[gatorbob]

Hi, guys. Keep up the good fitnessing!

We're still having fun here in Hawaii. And I'm still recovering from the race. I think I'm a little more sore than usual. Probably due to a little extra dehydration. But jeez, I felt like I drank 10 gallons of water and Gatorade. I don't think I could have put any more down, so I don't know how I could have avoided dehydration...

SR, as for whether it was a beautiful course... well, yes and no. There was a stretch that we ran on both at the beginning and end that was very beautiful. But there was also a stretch in the middle that looked rather desolate. It was on a highway thru a lava field, so it was interesting, at least (i.e. unlike anything I'd see at home). But it was a 9 mile stretch, and it all pretty much looked the same. And there was zero shade out there, so it was quite brutal. I wish the course had more views of the ocean, but so be it. I'm just happy to have this one done. Hawaii is probably the most difficult (and expensive) state for me to get to, so it's nice to have this one out of the way now.

By the way, we've been checking the news from back home, and there was a double homicide in our sleepy little suburban town a couple days ago. Details are still sketchy, but it seems as though a 27-year old guy fatally stabbed his mother and grandfather in the home they all shared. Sheesh...

 

[gatorbob]

Nobody has posted in a few days. What gives? Is everybody having trouble logging in again? I'm not having any trouble now...

Well, our stay in Hawaii is wrapping up. About 24 hours from now we'll be on a redeye headed back east. It's been a great trip...

One little running-related thing: I ran into a couple I know who live in the next town over from us. They're in their 60s and they're both very active in the 50 State club, so maybe it wasn't too surprising to find them at a marathon. But then we ran into them again today all the way on the other side of the island. Oh, and I also randomly ran into them in Tulsa OK when I did that marathon a bunch of years ago...


Here's another weird thing. We went to a luau a couple days ago and sat at a big table with another family. So of course we got to talking. Turns out they're from New Jersey also. But that's not the weird thing. They had a son about our daughter's age. Eventually we got around to comparing the kids' birthdays, and they were both born on the exact same day in the same year! Weird...

There are lots of other stories to tell from the trip, and maybe I'll get into some of them some time. But I'll only say one more for now. In the past, I've talked about some random encounters I've had with wild animals. Well, I had a new one today. We were hanging out at the beach not too far from our hotel here in Hilo. I was just hanging out in the water, not too far from shore, when a rather large turtle swam into me. He just bounced off me and then kept on going. That's a first for me...

Okay, I hope everybody is doing well back on the mainland...