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| Starting the new year with an adventure! |
Before I post my race report from the first race of the season... I really need to post the New Year's entry I started back in January! It has been a busy semester!!!
New Year of Adventures!
Back in December...Coach Jim sent us an email with a list of things to think about as we begin the new year. On the list was:
"Get out of your comfort zone, in all aspects of life."
This is something I was determined to do as I entered 2015.
I was lucky enough to begin the new year with a vacation. Larry and I decided we really needed to get away for a while, so we headed to one of our favorite places: Hawaii. Our idea of vacation is cramming as many outdoor activities into every day as possible, and in Hawaii the opportunities are endless!
We did a ton of hiking in places like Waimea Canyon, Koke'e State Park, and some random park adjacent to the UH agricultural research facility (which I do not recommend during a windy day... as dagger-like branches fall from the trees along the road! I'm still not sure how we made it out of there without a serious injury?).
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| happy feet hiking in the forest |
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| trees throwing daggers at us! |
We went to parts of the island we never saw before and made sure to see something new every day. One incredible set of trails (Pihea, Alaka'i Swamp Trail to Kilohana Lookout) led us to this spectacular view of a very distant Hanalei Bay:
We were exhausted by the end of the trip but it was worth it! We got some great workouts from our rough water snorkeling, which ended up being a mix of wave riding and crowd surfing in some cases (lots of people at one location). We even mixed in some open water swimming too! On our hikes we felt like kids again as we scurried up rocky / muddy hillsides, balanced along rickety boardwalks, and jumped from rock to rock during small river crossings. Each hike was really fun with the added bonus of being great strength training!
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| Aloha spirit and inspiration! |
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| Queen K bike ride with Larry in 2012 |
Hawaii is awesome and special to us for many reasons. It is definitely a place that inspires me to aim for the stars in all I do, so it was an incredible place to kick off a new year!
