A few days ago, I got back from Hawaii.

I didn’t do too much running while I was over there, for several reasons:

1. I was still recovering from The North Face 100. Everything still hurt.

2. I was on holidays and I didn’t feel like it.

3. It was too damn hot.

 

4. And windy.

On the day that we arrived on the Big Island, Rich suggested we go on a short run, to shake off some of our travel sluggishness. I really didn’t feel like it (can’t we just go to the pool and have a cocktail?) but I was there to support him in his Ironman race, so reluctantly, I laced up.

We only ran 5km. That was enough. It was hot and windy at Waikoloa, and the landscape was pretty unforgiving… Lava flats surrounded the lush green grounds of the resort, and the heat refracting off them made me regret not bringing a water bottle. Richard wanted to run 5 minute k’s, but in the heat, there was no way I could handle that, not even for 5km. I think it was closer to 5:30’s.

i was definitely glad that it was not me doing a triathlon here…

 

A couple of days later, we were back in Waikiki. This time, we were a little smarter, and got up to do our run at 6 am. Rich was recovering from his Ironman, so our pace was much more evenly matched. We ran up the beach towards Diamond Head, and the temperature was much better.

There were lots of other people out running. We said hello to all of them as we passed. Only one said Hi back. It made me miss the friendly runners back home.

 

After only a couple of kilometres, we were well away from the tourist drag, and in a little neighbourhood surrounded by some very interesting architecture. Running when you’re on holidays is a great way to get out and about and see things that most other tourists won’t get to see. After another km, we were at the foot of a great big hill, so we decided to turn around and head back to the hotel.

We ran about 6km, before trading our running shoes for stand-up paddleboards, a much nicer way to spend an active Hawaiian day!