Backpack & running bag stuffed. Gone for almost a week but packed light – shorts & swim trunks, heading to Hawaii. Marathoning & a volcano hike top my itinerary – crazy excited!
DIA monitors decked in ‘Bronco Orange & Blue’ – classy, Denver…NFL home team support.
Direct flight, yes. 8 hour flight, ouch…that’s a loooooong time to sit.
Sleep? Read? Heck no. Watched ‘Alien Sharks’ as we flew over the Pacific – no land past California, only ocean for 5 consecutive hours. Tried to keep my mind alert…the more it wandered, the more I thought of downed flights over large bodies of water. Must be an old-person thing…never remember being worried years ago when I lived in Russia & traveled trans-Atlantic quarterly for work. LOL>
Landed in Maui – no issues, greeted with palm trees & humidity…in January. FAAANNNTASTIC!
Car rental pick-up, condo check-in followed 45 minutes later in Wailea. Opted for a non-hotel stay in Maui – liked the option of having a kitchen available for meals. Highly recommended.
Quick belly fill in nearby Kihei; shut-eye came quickly.
Woke early Saturday to sunshine, bird calls & tropical coloured flowers – Aloha, Hawaii! Unpacked my Newtons & a pair of shorts, stepped outside – ready for my first island run. Plan A: don’t get lost. Ran south to Makena, where all man-made roads eventually dead-end in La Perouse Bay. Lotta resorts, lotta golf courses, lotta money.
Morning sight-seeing goal: the Ocean.
Wailea Alanui to Makena Road, south on Makena Alanui, then back on Makena Road. Hilly run along ancient lava fields. Heat kicked up just past Big Beach in Makena State Park. Got caught up in the scenery; forgot about Sunday’s marathon. What taper, huh? 10.2 miles is a lotta steps, day before a full marathon – yikes! #onlyliveonce
Shower, $150 Foodland spend, late breakfast of fried eggs & POG (Hawaiian juice addiction), then a shoreline drive north to Lahaina – for bib pick-up & a proper sit-down lunch. Hula pie at Kimo’s did not disappoint 🙂
Afternoon plans: kickin’ back, napping on the sand & beach time – then caught the Cardinals-Packers overtime finish.
Food, fun & football – good Day One. 5am start tomorrow, marathoning state #48.
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- 8 hours ’til my Hawaiian adventure begins!
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- January morning run: 10.2 miles of oceanview
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- Double Canoe Hokule’a
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- lunch in Lahaina Harbor
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- Kimo’s infamous Hula Pie
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- kickin’ back/napping & beach time
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- Puamana Beach, off Honoapi’ilani Highway
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- food, fun & football – good Day One
Island FM KHEI 107.5
SD – WV – OH – NH – CT – next up, Maryland. 6th consecutive weekend marathoning, running state 42 Saturday 🙂
Hotel stayed in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor – GREAT location. Day’s first stop, the National Aquarium. HUGE building hugging the Chesapeake Bay – 5 levels of wonder. Black tip reef to Shark Alley, well done. Time constrained, unfortunately had to cut out early – still needed to fit in lunch & bib pick-up downtown.
Long jot down Pratt, opted to walk by Yankee great Babe Ruth’s Birthplace Museum before righting myself toward the city’s two premier sports stadiums, Camden Yards & Ravens M&T Bank Stadium.
Much of downtown Baltimore is uniquely designed in the region’s locally harvested red brick – including tomorrow’s mile 25 paver path to the Finish. Welcomed BIG at Camden Yards: “This Land is Birdland”. Tomorrow’s marathon wraps Orioles Stadium – finishing down pedestrian Eutaw Street, connecting Camden Yards to the city’s NFL home.
Snapped a pic of the marathon ‘Finish Line’ – classy, Baltimore.
WOW whatta day – whole lotta, whole lotta before a 26.2. To anyone who thinks of Baltimore only as the city jungle portrayed during last year’s riots – think again. Much to see & do!
Early start tomorrow a.m. [MARATHON DAY] then hitting the highway – dinner plans with Aunt & my Virginia-based cousins (2 hours away in Martinsburg WV). Livin’ life with no regrets – FAAANNTASTIC!
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- Thursday nite flight — next stop, Baltimore
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- 5 levels of wonder, highly recommended
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- sand shark
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- horseshoe crab (ranger presentation)
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- sea anemone — specifically, a plumose anemone 🙂
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- the mighty pint-sized sea horse
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- jellies
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- Yankees great, home in Baltimore?
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- MLB’s Baltimore Orioles
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- Eutaw Street — mile 25 red brick paver Finish
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- ‘Charm City’ loves their Birds
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- bib pick-up in NFL Ravens stadium
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- Baltimore’s famous football son — Colt, not a Raven
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- eye on the prize
5 days ago, ran/walked/crawled my worst marathon in Casper Wyoming.
Mentally re-grouped, today Seattle bound. Surprising long 3-hour flight, greeted by Washington state’s towering Mount Rainier. double WOW! [Someday I’ll bag this peak – on my bucket list 🙂 ]
Struggled initially with public transport (no rental car this trip), but eventually made my way to the NFL Seahawks’ CenturyLink Field (for bib pick-up). After the Broncos’ humiliating 2014 Super Bowl loss, couldn’t imagine souvenir shopping. HOWEVER, pleasantly surprised to see Seattle’s Sounders share store space with the Seahawks. One of MLS’ premier soccer teams – dropped 20 & scored a new beanie.
Hooked up with Ash & Tom (arrived a day earlier), toured the city via harbor cruise – SUPER fun – then ended the day at Seattle’s infamous fish-tossing Public Market.
Crazy hippie vibe in Seattle, sport a unique accent (Alaskan/Canadian tinge) – and is a city of hills. Folks warned ’bout San Francisco being hilly…no such disclaimer for the Emerald City. Yikes!
Woke early Saturday, 6am monorail to Seattle Center – caught my first close-up of the Space Needle. Would have to wait post-marathon for a ride UP 🙂 Hung out nearby in the Armory with a thousand new friends, awaiting an 8am start.
Corral start: lotta people, lotta corrals – BIG crowd, majority half-marathoners (combined start). Only my 2nd Rock n Roll event, Las Vegas RnR was HUGE — 44,000 participants.
Almost 10 minutes before I actually crossed the Start Line – but from there, a different attitude. Sunshine, cool temps – maybe Seattle’s hippie vibe – whatever the reason, this was not Casper.
Separated from the halfers early & worked our way south to Seward Park. GREEN. Biggest difference from Colorado, everything’s leafy, lush & GREEN here.
Crossed the mile-long expansion bridge to Mercer Island at mile 18; struggled with strong crosswinds [on the bridge] but reenergized to music blasting in the tunnel before mile 19 (& mile 22).
Paced sub-4 until the mile 23 bridge return to Seattle. Hills – bring ‘em on. I eat hills for breakfast.
Casper Marathon, I derailed/everything fell apart – mental, physical, top 10 worst. Today approaching Seattle’s Space Needle, I felt STRONG. Love this city. SUCCESS: state #32 marathon FINISH.
Next stop (WaMu Theatre), Jurassic World premier – my post-marathon movie treat in 3D.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon
June 13, 2015
Bib Name City, State Time
8057 K R Haga Louisville, CO 4:15:26
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- Mount Rainier greeting
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- marathon bib pick-up at Seahawk’s CenturyLink Field
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- downtown Seattle skyline
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- Seattle’s infamous fish-throwing marketplace
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- Haga family lookin’ fly as we tour the harbor — at Argosy Cruises
