The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Before 2021, I had spent approximately zero minutes contemplating the possibility of participating in the Ironman World Championships as a pro. Maybe some distant day I might aim for the age group World Championships, but in the pro field, that competition is exclusively available to the best of the best. In 2016, the qualifications for Championship status were based on points accumulation throughout the season, and while Daniela Ryf and Holly Lawrence had earned something like 50,000 points, I think I topped out at 136.

In recent years the system changed to one that rewards athletes for a single breakout performance (usually first or second place) at an Ironman 70.3. But with my skills consistently landing me at the finish line a good half hour behind the leader, neither format presented me with a viable path to qualification.

I laughed at first when I got the email in July, telling me that my podium finish at Ecuador had earned me a slot to the 2021 World Championships in St. George, Utah. Yeah, right! Compete against the best in the world?! Why would I do that?

Thankfully, Coach Tim had the better question, "Why not?"

Aching to race at least once more this year, and faced with a limited menu of races to choose from, I had no good answer to that question. I was also overwhelmed with curiosity ... what was it like to be at a pro championship? I realized this was probably my one opportunity to find out.


Posted by Kimberly 10/10/2021

Well we managed to extricate ourselves from Koh Tao last week. The trick is to do it fast and with no warning. We went down to check on tickets to Chiang Mai and found that it was either leave the next day or wait another week for availability, so we booked it and got the next boat off.

Goodells Rule!

Posted by nik 10/21/2008, revised 11/05/2008

-My watch doesn't know what a leap year is.

-Pandora.com is not available in Australia. Those of you who know what that is, you can understand how crushed and heartbroken I am. Those of you who don't know what that is, go find out. It's amazing.

-Ants here don't form neat, single-file lines. They run around all over the place in a big mob, no order at all.

-People in Townsville are actually not as friendly as those is Sydney. This surprises me, I figured a small town would have even friendlier people. They aren't noticeably UNfriendly, but they don't make me feel warm and special the way Sydneyers did.

-However, the people in Townsville WILL give you directions... even if they don't know where something is. If you ask them, "Excuse me, do you know how I can get to such and such a place?" they won't say "No, sorry I don't know," they will give you directions that perfectly contradict the previous guide's advice.

That's all for now. More to come in the future, I'm sure.
Posted by Whitney 02/28/2008