A little side trip Part III

I got in a few workouts in Maui, too...

Lots of beach runs in North Kihei. Our place was across the street from the sand, about 40 yards.

Aside from the aborted Haleakala Volcano Sunrise Run, I had a blast. Incidentally, I found out before the trip that there was a race up the volcano, 38 miles, so I was hoping to be a last-minute substitute on a relay team. Then I was told, 'no, it's not a relay, it's a solo run, and it's entirely self-supported.'

As in, no one handing out water or food or anything. And 38 miles from sea level to the 10,000 foot summit.

Maybe next time.

But I did get some nice pix on the drive down.

Taken from 9,500 feet; that's Kihei and the Pacific Ocean in the distance

One of the more memorable beach runs was a series of sprints followed by a plunge into the waves. Unfortunately, I forgot that it's better to dive under the water than try and stand your ground. Once I scraped myself off the bottom, it felt like I had been punched in the pancreas.

Also took a spin class at a local gym (training for an August Half Ironman). The instructor was a short, squat, native-looking woman with a very thick accent. I had a hard time understanding her over the pounding music. But I did learn the nastiest word in the English Language:

"Le-vel."

As in, 'crank up the resistance a level.' Or two or three. She'd yell "Level" whenever she wanted us to work harder, which was often. Physics dictates that what goes up must come down, but I swear this instructor didn't follow Newton's Laws. It was all up.

I hate her.

And left my favorite running hat at the gym, a stupid little $10 Nike cap that I've had for years. Salt-encrusted, sweat stained, and I was crushed to lose it. Put me into a deep depression for a couple of hours. Then I ran back to the gym at 0600 the next morning and they still had it. :)

As for pleasant island sounds; do you remember a M*A*S*H episode where BJ mentioned a book called "The Rooster Crowed at Midnight?" Kihei is a fairly residential area, and lots of people have roosters to wake them. Except these suckers can't tell time.

Or maybe they can. I heard them every hour it was dark. So much for sunrise.

Almost forgot: there's a new superhero in town. It's a bird...

It's a plane...

It's Lobster Man with the Cycling Tan!!!

Nick's crispy thigh

Only it wasn't from cycling. You can clearly see the Maginot Line at quad midpoint: everything north is courtesy of Big Beach in Maui, everything south (or above?) is Central Oregon.

Four days later, I'm starting to molt.

It's all good.



A little side trip Part I
A little side trip Part II