Tantalus

Interesting day yesterday. So i headed down to Ala moana beach park at 8am yesterday to get in a nice saltwater swim in before an epic bike ride. The swim was good other than my feggin goggles fogging up after 3 seconds of swimming. Then it was off to ride up tantalus. Tantalus is this giant road that goes up one ridge for 2000 ft and crosses over to another ridge and comes back down. Really steep sections with endless climbs. It takes about 30 minutes to climb and 10 min to decend. I did this twice and my legs are fried! then it was the 30km treck home. The ride was great and it was nice to have the temperature drop5-6 degrees at the top. Some sections there are eucalyptus trees that give off a super potent smell that is really nice. today is a run. Its super hot again here as the Kona winds are back and advisories to stay inside are in effect.....kinda like a smoggy day in Toronto.
thats all for now.

O'ahu

So today i am going to discover south Oahu.....well mostly Honolulu, Ala Moana and Waikiki. Tomorrow i think i am going to take on Koko Crater again and the next day ride up Tantalus (a 2000 ft super steep accent over downtown Honolulu) Yesterday was a nice 7k run and a 4.5k swim. It was well needed due to the workout i did on Monday which was a 3k w/up + 6x1000 on 1:30 rest @ 10k pace. I was able to hold 3:03s this time compared to the 3:11s 2 weeks ago were i only did 4. I am finally getting beter in this heat!. In summary this week i am going to destroy my legs.
i will post pictures as i complete these feats

WHAT?

So yesterday (friday) was one hell of a workout. decided to do a tempo run (2x15min @ race pace) Warm up is ok, a bit stiff from the workout the day before. Its 11:00 am and its already 30 and humid and thank god there were tradewinds! I google maped my run and little did i miss was the elevation gain on the 4.5k loop. about 150 feet on a long and some steep parts hill thats loops around the house. I had taked in 3 bottles of water in the morning but i had the shivers at the 3k mark on the first loop! How do people keep cool?
Next i arrive home, ready for a day of relaxing on saturday. Im sitting in the sun reading the news paper and Leslie ( the people im staying with) asks me what T-shirt size i am. I reply small, why? Oh your racing tomorrow morning at 7am. WHAT! all i needed to do was make 2 small balloon towers for the Jamba Juice 5k run at Ala Moana Park. so i do that and get to sleep, retless and waking up at 3am unable to sleep (probably b/c i went to bed at 7pm) We get to the race, set up and im tired, sore and wondering if i should even do the run. I do it anyways and i end up running a 15:40! all things concidered (heat, long week of hard training and sorness) i was very happy with my run. Did a small swim At Ala Moana beach park, then worked with balloons all day and then did a nice easy 6.5k loose run. mow TOMORROW is a REST DAY!

80k Morning ride

8am in the morning, already 25 degrees (2 degrees up from the night time low) and humid. Great time for a ride! Today i took a scenic route as i did the other day but went twice as far and hitched on the Kahmehamea hwy. I stoped and took some pictures along the way and dipped into the water at Makapuu Beach. I felt pretty good. I didnt realize how far i had gone until i got back and tracked it! i was plamming on hitting the road for a 3k run, 3k swim, 3k run but ill wait until later this afternoon to do that. The Vog is starting to move out slowly and things are still quite steemy without the tradewinds. The Ocean Temperature is around 74-75 degrees, making it super refreshing.

Vog?

So i was watching the news and the weather came on. This means i become very interested. They start by giving the typical forecast and they come accross a term i havent heard before. "Tradewinds will die down and winds will be light to moderate from the SSE creating widespread Vog" What is Vog? Vog is volcanic fog/smog. which kinda looks like toronto during a heatwave. Not the best conditions for training since Vog is sulfur, carbon and a bunch of other crap from Killauea Volcano on the big Island. So this is a bit difficult to train in. I had a good couple of days. On Sunday, just before the Vog came rolling in i swam 3.5k, followed by a 7k run and a 40k bike to Waikiki and back from where i am, on the far east coast in Hawai'i Kai. Suprisingly, there is plenty of space dedacated to cyclist throughout the city and the island. Super wide streets and bike lanes along with "share the road with cyclists" signs posted all over. Also, people are not in the mood to speed up super fast, nearly cut bikers off to get to the red light first. i actually had a car let me go ahead in a construction zone! in a normal city i probably would have been killed.

Last night was a set of 5 x 2000m on the track. My times were a bit slower than normal but i blame the ungodly heat and humidity and Vog on that.........or im getting more out of shape the more i train.

Anyways its Cinco de Mayo today as well as boys day!

Scott Takala

Aloha!
I made it to hawai'i! Comming to a place with Humidity and Heat takes time to adjust to. I have done some pretty tough workouts so far including some sightseeing. Yesterday i tackled Koko Crater. its a 700 foot, super steep dormant crater that has a trail going right to the summit. total milage on that run was 16k. felt more like 35 with the climb! i also road from Hawai'i Kai were i am staying around Koko head and crater on a beautiful highway, through Waimanalo and to the end of the road and back. Its only a 45 k ride but i drank nearly 4 waterbottles, even at 7am!. Ive been swimming at the O'ahu Club pool, which is a 50m pool :) and have hit up the beach as well. ive never seen such massive waves and they were not on the North shore! tonight i will have a swim and take a day off to surf and recover from the double and triple workout days./ im not starting to acclimatize to the heat. its amazing how much it can affect training.

thats it for now

Aloha

DONE UNIVERSITY!

so im done. Finally. great feeling but it hasent hit me yet. it will when i receive my diploma when i get back from Hawai'i. training has been slow for the past 2 weeks due to exams and reports etc. now i can lay down the hammer! off to Hawai'i on Monday. I will be doing the Honolulu triathlon on May 16th. Im going to do the Olympic distance and suffer through it and see what minimal training can do! I will be training like a maniac out there so ill be super fit in June! Now im off for an hour bike and an hour run. get back into shape!