Life in Hawaii

This was one of the grocery stores that we went to last week...


Puna is the district that Jess lives in. The jokes never get old.
Here's one of the geckos that I've spotted. There all over the place and I love them.


On a side note, yesterday I went for an hour run in the afternoon... the longest run I've done since getting here, and my knee didn't hurt as bad as it normally does! I actually felt pretty good, now I just gotta get out there more often and then I'll be back in decent running shape in no time.

Now, Jess and I are cycling to the town 'Volcano'. This will involve a decent effort on my part, and a huge mental effort. Wish me luck!

Keep dreaming,

JS

Week 1 in Hawaii

Today marks my one week of being in Hawaii. Hawaii is pretty awesome, and I've been able to do some pretty sweet stuff. Here's a little list of the things I've done so far:

*Rode my bike more in 7 days than I normally do in 14
*Eaten the most amount of macadamia nuts in one sitting period
*Swam with sea turtles
*Danced with naked hippies
*Watched more Old Gregg vids than ever before
*Eaten the most amount of fruit than I have in my life
*Swam in the Hot Ponds
*Danced on stage with an Australian dance group
*Been to many local markets
*Watched a modern-day church jam sesh
*Hitchhiked (and the guy driving was drinking a Milwaukee's Best)
*Started a blog!!

I'm super excited because my roommate, friend and training buddy, Lindsay, is flying into Kona next week. I've been feeling a little homesick lately, and I have a feeling she's going to be the cure. Another friend of mine, Carolyn, is joining us shortly after on the 4th. Their arrivals are going to kick start a fabulous week which leads into the Lavaman Triathlon on the 6th in Waikoloa. For the four days following the race, LifeSport is putting on a triathlon camp that I am equally excited about. This will be a trip of many firsts for me, so I am feeling so thankful that I can be apart of so many things with such awesome people!

Keep Dreaming!

JS

Monopoly Anyone?

I can't get over how silly American money is. It all looks the same!!! I've had a couple chats with a few locals here, and each of them always bring up the fact that Canadian currency looks like monopoly money. I think coloured money is cool, along with the metric system! But seriously though, American money is very silly!!

The states don't have the $2 anymore, though.

Keep Dreaming!

JS

eating right

After pillaging the easter sale racks at the grocery store (and paying for it during workouts), Jess and I have developed a plan to start eating better. Cutting the shit out of our diet, and using each other as support when one of us gets weak. Here are our guidelines:

Beginning March 25, 2008

1. No ice cream
2. No cookies
3. No chocolate (exception of one small treat once a week – after a hard workout)
4. No simple sugars (including ketchup and Jenny only allowed small amount of PB on toast once a week)
5. No aspartame or sugar substitutes (like splenda)
6. Gatorade and sugar drinks allowed only on rides and up to an hour post ride
7. No Arizona iced teas
8. No corn pops or sugar cereals
9. Granola/power bars only allowed on rides
10. Limit of two pieces of bread a day
11. Minimal eating out, in the restaurant form
    
12. Maximum of one glass of wine a day
13. No pop
14. At least one litre of water a day
    
15. No chips or tortillas
16. One apple a day for Jenny
17. One salad a day with dinner
18. At least one handful of nuts a day
19. No Mauna Loa’s, except in riding your bike form
20. One serving of fish at least three times a week
21. Each grocery basket is at the judgement of the other person

Paulie has bet us a large blizzard we don't last a week. Perhaps he knows me a little to well to appeal to the super competitive side of me to help me in this challenge. Thank you, Paulie.

Today, I ran, swam and went for a bike ride. Nothing spectacular, but a decent effort. I ran 4 miles today, my knee was acting up a little bit, but has improved a lot from a couple days ago! Hopefully this is a trend and will continue on this path.

Keep Dreaming,

JS

that's trippy

As I've been meeting more and more locals, most are some of Jess' friends, the more I hear the term 'trippy'. I don't know if it's a Hawaiian thing, or even an American thing, but it's trippy! I hear that term more in one day, than I have in my whole life. When I strike up a conversation with someone, and it comes up that I'm Canadian, I get the same two responses; 'That's trippy, EH!?, what's with people from Canada always saying eh?' or 'oh wow, Is it always cold up there?'.
I find it funny, and try to come up with some ridiculous story to tell.

On another note, today I hit up this awesome beach, with Jess' friend, Marcelo. He is a really cool guy. We sun bathed for an hour, and then jumped in the ocean to see some sea turtles! There are some really cool looking fish we saw, too! I'm looking forward to doing some snorkeling and surfing in the near future! Here are some pics from the beach:





Yesterday, Dan and I rode to the Natural Hot Ponds for a dip! The Natural Hot Ponds is a pond of water that is heated naturally by the earth underground. The only thing man made is the siding along the pond that is concrete, and a couple steps on each side. It was a great ride, and then we plugged in the tuneskies and soaked up the sun for an hour. It was a Skinner-bonding experience... I loved it. Then we headed back home early afternoon. I also bought a pair of crocks yesterday. They're the best pair of shoes I think I own. If you don't have a pair, you should consider investing.

Keep Dreaming... cause it's a trip!

JS

two a days

No, not the two a days of training rides that Jamie refers to in his blog, or even the hit TV show on mtv, but two postings a day!

Today, Jess and I went to the Hilo pool for a swim. It was a good workout and a cool place to visit, not to mention that it's completely free! Working a lot on technique and pace, I did a choice warm up, with a couple drills and 10 x 200m. After the pool, we went into town and did some shopping. We hit up the market, where I bought this gorgeous 6-foot flower for $1. Yes, you read correctly - $1.

After Jamie was shaking it around a bit, a little friend fell out and landed on the floor. Here's a picture.

Best dollar I've ever spent.

We also went to see 'Descendance' - an Australian tribal group here in Hilo. They were amazing! They're staying next door, so Jess and I got to meet them when they arrived yesterday. We were speaking to one man after the show, and found out that they've been on a couple tours with Xavier Rudd! We were hoping to have a dance party with them tomorrow, but unfortunately they leave early in the morning.

Keep dreaming,

JS

The Square of Power

You know that when you wake up and Dan and Jamie are already awake, you must have been really tired and needed the 11 hour sleep. For the hour commencing my wake up, my life has been filled with Old Greg video clips, The 'swim, bike, run' song that Jamie plays every morning, eating cereal, surfing the web, and planning our day.
Here's a a picture of our square of power:

Today, Jess and I are going to run some errands downtown, and take a dip in the ocean.

keep the dreams alive,

JS

p.s. I forgot to put on suntan lotion before I went on my ride yesterday, so I got a nice sunburn on my arms and shoulders. At the very least, I'm glad that I wore a sleeveless jersey, so I wont have the complete cyclist's tan.

Adventure Crew

I arrived at the Hilo International Airport this morning at 6 am. After flying to Honolulu on Wednesday night, and staying at the Honolulu airport, I'm feeling great about getting settled at Jess'. Today has seemed like the longest day I've ever had, probably due to the fact that I had approximately 40 minutes combined sleeping at the Hono Airport, combined with lots of activity. Here's a pic of my bed for the night in Honolulu. Don't let the picture fool you, it was much more comfortable than it looks.

Wrapping up my first day in Hawaii, I'm quite impressed with myself for accomplishing so much in one day. Jess had a morning class for an hour at 8 am, so we hit up the local starbucks, pick up a box of milk chocolate covered toffee macademia nuts (delish!) and then headed to campus. While Jess was in class, I was out and about walking around the university of Hawaii, in complete awe - I'm dealing with sensory overload, my mind can only take in so much in a day and I'm still not fully comprehending the fact that I am in Hawaii... this is not reality yet.

Jess and I also went for a 3 hour bike ride today. I can't even begin to try to put it into words. It was hard to concentrate on training, pushing myself, cadence, and even traffic on the road when you're constantly being distracted with such a gorgeous surrounding. The ocean side here is unbelievable. We rode by it, and I was captivated by the enormous swells and the splashes against the rocks. This place is unlike anything I've ever seen, although this feeling of astonishment and amazement reminds me when I first came to Victoria.

After our ride, Jess and I went for a little jaunt down her street. It's a gravel road, so it forces you to go slow, which in my case is not a bad thing because I am trying to nurse my knee back to perfect health. This run wasn't anything over the top, just a 15 minute out-and-back peregrination. My knee started to aggravate me, but hopefully I can work through it and that it's going to be in runnable condition for Lavaman on the 6th.

It has been great to see Dan and Jamie again. They've been in Hawaii since the beginning of February. Those two boys are looking darker than Denzel Washington. They're taking their training quite seriously, and it shows! I can't believe the amount of training they do in a day, but what's more impressive than that, is the amount of time they spend updating their blogs, comparing each others shiny stats, and other miscellaneous things on the interwebs. These next couple weeks are going to be great though.

Tomorrow it looks like we are going to take a swim in the ocean and then hit up Dangerousway for some grocery shopping. It also seems as though I'm booked up for the next couple nights for movie nights, dance parties, aboriginal Australian tribal band night, ECSTATIC dance on Sunday (which I've been looking forward too since I've heard about it when Jess moved here in October!) This sounds so exciting, and I am really looking forward to encompassing a new lifestyle and learning more about Hawaiian culture.

Stay tuned for the future adventures of adventuresaurus! I promise I will upload some better pictures soon.

Keep the dreams alive,

JS