Post Race Lowdown - 53km 7 hours 6 minutes

Offical results for my division - 4 starters and 4 finishers:
http://www.pseresults.com/events/386/results

 Quite a way behind the other girls (who are all amazing paddlers).

As promised, below are the details from my Garmin forerunner - got a max speed of 13.9km waahooo.

 Check out the little hook I did shortly after leaving Molokai. This is because my boat captain Bobby said he wanted me to head north and then turn south later. Why? So I would do the hard work earlier when I am fresher and make the last few hours easier as I would be able to run with the swell. With the course line set
and Bobby looking out for me, I was left to paddle! Got some amazing connecting runs. Some big runners and some smaller runners, Got into the 'wave' zone and had a ball. 17 miles to go (of a 32 mile corssing) and only 2.5 hours in. I was surprised (good surprised), so was everyone on the boat. The boat thought I would make the crossing in about 5 hours or so (based on my first 15 miles). I had mentally prepared to be out there for 7 hours knowing that the last 5 miles would be the hardest. I knew how long it would take me to paddle from Koko Head to the finish line, and I knew how long 14 miles would take to paddle (and I knew how I was feeling), so I was mentally prepared for another 4.5 hours out there.
Kathryn was uber good with my bottle change overs and also bringing me a dr pepper, chocolate rice bubbles (that are gluten and dairy free) and a (shock horror) chocolate muslei bar. She managed (somehow) to keep the food dry after she had jumped into the 2300 feet deep water. Nice. Only had 3 bottle changes I think perhaps 4. I was taking a little drink from the mixture bottle and the water bottle each time I layed down from kneeling. No sea sickness either AT ALL = bonus!

Feeling good up on my knees paddling and a little slower laying down paddling. The last 2-3 miles heading in towards Koko Head were really bumpy and I fell off a couple of times. So I layed down for those few miles until I got around Koko Head and into Manaulua Bay. Now only 1.6 miles from the finish line, there was a hectic wind coming down from the mountains pushing us out of the bay. Knowing that there was going to be a strong wind here helped me mentally, but I had no idea how strong the wind would be. Back up on my knees now, I paddled home to the finish line. Crossed the line and amazingly no tears!! I surprised myself. Rick was there (Kathryn's boyfriend) who gave me some Leis' (thank you Rick) and so was John from Planet Sun Sunscreen (nice to meet you John!!! Love your product. I put one application on my face from the sunscreen stick and my face didn't get burnt at all - and I was out in the sun literally all day!). Shortly after making land, I was eating Snickers, drinking Dr Pepper and having a beer! Nice. I felt great. Not too sore and so happy with what I had just accomplished.

Luke and Jake Michael (friends from home) were at the finish line too to say congrats to me which was awesome, so a big shout out to Luke and Jake for making the effort and waiting around for me to come in. Good luck with Nationals and Worlds boys :)
One of my work colleague's Davor has a friend over in Hawaii and he was there too to say hi!!! So awesome! Thank you.

So, how do I feel about the race? Pretty good. Given my preparation/lead up had a few hiccups (like I did last night after leaving the Outrigger after only 2 or was it 3 beers!), it would be interesting to see how I would gone with a smoother leadup and a body that worked as required by my brain and heart. Wierd parts of my body hurt.. left ankle from sun burn, left elbow and right wrist some I don't know what - perhaps the arm wrestling contests post race!?!??!

 Brekky at Cheesecake Factory the next day === cheese cake and Mojitos!!!

PS: its been 12 hours since I first started this slab of Godiva Cheesecake and I still have some left in the fridge in the hotel... its has been beaten me twice in 1 day!!!Usually I'd smash these sorts things... but alas, this is not the case. Perhaps I will have another crack at it tomorrow morning. Take no prisoners!

With my wingman now on a flight home, I am all alone again in beautiful Waikiki. What a great 10 days it has been.Thanks for coming along on this journey with me Jason.

Thank yous: to everyone I want to thank - thanks to you for getting me drunk last night, this morning, and tonight, and potentially more than likely tomorrow evening too! Love yous all xxx

Thank yous

There are so many people I need and want to thank. You have helped me cross the channel today. There are so many to thank. So I have come iup with a genius plan to do it! I will have a beer for each person I want to thank, and 3 for those that have been uber supportive. So that takes me to about 3 beers hahaha no just kidding. More like 30 .... lets see I go woooo LOVE YOU ALL. Tinky out.

Completed!!!

Just a quick note to say Im done: 7 hours 6 minutes. First half of the race done in 2.5 hours...  will post Garmin info later xxx

Two Sleeps To Go For Race Number 85

Aloha Everyone. This time (7:30am Hawaii Time) in 2 days time  (Sunday), I will be on the water and have just started by Molokai Channel crossing. My first solo crossing. Preparations so far have been smooth. Training runs out from Manalua Bay have been great. Manalua Bay is where we finish, so to paddle the finish line area is very important to get a feel for the winds from the mountains (that push you out to sea/Waikiki) and the swell (which is tidal). If I was to do a straight line from the final headland - Koko Head - to the finish line, I would also have to battle against the wind from the mountains. The alternative is to hug the wall (the coast line) the whole way into Manalua Bay which gets me more shelter from the winds but then I need to surf the reef breaks. But it should be high tide, so not breaking to much. This tactic is important because it is the last 20 minutes (2km) of the race and this is when I will be the most tired and fatigued. Hopefully the Snickers and Dr Pepper will give me a good sugar hit and I may just be able to power through and take the straight line.....

Planet Sun Hawaii

Picked up my race pack yesterday from Duke's. Still doesn't feel real...that I am doing this... but have no doubt it will feel real mid channel when I will feel so small in amongst the 8 foot average swells and 15 knot average wind speed, not being able to see land, and paddling across a channel that runs to 2300 feet deep, and where the water temperature is 2 degrees warmer than the air temperature.

Final training run on Oahu today too. Getting the drink bottle system fine tuned too which is great! Will post a photo of the final board setup next week.

We got some fantastic all natural sunscreen for our trip across the channel from Planet Sun Hawaii (http://www.planetsunhawaii.com/) so a big thank you to John and Ben at Planet Sun Performance Sunscreen and UV Protection (All Natural sunscreen = I LOVE IT!!)

Hawaii Kai Marina

My gear and bottles for race day

We loaded up the boat yesterday at Hawaii Kai Marina (which is right behind Manalua Bay on the south east side of Oahu). We gave Bobby (the boat captain) all the gear required for the race day, including my race number - 85! Bobby is also going to take my board over for me which is great because it means I can get the board off the boat this afternoon and have a final (final) training run tomorrow afternoon. Also left my finish line back at Kathryn and Ricks place for Rick to bring to the finish line for me. It's a bright pink Victoria's Secret bag so hopefully he won't mind carrying that over for me!! Thanks Rick!

Leaving for the airport to fly to Molokai later on this afternoon. A tiny little propeller plane. Seats about 9-12 people. Wooo. It's like my own private jet but with propellers, so my own private propeller (doesn't quite have the same ring to it!).

REALLYYYY???!!!!

Not sure what the Internet setup is over on Molokai in the condo and there is no cell reception so it will be hard to contact you, but when I finish, I will send out a text message to let you know.

Signing off now.... heading into the final couple of days before the biggest adventure and journey of my life begins.

Day 5 in Hawaii

First trip EVER to CostCo with Kathryn today. And OMG!! It is amazing. You can buy any there. Including a 7 piece modular sofa! The store is like the warehouse of Ikea in Sydney. Floor to ceiling shelving stocked with gigantic packets of everything. I found Dr Pepper 24 pack for US$7.50 (perfect for the race if I run out of my special fluids/powder mixes) and a tray of 48 Snickers bars (hello chocolate ass!!). You can walk in, buy a diamond ring, a BBQ and 800 rolls of toilet paper. I heart CostCo! Check out these few photos I posted - clearly the pictures do not do justice to the actual thing, but you get the idea!

We had a sleep in this morning (until 6:30am) and had a nice leisureley brekky at the hotel. Went to the beach in front of the Moana to see if we could find Kylie and Heidi (Colin and Jason's wife's). Found them!! Woo, so much easier than finding someone on Bondi Beach in Sydney - 40,000 people on the beach in the peak of summer = crazy (which I why I live in Maroubra now!). Kylie, Jason and I all went surfing at Waikiki for an hour and loooved it. First surf since I landed and could not wait to get out on the 9ft board and get onto some nice long runs. When we were paddling out, some guy had a collision with a girl on a board and he broke his wrist - it was hanging at a right angle to his forearm = gross. Clearly I had to be careful not to get injured myself, so perhaps I will leave the surfing until I finish the channel crossing....Surfing with a bunch of random learners when I have a huge race in a few days is probably not the best idea!! Ahhh :)

Jason and I enjoyed a nice dinner at Duke's this evening, and guess what, the serving sizes were managable this time!! Wooooo! Although, I think I kinda like the idea of eating until I can't fit into my pants anymore and have to unbutton the top button and gaze out into the space because I am in a food coma.

Are you wondering why there is a random photo of me sitting in a chair.... yup, me too!


How to get these quotes on my board? Sticky tape and plastic cover??
"Embrace the pain... it won't last forever"
"Your mind will take you there"
"Luck has nothing to do with it"

Food In Hawaii

For someone who can eat my dinner and then walk around and finish other people's dinner (laa laa too!!) it will come as a surprise to you that the entree size servings here are defeating me EVERY MEAL TIME.

Surprise From The Hookers

Jason getting into the helicopter

Windward side of the island

Waimea Bay

Sandra and Jason organised a surprise "kick ass in your paddle race" surprise for me yesterday afternoon. To my delight it was a flight around the island of Oahu in a helicopter!!! SOOOO EXCITEMENT! The flight was amazing and a super duper present - THANK YOU SANDRA AND JASON (lubcheck!).

We headed out to the helicopter in the afternoon - best time for flying because the morning rains are gone. Standing opposite the Honolulu International Airport was a bit surreal because you are never allowed onto the tarmac quiet like this. The pilot was constantly changing his radio frequency to whoever was controlling the airspace he was about the fly through. Military and the airport control tower were the main ones. If they didn't allow us clearance we just hung about until we did!!

The views from the chopper were nuts! Truly an amazing and dramatic landscape. And did you know, that the Big Island is the youngest of all the islands and that's why it still have lava flows!??!

And what an eclectic group of people we had in the chopper. One guy had Jason and I in stiches of laughter just because he wanted to talk about the watermelons and whatevr else he grew on his farm here way back when. Doesn't he realised no-one cares and that whatever you say in the chopper will be recorded and used as evidence against you later!! Seriously, the helicopter records the everything you say and the scenery and then you can buy the DVD and listen to these idoits for the rest of your life!! Too funny. The DVD doesn't to the real thing justice at all. Perhaps my Sanyo footage will.... umm.

By the way, if you don't already know, crackers are crackers and cheese is cheese... checking you are reading!!!

Tinky out xxxx