18F4610 won't flash LED appropriately

[PomPom]

below is my full code.

#include <p18f4610.h>

#pragma config OSC = INTIO67 //Internal oscillator, xtal becomes output
#pragma config WDT = OFF //Turn off watch dog timer
#pragma config LVP = OFF //LVP off

int i;

void main(void){

	OSCCON = 0b01110000; //8MHZ clock 
	OSCTUNEbits.PLLEN = 0b1; //enable PLL
	//Enable internal oscillator

	TRISA=0x00;
	TRISB=0x00;
	TRISC=0xFF;
	TRISD=0x00;
	i = 0;

	while(1){
		if(i < 10000){
			LATDbits.LATD2 = 1;
			LATDbits.LATD3 = 1;
			i++;}
		else{
			LATDbits.LATD2 = 1;
			LATDbits.LATD3 = 0;
		}	
	}
}

Basically it should have two LEDs turned on, then after some amount of time it should only have 1.

With i<10000 it works fine, can barely see the transition. at i < 20000 it seems to be about twice as slow, though still very quick. by the time I get to i<40000 [2x from before] it never transitions.

What am I doing wrong here? I plan on eventually using interrupts but am using this to test some code. I haven't programmed a PIC in a while but it's meant to turn on a MOSFET or BJT to switch on a much larger array of LEDs.

So my main issue is why doesn't this incrementing stuff work, and if you guys can point me to some simple timer example code (just to know when to turn off LEDs, eg interrupt every 1ms)

Thank you much