Hawaii -- Vacation 2018

Vacation 2018 - Hawaii - Big Island

Hawaii... a bucket list item.  However, if my PPRF (Peer Pressure Running Friends group) had not talked me into doing the Kona marathon, I might of waited to go to Hawaii at a later time in my life.  I figured it would be expensive.  Let me just say that if you think Disney is expensive... well just triple that amount for Hawaii. :)  But it was so WORTH IT! :)

My husband asked me what was my favorite thing about Hawaii and I told him I could not come up with just one thing.  There is so much to see!  And we did not see it all!  We only managed to get in 2 of the islands and one was just a one day trip for a tour to hit all the high spots.  I'd love to go back and visit all the islands and have more time.  It's just an amazing place and so laid back!

Girls when we arrived in Kona .. 2pm (Hawaii time)

Getting our rental car... JEEP

I was disappointed when we arrived at the Kona airport and started driving to our resort.  I imagined I'd be seeing beautiful beaches and ocean.  Instead we were seeing nothing but fields of black rock and sand.  Barely any trees.   It sure was not what I imagined.  As I drove I thought to myself .... boy this is disappointing.  But trust me.. it got much better once we arrived at our resort!  There is a lava tube just a few miles from the airport that all the cars were stopping at.  We finally stopped on our last day before going to the airport to leave to see what all the people were looking at. Our tour guide earlier in the week had told us that it was created in 1983 when one of the volcanoes erupted.  Here's a picture of the girls at the lava tube.  It was HUGE.

We stayed on the Big Island at the Hilton resort in Waikoloa village. 

It is a beautiful resort.  We had an ocean view room.  

Erin (my daughter), Me & Katelyn at the resort ready for race expo.  So glad the expo was at our resort. We didn't have to leave the resort to go pick up all our race stuff. :>)

Right outside our room...I could sit there forever with the wind blowing and watching the beautiful water.

photo sessions at the resort.. this area is right outside our room.  Can you tell girls are having fun? 

Me and Erin

 Pools at our resort.  There were several!

I'll try to make this post brief and only post a few of my favorite pictures.  I took a ton.  :>)

The first sunset we saw from our room the first day.

This was our itinerary I gave the girls before we left on our adventure.  I've added a few notes in blue.  I'll add a picture or two from each day to keep this post short. :>) 

Hawaii – Itinerary

Thursday – 6/21/2018…  Leave for airport 4am BE READY ---- arrive in Hawaii 2:05pm  -

The struggle was real for some to get up (which girls said they never went to sleep when I picked them up at 4am). 

  

Girls at Kona Airport when we arrived around 2pm (Hawaii time) ...... they are holding their bank card for their bank .... I can't remember why... they just said they had to get pic with their bank card for the bank.  LOL

The view out our balcony.. boy were we excited when we arrived!

-  Supper after getting settled at resort… Boat Landing Cantina at Resort ... right outside our room.  We were tired from our long travel day, plus I had not slept any the night before we left due to my son's puppy being hit by a car.  I was exhausted. 

 Surviving the plane ride.... ha  8 hours is a long time on one plane. 

Friday – 6/22/2018  … First full day at Hawaii -- Tour of big Island (Ultimate Circle Tour) -  Depart hotel at 7am …. Return around 8pm  …. Tour includes lunch…   

Our tour was awesome!! We were with another couple from New Zeland.  They were so interesting.. they have traveled the world! We were in a brand new Mercedes van.  Our driver drove us completely around the whole Island stopping at all the high spots and filling us in on tons of Island history.  It was an awesome tour.  Paul from Essential Tours was great!  We saw the following:  Kona Coffee farm, Macadamia Nut farm, Hilalalai and Mauna Loa volcanoes, Punalu'u black sand beach, sea turtles, Kilauea volcano, Rainbow falls, Akaka Falls, Waipio Valley, and a tropical garden.  And I'm sure I've left some things out.  Here is the map of the Island showing the circle tour we did:

Info on some of the volcanoes we saw:

Kohala - the oldest volcano.  The Waipi'o Valley use to be bigger before this volcano erupted causing the Northern part to collapse into the ocean in a giant landslide.  This created stunning sea cliffs in the valley and also a monster tsunami.  

The Waipi'o Valley

Mauna Kea - tallest sea mountain in the world.  It's taller than Mt.Everest!  It's a dormant volcano. 

Hualalai - Got Kona Coffee?  This volcano is best known for the black gold that comes from it's slopes: Kona Coffee.  It's active, but hasn't erupted for a while.  

Mauna Loa - Largest volcano on the planet!  It's very active and has erupted over 150 times, with the last one ending April, 1984.

Kilauea - has been erupting since 1983! it's the youngest of the 6 volcanoes on the Big Island.  It's also the one causing the major damage right now.  

So as we were touring around the Island, I said to my tour guide, "So basically at any time any part of this big island could erupt with a few fisher from a volcano".  The whole Island is basically volcanoes. LOL 

We did not see a rainbow the day we went, however most of the time you have to go early in the morning to catch the rainbow view from what I've read.

So many pretty plants!  

Our New Zeland Friends... they were a hoot!

We even drove 12 miles through the park.  There were signs everywhere saying do not stop, but we could drive through.  We only saw one small crack in the road from the current volcano.

Check out those sea turtles behind us.  This is at Black Sand Beach.

Supper at Lava Lava Beach Club after arriving back at the resort.. it was packed!  It’s directly on beach.. we had to wait for a table.

Saturday – 6/23/2018 …  Race expo – meet group at 10am for picture,  relax before Sunday’s race.    
  Dinner 6:30 pm … Huggo’s in Kona  … on the water.. nice sunset view.  Had some awesome raw tuna!  Also saw a guy catching fish, cleaning fish, and eating them on the shallow water below the restaurant.  

Sunday – 6/24/2018 … Race Day … Marathon starts at 5:30am, 5K starts at 6:45am …………I’ll be up around 4am getting ready for marathon … so I’ll have you girls up in time for your race! J    ………… 
Race sucked.. see previous blog post.. ha  Sunday night after race Legends of Hawaii Luau dinner… 5:30pm  The Luau was awesome.  Great food and the dancers were amazing!  

Girls at Luau

We were greeted with real flowers. 

Monday – 6/25/2018 – Fly to Oahu (Honolulu) for tour of that Island … have to be at airport at 5:15am … so probably leaving hotel at 4:45am…. Arrive back on big Island around 8pm. 

Headed out to airport

 

Boy were we tired this day... or I was! Marathon day before and then we had to get up so early to get to airport... we had private tour of Oahu.  It was nice that it was only the 3 of us with our driver.  We were not on a set schedule.  If we had not been so tired, we would have requested more things to do.  ha  Katelyn even slept during some of the drive on the tour.  We saw many things....  Our tour started with Pearl Harbor.   Due to structural damage no one is allowed to get off the boat and walk on Pearl Harbor.  I was sad about that, but so glad I got to see Pearl Harbor.  From there we begin our drive around the island.

  We saw the following:

Dole Pineapple Pavilion, Scenic La'ie Point, Oahu's famous north shore beaches, Waimea Bay, Waimanalo Beach park, Legendary Oahu Surf Spots, had lunch from a shrimp truck, Tantalus lookout which you can literally see all around the Island of Oahu From Diamond head to Waikiki Beach & Chinaman's Hat from Kualoa Point State Rec Area.  Plus some other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.  It was another full day of island touring. 

The hat Island and the turtle island... can you make it out?
Chinaman's Hat, Oahu ..... Mokolii is proper name.  Located on the north end of Kaneohe Bay, offshore.  According to local legend, Hi'aka, the volcano goddess Pele's sister, created the hat island by sleighing a dragon and throwing it's tail out into the water.  

Monk Seal we saw laying on the beach.. it was HUGE

During the winter months the waves here are huge and they have surf competitions.  Ever heard of the pipeline?  Well, you're looking at it. 

Dinner … at Waikoloa village close to resort .. Waikoloa Luxury Cinemas .. yep they served supper and you could also go to the movies… we only ate.  

Tuesday – 6/26/2018 -  Lava boat tour --  We have to drive to Hilo side of Island to catch boat -  leaves at 4pm….    We may drive over the Hilo around lunch and sight see some of that side of Island before Lava boat Tour.

  The boat ride is very rough.... let me caution anyone that goes.  We had several throwing up the whole time.  We were hitting waves that looked 10-12 feet high in a metal boat!  The trade winds had really picked up while we were there which makes it worse.   They brief you ahead of time and tell you it's going to be bad, but until you get on that boat, you don't really know how bad.. ha  At least none of us were sick.  Jackie Ray’s Ohana Grill for dinner.   It was great!  Did not get to sight see on Hilo side (good thing our tour on Friday took is by there and hit the high spots) ... our GPS took us down a road that ended on a dead end.  However, we got to see Paul Mitchell's son and had a good laugh in the jeep trying to get back down the mountain.  

Fisher 8 ... the live volcano.  We are on the boat heading to see the Lava.

As lava flows into the ocean it explodes creating black sand & a lot of smoke.... new land forming.  So cool watching this, but also sad for all those that lost their homes. 

Girls on Lava Boat Tour

Red Lava flowing before it hits the ocean waters

This picture of the other Lava boat out with us really doesn't show the waves as bad as they are when we were going out to the lava.  We jumped waves 7-10 feet high.. in an aluminum boat!  Several  people were sick the entire time.  When they said rough waters, they meant it.  

Supper .. oh it was so GOOD! 

Wednesday – 6/27/2018 – Rest… ha   Manta Ray night snorkel …. We have to drive to the harbor to load boat … leave hotel probably around 3pm – have to check in at 5pm on boat. – returns 9pm  

I let the girls sleep as long as they wanted this day since every day we had gotten up early.  However, they were up by 9am and out in the water.  They couldn't get enough of Hawaii either!  I had a massage at 8am! Yeah me :>)  We ended up ordering room service for supper when we got back to the room that night and a small pizza was $40.. :<>) 

It was the only overcast day we had the day we hung out at the resort.  And the girls still got sunburned. LOL 

Erin is ready to see those Manta Rays!   I love traveling with her.  She's so much FUN. :>) 

Katelyn was not liking the wet suit one bit.  

So we only saw 1 manta ray...  We were disappointed in this.  Several people had told us they saw between 8-10.  Our captain did tell us that not every trip do they get to see mantas, so we were lucky to see one.  It was amazing seeing that thing swim so close to us!  Here's a little video I took with the GoPro.  Excuse the angle and movement.  I was trying to hold on to a rope and not float off and the waves were steady out in the water. Click the link:
Manta Ray Swim

A little bit of Hawaii on Video

Thursday – 6/28/2018 – depart L  Shop at Kona until we have to drive to airport around 2pm to catch 5pm flight home. 

I stood on the bank where the world Ironman Championship happens.   The beach there is beautiful!  Kona is a cute little town.  Lots of shops.  We parked and walked around.  The main street there is like their own Vegas strip. 

A really cool tree in Kona

Where Ironman happens!

Girls leaving... booooooooo

My cool bike jersey I got in Kona. 

What a vacation!!! It was a busy one.  We tried to fit in so much that we never had any time to just sit and relax.  I'd love to go back and sit with the wind blowing my hair and read a book surrounded by all the beautiful landscape.  Hawaii is amazing.  So blessed to be able to go!  The ride home was AWFUL.  Losing the 5 hours, a guy sitting next to me that went to sleep all over my arm rest where I couldn't put my food tray back up, my legs aching from sitting, and just not being able to get comfy, made me not sleep one bit!  By the time we got to New Orleans and I had to drive home, it was bad.  I could barely hold my eyes open!  I've never driven that sleepy in all my life.  Next time I'll have someone pick us up and drive us home. :>) 

Marathon #13 - Kona, Hawaii 6-24-18

Marathon #13 for me.  Yep, I haven't done as many marathons as half marathons.  Know why?  Cause halfs are more fun. :>)  I've done 3 times as many halfs as fulls.  A full marathon to me is dedication in training, a mental state to pull through the difficult times (usually from mile 20+), and a whole lot of perseverance.  :>)  

With all that being said, I will say that this marathon for me was HARD.   It was the hardest one I've done.  Maybe if I had not been dealing with Plantar Fasciitis and did not run 4 weeks prior to the marathon, I might feel a tad different.  However, even my friends I ran with that had no foot issues and had been running constantly.... some had even just did a full in April, said this marathon was HARD.  :>)

 I still can't believe we had such a good group of ladies get to Hawaii for this race.  Hawaii is not CHEAP!  So all of us had planned anywhere from 1-2 years for this race.  We meet up on Saturday to take a group picture before going into the expo.  We wore our pineapple shirts that we planned to wear on race day.  We figured it would be easier to get a picture before the race than on race day because some would finish before others and we may not all find each other.  Here are a few pictures of the group. 

Getting ready to JUMP 

JUMP
Candy, Megan, Claire, Ashley, Michelle, Laura, Me, Jane, Penny, Ann, & Penny's mom

Erin (my daughter), Me & Katelyn ... I talked them into doing the 5K :>) 

Awesome doing races with my daughter!

Me in front of the banner at the expo

A whole year in planning this trip!  Yes, I was EXCITED... 

Trying to get our Hawaii hand signal right. 

Picture was taken at the Hilton village where we all stayed.  It's FABULOUS!! Just look at that clear water! I've got to do a separate blog post on vacation time in Hawaii & the resort.

So back to the race.....  I write this post so I can look back and remember what the heck happen.   I probably only have 2-3 people that read this blog so it's more for me than anything. :>)  

Crappy time!!! Worst marathon time I've had! All of mine are between 4:30 - 5:30 except for Disney which was 6:24 only because we stopped at tons of characters to take pictures and even stopped and rode a roll a coaster.  My time was 6 hours and 50 minutes :><)  (I remember glancing at my watch right before I crossed the finish time and shaking my head) AND I forgot to stop my Garmin when I crossed the finish line.  I walked around to meet my friends and went to get water & food.  Which they only had bananas and chips.  Boy was I disappointed.  Not till we went to take a group picture did I realize I forgot to stop my watch! LOL  I was too concerned about finishing.  

This was posted on instagram after the race.  A lady at the finish line asked to take the " runcation - pineapples" picture.  Everyone LOVED our shirts.  We got so many compliments on them during the race.  This is not the whole group.  Some of the girls (our daughters) did the 5K and Jane did the half marathon.  She's working on halfs in 50 states. :>) 

My shirt also had 26.2 on it... so you know I had to do the 25.2 :>) 

So why was the race hard besides the fact that I hadn't ran in 4 weeks??? Let me just list the reasons for you :>) 

1.  Trade Winds!  At times you could barely stand up.  The wind was awful.  There was no break from it.  It didn't matter if you were running out or coming back to the village..... You fought the wind the whole time! One lady on the tram after the race said she had done the race like 10 years in a row and the winds were really bad this year... so guess we just hit a bad year..  But if not, I'm just in awe of those that go and do the Ironman race in Kona! My hat goes off to them! I can't imagine biking 112 miles and running 26.2 afterwards in those winds! And I did hear one Hawaii person say that the week before the winds were nice and gentle and had picked up harshly the weekend of the race. ... Not good for us.. ha

2.  Hawaii is not flat. :>)  I knew in my head there would be hills, but these were more gradual, slow climbs that took like a mile to get to where you'd finally feel you were going down a little .... then right back up.  

3.  It was 85 degrees.... so when my body heated up that extra 15 degrees from running... let's just say I was HOT and soaking WET!

4.  Time on Feet!  Almost 7 hours is a LONG time to be on your feet for a marathon!  They say your body starts to shut down after about 4-5 hours.  My feet were on FIRE.  It wasn't just my bad foot that hurt after mile 13,

it was my whole body!  Even my arms ached.  I guess from fighting the wind.  Not even all the 100s of miles on my bike recently prepared me for this marathon! 

At the half way point, 13.1 miles, my time was 2 hours and 25 minutes.  I kind of hoped that I could maintain that pace and finish around 5 hours, but that did not happen.  :(  I walked the last 6 miles just to finish.  It was the LONGEST walk ever and I thought of all kinds of things.  I imagined the pain Jesus went through on the cross and told myself that my pain was nothing compared to his so suck it up and finish.  I felt prayers from friends and had a couple of text from some dear friends during the race and that helped me to keep pushing forward.  Because I'll be honest... I wanted to QUIT.... but I'm also HARD HEADED. 

A couple of times golf carts passed me and I almost flagged them down to get them to carry me to the finish line..... BUT my hard head would not allow it.  I was determined.  They say you hit a wall around mile 20

during a marathon and you better be prepared mentally to push you forward those last 6 miles.  Well, I hit that wall HARD!  And honestly, I don't think I've ever hit that wall at mile 20 except for 1 time when I got bad cramps during the New York marathon.  AND, one year I was doing an Ultra (31 miles)... I really didn't like those last 6 miles either.. ha    So this was kind of new to me to struggle so much.  I honestly believe my faith, my friends, and my coach pushed me to that finish line.  So if I can offer a small piece of advise, before you do a marathon... prepare yourself mentally.... dig deep into your faith...and let your friends pray for you during the race. :>) 

Maybe if I had known the half and full racers got the same medal... I just might of turned at the half.. ha

Going back into the resort... we were a hot mess, but so glad to be done!

My bib and medal.

and even though my time really sucked.... I finished 11th in my age group... looks like only a couple were really fast in that wind. :>) 

50 - 54 Female            
 ==============        

   1 Tomomi Yamada                       Nagoya-City Mizuho-ku  3:48:28   08:43
   2 Ferdinando Sorrentino               Suzhou, Cn             4:26:40   10:10
   3 Linda Sedillo                       Albuquerque, NM        4:35:10   10:30
   4 Naomi Funada                        Jp                     4:55:54   11:17
   5 Diana Covert Hughes                 Mequon, WI             5:05:12   11:38
   6 Tsao-Chuen Ku                       Austin, TX             5:17:32   12:07
   7 Stacey Eggers                       Windsor, MO            5:46:11   13:12
   8 Rebecca Rich                        Salt Lake city, UT     6:09:12   14:05
   9 Marie Zornes                        Gig Harbor, WA         6:09:20   14:05
  10 Yumiko Takahashi                    Tokyo, Jp              6:14:23   14:17
  11 Deleica Clayton                     Ellisville, MS         6:50:59   15:41
  12 Paula Boone                         Humble, TX             6:53:20   15:46
  13 Miae Kim                            Tokyo, Jp              7:14:15   16:34

HAPPY RUNNING  I THINK NEXT TIME I GO TO HAWAII...IT BE FOR FUN ONLY. !D