Sister Cho

She tried calling me 25 times a week ago Friday. I was too busy to pick up. I finally did pick up 4 times, but each time there was no one there. I wrote down in my planner "Call Sis. Cho". I didn't get to it Monday, so I wrote it on Tuesday's "to-do" list. Didn't get it done Tuesday. Wednesday. Didn't happen. She tried calling again, but I couldn't answer. Again she called. Then Saturday came. I was at the race about to go out. She called once more. I finally listened to the message on Monday. "Please," she said in a weak voice, " I have tried to call you so many times. Please call me. This is an emergency." I called her twice later that day, but no one picked up. Today a friend told me she had passed away. They assume she had died Saturday or Sunday.

And now I am thinking to myself, why didn't I call? In my head I answer, "Because I was too busy. Because I was trying to take care of my kids. Because I was working. Because I knew it would be a long phone call that would take conscious listening because her accent is hard to understand." But my heart retorts, "I had a lot of time." Or maybe I should have had a lot of time. I pray every day to be prompted to know who can use my help that day and to do something about it. I think I had received enough promptings, but did nothing about it. The hand was knocking, but I wasn't answering, and now I wish things were different.

Battle of the Paddle

So, we finished the race! And because of a few holdups on our end, that's excitement for us. Here's the scoop:

I did the 4 mile open race on a surfboard, and was happy to come in 4th overall in the womens' division. However, I was just happy to have finished the race! I was super stoked to have had 3 lessons the day before, but 5 hours of paddling in the sun the day before a race probably isn't the smartest training one could do, and I was considering not entering at all. But I was glad I did.

I'm the third person in this photo

Finishing the race

Here's me with my friend Beccy, who happens to also be an instructor for our fitness class (SUP-FIT.com). She came in 1st in the women's stock (race board) race!

Nate's race was the Big Race of the day, with racing boards and "the best of the best" paddlers. It was 5.5 miles in and out of surf in a crazy M shape, and between each of the 3 laps the paddlers were to run through a shoot on the beach before reentering the water.

There were SO many paddlers in this race, too! Check out the video to get a glimpse of how many people there were.

Nate came in smiling his first lap. Then I waited and waited for him to come in on his second lap. He didn't come in. And then the finishers began to come in, and Nate still hadn't come in from his 2nd lap! Where was he?!? Finally, he came in; his board had snapped in half shortly after beginning his 2nd lap! He was deetermined to stay on course, so for the next mile he paddled a wonky board that, with the added water weight, weighed 100lbs!!

When he got in, he ran to find another board, ran through the shoot, then back again for the 3rd lap while all the paddlers finished their race. Nate was out there all alone determined to finish.

I told the girls to watch their daddy -- he'll come in strong anyway. And if you check out the video of his finish, he came in really strong -- and still smiling! He inspires me. He charged harder and longer than any paddler out there, and came in looking more alive than any of the finishers.

Can you hear Kezia cheering her heart out for her daddy?

Somehow in the midst of all that was going on, Grandma the baby whisperer was able to soothe two 2yr olds to sleep. She's amazing like that. (Elysse is on the right; Juliana is a girl that has been staying with us for a few days while her parents vacation)

Kezia and Ivy played and swam the whole day long. They have so much fun together and their fear of the ocean diminishes more and more each time we go.

SUP into Summer race

The results are in: Nate got 2nd in his division, 5th over all; I got 3rd in my division, and really, I was just happy to have finished!!

Waiting for the blow horn...

It was a pretty brutal race - 4 miles following a triangular course straight out in the ocean. To give you a feel for what it was like, it was like doing an isometric squat on a balance board for an hour while doing triceps pulldowns as fast and as hard as you can. But we had great conditions, there was a good vibe in the water, and the best part of it all was a complimentary massage afterward. The girls had a great time playing on a large party disc with other kids. And we all came home bearing signs of time in the sun.

And for some wild reason, we are doing another 4 mile race in Waikiki this coming weekend....

Here's a video of the start of the race.

I was really proud of Nate. He was leading the pack for almost the whole race. Here's Nate's finish (sorry it's sideways!) Nate is the further one behind the first guy. Look how neck-to-neck these guys are! The guy that was a step ahead of him happened to be in a different division, so they both got 2nd anyway, and had a good laugh about it.

Nate with his 2nd place "medal"

Here's my finish. I ran all the way to the tent where our girls were cheering me on. Thanks, girls!

Training for the race

We didn't have a lot of time to train for the race, so we used our kids to increase the effectiveness of our training sessions. Like I say in the video, if you've got 'em, use 'em!