The beauty of Hawaii

Vacation isn't truly over until the pictures have been developed and shared. Below are some of those pictures (I took over 300+ pictures. The wonders of digital photography). Also, some random thoughts of things I will remember from this trip.
**The Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach. We booked this through our travel agent and they upgraded us to VIP clients for free. We wound up on the 22nd floor with two oceanview balconies. (Previous blog shows view of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach. (Also, pictured below from the beach) Pictured above is the view of harbor and downtown Honolulu from other balcony). Lesson learned is always ask for 'best available'. It doesn't hurt) I truly didn't want to leave that place. It was fun just walking around the shops, which make up the village, at night.

**Our Honolulu day trip to Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US), lunch in Chinatown and a trip to the Bishop Museum. In the trolley, on the way back to the HHV, the driver pointed out the hotel where the opening scene of 'Hawaii Five-O' happens. You know the scene. The one where McGarrett is standing on a balcony with the camera zooming in.

**Manna, the stuffed penguin.

**The beauty of the rest of Oahu, outside of Honolulu.

**The beauty of the Hawaiian language with greetings of Aloha and Mahalo (thank you).

**Seeing the 'Southern Cross' for the first time, in the sky over Waikiki Beach. I always thought you could only see this constellation south of the equator. We learned that you could see it in Hawaii from our tour at the planetarium in the Bishop Museum.

**Our day trip to Polynesian Cultural Center. Our Samoan tour guide, 'cousin' Leon Jr. It's customary to call everyone 'cousin' as we are all one big family. Walking around was a lot of fun especially throwing spears and watching my wife take hula lessons. The night show was absolutely fabulous. Worth the trip.

**Fresh tropical fruit and fresh fish almost every day we were there. There is a HUGE difference here and what we get on the mainland. We ate fish that we have no idea what it was and couldn't order it again if we tried. But, it was great.

**Surfing lessons on Waikiki Beach. Checking that off the 'bucket list'. And, being called 'Pops' by the surfing instructors. Who were as old as me. Ouch! That hit home. I can't say I was the greatest surfer in the world. But, I did ride a wave once. What a thrill! My new hero is Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic champion and the 'king' of surfers.

**Realizing the 'evil' of television. I admit, most days I will plop myself in front of TV for a few hours before bed and flip through channels. But, the only thing I watched in Hawaii was the local news at 10p. Doing that made me calmer. Because, flipping through channels at home, creates tension from all the 'political wonks' screaming and spewing hate (both sides) and making our elections and issues a sport and an 'entertainment'. The American public deserves better than that.

**(Pictured above is our view from the Marriot Hotel overlooking Kalapaki Bay in Kauai.)

**Sitting on the balcony in the morning, drinking Kona/Kauai coffee, reading the Honolulu Advertiser, looking out over the ocean. (I was surprised to read that Hawaii's unemployment rate was 3.5%. I don't know why I was surprised but I was).

**Always wondering what EXACTLY I stepped on in the ocean that put a hole in my foot.

**Watching the koi feeding at 9a at the Kauai Marriott. Those fish will do ANYTHING to get some fish food.

**Now knowing why they call Kauai, the Garden Isle.

**Eating lunch at Scotty's and the great oceanview they had at the restaurant.

**The 15 minute 'monsoons' in Kauai, where it would just pour down rain for brief periods.

**(Pictured below is Wailua Falls, about a 20 minute drive from our hotel and easy to get to by car.)

**(Pictured below is 'Spouting Horn', a old lava tube where, when the waves break, creates a geyser effect.) Also, seeing the 'green sea turtles swimming in this area.

**Seeing the Fern Grotto. A little disappointing as there aren't that many ferns anymore because of some shifts in the rock formations around the grotto. But, it was a nice tour of the Wailua River and the surprise of seeing the place where they filmed the beginning of the first 'Indiana Jones' film where he is escaping across a field to a waiting seaplane. (Field is pictured below) **Our discussion of which is better--the Kauai cookie company or the Honolulu Cookie company. It took us many cookies to decide.

**Red Dirt Shirts. The T-shirt company was almost wiped out in the '90s due to hurricanes at that time. They got an idea to dye their T-shirts in Hawaiian red dirt (also in Hawaiian coral blue and black lava rock). Of course, I got one. Then noticing HOW MUCH red dirt there is on Kauai.

**Our visit to the Kauai Coffee company. I don't what it is, but, Hawaii does have the best coffee I ever tasted. It was true 20 years ago and its true now.

**Chickens everywhere. I mean, everywhere. They are as prevalent as Canada geese in the Northeast. Except they are not called wild chickens. They are called Jungle Fowl.

**Our drive up Waimea Canyon Drive, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. The picture below doesn't do it justice.

**Seeing one of the most beautiful spots on earth. At the top of Waimea Canyon Drive, I took the picture below. It was a bit foggy and a little chilly so my wife didn't have a sweater on. She wanted to go back to the car. I wanted to just stare at this scene. I've seen this picture before. But, I was there and it was breathtaking.

If I was a cat and had nine lives, I would live in Hawaii with one of those lives. I am so intrigued on whether or not I would truly enjoy living there. Through tourist's eyes it is so different than the day-to-day existence there. When I was running with FL and TB, I kept asking, 'what's it like? Don't you ever grow tired living on an island'? But they kept on telling me how much they enjoy living there. I felt I was cut off from the rest of the world, at least the rest of the States. I mean, baseball games at 1 o'clock in the afternoon? And, they were live from the east coast.

It was hard to leave. But, then again, it would be hard to stay. It is a special place in my life.

(Notes: Foot is feeling better but not great. I ran two miles on it Sunday and was feeling better as time went on. I plan on participating in the Tex-Mex race in North Wales, PA tonight. Participate, not run for time. I noticed that my foot will slightly roll when I am running on it, which, in time, will cause another injury. I wanted to pick out my fall marathon and start training but can't until I'm fully healed. Right now, the most I could probably do is around 4 miles. Also, the Steve/Joe Falmouth duel is off this year. Seems that Steve didn't get into the race this year (entries are by lottery). I guess they only want the good runners this year. :-)

I haven't decided whether or not to go myself now. Right now, I am planning on driving up now but, in truth, won't be the same.)

Falmouth Road Race Weekend Report

My weekend started with a late arrival into Providence airport from 90 degrees (F) Philadelphia on Friday. Steve and I were intending to go to the Worcester Tornadoes (a independent minor league baseball team) that night but, when I landed it was raining. But, afterall, this was New England so, as Mark Twain once stated, if you didn't like the weather there, just wait, it will change in a minute. Sure enough, the rain stopped but now it was 50 degrees (F)! (Bit of drastic change for my body). We did wind up at the game, a little late but, unfortunately for Steve, his Worcester Tornadoes lost to the Traveling Grays (they literally are a traveling road team with no home stadium).

Saturday, Steve, his wife and I did the DAY KIMBALL HOSPITAL DEARY MEMORIAL 5 Mile Race in Putnam, CT. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea--a race before the day of a race but, decided, since I hadn't raced in awhile, it would be good to at least use this as a training run to get the rust off. It was a beautiful day with temps in the 60's (F) and lower humidity. I finished the race in 43:52 and was satisfied that I didn't push myself too hard. It took me awhile to find my stride in the beginning but by the end I felt fine, not winded at all.

After the race and a shower, we headed down to Falmouth to pick up our numbers and walk around the expo. Some years it can be an interesting expo but I mostly like to go as a number of the running greats, past and present, show up for an autograph session. So, each year, I get the poster, the race gives out, signed. Since this was the 35th Falmouth Road Race, the autograph session featured 'The Olympians'. So, I had a chance to talk to Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Catherine Ndereba, and "Meb" Keflezghi. Not only did I get to talk with them but they each brought their Olympic medals. When I was 13, I remember Frank Shorter winning the 1972 marathon in Munich and now I had a chance to see and hold the medal he won!

(Picture at top is myself with Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson. Picture to the right below are Frank Shorter's gold medal from the 1972 Munich games and the silver medal from the 1976 Montreal games) Also there was Astronaut Sunni Williams who is local to the area and ran the Boston marathon in space!

Since we got late to the expo, we never had a chance to walk around and the booths were breaking down for the day. Our intention for the evening was to attend a Cape Cod League baseball game in Falmouth that night. The Cape Cod League is where college players get a chance to play in the summer. Many of today's minor and major leaguers once started out playing in the Cape Cod League. We found out, since it rained the night before, the game was postponed until Sunday. We found out there was a game in Bourne, about 15 miles north of Falmouth. We wound up getting there around the 6th inning, but, that was ok, it was baseball and it was fun to just to watch that amount.

After the game, we went over to Falmouth High School to watch the Falmouth Mile. This is an invitational event for men and women. Incredible performances for both the women and the men with the standout performance from John Riley, a local from Brookline, MA doing a sub-4:00 mile in 3:57. (First time I had a chance to ever witness that!)

Whew! All that and I didn't even run the Falmouth race yet! Steve and I went to the Captain Kidd restaurant on Saturday night for dinner. The Captain Kidd is the starting point for the Falmouth race. After a beer or two, some onion rings, fries and a hamburger, (yes, I'm sure that isn't on any Olympic pre-race meal plan for distance runners), it was time to go back and rest up for tomorrow.

I woke up Sunday, feeling pretty good, but, I must admit, my legs and back were stiffer than I had hoped. Plus, I was dealing with some digestive 'issues' (don't you dare blame it on the onion rings). We left the hotel and, in our traditional way, parked by the finish line. Even though we were literally a quarter mile from the start, it's best to park at the finish as Falmouth is a point to point race. It would be more of a pain to get back to the hotel after the race then it was to drive to the finish at the start of the race. From where we parked, it's about a mile and a half walk to a school (I don't remember the name but just sort of followed everyone) where the bus picks everyone up to bring you to the start line.

We got to the start about an hour before the race. As I had feared, it was getting hot that day. The temperatures were predicted in the lower 80's with humidity. Even though Steve and I were each predicting victory, I knew I would melt in this sun.

I think the Falmouth course is one of the hardest courses I have run. The first 2 miles are shady but hilly. (Actually, at about 1/2 mile into the race, the most picturesque scene I ever witness is when the runners go up the hill towards Nobska Point Lighthouse where the 1 mile mark is. It is truly breathtaking!) Miles 3-4 are in the sun with no relief. Spectators lined the course blocking any breeze from the ocean but, with their cheering, they will get you through. Miles 5-6 have parts of shade winding your way around Falmouth harbor. Mile 7 is in the sun and the last slap in the face is a hill about a 1/2 mile from the finish. It can a lovely course and yet a brutal one the next year.

We started in the second wave, around 5 minutes after the elite runners. When the gun went off, my strategy was to go out fast and lose Steve and make him wonder where I was the entire race. I thought maybe he felt he had to play catch up and, since he ran the race on Saturday as if it was a race, I thought maybe he might be too tired. I ran the first mile in 8:30 pace, which is what I wanted. But, things fell apart soon after. I struggled through miles 3 and 4. I felt my only hope was not to stop and just keep going. Maybe Steve was feeling the heat too. I slowed down to a 9:15 pace. I wanted to stop but knew the race was lost if I did. Every chance I got, I was taking sips of water at the water stop or running around the garden hoses the residents on the course would be spraying for the runners. By the sixth mile, I saw people falling by the wayside needing medical attention. I had to keep going but what were they feeling when they passed out? Was it the same as I was feeling? No, I had to just keep going.

It is deceptive after climbing the last hill because you know you are near the end but still can't see the finish. People are cheering and the energy of the crowd is what's keeping you going. Finally, I see the huge American flag, signally the finish is only down the hill. I cross the line with a time of 1:07:44.

I didn't see Steve at the place where we agreed to meet. For a moment, I thought, could it be? Did I really beat him? But, further ahead, there was Steve with a big smile on his face. Both of us thought, at some point, we could do this race in under an hour. And, he did, with a time of 58:20. I give him all the credit in the world because he must have run the race of his life for a great time like that.

It is our custom that the loser buys a round at the British Beer Company, a local bar at the finish line (afterall, the race is a pub-to-pub run). With a run that Steve had, I was only to glad to buy him a beer for his efforts.

We went to Monument Beach afterwards and talked about the day's events and realized we did about a week's worth of activity in one weekend. I asked Steve what he thought the key to his victory was and he said it must be all the miles he was putting in. Steve is trying to do a sub-4 hour marathon and is currently doing 55 miles a week. Compare that to my 20+ miles a week, I think he might have something there. But, it is taking a toll on him and if he achieves his goal, he will back down his miles and, hopefully (for me, anyway) Falmouth will be a more competitive race next year. It gives me another year to think about it!

(Pictured below are Athens marathon silver medalist Meb Kflegzghi, 2007 Falmouth winner Catherine Ndereba with Meb, and the whole table)

(Note: If you want to see me finish the race, click on the following link: http://wbz.com/pages/790716.php

Under Categories, click on 'Second Wave' and enter 1:07:44 as the running time. I must warn you that, despite knowing what I look like, I haven't found me yet crossing the finish. I even tried 1:12:44 as we were 5 minutes after the elite runners. If you find me, let me know. I am wearing a blue hat, orange and white sleeveless shirt and black running shorts. I'm 6ft, 3 in so I would think it would be easy to spot me. I think I crossed the line in the middle of the course.

Next week, you can also listen to Steve's podcast about the race at http://www.steverunner.com/. As he is in Maine this week, he plans to post his show early part of the week of August 20.

I'm off to Cleveland next weekend for a wedding and then to Florida the following weekend to see my parents. At this writing, my next event will be the Philadelphia Distance Run in September (I have signed up) which is a half-marathon course. Still haven't signed up for any of the marathons but have given myself until mid-September to decide on one or two marathons. )