I heart jellyfish.

People here on Oahu complain about Kona Winds (which to me, just seems to mean no wind, but I'm not a scientist or anything. Oh wait --) but the ocean is so gorgeous on Kona days that I can't bother to complain about the heat. This is the view from the far end of Waikiki this morning, before Katherine, Ingrid and I headed out for a short pre-race workout:


The surf at Diamond Head was small, but so glassy and pretty we had to stop and take a look, and a picture.. mushroom heads!

Then we hopped in the water. There wasn't a jellyfish sign up yet, but we had just discussed half an hour earlier that it was time. They come each month, about a week after the full moon. Mornings are the worst. Out at the windsock:


That was the last happy moment, before I swam face-first into a pile of jellyfish. Damn you, box jellyfish. I come into your habitat at your time of the month and splash around in my inefficient human way.. and you sting me across the face. Ow.

The really, really nice beach boy, whose name I forget, had vinegar. He was so nice that when he told me to put my goggles on before he sprayed my face down and I said I don't know where they are, he replied, they're on your head, without adding dumbass to the end. Thank god he had vinegar, because the other best thing to do is kind of gross. Especially on the face.

I now have a giant red nose, kind of like bozo. And I'm all welted up and swollen.

And this is my whiney, my-face-hurts face.

Tomorrow is the Lanikai Triathlon. It's a sprint, and it's going to be crazy. Ingrid hasn't raced in a couple of years and she's an ass-kicker who just did the Cape Epic mountain bike stage race in South Africa. And Katherine is always right up there too, not to mention all the other great Oahu athletes.. the last 1/2 mi of the run is on the beach, in the water.. it's going to be fun.