Sunset On The Kohala Coast

This is a picture that my friend Mark VanAkkeren took of my wife, Dana, while she was in Hawaii recently at the Honu 70.3. He snapped it without her knowledge and forwarded it to me. Sunsets on the big island are exceptionally beautiful. Hawaii is one of our favorite places to visit, especially in October ;)

I didn’t get a straight answer when I asked her what she was thinking about at the time that shot was taken. I suppose she was just taking in the beauty of the moment and pondering her future. I was back in Tulsa working and couldn’t make the trip. I could tell by the telephone conversations we had that she was relaxed and I could sense less tension in her voice. That is something watching sunsets on the big island will do for you. On the horizon for Dana are Ironman Canada, and hopefully another Ironman Hawaii qualification.

She has already qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in November and we will be taking the kids there for a vacation/ race. Last year in that race, she went 4:48, and that was three weeks after the Hawaii Ironman and 7 weeks after Ironman Canada. She is pretty durable.

On another note, we received an email the other day from one of the producers of, “Wife Swap”, a reality show on ABC. They were looking for a family of triathletes to be on the show. Apparently, a friend of ours had nominated us. Dana would be an excellent example of a mother, wife, and athlete for the country to model after. She would be perfect for the show. I’m just afraid that a show like that would try to bring out the negative aspects of our lifestyle. I would hesitate to imagine what kind of family we would be matched up with. Most likely, it would be something at the opposite polar end of the spectrum. Our life is pretty hectic and Dana spends a lot of time keeping the house in order, shuttling the kids to their activities, and providing our family with fine nutritious meals. I could imagine what havoc it would cause to have a slug dropped in her place.

Dana works very hard and when she is gone there is definitely a difference in the family dynamics. However, it is nice once and a while that she gets a break from the home and fast paced lifestyle to occasionally take trips, without the kids, relax, and take in a few sunsets.

Dana ended up getting 7th in the women’s 35-39 age group at Honu and went 5:15. She was pleased with her race and felt she had a great run in very difficult conditions. My friend Mark, ended up 7th overall with a 4:16, and won his age group by 16 minutes.