Wednesday, January 20, 2010

From Snow to Sun to Rain

The New Year began at Mt. Washington for a little 3 day holiday with friends before Shane and I headed for the surf and sun in Hawaii. We stayed in a beautiful chalet amidst what could only be described as a winter wonderland... the amount of snow that fell while we were there was pretty incredible. Not being one to enjoy downhill snow sports, I opted to try my hand at cross country skiing. What a blast (and sooo much cheaper than downhill)! Myself and two friends took part in the 'Discover Cross Country' package, and for about $45 enjoyed an hour and a half lesson, rentals and a trail pass. We skied for about 3 hrs total before trudging our tired bodies back to the chalet (which I counted as my workout for the day).

From the snow we headed to the sun of Waikiki beach. Oh la. It was nice. Shane has always said how much he loves the smell of Hawaii and that there really isn't anything like it.... and you know, he was right. We landed late at night so couldn't see much other than the lights of the city, but the indescribable smell (hibiscus? eucalyptus? many other flowers and plants all mixed in with the humid air?) was amazing. The week couldn't have been better. We relaxed, we explored, we splurged!

That said, I suppose training-wise it could have been better, as I didn't get much done, but hey, that's what vacation (and active recovery) is for right? I did manage to get in a few runs, a couple spins on the hotel bike and tonnes and tonnes of walks and hikes! Shockingly, I was still fighting my lingering cold and so the time "off" was probably a good thing.

We returned to Victoria late at night to relatively warm weather (for winter) and a heck of a lot of rain. As the plane touched down, reality set back in. All of life's daily routines would soon be getting back to normal. Train, eat, work, eat, train, eat, sleep, repeat. I'd be lying if I said getting up for my first pool session once back wasn't a bit of a shock to the system because let me tell you, it was! Having been off work for nearly a month, I had the luxury of doing my training whenever I felt like it - which was usually once the sun came up. That said, once I was at the pool, it felt good.

It's only about a week today that we've been back to reality but I feel like I've had some good training sessions in that time, and as much as I'd rather be in Hawaii, things are good. (Although, every once in a while I realize how soon August 29th is going to be here... yikes!)

Anyway, since it's been so long since my last blog post, I decided a point form list of 10 good things about the first 20 days of 2010 is in order. So here goes....

1) Ringing in the New Year in a winter wonderland, at a gorgeous chalet, with good friends.
2) A first attempt at cross country skiing - so much fun.
3) From Mt. Washington to amazing sun and relaxation on Oahu!
4) Our marathon walk/hike to, up and back from Diamond Head Crater... and the view from the top!
5) Hula Pie and shave ice. Two awesomely delicious treats.
6) Watching the incredible waves and even more incredible surfers at Pipeline.
7) Shane's 30th birthday!
8) Testing positive for Factor V Leiden (a genetic clotting disorder).
[While this may not seem like a positive, it was nice to have a small piece to the puzzle put in place as to what may have helped cause my clot last May].
9) Having some solid training sessions since our return from vacation and getting back into the Run Club routine at work.
10) Interesting and exciting new proposals.

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