Bays of Piilani

Aloha from Maui. It has been another beautiful day on the island. You can't believe how relaxed this environment can be. It's a little like Alice in the Looking Glass, deceptive and mesmerizing; you think everywhere must be like this. Yes of course I understand that the people who live and work here don't necessarily look at this the same way but there is an overriding atmosphere that just lulls you into slowing down. Hawaiian time on Maui; what could be better?

Before I get carried away I want to describe today's training. This was a run day. My goal was to go out 30 min and then return. Mission accomplished. Took the Lower Honoapiilani Rd. north towards Napili. Started my run about 9:30 and it was warm. I figured since I was going out for just 60 min that I didn't need any water. By the time I finished I was drenched in sweat as if I had been sitting in a sauna. I really needed some fluid at the end. No problems, went about 4.25 miles, just lumbering along at my usual pace. Everyone passes me. The only people I pass are going the other way. But hey, some day some how my speed will improve and I look forward to that.

I stayed on the lower road so I had the sunny side of the street and mild headwind out, partial shade back. Just when I was feeling tired, a brief Maui shower cooled me down. Along this 2 lane road that snaked up and down along the shore I was treated to peek a boo views of the ocean as I ran along developed areas populated by condos, private homes in developed cul-de-sacs, and a smattering of older less kept up homes, all with great locations. There is very little in the way of commercial along this stretch. There is the occasional market, store, deli, and Kahana Gateway center, but mostly residential. I ran by one old semi-run down home that had at least 75 feet of water front on a 150 foot deep lot. Eventually someone will cash in on that but now it is a reminder of how homes in the past were situated: deep lot with the home about 2/3rds of the way in, most of the property open and clear.

Honoapiilani in Hawaiian means Bays of Piilani, Piilani being at one time the ruling chief of Maui. Honoapiilani Road provides views of the bays of Lanai, Molokai, and Maui; all part of the domain of Piilani.

Yesterday I had the chance to go to the Bailey House Museum in Wailuku. The Bailey House, listed as a national historic place, is located at the mouth of Iao Valley, so sacred that it is the burial place of the bones of many kings and chiefs. Here was the royal compound, with the king's houses and his heiau. Bailey House was the home of Edward Bailey, headmaster of the short lived Wailuku Female Seminary. My family name has had a presence on Maui since at least 1800, when my paternal ancestor came to Maui to establish a sugar business. At one point it thrived enough that one could say our family was among the wealthiest. There was a large home in Waikapu and my family at some point donated a "settee" to the Bailey House museum, hence the lead-in picture for this post. Our family name continues to be part of Maui today, however at a much lesser level of importance. Nearly all of the family fortune and land was lost over time and all that remains is a small land-locked parcel, surrounded by the Makani Olu Ranch, in Waikapu which is the site of a family cemetery. Here are interred many family members for over 200 years.

Swim day tomorrow. I have missed the bike. Hoping to go to Fleming Beach Park at Honokahua Bay, possibly America's best beach. See you on the road; a hui hou.

Honu Kanaka

Ocean swim today, Monday. 35 min near Papakea resort. Water felt great but was kind of rough. I was able to find an area with a sandy beach entry and swam a modified triangle within and in some cases over the coral reef along the shore. This is not the best area for swimming but I pressed on anyway. It really does feel great to swim in salt water; it is warm and the challenge of the current and waves helped me to work on technique. I was pretty gassed at the end of the time, I really hoped to go longer. In a couple of days I'll give it another go and see how much I can lengthen my time. There are a couple of beach parks down the road that would be better so I will try one of those.

I don't have any pictures of me swimming so I had to get a snapshot of the closest thing, the Hawaiian Green Turtle, which is faster than this Honu Kanaka (turtle man). Thanks to Google image search. Back to the run tomorrow, see you on the road, or as the locals say "a hui hou."

Aloha, another amazing day in paradise. Whatever your particular passion in sports and activities, there is no place like Hawaii to train. As I hit the streets today I could see people of all ages involved in some athletic pursuit and all were smiling. Checked out the tandem surf contest at the Duke's Ocean Quest. Tomorrow should be more surf contest, beach volleyball tournament and a huge street party at night.

Training today consisted of an ocean swim at Kuhio Beach. After a few minutes of warming up it was face in the water for 35 minutes. I haven't done any consistent swims in the ocean for a long time so this was a reminder about how hard it is to keep a line with waves coming into you as you swim. I chose to swim parallel to the shore for that reason, to work against the waves and get used to the sensation of the water. The tourists on the beach probably thought I was crazy but it was a good swim, though I did drink a little salt water. Don't recommend that. Tomorrow I'll run the park again and go have lunch at the Grass Skirt Grill in Haleiwa. Best place for gourmet food on a paper plate on Oahu.

Thanks to my dad, Curly Cornwell (in the picture above, he is in the front row middle), one of the original Waikiki Beach Boys, I have a connection to the industry here. I too as a young man worked the beach with my dad teaching surfing and giving outrigger canoe rides. As a part of a week long celebration. Duke's Ocean Quest, there was a party at "Duke's" today to celebrate the beach boy tradition. Luckily we were here and were guests of Duke's for the party. Didn't expect it but had the opportunity to catch up with some friends from the past. Many of the old crew including my dad have long since passed but it was still awesome to hang out with some of the current watermen and rekindle the connection we have. In particular I was able to connect with DiDi Robello, of the Aloha Beach Services (check out the website), the oldest current operation on the beach today. I worked for his dad back in the day. Mahalo to all I met today, it was amazing.

Swim training at the Monroe YMCA

Ouch! Had to share the lane today (I keep running into the lines). Regardless, down and back I went. My goal today was 35 minutes. The first 15 went well, the next 10, I noticed my technique slowly leave me, and the last 5 minutes I had no kick at all. During the swim I worked on hip rotation and breathing. I am still recovering from a "frozen" shoulder so my form could be much better. When I was finished I was winded but felt pretty good. Not sure how far I went, 33 laps equal a mile in this pool. next time I will check the numbers. By the time I was out the door of the building my legs felt like jelly. Good news is I was done for the day. Oh and sharing the lane, that was Patrick and Stacy, a couple of guys just starting out to train for a sprint triathalon next summer. Must be the law of attraction. We visited later in the hot tub.

I'm a little tired, definitely sore. I read an interesting article today by Ben Greenfield, the Top 8 Race Fueling Mistakes Made by Ironman Triathletes, at http://www.trifuel.com/. The decisions you have to make according to Greenfield can be very complex; fueling, hydration, avoid mixing sugars. So much to keep track of, it gives one a better appreciation for those athletes that are successful and the planning that goes into training and race day preparation.

Tomorrow back on the bike. See you on the road.