Home sweet.. something something.

The 9 hour flight from Chicago and the huge time difference make for a long day. I am about 3 bpm shy of a coma, and kids passed out at 6 pm.

The last days in Chicago were excellent. I swam in the dark in Lake Michigan with the Waterstraats until lightning chased us out. Then we tried to outrun a tornado in Aunt Rebecca's Suburban, which made me feel like Helen Hunt in Twister, except I wasn't bitching at Bill Paxton, I was badgering Liz & Chris about whether we really had to stop and hide under furniture as instructed by the radio. Lightning is rare in Hawaii. Driving back into the city I couldn't count to three without seeing this.. it was better than fireworks.

We saw Ken Griffey Jr.'s White Sox debut from the bleachers, but didn't last the entire 14 innings of the game. I did, however, drink beer from a plastic cup and eat peanuts for dinner. We ate at the Original Pancake House, made one more pass of Barack's place (no Barack), bartered our way past a two-hour line at the Shedd and reintroduced the kids to their Great Grandpa Bob. And then we said our good-byes. We miss the grandparents already.. the kids were inquiring about a Chicago move for most of the flight. They've only seen it in the summer.

And something else happened in Chicago. In four days of training I ran 26 miles, swam 7.5k and rode my first long ride of 70+ miles. Kona is less than ten weeks away, and I am actually training for it. Finally. It took me too long and in the end the recovery from ITBS required some expert-overruling, many skipped or wimpy workouts, and a whole lot of patience and trust that I know my body best. I know the formula now. I spent some time with a Chicagoland sports med guru whom people travel from continents away to see. He showed me the weaknesses that got me into such an ugly place and how to keep it from ever happening again. He also told me I must give up the 24/7 slipper-wearing.. what?!? I can't handle cold turkey, so it will be a slow wean.

This weekend I'll race 2.4 miles from Pipeline to Waimea, ride up and back to/from the race for 100+ miles, and run 2+ hours. Let's go, Kona.