This story is a tad dated, but I’m tyring to catch up on some things that I wanted to write…
I spent two weeks in the Tokyo area before Christmas. My running has been hit-n-miss since summertime. I thought this would be a good time to get back at it. I am usually an every-other-day runner at best…sometimes doubling up on a Friday/Saturday. I didn’t really have any particular goal in mind when I started. I just wanted to be more deliberate about going out. It took me a few days to get settled into a routine, but once I did, I ran every day for 8 days straight. Some of the guys there were training for the Honolulu Marathon. At some point after about 5 runs, I thought with a few more days of diligence, I can complete a marathon while here. So, that became the goal. OK, it was NOT all at once, but after 8 days of running, I had amassed 27.76 miles - enought to complete the “progressive” marathon with an average of 3.47 miles per run. Incidentally, I’ve been tracking my runs w/my Nike+ iPod attachment and am closing in on my first 100 miles since getting the iPod this summer.
I will say it was tough to get up in the morning and go out. Temperatures hovered right around the freezing mark every morning - a far cry from the low 70s I’m used to experiencing. One particular morning, I came in from the run to the lobby of the place we were staying. One of the “real” marathon trainees was standing there looking out the window debating whether or not he should go out. When I came in, he said, “Man it looks cold out there.” I said, “It IS cold out there. I saw some patches of frost on the ground.” He pointed at my back and said, “Dude! There’s frost on YOU!” I had been wearing a long sleeve dry-wick shirt over my T-shirt to keep warm. Well, it wicked sweat out to my shoulders and subsequently appeared to freeze there. I’m not sure it was actually frozen, but it certainly looked that way. For the rest of the trip, my new nickname was “Frosty (the Joe Man).”
A storm rolled through here over the last few days. The wind and rain are gone, but the storm’s ocean swell is still making waves for the North Shore. It’s too choppy for any surfing but offers spectatular views nonetheless. It’s hard to believe that Shark’s Cove is one of our favorite places to snorkel on the island. Summertime offers calm, clear waters. Wintertime…not so much.
My wife and I were discussing the other day…of my 4 dedicated readers, 2 of them are named “Don.” What are the chances of that? Now, before you say 1 in 2, remember you have to calculate the odds that 4 people are even interested enough to read this drivel.
I keep seeing ads on TV for the Masters Golf Tournament. It doesn’t take place until April - that’s 3 months away! First of all, if you like golf, you already know when the Masters is. Secondly, if you don’t like golf, telling you about it 3 months early isn’t going to change your mind. I don’t get it…
So, tonight big brother was timing little brother to see how fast little brother could put away big brother’s dirty clothes and get his pajamas. He did quite well.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all 4 of my readers. We spent Christmas on the Big Island this year. It was a nice week away and quite an experience. Where else but Hawaii can you go from a black sand beach to a volcano to a snow-capped mountain? Some of the highlights include:
- water slides at the beach resort
- petroglyph fields
- driving the family 2 1/2 hours in a car for the first time in over 3 years
- sea horse farm
- black sand beach
- eating lunch at the “Southern most bakery in the United States”
- caving an old lava tube
- watching the creation of new land, courtesy the Kilauea volcano
- Geocaching at 9500′
- driving 13 miles (each way) up a one-lane, pseudo paved road to 10,500′ to see snow
- 36 hours of torrential rain
By the way, if you take your wife’s new portable GPS on a trip with you, you can save yourself $30 by bringing the power cord.
Here are a few pics:
J
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