Trip pics #1

There are two more posts below, with more pics . . . .

Welcome to The House of Bliss,

where orchids grow inside the crooks of tree branches,

and sunsets out the back windows are spectacular.

Spectacular in a different way:  the "Clothes Pit" in the back of the Volkswagon Routan, during the race (wavering focus indicates photo taken while sitting on the back floor, while being driven on the Road to Hana):

Clarke comes in for the last 50 yards, on the ballfield in beautiful downtown Hana.

Trip Pics

Here are some photos of lots of Maui activities . . . .

Adam gets ready to lift at CrossFit Maui.

Hollips-to-Hana team members pose happily on the way back home, after completing the race.

Meryl celebrates with a cannonball.

Erik, Meryl and Chris wait to be seated at the post-race dinner at Mama's Fish House.

Post-race, post-dinner, photo post.

Race and trip pics

Here, mostly in reverse order, are some photos of the race and the days leading up to it.

Meryl hands off to Clarke in Hana -- as he begins to run the 18th leg . . . .

Chris comes in for his hand-off to Tamara -- for either the 7th to 8th leg, or 15th to 16th leg?

Clarke hands off to Erik, as Erik begins leg #2 . . . at around 6:30 a.m. 

Clarke finishes leg #1 in super-speedy fashion.

Clarke starts us off -- way, way back at the airport, at 6:15 a.m.

Breakfast at The House of Bliss.  With one of the many naked lady paintings.

Hana Relay

This was truly one of my greatest lifetime events. Thanks to everyone for working hard to get ready and doing such a great job in the relay. We kicked ass. Mom had suggested we do this several years ago and she and MRP made it happen. Our time was as low we thought it could ever be: 7:19. Amazing. Hopefully Erik's knee will recover quickly. I am definitely feeling it today, but I am glad we did it and certainly would do Hana or similar again.

Thursday

I ran 4 miles because it was over 90 and I wanted to see what it was like. Thursday is usually a rest day. I will also run today, probably 5, Crossfit Sat. a.m. and then our Sunday run.

Meryl and Chris' Wednesday

Meryl: 10 hill sprints. 29-32 seconds each.

Chris: few laps around the track, his foot was hurting so he stopped. Did some hill lunges (lunging while going down a steep hill).

Orthodics appointment today for Chris, then off to dad's to spend 4 1/2 hours installing baseboards and running cable throughout the house.

Meryl & Chris Tuesday

Ran around Lake Merritt. Chris: 27:07, Meryl: 27:11. Pretty good for 3.1 miles. Walked around Lakeshore to get food after. Quite a pleasant evening activity.

Will run again tomorrow morning.

Tough Times

Everyone should be sore and tired and sick of running. We leave in a week. We only have a few more training runs left. If we worked hard, we should be drained. That is ok. Now is the time to pay even more attention to stretching, balance and stride. Make sure you feet are in good shape. Shave callouses.

This morning I went to Crossfit at 7 and did 5 rounds of the following:

12 Deadlifts at 165lb
24 walls balls-14lb
12 pushups

5 rounds of that will wake you up.

Weekend

Typical weekend workouts. Friday a 5 mile run, Sat. Crossfit (a challenging 17 minute workout called Fight Gone Bad.-it involved 5 moves(row, wall balls(20lb), Sumo deadlight high pulls(75lbs), box jumps and push press 75 lbs. You do each move for 1 minute and at the end you rest for one minute. It does 3 rounds. You could your total reps. Sunday Mom and I went for a 4.5 mile lake run. I have decided to change next weekends run. Two 4.5 milers is probably more miles than necessary. I now want to do three runs around the small lake with 15-20 minutes rests. This will be more like the relay, will test our recovery and fast two miles will be a challenge.

Meryl and Chris' Friday

Ran around Lake Merritt - 3.1 miles, 28 even. Pretty good pace.

Meryl: 15 miles this week.

Get Ready

In preparation for the trip and run I want everyone to think about what you need for race day. We will get food/drinks once we are there. Everyone should have a small sports bag for their running gear. I recommend the following:

A pair of socks for each leg you run. Do not run in new socks.
Two pairs of shoes if you have them.
A change of shirt for each leg. And, wash the new shirt/shorts MRP gets for you. New clothes that are not washed tend to rub.

Take care of your feet. Trim your toenails. Something might not hurt on mile 1 or 2, but will show up on mile 6 or 7.

Think about food and what works for you. We won't be able to stop for lunch. You need food that gives you good energy, that is easy to digest and won't upset your stomach. This is not the time to try anything new. If you want to use 5 hour energy, Monster, or something like that, make sure you have tried it a couple of times. Same goes for energy gel, etc. I tried some on my last half-marathon during the race and it was a big mistake. Think about small baggies of food that you can eat every 1-2 hours. It should include some protein, which can be a challenge. Jerky is good if your stomach can handle it. Dried fruit and nuts are fine. Even a PB&J sandwich would work. Bananas, oranges, etc. all are good. Coke, fries and a Big Mac not so much.