April - May 2009

Ironman California 70.3

I love racing "Ralphs" every year as it is a great gauge of my fitness against a very high quality field. After finishing 6th in my age group last year I hoped to finish in the top 5 and get on the podium this year. I knew I knew based on my bike at the desert triathlon a few weeks earlier that I was riding fast but was not sure I had the fitness to ride well for 56 miles. I had been running very consistently this year but had not done many longer or faster runs.

Kylie and I drove down on Friday to register and catch up with a few friends. We stayed with a fiend of Kylies that now lives in the San Diego area, which was greatly appreciated.

Race morning was VERY cold and I eventually put on my wetsuit just to keep warm. The water though was not nearly as cold as last year. We were also very fortunate as the swim conditions were the calmest I have seen at this race. Unfortunately, my swim fitness was not as good this year as it has been in the past and despite the fast conditions I was about a minute and a half slower than I typically swim here. On the bike I felt very strong and purposefully held back in the first half of the ride so I would be strong on the back half of the course which is much hillier than the first half. Over the course of the ride I ended up in a small group of about 5 athletes of similar ability. We raced our way through many people from earlier waves, pushing each other to ride fast and fortunately everyone in our little group rode cleanly, keeping adequate distance from the rider in front. this winds were a bit more favorable this year and I rode significantly faster this year.
On the run I made sure to hold back as last year I had gone out too hard and ran the second lap much slower. I was more consistent this year and was a couple minutes faster despite having to deal with running through about a 1/4 mile of sand each direction on each lap.

I ended up going 4:34 this year versus 4:41 last year but dropped from 6th to 8th in Men 35-39.





Run Through Redlands
The Run Through Redlands is a big running race that has taken place in Redlands for over 20 years. There is a 5km, a 10km and a half marathon. Between the 3 races there a few thousand participants. Having just done Cali 70.3 a week earlier I did not race but we set up a booth in the expo to promote Redlands Spine and Sport.




PossAbilities Triathlon

This race is held each year in Loma Linda, California and is a special race for Kylie and I as it is the race we met at in 2006. It is another reverse triathlon with a 5km run, then a 10 mile bike and a 100 yard pool swim. Due to the short distances and the pool swim, a significant number of the participants are new to the sport of triathlon. However there is also a prize purse for the pros, so each year there are a few fast pro men and women competing for the money. I always enjoy racing against these elite athletes as it is a chance to get a first hand look at how fast they are.

This year was fun as I went back and forth for the whole 5km run with Bryan Rhodes, last years winner of Ironman Canada. Of course once we mounted our bikes he dropped me very quickly as he rode to the front of the race. I caught another of the pro men right at the end of the bike and was making up ground on the 3rd place guy in the race, but he passed me half way through the swim and we ended up just a few seconds back of the 3rd place guy. Bryan ended up second as he had to take the time to remove his socks before the swim - that sock change cost him over a thousand dollars! Michellie Jones won the womens race as she has done numerous times here before.

Wildflower Triathlon
The following weekend Kylie and I headed up to watch the Wildflower Triathlon at Lake San Antonio in Central California. We had a dinner party to go to the night before, so we did not leave until almost 10 PM. We made good time and pulled into the campground around 3AM. Since we would only be sleeping a few hours Kylie slept in the back of the CRV with Gracie and I laid my sleeping bag on the ground and slept until the sun came up an the athletes started milling about. As we walked to watch the start we bumped into Jocelyn Wong a friend of Kylie's from Harvey Mudd College who now races for Team TBB. We walked by the huge transition area and then watched the pro start. Once they were underway we walked a mile or so into the course so we could watch the athletes make their way up the tough climb known as Beach Hill. It was fun to see all these great athletes and surprise a few friends that were racing that did not expect to see us out there. Just before the first women started to climb the hill A mother deer and her young got spooked by a race motorcycle and got separated. The mother bounded up the hill but the young ones could not make it and were running scared up the hill right in front of Leanda Cave (pic above). We eventually walked to the "hot corner" where we could watch the athletes come in on the bike as well as catch them part way through the run course. Finally we headed to the finish and were able to see most of the top pros finish including our friend Scott Curry who had a great early season race coming out of a cold Calgary winter. Unfortunately, Tereza had a mechanical problem and was unable to finish the race.

Big Bear
One of the great things about living in Redlands is that we have such easy access to the local mountains. We finally took advantage of this and headed up to Big Bear with our friends Sean and Heidi and their dogs Walter and Misty May. We parked at one of the trailheads in Big Bear and hiked along a beautiful trail to the top of one of the local peaks.
After the hike we had a great lunch a a local Mexican restaurant.


We also went to one of the beaches on Big Bear Lake. Gracie REALLY wanted to play with some of the ducks ;-)







OC Duathlon
Kylie and I were scheduled to race the OC Duathlon along with some of the EE kids. This race brought out some strong competition as it was the USAT Southwest regional duathlon championship. It consisted of a 5km run, a 40km hilly bike and another 5km run.
It was a chilly morning and we knew it would feel even colder on the bike as some fog, clouds and rain were hanging in the valley where the bike course was located.
I started the 5km run running behind Luke Bell. At about one mile I knew that if I did the whole first run with him, I would not ride well, so I dropped back into the small pack that had formed a short way back. I had a quick transition and was out on the bike in 2nd place. After a few miles one of the pro men, Karl Bordine (former pro cyclist as well) flew by me, followed by Mac Brown another pro. Once I reached Santiago Canyon itself a few age group cyclists came by on one of the biggest hills. Initially I could not respond and keep up with their pace, As the ride went on, and I got more warmed up I was able to bring these athletes back and came into transition in the lead age group pack. Chad Walton who had won this race last year was a short way ahead of me out of transition and I bridged up to him by the first mile. At the turnaround I went by him but he stuck with me and we went back and forth until the climb to the finish with a half mile to go. At this point he surged and I just did not have the top end speed to stay with him. In the end I was 5th over all and 2nd age grouper.
1st run: 17:15, bike: 1:00:35, 2nd run: 18:06.
Kylie had a great race as well and was third in her age group.

March 2009

Redlands Classic Road Race

The Redlands Classic is one of the biggest events in the Redlands area. The city is very much behind this historical race and is probably one of the reasons there is such a large cycling community here. My new office is located downtown right on the biggest corner of the crit course. We erected our EZ up and a bunch of lawn chairs in front of the office to catch all of the action. We also had a table set up offering free water and lemonade for the spectators and encouraged them to take some of our office literature. The first picture shows the mens pro race spread out along an entire block as they picked up the pace accelerating out of the sharp turn in front of the office. The second is Gracie with a new found friend ;-) This little boys dad was watching the race and stopped for some lemonade so his boy decided to lay down against Gracie to play with her.
Xantusia

The following week we headed up the mountain to Xantusia - the home of Dan Empfield and his neighbor Mark Montgomery, two legends in the sport of triathlon. There was a BBQ, numerous bike fittings by Dan, Jordan Rapp and John Cobb, and a group bike ride up to the local ski resort. The first pic shows some of the group just pre ride.
Down in the valley floor where Dan and Monty live it was a beautiful day for a ride and actually quite warm. After a short loop on the desert floor we began the climb towards Highway 2.
As we climbed higher the flora changed from desert vegetation to mountain pines. Along the way the temperatures also dropped. By the time we reached Highway 2 across from the ski resort there was a fair bit of snow on the ground but we were working hard enough to stay warm. After a short chat at the top we bundled up for a fun descent back down to Xantusia.

Here's Kylie approaching the top with snow visible through the trees.

Desert Triathlon

Kylie and I traveled to La Quinta with the kids from Exceeding Expectations for the Desert Triathlon, which is a 1km swim, 40km bike and a 10km run. Between the triathlon and duathlon we had a number of kids at this race. After helping the kids get registered and helping to make sure their bikes were ready to race we got our own transition area ready and then headed to the start.
I sighted well and stayed right on the buoy line but had a very lackluster swim. I tried to make up some time in transition and got quickly onto the bike. The bike takes you out from the lake area to a loop which you do twice. The loop is very flat and did get a little crowded on the second loop as we started to lap those on their first loop. I started out near a small group of guys on the first lap and dropped them on the second lap. Just before turning back to the lake I was passed by a guy in my age group. Onto the run I passed a number of people and got to within 10 seconds of the guy who passed me on the bike before he extended his lead back to about 20 seconds by the finish to win our age group. So 2nd in Men 35-39 and 8th overall. Swim and run are not yet where they need to be but I was quite pleased with my bike ride.

Redlands Spine & Sport

Redlands Spine & Sport finally opened in February 2009. This first picture shows the front of the office with our new sign over the door.



I had a grand opening coupon produced that I gave away at local races, at chamber events, my networking group and anywhere else I could make people aware of our new office.


We had a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Redlands Chamber of Commerce which brought dozens of people through the office. Many stayed for a couple hours to enjoy the food and wine!


Our Adjusting Room. The computer is part of our Electronic Health Record system. The Leander flexion distraction table is great for patients with low back pain or lumbar disc bulges.



Reception Area.










Our Examination Room includes a digital x-ray system.

January - February 2009

HIGHLAND HALF MARATHON
Our first race of 2009 was the Highland Half Marathon. This is a local race, less than 10 miles from our house. The course is actually part of one of our regular rides we do on weekday mornings. As a result I knew this race would be a steady uphill on the way out and a fast downhill all the way back. Once again we were volunteering with the Exceeding Expectations kids so our day started early as we picked up some of the kids to bring them to the race and then helped to make sure they all got registered and got their numbers. It was a cool morning and I felt cold the whole time, even during my warm up run.

Once the race finally began we had a short straight away before a right hand turn up a steep hill, by the time we got to the top of this hill we had a group of 5 with a large gap on the rest of the field. After a couple more right hand turns we turned downhill before making a left turn onto the road where 90% of the race would take place. By about mile 2 I realized that I did not yet have the fitness to hold onto this group for the rest of the race and I had to let them go. For the next 5 and a half miles or so we continued to climb towards the turnaround where we would descend to mile 12.5 and then climb the last half mile to the finish. If I thought the uphill was tough on the legs, the downhill was just murder on the quads. (My toes were not too happy about all the downhill either). Once I let the lead group go the race was pretty uneventful. I didn't catch anyone and no one caught me, so I finished 5th overall in 1:22:53. The time is actually quite deceiving as I believe I had the fitness to run under 1:20 on a flatter course.

Kylie had an AMAZING race! She ran 1:48 which is her best time for the half marathon distance. Unbelievable to run a PR on that course. Her training is really paying off.

PIRU 20KM TIME TRIAL
The following weekend Kylie and I traveled to the Santa Clarita area to do our first cycling race - a 20km time trial. We really enjoyed being able to really push ourselves on the bike without having to worry about running afterwards. We had fun and will probably do more of these in the future. We both won the public division which was an added bonus!

REDLANDS TRIATHLON
To finish off our three consecutive weeks of racing we raced our hometown event, the Redlands Triathlon. I have won this race the last two years so I felt a bit of pressure to repeat as champion. Fortunately we were so busy helping the Exceeding Expectations kids get registered and getting their bikes ready that there was no time to dwell on what was going to happen in the race. Unfortunately though, as is typical with this race the3 weather refused to cooperate and we had to deal with cold rain throughout the morning.

The race is a reverse triathlon with a 5km run, an 8ish mile bike and a 150 yard pool swim. As soon as the gun went off there were a bunch of people that went out VERY fast, but I knew that most of them were doing the 5km race and that many would start to fall back by the 1st mile mark. The only person I was worried about was another local athlete Kyle Simmons, who had finished 2nd here last year. He is a talented athlete who will be leaving to run track and cross country at a university in Arizona this fall. My plan was to try to limit the time he put into me on the run so I could catch him on the bike and then win the race on the swim. I did a pretty good job finishing the run within striking distance to Kyle and was confident I would catch him within the first lap of the bike just like last year. However, it was not to be. I felt like I was pushing hard, but just couldn't make up any ground and felt like I was struggling to maintain speed. On the way out on the second lap I finally realized I had a slow leak in my back tire which explained why I felt so sluggish! I was a little worried on the downhill coming back to transition and rode very conservatively to make sure I stayed upright. From transition I ran to the pool to see Kyle almost finished the swim and knew the race win was his.

A big congratulations to Kyle as even without my flat tire he was very strong today and would have won regardless.

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA
We were able to catch two stages of the Tour of California this year. On Saturday we headed down to Pasadena and met up with friends Rich Sawiris and Vickie Appel of Wheelbuilder.com to watch the finishing laps around the Rose Bowl. Kylie and Gracie are on the hill across the street with Lance and eventual Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer in foreground.

The next day we drove down to San Diego to watch the start of the big stage that included a climb up Palomar Mountain. It was the first time we have been at the start of a stage of a big cycling event like this. The atmosphere was very cool with all of the team buses, team cars, riders and fans everywhere. Of course the biggest groups of fans were around the Astana bus as people hoped to catch a glimpse of Lance Armstrong in his first big event since coming out of retirement. I did manage to get a pretty good picture of Lance as he headed to the start line from his bus.

December 2008

TINSEL TRIATHLON - 1st Overall!

Kylie and I raced the Tinsel Triathlon in Hemet, CA for the first time. We knew a lot of people at this race as there was a good showing from Inland Inferno and we were volunteering with the Exceeding Expectations group. It was a VERY cold morning, we actually had to scrape frost off of the car window before we started to drive. Once at the race site we registered, set up our transition area and then helped to get the kids ready to race (pumping bike tires, making sure they all had numbers and got them set up in transition).

The Tinsel Tri is a reverse order sprint triathlon that has been going on for many years. This was by far its biggest turn out ever with over a 1000 people in the tri and accompanying 5km race! I found it tough to get going initially in the cold and was a ways back after a mile, but I slowly closed the gap to the front and passed a number of people by the end of the 5km. I had a quick transition and on the bike I quickly caught a couple of runners that were just ahead, in another mile or so we passed the guy who had led the run so it was just three of us. The bike is about 12 miles long and is very flat and fast. None of us was able to get away by the end of the bike so we entered transition together. They were in trisuits so just got off their bikes and ran to the pool, I had worn a long sleep cycling jersey that I needed to get off but the zipper broke and it took me a while to get it off. I figured I had lost the race right there but ran to the pool, and jumped in. On the second length I caught one of the guys and realized as I made the final turn that I could catch the first guy as well. I pushed the final 50 meters hard to pass him and get out of the pool and to the line in first place!

Kylie also had a great race and finished first in her age group!


As I mentioned in the November 2008 post, I finally found office space! Here is the picture of the space right after I signed the lease. After all the difficulty finding a space I really lucked out with this one. Its downtown, has 6 of its own parking spots and the build out was done by the previous tenants. I spent a lot of time in December shopping around for deals on furniture, equipment and supplies to get ready for the opening.

We had a huge December snowstorm and decided to take a drive into the mountains to check it out. We drove up to Angeles Oaks and hiked some fire roads which were closed due to almost 2 feet of snow! Gracie LOVED it!

We spent Christmas this year in the Bay area with Kylies family. We enjoyed a number of runs and hikes in the trails of China Camp State Park. Kylies mom and Dennis have a trail that leads from their backyard and connects to this park which is awesome. Picture is of Gracie enjoying the smells, the trails and the views over the bay during one of our walks.

After another awesome Christmas morning run in the State Park we came back to enjoy Christmas with family and opened presents. Rope toys are Gracie's favorite, so she was very happy to receive a new one ;-)

November

Can't believe that November is already behind us and the holidays are just ahead. Much of November was spent working toward the opening of my new office. Things are moving along but not nearly as quickly as I might have hoped. I finally found a good location and signed a lease! I got the key last week and hope to open in January. The difficult part has been securing the funding I wanted to purchase equipment and supplies as well as cover overhead for the first few months . The credit crunch has made lenders very leary about lending to start up businesses. The equipment vendors I am dealing with have never seen someone with credit as good as mine have difficulty securing loans in their 20+ years in business. Oh well, Redlands Spine And Sport will open in January, we just may have to wait a year or so to add some of the equipment and services we had hoped to have at our opening. I can't wait to get out of the house and into the office treating patients and helping them to get well!

Run training has been very consistent as we have continued to run every day. I am now doing more of the runs on my own so more of my weekly miles are at a faster pace while we still have "family runs" on other days. Unfortunately, my swimming and cycling have not been nearly as consistent, which is something I want to work on in December and January as I build towards California 70.3 in April.

In early November we made a road trip up to Santa Cruz and the Bay area for a wedding and visited with Kylies family.

A couple weeks later we went to Arizona to cheer on a number of friends that were racing Ironman Arizona. It was fun to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in many years. I swam with Scott Curry at the Gatorade swim the day before the race. Scott and I used to race against each other 10 years ago, he has continued to progress in the sport and is a phenomenal athlete. We also reminisced about the Trisport Series with Graham Fraser as I raced in his series throughout most of the 90's. We were also cheering for Marky V who is Kylie's coach. We brought Gracie with us and she loved it all - the drive, getting petted by tons of different people, walking for hours while we cheered and especially getting to sleep on the bed.The next day after watching the race we headed out to Tucson to visit Kylies brother and his family. Coincidentally her dad and bonus mom Wendy were also visiting that weekend as well so we got to have an early family Thanksgiving dinner! We had a great time and a great meal but it sure was difficult keeping my eyes open on the drive back to California with that tryptophan in my system. ;-)

October Running

Over the summer, I was dealing with some chronic shin issues that never had the chance to heal. After our last big race of the year - Muskoka 70.3 I took a break and did not run for the rest of September allowing my legs the chance to rest and recover.

After those couple weeks I began a new running regime. I ran frequently but for short periods of time and at an easier pace. I want to allow my legs to build up their strength slowly to avoid injury. Since the beginning of October I have run every day. The first week I ran only 10 minutes, the second week 15 minutes, etc. I am now doing 30 minutes every day and my legs feel GREAT. Not a hint of discomfort.

Typically my running speed will be in the 7:00-7:30 range for almost all of my runs. In this build though I have been enjoying running with Kylie and Gracie for all of the runs and have thus been running around 9 minute miles. Not only have we been able to enjoy a lot of family time on our runs but the runs have benefited us in different ways. The reduced speed for me has allowed me to increase my run frequency while allowing my shin to heal. At the same time, Kylie has enjoyed the the company on her runs and has benefited from the consistency.

While I will start to increase the speed on many of my runs as I build towards next years races, we will keep a couple family runs each week as we both love them so much.

Muskoka 70.3

I grew up in Canada, and raced in Graham Fraser's Trisport Series from 1993 until 1998, when I moved to Southern California for chiropractic college. When they announced the Muskoka 70.3 race last year Kylie and I signed up immediately. I was excited to race again in Ontario after 10 years away and Kylie was excited about doing an international race and having a vacation in Canada.

A few months after signing up for the race we got engaged. We decided to have our wedding a week before the race so we could have a reception with our Canadian family and friends while we were already going to be in Canada. Its pretty crazy that you have to sign up for these races further in advance than it takes to plan a wedding ;-)

A month or two before the race we were contacted by one of writers for the local newspaper and he did a story about us coming to the area from California to do the race on our honeymoon. http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/article/114750

We were surprised when we picked up the race program and saw that our picture also ended up on the front of it - a very cool honeymoon memento!

As this race was on our honeymoon we raced in bride and groom jerseys that Kylie's mom had bought for us. Our running visors and our shorts had "just married" logos and Kylie had a veil sewn into her visor ;-)

On the Friday before the race we went to Deerhurst resort in Huntsville to register for the race and to do a short swim on the course. We also drove the bike course, which made us realize that while there was no huge hills on the course, there was no flat on the course either! It went up and down constantly which would definitely make it challenging. Th e roads were in great condition for the most part, except for a few miles near the end.

Saturday morning we dropped off our bikes at the transition area before heading to my dads house for our Canadian wedding reception (see previous blog post). That night we again stayed at my brothers house in Bracebridge which was a very manageable 25 minute drive to the race site. We awoke a few times during the night to the sound of very heavy rain and hoped it would pass by morning.

On race morning we drove to Huntsville in intermittent light rains, still hoping it would not get any worse and maybe even clear up. Kylie and I set up our transition areas and then headed down to the swim start. Our trip to the swim start took longer than expected as we kept bumping into people and chatting. I all of a sudden realized I needed to HURRY to the water as I was in the first age group wave and the pros had already gone off.

I made it to the water with only a moment to spare so I did not get the chance to get a warm up of any kind. The horn sounded and we were off! Within about a 100 meters or so I started to hyperventilate, due to the lack of warm up and then going out hard at the start. After almost coming to a complete stop to catch my breath and let what seemed to be the whole wave pass me by I was able to start swimming again. Once I got going I started to feel really good in the water. After turning at the the second buoy we had a very long straight to the last turn buoy, which was very difficult to see. Fortunately I had made a mental note during our practice swim of a white boathouse on shore behind the buoy that I could swim towards. Almost everyone I was swimming with started to drift very wide here while I was able to hold a straight line to the final turn. After that last turn we swam toward the exit at a set of stairs they had built for the race. We got out of the water on the golf course and had to run about 300 meters up a big hill around the hotel to get to the transition area. As I got to transition I heard the announcer say that the first age grouper had just started the bike which was a very pleasant surprise because I figured with my problems at the beginning of the swim that I would have been further back.

T1 was uneventful, just a quick in and out. I decided to leave my sunglasses there as the rain had already begun falling harder. Fortunately, it was not cold or it could have gotten quite miserable.

I immediately felt pretty good on the bike and began to pass some of the pro women who had started a few minutes ahead. About five miles in I passed someone from my age group and asked how far ahead the leader was and he told me that I was it! I hoped he was right but, I still asked each of the next three or four pro women I passed just to be sure. We certainly were not mistaken about the difficulty of this course, it was unrelenting! Up, down, up, down, corner, up , down...fortunately it was as beautiful as it was difficult. Around mile 40 I started to tighten up a bit and felt a bit rough over the next 10 miles or so. During this time three age groupers passed me and on one of the last hills I dropped my chain and one of the pro women I had passed earlier passed me back. The bike course was about two miles longer than a normal half ironman as the course circled Lake of Bays, so the only way to shorten it to the normal 56 miles would have been to build a bridge. So while it was one of my slowest half ironman bike rides, with the hills and the extra distance, it was actually a very solid ride. This was one of the first times I have gained the age group lead on the bike and held it into T2. My normalized power on the bike was 230 watts, while my AP was 220 watts. Basically one watt higher than I had done at California 70.3 in the spring.T2 went by quickly and I started the run pretty strongly but I had to make a concerted effort to slow myself down as I had been doing very little running this year due to a persistent shin injury that I had never given the time to properly heal.

Despite the downpours there were still a lot of spectators out cheering us on. My groom tuxedo jersey really got the crowds going and Kylie said she had the same reaction to her bride jersey and veil! Around mile 8 the wheels slowly started to come off. Around mile 9 I lost the age group lead and I was unable to respond. At mile 10 as we started to run on the golf course trails the eventual winner of my age group passed me. I could see a couple more runners behind me at that point and I had to dig REALLY deep for that last three miles to maintain my position. Between the unrelenting hills on the bike and run and the extra weight of my waterlogged socks and shoes my legs were trashed by the time I got to the finish line.After crossing the finish line I made my way to the ART tent and had my legs worked on. When I was finished I noticed that the massage tent looked pretty empty so I was able to get a massage as well! I picked up my dry clothes bag from the morning, and put on everything I had in an attempt to stay warm. I then tried to figure out where Kylie was on the course so I could cheer her on. I finally found her as she came by the finish area with three miles to go in her race. She looked GREAT! While everyone around her seemed to be struggling with the hills and the rain she was running strong. I headed back under a tent in an attempt to stay dry while I waited for her to finish. Once again I bumped into people I used to race against 10 years ago. I always enjoy catching up with people in the sport that I haven't seen for a long time.

Kylie finished really strong, she actually had a half marathon PB on THAT course in THOSE conditions! And her best overall placing in a race of that size. AWESOME!

We headed inside for some food and then headed to the awards ceremony. When I went up for my age group award Kevin MacKinnon noticed my tuxedo race outfit and asked me about it. So I was able to share that Kylie and I had just gotten married the previous week and that the race was part of our honeymoon!

The award was really cool, rather that a typical plaque or medal they had awards designed by a local artist. They were etched glass on pieces of local granite - very cool.

I would really recommend this race. Muskoka is one of the most beautiful places in the world, the course is challenging and Trisport has always been one of the best race organizers anywhere.

Honeymoon!

After the wedding Kylie and I rode the tandem up to her mom and Dennis' house. We changed, packed the car and then headed south, back to Monterey where we had reservations at The Sanctuary Resort. Kylie's mom decorated our car! Due to how hectic things had been for the couple months leading up to the wedding we were both exhausted. So while we did get up when our breakfast was delivered at 9AM we slept, read, ate and slept some more until 4:30! The latest either of us has ever stayed in bed. We enjoyed the fireplace all night and all day but it made the room too hot so we opened the patio door too keep the room cool. The bonus was since we had an oceanview room we could hear the waves crashing on the beach the whole time - a VERY relaxing sound. Here was the view of the ocean from our room:

Once we finally did wake up we went for a walk along the beach. We enjoyed the sand dunes that are are actually protected in the area, checked out the surf fisherman and everything that had washed up onto the shore, including this jellyfish!

That night we went into Monterey and had dinner at one of the seafood restaurants on the pier. The following day we got up early and rented kayaks to explore around Monterey Bay. We paddled around the pier and in front of the aquarium where we had stoppped with my family just days earlier. We were able to see a LOT of different sea life including sea otters, sea lions, seals and even dolphins! Initially we just saw the dolphins jumping a little ways off, in front of the jetty by the harbor, but on the way back we decided to kayak into the harbor and ended up coming across two dolphins. One actually jumped within 10 feet of my boat and VERY cool. Here is Kylie in front of a number of sea lions sleeping on the jetty.

After enjoying more of Monterey we headed back home to Redlands, so we could pack the next day for stage 2 of our honeymoon. This was to fly to Canada for our Canadian reception with all of my family and friends and then race a half ironman!

Upon reaching my dads house, they had a sign hanging outside the door welcoming, Michael and Kylie Donia. We visited with my dad and step mom that evening and the next day she took some more pictures for us. Including some very beautiful ones at a conservation area near Apsley. We then drove through Algonquin Provincial Park which was just beautiful, but unfortunately we were a little early for the fall colors, and did not get to see any moose. The next day we stayed with my brother as he lives close to Huntsville so we could get registered for our half ironman race and check out the race course. We were pleasantly suprised to see that our picture had been used on the front of the race program put out by the local newspaper! They had done a story on us because we were coming up to to the race from California for our honeymoon. :-)

We then headed back to my dads house the next day for our Canadian wedding reception. When we arrived we found a cool direction sign my dad had put up for our guests! They had a HUGE spread of amazing food. Many of my relatives and friends from college came out to celebrate with us. It was great to see everyone and we are thankful they were able to be there with us. The next day was our race, which I will save for its own blog post.

After the race we spent a day in Muskoka before heading into Toronto where we did some sightseeing, including the CN tower and dinner at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant to finish off the Canadian experience;-)

The final shot for this post is a picture Gisela took of us in their front yard.

Wedding Day

After a very hectic couple of months which included: giving my notice of resignation at work, moving to a new city, getting a dog, commuting 100 miles a day to the old job, wedding planning, training for a half ironman, beginning business planning for my own office, and travelling from So. Cal. to the Bay area with family, our wedding day was finally here!

The day before we had a rehearsal at McNears Beach Park where the ceremony would take place the following day. Here is Kylie and I standing in front of where we would be married less than 24 hours later.
To respect the tradition of not seeing the bride until she comes down the aisle I stayed at the hotel that night with my mom and Kylie stayed with her mom and Dennis. The next morning I got up and went for a run before getting ready for our big day. (Kylie was out running about the same time, so its a good thing we didn't bump into each other ;-) Here is my mom pinning on my corsage. And here is my brother Richard who was my best man, my dad and myself.

Then we got word that Kylie was on her way down to the park so Gisela finished with our pictures and I went to the Beach area so I wouldn't see Kylie while her pictures were done. After what seemed like a long time Richard came and got me so the ceremony could begin.

Kylie's nephews Ethan and Luke were our flower/ringbearer team. Luke had a little difficulty navigating the runner that was on top of the long grass, so he went down a few times, but they were awesome! Here Kylie is coming down the aisle with her mom and dad. It was an amzing wedding, a beautiful day, a fantastic setting, wonderful friends and family and a gorgeous bride! Presenting Mr. Michael and Mrs. Kylie Donia:Gisela got some beautiful pictures, I love the lighting as well as our expressions in this one:

Here is a picture of all of our new complete family that was there:

After pictures everyone sat down to eat:
There were a few and toasts including a very funny one by the best man:


Afterwards we had our dance:

We both LOVE ice cream. It is definately better than regular wedding cake so we asked a local ice cream shop if they could do a wedding cake. They had never done one before, but said they would buy the molds and make one for us. Each layer was a different flavor: strawberry ice cream with angel food cake, mint choclate chip ice cream with chocolate cake and cookies and cream ice cream with chocolate cake. IT WAS AWESOME! Our theme for the wedding was tandem bikes "Pedal Together Forever" so our cake topper was quite fitting:

We definately left the ceremony in style: