I can do it. I will do it NINE times!

Holy HUMID!!!!! Hawaii is so dry compared to Pago Pago. Most of the time the humidity is at about 80%. By the time my run ended I was completely drenched - eew. It did sprinkle rain a tad, but that didn't really get me any wetter. I kind of got lost at one point, but I made it back home alive. I'd better get used to this, since I'm going to have fun with it all summer! 7:46/mi avg. (DS3 264.9)

After breakfast, we went on a hike up Mount Alava. It was long and tiring, but the view at the top was amazing! I'll put some pictures on here once I get a bit more time. I think the round trip was a bit more than 7 miles. Tiring, but awesome!

Another easy run - 7 miler - I ran on the main road (again) out along the coastline earlier in the morning today. I brought a rock along this time to keep the dogs away - there are TONS of wild dogs here and most of them are scared off by acting like you're throwing a rock at them, but some are a bit more persistent, so I brought along a real rock this time. Of course, since I was prepared, I didn't run into as many really fiesty dogs this morning. Figures. The salty air along the coast was so refreshing and great and the people here are so friendly. I like it here. :)  7:55/mi avg. (Adrenaline 267.5)

My  legs were sore in very odd ways today from all the snorkeling we did yesterday, so I'm pretty sure this run would be slow slow slow. So I ran naked along the same route I did yesterday, just out and back again. At the turnaround I stopped and watched the waves crashing into the rock for a while and almost caught a couple of crabs and skinks (close, but no cigar). Tiring, but a nice run. My left foot has been hurting lately, I'm not liking it much at all. (DS3 271.4)

After the run, my nephews wanted to go running with me, so we ran about a half mile really slowly with lots of stops and walking. The biggest problem was Ila, the dog, coming along too and trying to pick fights with every dog along our way. Fun still, though!  

Inevitably, I miss something important when I pack for a trip. A week into this summer-long vacation, I now realize that I've forgotten my Garmin charger. Yup, I'm an idoit. Hopefully it'll get here soon, because I'm really sick of the two out-an-back runs I have right now. And I wish I'd bought a new pair of shoes for later in the summer when my shoes wear out. Oh well. 

Anyway, it was pouring rain today for about half of my run - the first half and the last half - so I got completely soaked and was dripping drenched by the time I'd finished my 5.5 mile run this morning. My legs still feel kinda worn out, so I just took it easy again. 

After the run, my oldest nephew, Everett (he's 8), wanted to go running with me again, this time without the dog or his little brother. So, we ended up running out-and-back for a total of 1.5 miles. It was mostly pretty slow jogging with him trying to outsprint me every so often(oh no, 7:00 pace, I  can't handle it), so it was kind of a funny run. He did really well, though, for only his second run and I hope he sticks with it! (Adrenaline 274.5)

Same run as on Tuesday - 7-miler out toward Utulei and back. No watch again, though. I'm saving its final bit of charge for my long run tomorrow. Hopefully it'll last long enough! Just another so-so run. I'm kinda getting lonely with nobody to run with here. Maybe I'll find a buddy or two at church or somewhere so I'm not so bored. Cross fingers! (DS3 278.4)

And my nephews wanted to run again, but this time they insisted on running at a track. So we found a track to run on. It was under construction and was pretty haggard looking, but it worked for them to run on. Everett wanted to race me, so we ran 200m of a 'race.' The first 100m, I stayed mostly with him, then got bored, so I all-out sprinted the last bit just for fun.

Got dropped off in Asili on our way home from the beach and ran back 8 miles. Almost home I nearly got eaten by a rather frightening wild dog. Then I yelled and threw a rock and it backed off. I'm going to start running with my pepper spray, just in case. This week I've been eating like crap and so this run felt like crap! Woo hoo. I'll try and be better next week. But the Samoan barbeques are SO tasty... I'll try to moderate my junk/extremely greasy-food intake, though. It'll be worth it when I finally get a good run in next week! Avg. 7:44/mi. (Adrenaline 282.6) 

Crazy one! My sister dropped me off in Pago Pago and there I shopped around, spent forever finding awesome shells on the beach and wandered around for a while. At Utulei, the 6 mile point, I took off on my run. Pouring rain! I got completely drenched. On the way home, I had to carry all the shells I'd found in my camelback and boardshorts pocket, but I was listening to The Killers and ran fast! I ran in my swimsuit since it had looked overcast when we left home. Big mistake - I got major chafing on my right inner thigh. It was even bleeding when I got home. :( Next time I'll just use my swim top and not bottoms, that's for sure! And I stepped in a big puddle that had a pothole in it and rolled my ankle. But overall, it was an awesome run with the insane rainstorm, cool weather, fast running and bewildered looks from Samoans thinking "Who is this palagi running along the road in the rain?" Good times! (DS3 284.5)

Slow, stiff and tired miles today! Ran easy 5.5 to the Adventist place and back. Mostly I died and tried to sleep. It didn't work, but I'm done now and that's happy. I really need to sleep more. And do less crazy stuff. No, I like doing crazy stuff. But the sleep would be good. And getting my Garmin charger sometime soon. Oh well. (Adrenaline 288.1)

In the afternoon, Everett wanted to run, so we ran a mile. It took 9:30-ish. Not bad!

Slept in (8 am, yay!) and went on a new run with my bit of Garmin battery life. Woo! It was crazy and I'm tired out! I ran out along the garbage walk trail and around the whole airport on the fence trail (stopping at airport beach along the way to look for shells) and back home on airport road. Airport loop! The rockiness and thick bushes made for some hard, slow going at some points, esp. all the washed up coconuts along the garbage walk, but aside from some sore ankles, it was a good run and I enjoyed going somewhere new. (DS3 291.5)

Yesterday afternoon we went to airport beach with the boys and Everett left behind his shorts (not swimsuit, just shorts) so I went on the airport loop again today to pick them up. And since it stormed a lot last night, I brought my camelback empty to see if I could find a big, shiny, newly washed up cowry - I did, but it was pretty hammered - and got a couple nice shells while I was at it. The crazy trail running is wearing me out, it was a lot slower than I'd anticipated and my left ankle is really sore. So, probably I'll run on the roads the rest of this week. Fun though; I  got rained on halfway, plus I didn't fall into any blowholes! Victory! (Adrenaline 295.1)

Slow, tired, stiff and boring. No dog fights, no rain, no trail, no beach, no fun! Almost got rained on, but no suck luck - just got drenched in my own sweat as usual. Getting kind of lonely here with nobody to run with. And I can't even go exploring since my watch is out of batteries. Hopefully I'll find a buddy sometime. My charger won't be here in forever since my family shipped it without the customs forms, so I won't get it until they re-ship it here with the right paperwork. It'll be a while. Woo hoo. Kind of a downer of a day. (DS3 297.5)

Rainy rainy rainy! Ran a loop from the house around on the airport road until it ended and turned onto the main road and came back for a nice 9-miler in the rain. I got completely soaked  and ran through some huge puddles -bigger than at Murray!- one was up to my knees it was so deep! Woo hoo! Crazy run, glad to finish off week two of Samoa running! (Adrenaline 304.1)

Ran the new Ottoville loop (5.5), but wanted more miles, so when I got back to Lion's Park, I ran to the McDonalds road and back home to make it 7 total. It was pretty warm out today and sunny. My head still hurts from getting beaned with tree branch yesterday, but I'll survive! (Adrenaline 311.1)

I got my Garmin charger in the mail today! Hooray!

Up early and got rained on again. Ran out and back along the ocean toward the harbor and back, nothing really exciting at all. Except I ran with my Garmin for the first time in a while! It was funny, I'm already not that used to wearing it, so I kept looking at it on the run. Avg. 7:48/mi. I feel so slow! I think I'm going to start up two-a-days this week, so I'm hoping to get in 3-4 miles in the afternoon or evening. (DS3 304)

Later, I ran a little loop around Tafuna then did a bit of extending to get it to 3.5 miles. Got chased by dogs, raced random kids and ran faster than I have in a bit. It was fun! Avg. 7:28/mi. (DS3 307.5)

This little abandoned puppy that we took home on Friday died today and I had to bury him. It was really sad.
 

So slow and so dead. Got sprinkled with rain the whole time, but not poured on, so that was rather nice. Tried extending the Ottoville loop by going past the airport, but it didn't make it much longer, so I had to do the little out-and-back through Nu'uuli to get it to 7. My legs feel pretty crappy and I need to eat better! Two 6-dollar burgers at Carls Jr. in two days is not good for running that's for sure. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better tomorrow. Avg. 8:21/mi. (Adrenaline 318.1)

My hamstrings are not happy with me and I don't know why! So, todays run was blah again. Ran the Adventist out-and-back and stopped to run an errand at KS Mart on the way. It's been almost 3 weeks since I've run with anybody. I'm kind of getting used to it, but it still is hard when I really feel crappy (like today and yesterday). I'm planning on 4 more miles this evening. (DS3 313)

I hurried and got 4.5 miles in this evening on our way to snorkeling at IBM beach. The sun was setting fast, so I actually had a good reason to run faster than normal! It was fun, especially since I was racing my sister in her car (kind of...). Avg. 7:20/mi. I like running in the evening here, it's just harder to manage that the morning stuff. (Adrenaline 322.6)

Backwards Airport loop this morning. After the first four miles or so, I started feeling way sick, so the last half around all the blowholes and beaches and at the end on the garbage walk, it wasn't the most enjoyable. And there were tons of spiderwebs hitting me all over, eeew! I did find a couple really cool shells at the beaches, though, and am glad I didn't die or drown in high tide! Or something. (DS3 320)

Because coconut husking is so hard, I think that the 5 coconuts I husked today should count for something.... I know! Piña Coladas!!!!! Yay!

This run killed me! I haven't run 10 miles in ages and I am not in very good shape apparently. Ran the Big loop with the CJ extension. It felt mostly good until mile 7 or so when I started getting a sideache and heavier legs. Thank goodness the first half has most of the uphill and the last half has more downhill or I would've died! Stopped at a convenience store for a potty break at one point and used green toilet paper for the first time in my life... awkward! Glad I did it early this morning so now I'm done for the week. Avg. 8:08/mi (Adrenaline 332.6)

Got an email today from Coach Reeder with workout information for the summer. He'll be sending a weekly workout for the team, so now I have some kind of structure to my training! This week's workouts are:

M - 56 min.
T - 48 min.
W - 54 min.
R - 48-56 min. w/6x15 sec. at 3k pace w/45 sec. recovery
F - 40 min.
S - 72-80 min.

I'll go along with these but still go by feel and maybe get a bit more in if I'm feeling good. 

Everett insisted on running 1.5 miles with me this morning, so we did. Wondered how 'fast' we were going, so I wore the watch. 11:03/mi avg, total time-16:20. Is that slow for an 8 year-old? It sure felt slow.

After that, I had not the greatest run, my legs are tired from all the snorkeling this weekend and the 10-miler on Saturday. Oh, well. Done and done! Avg. 8:02/mi, total time-56:16. (Adrenaline 341.1)

Total of 25 push-ups and 150 crunches today. 

Sick of sucky runs! Nice and rainy, but legs still pretty tired out. Back of left knee being kinda lame. Did 20 pushups and 100 crunches before the run and two 20 sec. strides at the end of the run. Avg. 8:00/mi, total time 48:02. (DS3 326)

Had an emergency, so I jogged a bit this afternoon... we needed eggs for our snickerdoodles but had none, so the boys and I ran to Steven and Sons to get some. Simon got tired, so I gave him a piggy back for half of it. Good thing we were jogging so slow! (DS3 327)

Today's total push-ups: 35, crunches: 200.

My abs and arms are sore from starting up doing lots of pushups and crunches these last couple of days! 15 pushups and 100 crunches this morning. Ran to the church and back. The run today was faster than most lately, so that was good, I guess. I'm getting wimpy, I think. There were some medium-sized hills in this run and they almost killed me! 7:52/mi avg., total time 55:04.

When I got back, I ran .25 with Simon at 13:00/mi pace, then 1 mile with Everett and Ila at 10:30/mi pace. Those kids are crazy! (Adrenaline 349.3)

Did 15 pushups and 100 crunches before the run. Then I ran 26 minutes out, then back on the airport road and did my little pickups on the way back. Apparently I can't count because I did 9 instead of 6 like I was supposed to. Oh well! The run started out really crappy from 10 tacos last night, a fast 5 mile hike and sleeping on the couch most of the night, but it got better as the run went on. Total time - 50:51. (DS3 333.3)

I need a new attitude, I've decided. I keep on having sucky runs and I should get over it! So, no more suckiness will be allowed anymore! Maybe once a week if it's really bad, but no more than that. Slow and a bit sore today. 5 miles on the ocean road out and back, 8:09/mi avg. Total time - 40:44.(Adrenaline 354.3)

Later I ran a little 4 miler on the west side of the island. Wasn't too bad except for a couple of odd run ins. Good thing I can run faster than some idiots! 8:09/mi avg. (DS3 337.3) 

Totals: Pushups - 55, Crunches - 200, Situps - 50 (sorry Karl, not 100...)

Same loop as last week. Faster than usual and crazy; I wore myself out! Now, to the beach.... Avg. 7:54/mi. (Adrenaline 364.3)

I just found out there is actually a 10k race! HERE! But... we'll be in Apia (Western Samoa) from July 3-8 and it's on the 4th, so I'm going to miss it! I'm so sad! Talk about rotten luck. I guess I'll have more chances to run 10k races, but not more chances to go to Western Samoa, so it's not that big of a tragedy. I guess. But still depressing.

This week's workouts from Coach Reeder:

M: 62 min
T: 53 min
W: 59 min
R: 53 to 62 min, “push” segments: 6x20 sec @ 3k race pace w/1:00 jog recovery
F: 44 min
S: 79 to 88 min

Awesome run! So glad I got up early today. Ran an out-and-back on the ocean road. The sunrise was so beautiful, lighting up the waves as they rolled into shore and giving everything a gold and pink glow. And, as a plus, the run went well and quickly. Glad to have a good one! Avg. 7:47/mi, total time - 62:30. (Adrenaline 372.3)

Totals: Pushups-65, Crunches-200, Situps-50.