The IRONMAN

Yet another reason why I love Randy, nothing daunts him...

Early Saturday morning I noticed Randy's bike was gone and assumed that he was off on a ride until I got a phone call from him asking me to guess where he was; in the queue for starting the swim for the Corporate Ironman Challenge! I said, "Are you kidding? Honey you don't swim!"

Here's the story as Randy tells it:

"Pat McCarty had registered for a mini Ironman (Corporate Challenge) before the real Ironman Sunday. Pat had been ill and wanted me to take his place. Of course last minute, I say yes and off I head to the beach!

No wetsuit, just my bikeshorts with an extra layer beneath so I'm not showing all and I start the 400 meter swim. I have not even swam in the ocean here yet (usually too cold). I let the crowd go ahead, as I hear how you get kicked and turned by the group. Finally hit the water and I hear the announcer talk about how it looking a little rough today and the temperature is a bit cold.

Cold wasn't quite strong enough of a word, by the time I get over the shock and start to swim head down, eyes closed and then I realize oh yeah I'm wearing Pat's goggles I can open my eyes-just in time to see the big wave that is about to hit me and I'm out of breath. Gulp down a mouth full of ocean water,cough and spit a bit and try again. By this time another wave hits me and I repeat the same.I decide I need to dog paddle and to try and time my swims. This works a little better, but by now I'm only halfway to the first of two buoys that I need to swim around and I'm already tired.

Well, I continue and I time a few right and a few wrong again with more gulps of ocean water. Still working against the waves now and I see at best I'm 3/4's to the next buoy and then the guy to my right waves for help and to be picked up. Next the guy to my left does the same as I stop for a minute, miss another wave and drink some more of the ocean. That's it! Uncle! I wave for help. So the three of us get a Seadoo ride to the beach.

But, being that this is my first Ironman type race, I have another story about how I learned to set-up my transition station. I spent a lot of time watching what everyone else was doing- bicycle with towel on the ground next to, with my running and cycling shoes staged, dry shirt and number draped across my bike with helmet, glasses and gloves within also hanging on my bike. Learned that I had a few missing items-like a small bucket to rinse my feet from the swim before putting on my shoes(good idea!). Also received a quick training lesson on how to quickly put on a skull cap.

So back to the beach, I tell the lady official who meets me that I would really like to still finish the race (especially after spending so much time preparing my station!). She must have seen my puppy dog eyes because she tells me, "well, you could wait for the last male swimmer to come out and then you could go." So I wait until I'm sure that the last competitors are out of the ocean (by now I'm really embarrassed as these are usually the pot bellies wearing a speedo) . I check with the official, she says go and off I run!

Well the rest of the story goes much better, as I pass a lot on the bicycle and even though this is my first run in about a year, my knee and legs feel good from all of the bicycling and I cruise to the finish. Of course my transitions were comical because it's like trying to jump out of bed and get dressed-you miss a few things, shoes aren't tied properly etc. - while the guy next to me is in and out and I have only managed to put on one shoe. So I lost a bit of time in the transitions.

It was cool to finally finish and run down the same red carpet that pros will use tomorrow and pass under the hoop that marks your time. Maybe next time I'll get a wetsuit like most everyone else and take a few trial swims (maybe even a few lessons) as the swim for me was the killer! However, I'll be back in the States before too long and will probably not have time to even think about doing this again. Yet, you never know... " Randy

Emily's boyfriend Jono (top center) did the challenge too but as a part of a team of three. He did the swim,-could've probably helped Randy a bit had he decided sooner than the day of to join the race! The following day, Erin and her friend Nicole actually worked as volunteers passing food bags to the pros. They enjoyed being a part of it all:)

Adventure

This past weekend was filled with adventure. We traveled to Storms River with our friends the Bells and McCarty's for a few nights. Our family, including Erin's friend Nicole and Emily's boyfriend Jono, started the trip by experiencing the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tree Tour. This has been one of the things on our "Things to do while in South Africa" list. After a short brief and gearing up we headed out into the forest.

This idea was first started in Costa Rica and it was interesting to see how they manage to operate without damaging the trees. The cable system is connected with pressure and rubber pads to each tree. They try to educate you a bit about each tree while you are up there on top of the world but I'm not sure how much of that our kids truly absorbed as we were all caught up in the fun of being able to slide through the forest from tree to tree.

When we were finished we met our friends at Tsitsikamma National Park. A group of us headed out to conquer the waterfall trail (a 3.5 hour hike). It is part of the Otter Trail which takes 5 days typically to accomplish. Ryan led the way for most of it and this was no easy task as most of the "trail" involved rock/boulder climbing. We were rewarded with a beautiful waterfall and pool at the base where you could swim, reminding me a bit of Hawaii. We even met a group of teachers along the way that were visiting from Michigan. This area of South Africa actually feels a bit like northern Michigan with all of it's pine trees.

Those that stayed behind either took a short boat trip or the hike to a swinging bridge. At the bridge, there was a rock beach where the kids started throwing stones into the ocean. They had a great time and were soon catching a lot of attention apparently!

The next day we headed to the Bloukrans Bridge where Emily and Jono jumped from the world's highest bungy bridge! Above is a photo of all of us after...as you can see they had a lot of support. A few of us were "buddies" and paid to walk across the bridge with them to watch them jump. Watching our oldest daughter jump from a bridge is definitely something I never had on my "bucket list"! Now Erin wants us to let her do it! Anyone else interested?

Stay tuned for Emily's blog on her experience...

Darkness

Last night the African Sky opened up and it poured! This was good news for our area which is still in a severe draught, but not so good for the 9000 people who attended the one night only Elton John concert including several of our friends.

Erin and her friend Nicole (pictured above) made the most of the night though. We were in complete darkness as we had no power for more than 12 hours. They built an awesome fort in the living room, did puppet shadows, and danced in the rain. Nicole has become one of the family, staying with us for the past 2 weeks while her mom is in Tanzania.

If you want a taste of what we experienced last night, take a look at this: http://videos.komando.com/2009/06/18/african-thunderstorm.

Swim Buddies

We have been learning a bit more on how to conserve water here during this hot and VERY dry African summer. Without airconditioning, our pool brings relief most days. For nearly a month now our pool was unusable due to green water(not due to algea). After some care the water is now blue and the pool has re-opened:)

I realize that for those of you that have been enduring a particularly very cold North American winter, you probably don't feel much sympathy for us and that is why we want to invite you to "drop on by" for a swim anytime!