Being a spectator has always been difficult for me but when I woke up at 5:30 this morning and heard the marathon crowds outside I decided to go support the runners. This is the third year in a row that I’ve signed up for the Honolulu marathon and not run it (at least it’s pregnancy not injury keeping me from it this time!) I love this race- it was my first marathon ever (signed up so that I would have run a marathon before the ironman) and then ran it again with my sister the next year. I fully intend to sign up again when early registration opens with the kama’aina rate in January. Who knows what this year will bring or if a marathon 9 months after Baby is born will be realistic for me!
As I stood out there this morning I saw runners of all variety- the woman in a green tutu, the guy in a pink running skirt, the smiling packs of Japanese girls, the old man hollering at the crowd as he loped by, head-phoned and on a mission, bedraggled and already walking… The guy next to me was being annoying and yelling frequently “only a few more miles to go!” A few, in this case, being around 25.
I’m now sitting in the window of a coffee shop watching the stragglers walk by as I wait for the morning yoga class. Figured I’d check it out since we won’t be doing brunch for another couple hours.
The past days have seen me swimming, paddling and walking. I’ve walked several miles (mostly to eat), swam about 2500 yards and paddled a short distance! Paddling was actually still do-able as long as I put the same foot back as the side I was paddling on. This is backward but the only way my belly could fit!
Hawaii has been wonderful and I’m already looking forward to the next time I return- with Baby!
Category: paddling
changes
Leaving Hawaii and coming back to the San Francisco fog was a difficult change, but at least I’ve kept my renewed interest in working out! Every morning last week we swam, ran or paddled; sometimes more than one activity a day and I carried that into this week with gym workouts.
On Friday when we paddled, the water was the choppiest I’d seen from an outrigger canoe, and we might as well have swam fully clothed for how drenched we were getting out of the boats! We stayed close to the shore because we were a crew of mostly inexperienced paddlers, but still the motion of the paddling and the joy of being on the water left me excited for more. Unfortunately there wasn’t time the rest of the weekend because I was there to work, but there will definitely be a next time!
The next two mornings I swam and ran, completing workouts in time for teaching and rehearsing. One of the swims was in such shallow water that with breast stroke, my knees grazed the sand and with freestyle I reverted to swimming with fists because there wasn’t room for my fingers to be fully extended. This turned out to be great for not only keeping my fingers in-tact but saved my elbow from all strain, since there was less resistance against the water with a closed palm. Running along the beach to swim in the ocean is the best activity ever- especially when it’s in the early morning and the temperature is just starting to rise. Both Sunday and Monday began with run-swims, accompanied by rainbows and void of all elbow pain! That’s what I call a successful workout 🙂
Once I returned home to the fog, I couldn’t bring myself to run outdoors, so yesterday and today’s workouts found me at the gym. I ellipticized (is that a word?) for half hour yesterday and met RC for a treadmill run today. I also started an upper body weight training regime using very light dumbbells while balancing on the bosu ball and am beginning to amp up my core work again. So far so good…
wrapping up winter vacation
Looks like the holidays, family time and traveling got the most of me! The workouts continued, sort of, but there was no extra time to write about anything. The biggest adventures included the following:
On Christmas morning 12 people showed up to paddle so we filled up two boats and went out before dawn. As we neared the usual turn-around point someone suggested that we go out to the buoy with the Diamondhead view. The water remained calm enough that we were able to paddle out several miles from shore. What a glorious way to begin the morning!
December 26th dawned with rain, wind and gloomy skies. We decided to run anyway and met my sister in the rain at Ala Moana park. We had very little time before the family brunch so my husband opted to run the entire time and the other two of us decided a swim would be more fun. JA was in front of me and suddenly she stood up, looked scared and informed me she’d been stung. We got out of the water and were discussing what to do (we knew it wasn’t a jellyfish but didn’t know what it was) when a man walked up to us and showed that he’d also been stung by a Portuguese man-o-war . The stinger had wrapped itself around his leg and back but the guys was smiling and informed us there was nothing to be done. He told JA that she’d feel weird for about 1/2 hour and to rinse it with warm water to open the pores and get the venom out. I took her back to the hotel and put her in the shower as my husband sprinted to Mom’s house to pick up the car. The warm water helped ease the sting and we actually found a slimy piece of it in her hair later. The bumps were basically gone by the next morning. Next time there’s a Kona wind and debris on the surface of the water, we’ll stay out!
Our final morning (which turned out not to be our final morning) was windy with tumultuous seas. Our family took a catamaran sail to snorkel with sea turtles and enjoy the water. By the time I’d been on the boat 5 minutes I was feeling seasick and on the way back in, I felt more miserable than I’ve felt in a long time. I (and another few kids) spent the sail back puking over the railing. I was never more happy to have my feet on solid ground!
Our flight was cancelled then we spent two more days getting from HNL to EWR. Over the next few days I still felt a little out of whack from the seasickness, noticing it mostly in the car, when hearing certain types of music and if I looked too long at a computer screen. On Thursday morning, after too much travel and feeling exhausted, I decided to accompany my mother-in-law to her gym. I was doubtful it would help me feel better but had to try. Her gym has a cool new elliptical trainer that simulates a rollerblading motion. I was interested and tried it for 12 minutes but had to step off because I was feeling seasick again! I spent the afternoon in bed, sick through the evening. Who knows if the seasickness actually came back or if it was just a 24 hour bug.
New Year’s eve day was the first day I felt sort of human again. I took it really easy all day in anticipation for the night. We had tickets for a five course meal (which sounded horrible to me at the time) and a night of salsa dancing at SOBS. I wasn’t about to miss the biggest NYE we’d ever planned! Our group wasn’t a big dancing crowd but everyone tried and had a great time. I attempted to lead and dance with the other girls but I’m much better at following and don’t have the salsa skills I need to lead. Oh well. One of the girls was so excited about salsa dancing that she’s already gone out and taken a class at home! Can’t wait until we meet up in the same city again and go dancing!
The next few days I was afraid of too much movement so I stuck to walking around NYC. This suited me perfectly and by the time I flew home, I was feeling well rested and ready to try another workout!
winter solstice
This morning’s paddle was dark, dark, dark! We actually had to return to the canal before heading into the ocean because it was too dark to go any further. It is the shortest day of the year and the sky was cloudy, but still it seemed strange that the lighting should be so different from usual! It felt a little creepy to me as we headed into the darkness, out to sea and the swells seemed to be coming from deep in the ocean as we rocked back and forth. The canoe was full, with seven of us, so the steersman had to sit on the edge of the boat instead of on a seat. I’m glad I was not that person!
I had my first opportunity to practice the Vibrational ABC’s and I deliberately passed on it, then went on to gossip about the person to my sister and mom after we finished. The woman sitting behind me was unpleasant and began saying nasty things midway through. She had already told me I was off (uncoordinated with the other paddlers), which I’m reasonably sure I wasn’t, so when she started badmouthing people, I talked back instead of keeping my mouth shut and putting my Weekly Wellness Challenge to work. I even reverted to junior high behavior, trying to deliberately splash her on my stroke recovery (soaking myself with canal water instead- gross!) and letting branches flap back in her face instead of holding them as the person in front had done for me. Hmmm…. I guess my ABC’s need some work!
Later in the morning, my sister and I needed to do more b-day party research but realized after we’d made an appointment that we neither had two bikes to get there nor did I have running shoes, so we pulled out the old fold-up bike which had begun rusting into its folded position. After much aggravation and some WD-40 we managed to restore the handlebar stem to an upright position and clicked everything into place. The ride was hot and we breathed in dirty air every time a tour bus puffed past. All unpleasantness aside, I still enjoy biking around here!
This afternoon we went to the beach right after I ate too much for lunch, so instead of swimming with the others, I sprawled out under the umbrella for a while then joined them in treading water for a few minutes. Ahhh…
a calm(?) morning
When I wandered into the bathroom to brush my teeth at 5:30 this morning, it took me a few seconds to realized I was pouring liquid makeup remover over my toothbrush instead of my powdered toothpaste. The containers are both blue and white, but look nothing alike and are completely different sizes. This is what happens to me when I wake up too early!
This morning my alarm went off so I’d be ready to walk out the door at 5:50 and join Mom for paddling. We walked to the Ala Wai canal and met three others in her outrigger canoe club. This canal is so filthy I’ve been told not to paddle if I have an open cut anywhere it could get wet.
Without further ado we pushed the 6-man, 400 lb outrigger canoe into the water (I mostly stood aside and looked useless), hopped in and began paddling. I was the “hut” person this morning. I’m sure there’s a more technical term for it but my job was to yell “hut” every 14 strokes so everyone switched paddling sides at the same time. I found that I couldn’t talk and count but nobody minded much if I wasn’t exact.
We made it out to the very calm ocean and could see all the way to the bottom! One of the paddlers referred to it as Lake Waikiki… apparently the water is rarely this calm. I took a few rest breaks as my arms and back ached and my mom instructed me on proper technique. By the end of the paddle I was feeling pretty good and marveled that the sun hadn’t yet risen!
After a quick stop at home to change into swimsuits and pick up goggles, we walked to the beach for our morning swim. Mom was taking it easy after the marathon and doing only one loop. I had no excuse other than I felt like one loop was plenty (plus I managed to get seasick swimming in the very calm ocean).
What a way to start the day!
the workout:
4 mile paddle
1/4 mile swim
Laura's Training On the GO 