Richardson's Beach

I have to say, the cross training here on the Big Island is great. Went for a swim today at Richardson's beach park, one of the more popular beaches with tourists in Hilo. There aren't many tourists in Hilo though, so there are usually maybe a dozen or so people at this beach on a given weekday. More locals show up on the weekends and it gets more crowded.

I hope to explore the other local beaches, the ones with long Hawaiian names I can't pronounce, in the months to come. For the moment, it feels good giving my weak arms a bit of a push while floating over the fish and corals.

Haven't weighed myself since leaving San Diego (my scale doesn't arrive until the rest of our stuff does from the mainland in a week or two. Am curious to see how the weight loss has been coming, but it's also nice to be away from its tyranny.

Aloha

Since my last post, I've successfully moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. I live near the ocean on the slope of the great volcano Mauna Kea. The training here is much harder that it was in California. It is general in the low-to-mid eighties fahrenheit, humid, and the terrain is hilly (volcano and all).

The runs are much harder here than any training I've done before (it was generally flat and cool in the UK, Boston, Baltimore, and San Diego in the winter). However, Comrades is hot and very hilly, so this will probably be good prep.

I've started back on my old marathon training plan I've used to complete several marathons in the past. Max run, 35 minutes for the next few weeks. A LOT shorter than my old long runs, but gotta start somewhere.

I've started back on a strict ketogenic diet which always helps me lose weight which will help the running. Cross training with open water swimming on off days is great, and I've joined the BJ Penn gym (yep, that BJ Penn, he's from the Big Island) to get some strength training in.

All in all, a good base to build from for the next few years.