'Round The World Update

I just got off the phone with my parents who are having a great time in Egypt...here is my mom's latest e-mail update:

"Hello again friends,
Thanks so much for the good wishes.
Thailand was interesting....a fun bike ride through the banana and coconut plantations, a long-tail boat ride down the river, a look at the floating market (crazy) and a great cultural show called 'siam nirmat' was the first day and the second day was a massage (I will take one of those any day),an afternoon full of temples and palaces and finally a diner cruise on an old rice barge...the food was, to say the least, interesting !! Especially for me being a hamburger and french fry kind of gal.
Kenya.....how awesome the last 5 days have been, I think everyone should take a safari at least once in their life....our super guide, Joseph picked us up from the airport and drove straight to the 'masai mara', a very big park with every animal you could imagine...the weather has been awesome, quite cool every day and we did many game drives and the resort was 1st class. We spent 3 nights there and then moved on to another resort by a lake...it was awesome too.
Just now, we have been dropped off at the airport and we are waiting for our flight to Cairo...I will be sure to tell you all more about the adventure when we get home, but my heart is quite full and I am feeling wonderful after our visit to Africa.
I love you all and miss you a lot.
Thanks for your awesome friendship,
Karen"

Weekend With Family

While my immediate family members (brother, mother, father) are traveling the world and SEC states...I am taking the time to visit with my other family members.
Friday afternoon I picked up my Grandmother from her cottage in the front yard and we drove to Downtown DeLand for dinner at a little Italian restaurant called 'Vera's'. The meal was nothing to rave about...but getting to spend some time and talk with my Grandmother was enjoyable. I heard about some of her world travels...she loves telling stories about when she and Grandpa went to Japan:)
I got to sleep early on Friday night with my alarm set for 4:45am! Ouch...but I managed to drag my butt out of bed, scarf some breakfast and safely get on the road. I flew down I-95 for about an hour to Christmas, Florida...and followed the only other traffic on the roads into the Wetlands where the running race was starting.
Shockingly, it was VERY cold outside for this early morning race...we started at 7:06 (the full marathon started at 7:00, the 1/2 marathon at 7:03, and the 5K at 7:09). I noticed that the race was pretty small, but I still hoped that there would be some competition to push me to a fast time...but when I was leading the race after about 2 minutes, I knew it was going to be me versus me!
Unfortunately, the map I posted below was not accurate...we did not do a big loop...instead we did an out-and-back. But that did give me the opportunity to check my 1/2 way time and see how well I paced myself at the end. Speaking of 'the end'...I was a bit muddy, all the more fun!
I headed straight from the finish line to my car, pulled out my bike and got my hour cool down spin completed ASAP. Next stop was Rockledge, Florida at my Aunt Jan's house.
The day had warmed up by the time I was showered and changed so we headed out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe (very good portobello sandwich), some shopping at The Avenues, visited the Brevard Zoo for a few hours, drove through the Wetlands to see all the migrating birds, one quick stop at the grocery store for dinner and breakfast ingredients, and finally back home to rest, eat, and watch a movie before falling fast asleep! (That was a LONG sentence:)
Sunday was Jan's birthday so we made a yummy omelet for a special breakfast. We spent a bit more time chatting and telling stories before I had to load up my car to drive home and get back to 'work' (also known as 'training'). Big thanks to Jan for having me for the weekend...I had a great time during my short visit!
Back home, I visited my Grandmother for a quick 'hello' and then got started on my training and all the McLarty Farm chores that I'm in charge of!

Orlando Extreme 10k

Tomorrow morning I'm racing a 10K off-road run! I just found the race map online...check out this race course!

My Big Weekend Plans

As the mid-west gets prepared for another snow storm (so sad that I'm not out in Colorado for this whole month of INdoor training:(...I've been spending my time training in the sunshine, getting tan, going to running races, horseback riding, etc!
Today I started off with a nice quick swim practice over in Port Orange...got to watch a nice sunrise as I made my way through the main set.
Back at home, I'm making sure all the animals are fed before heading out for a quick run workout. The run is supposed to be on a track but I measured out 1/4 mile marks on Carter road so I can just run from the house.
My Grandmother and I have planned to go out for an early dinner tonight in Downtown DeLand...lots of cute restaurants that I can't wait to try out. Having an early dinner will fit perfect in my schedule because I have to wake up early tomorrow to drive to Christmas, FL for a 10K run race. I think the start time is 7am (you do the subtraction) so I will be driving VERY early! Since Christmas is almost to Rockledge, FL...I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend with my Aunt Jan.
Sunday is Aunt Jan's Birthday and it will be fun to celebrate with a yummy home-cooked breakfast. Speaking of Birthday's...Today is my MOM's 50th!! I just talked to my parents in Nairobi, Kenya after they spent 4 days in the wilderness on a safari...apparently, they saw every animal that exists in Africa!
My brother and the rest of the Gator Swim team are in Auburn, Alabama today for a dual meet...GO GATORS!!...and then over to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for another swim meet tomorrow (tri-meet against Alabama and South Carolina).
As for myself...I've been doing a lot of training (swim/bike/run/yoga/nap)...I've watched a few Blockbuster rentals (not too many movies that I crazy about)...working on a memory-scrapbook of my Granny (lots and lots of photos to pick from)...reading some good books (put my Volusia Library card to good use)...feeding the animals (nothing has died yet, fingers crossed:)...cooking meals for myself (it's fun to make it taste EXACTLY how I want)...visiting friends and family around the state (good thing Mom left me her car to use!)...and entering some local running races (wish me luck for tomorrow morning).

Sara's Solo Adventures

I might be here on the McLarty Farm all by myself, but I found plenty of adventure this weekend to get me through the quiet times.
On Friday, I drove to a downtown DeLand restaurant for the 'January News Journal Sports Person of the Month' lunch/awards presentation. It was a very nice and low-key affair (who says there's no such thing as a Free Lunch?:). I was given a proclamation from the mayor and met some community leaders on the voting committee.
After I dropped my Grandma off at home, I headed over to Port Orange for a quick swim practice with the DBS team. Unfortunately, I had to leave practice a bit early to start my drive to Gainesville for the 7pm Swim/Dive dual meet against the University of Virgina.
Dustin was swimming the 200 butterfly and the 400 IM and I was excited to see the Gator team swim! I was on my way up I-95 to SR-40 when I ran into some MAJOR traffic...at one point it took me 35 minutes to move 100 meters on the exit ramp! I finally gave up since the traffic stretched up the road. My only other option was to turn around and take the normal route from DeLand. But that put me an entire hour behind schedule! I was so thankful that the meet had the 1650 free in the schedule...so when I finally screeched into a parking spot, ran into the O'Connell Center and into the bleachers, Dustin's first event was 2 heats away!
He swam a 1:50 in the fly and a 3:56 in the IM...both are season best times. In the dual meet against IRCC the next day, he swam the 200 back in 1:50.
After the conclusion of the Friday night meet at 10pm (who decided to start a meet at 7pm anyways...) I picked him up some dinner and then we built and sat around a backyard bonfire. MARSHMALLOWS AND S'MORES! Yummy!
After a short night of sleep on the futon, I was on the road at 7:30am heading South toward St. Petersburg. I pulled into the parking lot of Beth's apartment complex around 10am and immediately got a complete tour of her cool 2-story apartment.
We decided that my high-hopes for actually doing my training was not going to happen...so we headed down to the street-market to shop for fresh vegetables and fruit for a stir-fry dinner. Everything in Downtown St. Pete is within walking distance of Beth and Robert's apartment...it's really perfect.
With our dinner ingredients, we walked back to the apartment to get them in the refrigerator. Back outside, we walked around to choose a location for lunch...settled on a Mexican style restaurant. We ate and then walked some more to find a coffee shop for some warm drinks. With full stomachs we continued walking to the local salon for a hair cut (just a trim for me because I'm letting the mop on top of my head grow out this winter:). With freshly styled hair, we walked some more back to the movie theater and agreed to watch "Freedom Writers" with Hillary Swank (very good movie, I would give it a thumbs-up). After the movie we had one last walk back to the apartment where we cooked an amazing stir-fry for dinner!
No surprises, we both fell asleep pretty fast after eating!
On Sunday morning, we had a light breakfast and finally headed out for some exercise. Beth got a sweet road bike for Christmas and we rode around St. Pete in the beautiful sunshine for over an hour. Nothing finishes a fun ride better than a coffee-stop (hot cocoa in my case) at a local cafe. Back at the apartment, I packed up, thanked my host/BFF for a great weekend and headed back across the Sunshine State to get back to my chores on the Farm.
Everything and everyone was waiting for me...Buddy the horse was happy, the cats were meowing, Angel was chirping, the phone was ringing, the mail was stacked up! Another week awaits...wish me luck:)

Videos from Down Under

Check out some videos of my Mom and Dad Mountain Biking , Exploring and Kayaking.

I copied an email my mom just sent from Australia....

"Hello friends,
Brent and I are on our last day in Cairns....so far we are having a great time and everything is going as planned!!
Here is a quick rundown of the events so far...
Hawaii....surfing was fun, very small waves on Waikiki beach and very long boards made it very easy, even for beginners to ride some waves....a little bike around the city gave us an idea of what was what...our rainforest hike was fun, a muddy trek through all kinds of vegetation, lots of bamboo and a nice waterfall at the top, then a little bike down a hill with stunning views of the area, a quick motor out to a snorkle spot where we swam with a giant turtle and i got to swim with an eagle ray and to finish that adventure off, a sail back into the harbour....the last day we drove around the island and saw the north shore with some pretty awesome waves and a 5 year old super surfer doing his thing for an hour at sunset beach.
New Zealand....drove straingt to the Coronado peninula for a fun sea kayak around a place called Cathedral cove, very pretty and a very funny guide...on to Turango for the night with a little climb up a mountain to see the bay of plenty ...on to Rototura for an awesome mountain bike ride in this beautiful forest and super cool single track, with a stop to view some volcano guysers...next stop Taupo, a town with a huge lake, very fun for family outings and then the last day an awesome trip called the black abyss where you absail down into a cave and then splunk around for 3 1/2 hours, the guides were great and the glow worms were funny.
Cains....a little bike around the city with a stop at a great botanical gardens then an aborigine show that night, they made fire with one stick and some coconut husk, something the survivor competitors have not been able to do for 10 seasons!! next, a day at the green island, an hour cruise out on a big motor catamaran to the inner reef and a day snorkeling there and getting way too much sun...and today we spent 4 wheeling in the rainforest, then a cable car above the rainforest and then a train ride along the edge of the forest...all great fun...
It is brent's b-day today here but not there where you are, we are one day ahead of florida right now...
Off to Bangkok by way of Sydney tomorrow for lots more adventures!!
and how about them Gators!!! first time in history a school has had the football and basketball champions at the same time,
I love you all and think of you all the time,
cya soon,
karen and brent,
the world travelers"

LA - Honolulu - New Zealand - Australia

Right now, my Mom and Dad are sound asleep in Western Australia. Yesterday, the took a big boat to an island to get on a smaller boat to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

Basically, they have been having a GREAT time on the first 1/3 of their "Round the World Trip". I've been in touch with them almost everyday...hearing short stories of their adventures, asking questions about chores around the house, and promising that nothing here has died or collapsed:)

My mom got a cool video camera for Christmas...she could download straight to the internet and send links to her friends so we could watch...but its not working on the foreign computers. But, she did manage to send me a few photos from the first couple of days in Hawai'i:

GATOR DOMINATION!!

Heisman Trophy Winner? Undefeated Team? Number 1 Ranking? Unstoppable Offense?

UMMMMMMM, all those names and descriptions were completely DESTROYED as the Gators STOMPED Ohio State on Monday night in a beautiful 2007 National Championship Football Game!!

This is the first time in history that one school (THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA) holds the Basketball AND Football National Championships at the same time! Congratulations to all the talented athletes up in Gainesville!

I was lucky enough to be IN Gator Country to watch the game on Monday night. I hung out with a big group of former and current Gator Swimmers at a house-party until it was apparent that we had won the game (when the Gatorade was poured on Urban Meyer). As the clock ticked down the final seconds of game time, Dustin and I scooted towards Downtown G-ville to stand with the thousands of other Gators on University Avenue to scream, cheer, and just enjoy the moment! It was wild...at 1am in the morning, people were throwing toilet paper, tearing down trees, climbing the light poles, burning random things...basically being WILD!
I got some good photos when I was Downtown (to be posted shortly) and then we headed home for sleep because (surprise) the swim team doesn't get a break from the next morning's practice:).

Go Gators, Go, Go, GO GATORS

Alarm at 5:40am...breakfast for me and the animals...short drive to DeLeon Springs...helped with the race-day registration for the 1/2 marathon and 5K run races...warmed up for 30 minutes before the start...ran the 5K in 18:32...cooled down...drove home!
Not to shabby for what I did before 9am today! And as it nears 9pm...my body is telling me it's ready for sleep again:)
After I got back to the house, I packed a few things, fed a few more animals and took off in the direction of Gainesville. Dustin and I met just outside of the city at the Rails-to-Trails path for a 30 mile bike ride. He was actually kicking my butt...that 5K must have hurt more than I thought:)
We showered and got refreshed back at his house before heading to the mall for some Christmas-clothes-shopping...followed by dinner at Tijuana Flats (yummy). Now, I'm hogging his computer while the guys are shooting pool and watching a movie.
Someone pinch me...because I'm planning on waking up at 6am tomorrow to attend GATOR swim practice (voluntarily!). After recovery from the inevitable pain that I will be in...I'll be hanging out with 1000s of other Gators around town to cheer for the National Championship NCAA Football game...GO GATORS!

Haskins & Korteum Wedding

I've finally recovered from my weekend in St. Louis...meaning I've caught up on sleep and back on track with my training...so it's time to post some photos from Sarah & Nate's wedding on the 30th. The wedding was a beautiful affair in a huge cathedral under the St. Louis Arch, followed by a big ballroom reception...lots of eating, singing, and dancing by all those in attendance!
























These triathletes clean up pretty good! Tuxes, suits, and dresses...who would have thought?? L to R: Dave, Jasmine, Mike, John, Tim, Trish, Me, Brian...this photo was taken in the hotel lobby right before we headed to the wedding.































Me, the beautiful Bride, and Jasmine at the reception...I actually caught Sarah for a 2 second photo!




























Sarah and Nate exchanging their vows in the Cathedral...Sarah's sister was the Matron of Honor and Nate's brother was his Best Man.































Tim and Mike...rulers of the dance floor at the reception...don't ask me what they are doing/attempting:)





























Nate was SOOO happy...I caught him here for a photo with the Tri Guys! It was great to see love and happiness on display.





























This time, the Ladies were ruling the dance floor...shaking it like a Polaroid Picture:)

THE KORTEUMS!!!!!!!! Congratulations Sarah and Nate!

Dustin's New Toy

3 days after Christmas...Dustin drove home in his new 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid!! I try not to be jealous when I'm filling up my gas tank after 300ish miles while Dustin is still driving b/c he gets 500+ miles!!!

2006 Reader's Choice Awards

Check out this link my friend Jarret sent me...the results of the Inside Triathlon Magazine 2006 IT List...too bad I didn't know about it before hand so I could have upped my percentage points...hahaha.
Most importantly, check out the "Best Single-Leg Performance: Swim" (which I'm very proud to have WON!) and "Breakthrough Performance by an Elite Triathlete" (which I'm most proud of to have been NOMINATED!).
First, I'd like to thank my fans, because, without them, I would just be another struggling triathlete...oh wait...I AM just another struggling triathlete:)