Aloha and Happy New Year!

I seem to have a bad habit of falling off the radar for lengthy episodes.  Work got crazy, my class (wine sensory evaluation) took up a good chunk of free time, and mixed in there was my social life and the holidays.  In any case, my apologies.

The day after christmas I got on a plane with the in-laws bound for the Big Island of Hawaii.  It was a much needed, much appreciated break from the damp and gloom of Seattle winters.  Initially, I had planned to do what I like doing best on vacation: read by the pool, drink afternoon cocktails, and, with a few exploration adventures mixed in, relax with the family.  And I did.  

I brought my running shoes with the plan that I'd get in at least a couple runs a week while taking it easy.  When I got to Hawaii, however, something took over.  It started innocently enough.  I got up early that first morning because of the time change from Seattle to the islands and decided to hit the pavement for an easy run.  It felt great.  I wanted more.

I made a decision to start out each day with a run.  I snapped a picture during my workout, sending it to my running buddy who gets on my back if he thinks I'm slacking off (I love you, Wade!), and I realized this might be a good way of keeping me honest in my commitment to run every morning.  It worked.  Every day I sent home a different picture titled: view from my run. occasionally also forwarding it to family members, or various friends in Seattle, but when palm trees are involved it's hard not to seem like I was bragging - just sharing!  Promise!

In addition to getting up and sweating each day, I was also having a good time deciding what snapshot would be representative of my chosen route.  By the end of the vacation, not only did I have bragging rights for sticking to my fitness commitment, but I have a great photo-diary of the experience.

We stayed in a resort complex known as Mauna Lani.  Several individual hotel and condo compounds make up Mauna Lani.  This is the entrance from the highway.

Our particular development was called the Golf Villas, which were surrounded by a golf course, as were all the other resorts.  I'd gotten up late this day and it was already pretty sunny and hot when I got started.

(3 mi run on the first day)

I liked to get started early and be out the door before 6:30 am.  Before 6:30 it was really too dark, and as the sun was rising, the temperature was perfect.  Usually by the time I got back it was in the low 80s and I had broken a good sweat. 

(4 mi run on the second day)

Often, I left closer to 7:30am.  The temperature was still pretty good and the wind in the mornings kept it feeling relatively cool.  This is the road leaving the Golf Villas.  

(4 mi run on the third day)

All the roads and even highways were designed with giant shoulders to accommodate bikers, runners, and golf carts.  This is an extremely active resort area and I rarely had the road to myself unless I got up before daybreak.  I actually really loved greeting all the other runners and bikers I passed.

(4 mi run on the fourth day)

The resort was built right overtop of what looked at first glance like barren lava fields.  Nothing grows here.  There's no soil for seeds to root into, so the rock stretches on and on.  It grew on me and I found it very beautiful by the end of the trip.  From what I could tell, this was the home of lots of birds, geckos, and mongoose.  Probably a few bugs too, but I never checked.

(4.2 mi run the fifth day)

I love the contrast of the lava fields and the palm trees that were planted at the resort.

(4.5 mi run on the sixth day)

All along the highway, people had brought up white coral rocks and written their names or messages with them.  I'd been admiring the shark for several days --it was right across the highway from our resort gates-- but by the time I had decided to run up there with my camera, someone had ruined it by writing ESTEP inside the shark.  I was annoyed, but at least the outline was still there.

(5.5 mi run on the seventh day)

 This was a common view from my runs.  No matter where I went in Mauna Lani, I was next to a golf course.  At night we were allowed to walk on the golf course, but during the day we had to yield to golfers.

(2 mi run on the eighth day - my "off" day)

 

I decided I liked the run up to the shark - the distance was right and there was a long hill up to the halfway-point, so you really felt the burn in your legs and lungs.  When I got to the shark the second time, to my delight, someone else had been annoyed by the defacement of the shark and had the cojones to scatter the stones.  I snapped a second picture.

(5.5 mi run on the ninth day)

There's a petroglyph park next to a beautiful lavarock and coral beach within Mauna Lani that we'd gone to one afternoon. It was only a few miles from our condo.  I decided to run that direction for 25 minutes one morning to see if I made it.  Almost.  I got about a half a mile away, and stopped to stretch at a golf cart crossing sign.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing against the rocks from where I was standing.

(5 mi run on the tenth day)

The next morning I new I wanted to increase my mileage, so I ran the route again, hoping to make it all the way to the end within 30 minutes.  My stopwatch alarm went off 50 feet from the beach.  Fantastic!  All those white rocks are sunbleached pieces of coral that have washed up.

(6 mi run on the eleventh day) 

That same day we made a stop at Costco to pick up some macadamia nuts to take home to my parents and co-workers.  While we were there we found some awesome athletic clothes and I was so excited about them, I immediately went for a second run when we got home.  This picture does not do justice to the sunset I witnessed.  It was absolutely beautiful.

(3 mi run on the evening of the eleventh day - yep, that's a total of 9 mi that day)

This might be my favorite shot of the entire trip.  It was also taken on my 3 mi twilight run.

 I ran the route to the beach again the next day and got a closeup of the lava and coral that covered the beach.  I also did a few push-ups and planks while I was there.

(6 mi run on the twelfth day)

 My final Hawaiian run was on the day we left.  I had packed the night before and got up extra early so I could fit it in.  I left the house just after 6am and started my run in the pitch black, watching the sun slowly come up from behind the mountain as I ran down the road toward it.  It was glorious.

(5 mi run on the thirteenth day)

It was a great project and I plan to carry through with this momentum into my daily routine.  Hawaii was really good for me, and I made some goals about habits to break and habits to make.  More fresh fruit, fewer starches, smaller portions, drinking more water, and cutting back on wine will all be worked into my habits this year.  Diligence and commitment.  I have been doing a decent job taking care of my body, but I want to be diligent and committed about doing a good job - maybe even a great job.