Malama pono – this means to take care. Malama means to care for and to protect and pono is the adverb meaning completely, wholly and carefully. It is common on the Hawaiian islands to hear this said in parting malamapono a hui hou which translates to “take care, until we meet again.”

I was really nervous about coming to this camp, but now I am sad that it’s over. Of course I miss my family, but training every day with amazing athletes and in this beautiful setting of Kona just can’t be replicated at home. I wish I could have it all and in some ways I do. I am very fortunate to be able to swim with all the great athletes at Tower 26 and Gerry Rodriguez. And I am lucky to have some awesome moms at my daughter’s school to train with once in a while when our schedules permit.

Purplepatch Kona camp taught me a lot…how to fuel, how to take care of my bike, how to swim, run and bike better and more efficiently, how to train smarter, that sometimes more volume is not good, and the list goes on. I also learned that my daughter will be okay without me around 24/7, that I have the most supportive and loving husband as he always allows me to have and follow my ambitions and passions…from Crossfit to hip hop and circus and now triathlon, and that no matter how much I might be nervous or afraid that I may fail, fall, not fit in, ect…it ALWAYS turns out that I exceed my expectations and have the most amazing experiences. I love my life!

And to all my purplepatch friends and Kona “Malamapono a hui hou” and “mahalo”!