migrated around the island looking like homeless people. We were at least presentable enough to be allowed inside a restaurant and at a bar.

To sum up what was an amazing night (as seen above): good food, cocktails on the beach, bonfire, dancing under the stars to a live band, bonding sessions... and later setting up camp outdoors near the beach with the sounds of the ocean putting us to sleep.

My Margaritaville...

My last view before sleeping...

We were up at 6:30 a.m. Ready to do it again. I was nice and cozy in my sleeping bag as I saw the sunrise creating an orange glow on the ocean, and I didn't want to get up just yet. But we had to vacate from our secret camping spot asap, just to play it safe ;)

Migrating bums...

After fueling up with caffeine and food (nothing like a day-old almond-butter-banana-agave sandwich and eggs for brekkie!), we got on the water by 9 a.m. and were paddling by 9:30 a.m. Sunday was the men's outrigger race (Catalina to Newport) and we had to get going before their start. (Saturday had been the women's and co-ed race... we were co-ed.)

The paddle home went by fast. I opted to do two long endurance paddle sessions of a couple hours each. That's not common for nine-man outrigger, but I wanted to test my body. It pulled through for me!

Right before my first endurance sess, chatting with Lindsy who's quite the studdette...

Our team was also smaller on Sunday, so if I wasn't paddling, I was working, i.e. driving one of the escort boats. It was my first time driving a boat, and the job was just handed to me regardless if I could do it. But I managed just fine.

Another crazy thing about Sunday was the wind. Saturday it stayed overcast and rather calm, but Sunday it was clear skies and windy -- so extra chilly despite sun! We had to navigate across some rather large swells in the canoe, and occasionally we'd catch one. Paddling in chop is extra gnarly and difficult, and you're constantly soaked from water gushing in.

It's funny, I wasn't truly tired until we got back to Newport Sunday afternoon. Then fatigue hit. I think my body/mind was determined to stay strong for the whole trip, but once we were done, I was DONE. Checked out. After a long hot shower and dinner, I was asleep by 8:30 and hibernated for 10 hours.

What a journey. Not to mention, I have some kick-ass new friends!

Can't wait to do it again.