Kokau is Waiting in Kona

Some of you may have heard (if you've been around me for more than five minutes in the past few months) ...

I AM LEAVING ON SATURDAY FOR HAWAII!

As I posted on Facebook yesterday, this will be my first week long, non-work (well, minimal) and non-race (well, some training) destination vacation in a very long time (since honeymooning in Bermuda many, many years ago?).

I am incredibly excited about this trip for lots of reasons.

• like watching the wedding re-enactment of the Sponsored Athlete and the Should be Sponsored Wife
• or staying at the luxurious compound Mrs. Barracuda discovered
• not to mention the amazing itinerary including zip lining, hikes, luaus, snuba...and....
• and...and...BIKING parts of the Kona course!

Today, for less than the cost of taking my bike (Patriot Sangria is sulking in the corner) to the Big Island, I rented Kokua, a Cannondale Six ultra road bike. In just a few days, Kokua and I will be joining the Sponsored Couple and the Barracudas on tours through Kona, including sections of the IM World Championship bike route.

[Big smile].

Snapshots of LA

Los Angeles, that is.

Ideally, my first trip to California would have been to the places I’ve been drooling over for years. San Francisco, Sonoma, Carmel…

But you take what you can get. And I was able to get a great opportunity to combine a work trip with a few extra days tacked on to explore the west coast – in the heart of Hollywood.

LAX – let’s just skip that part.

Hollywood – Our hotel was literally .1 miles from Hollywood Boulevard. Why do I know this? Because my husband sent me the Mapquest directions from the hotel’s lobby to Regis Philbin’s star.

Patriot Sangria, who's been keeping busy with a little make-over at 3-Sports while we’ve been traveling, has been jealously pouting because Steve McQueen has a star, but she does not.

And other than that – and a few good restaurants – Hollywood was, kind of, boring.

Beverly Hills – Yes Beverly Hills was quaintly posh. The homes were lovely. Not terribly big, but still impressive – and ridiculously expensive. We shopped along Rodeo Drive with a few friends who came down from central California during our visit. Actually, we didn’t really shop as the only affordable item was Starbucks water.

I made a separate trip to Beverly Hills to fit in my long run. There was no way I could handle two hours on the treadmill – and Hollywood is not exactly conducive to street runs. I woke up early on Sunday morning – to DRIZZLE – chilly, drizzle - which, though slightly ironic, was refreshing as I followed the 6 mile loop cue sheet I found online. Running goes by much more quickly when you are trying to keep track of directions on unfamiliar streets.

Malibu – My husband and I rented a car for our stay and spent part of one morning cruising. We stumbled upon Malibu – my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean – with the high cliffs and hills bordering the Pacific Coast Highway. The water was calm, though plenty of surfers were out trying to catch some waves. We even drove by the triathlon site for the infamous “JLo” race which was set-up for the weekend’s events. I couldn’t help but wish I had registered for the race – the course would have been awesome!

Venice Beach – Uh, how could such a lovely beach also boast the most bizarre combination of boardwalk vendors? Crap and more crap being sold by quite the eclectic crowd.

Laguna Beach – We visited my husband’s cousins in Orange Hills and scored a tour of Laguna Beach. We walked down the shoreline on a gorgeous afternoon. Photographers posed their clients among breathtaking rock formations. The waves pounded the shore – and I could not understand how such an amazing beach was not more crowded.

And now, we are back home - happy to see the furkids - and ready for the last workouts before MightyMan!

More Vacation Training - Swim, Cough, Run

After the 8.5 mile run (at a surprising 10:08 pace) early Saturday morning, the rest of my girls-weekend-mini-vacation featured an unusual triathlon training regime – swim, cough, run.

Saturday, we headed out to the Miami Seaquarium for a dolphin swim. Several years ago, I set a few lifetime goals. One was to do a triathlon. Another was to swim with the dolphins. Last year, I had my first opportunity to share the water with these amazing animals – and was really looking forward to repeating the experience. How often do you get to accomplish a life goal more than once (well, other than triathlons!)?

I just love dolphins. In general, I am fascinated by animals - and am a proud anthropomorphist. Spending time up close and personal with four beautiful dolphins was a highlight of the trip for me. They flipped, jumped, twisted and waved for us. We even received a few kisses. One of the dolphins was a proud new mother – and we watched as her baby swam nearby, keeping close tabs on her Mama. Most memorable were the “rides” with the dolphins – one on the dorsal fin and one on a boogie board as the dolphin propelled us forward by our feet. If only I could latch onto a dolphin in Panama City next November!

Sometime between the dolphin swim and Sunday morning, the cold I had been fighting for a few days took a turn for the worse. Major sore throat, chest phlegm, sneezing, coughing, yada, yada, yada. Thankfully, TRIgirl MJW (she and DL were also feeling under the weather) was equipped with Zicam and aspirin – and I was able to pump enough meds into my body to still enjoy the great dinners (loved Bed, Nobu and Opa!), dancing, shopping – and even a few hours of beach time.

South Beach has one of the most fabulous oceanfront boardwalks I’ve ever seen – it seems to go on forever – with views of the gorgeous aqua waters, white sands, swaying palm trees and upscale hotels. On Monday morning, I decided I wasn’t going to let some stupid cold force me to forgo my last chance to run along it – especially because the weather was finally warming up a bit. So I joined TRIgirls MJW and DL for a five mile run – including a 4 mile negative split. And while my negative split wasn’t so hot (20:45/19:45) – it was still one of the most beautiful and enjoyable runs I’ve ever experienced.

Now it is back to reality – and a tough, slightly guilt-ridden decision to take a rest day to send this cold off on its merry way before slipping back into the normal training schedule.

Vacation - A New Definition?

How did it happen?

I am on a girls’ weekend trip in South Beach, with two other TRIgirls. Are we hopping the bars? Are we dancing in clubs? Are we on the beach (OK, surprisingly, it is pretty chilly here in Miami to be anywhere near the ocean)?

Nope.

We are tucked in our beds, since about 10:00 pm, winding down for an 7-8 hour slumber.

Why?

Because we are all in agreement that we want to wake up early tomorrow for our scheduled 8 mile training run.

We’ve also planned a run for Monday before we head back home.

Our IPODs and Garmins are charging. We packed our workout gear and sneakers with as much deliberation as our beach and nightlife outfits.

And if the predicted chilly temperatures end up being just bad weather predictions, we have our bathing suits in tow for an open water swim.

I’d write more, but my other training cohorts are fast asleep – and I best wrap this up so I will be just as chipper as they will be when our wake-up call rings at the crack of dawn.