Running 101 : From the couch to my first marathon (1)

Few books I would recommend to keep you going.
If after that you do not sign up for at least a 10k, just stop running and go Zumba.

http://www.chrismcdougall.com/born-to-run/

http://www.richroll.com/

http://scottjurek.com/eatandrun/

http://www.ultramarathonman.com/web/books/ultra.shtml

Unofficially ... Moored

After months - literally - Months of back and forth, we are inches away from an official permit.

However, we have been kicked out of our squat of LYC moorings -usually limited to a couple of weeks - I think we kinda stuck there for a couple of .. months. 

Unnoticed.

Now they planned some work on the balls, and realized we were on it already.

It was time to move on.

Lahaina Divers are ... our divers

Then we kicked off the drop of our own mooring.

To do it "officially", and to a Category 4 metrics - i.e. Almost hurricane rated - we had to go double anchors and massive chain and rope.

It ain't cheap to be official.

The baptized "Traces" buoy

It ain't cheap. And it ain't fast. As we speak we are still waiting for an official stamp.

But at least we have our brand new gear in the water.

Let the hurricanes come in !

We are - almost- ready.

Settled for the night

It took most of the day to the divers to install everything on the bottom and clean the mess of the old block at the same spot.
But eventually, I was able to hook up.
Finally.
Our own mooring.
Feels almost like home.

Running again

I slowly starting to get back on tracks.
Honolulu marathon is the 13th December, almost a Christmas gift.
I plan to build a base before it, slowly, then focus on the last 3 months of a typical "Intermediate-1" training plan.

It looks like that:

12 Weeks training plan

To come into that safely, I would have to be in a 30 miles a week pace, which is actually quite a lot, specially on 3 days or 4 days. I am not planning of running more than 2 hours for the long runs, it is already plenty enough.

Those last couple of weeks I was averaging 20 miles/week, which is not that bad, but mostly on small runs of one hour top.

Now things are getting serious, I hope my recovery period is done, and I will be able to build some mileage.

Crazy enough, I will even try to go kitesurfing tomorrow.

This have been so long I did not try I am not sure I will be able to stick on the board.

Bah.

I might glue it or something.

Right.Left.Repeat.

Busy.Busy.Busy.
Always surprising when you start to lack of time to do things on the island.
I quickly realized that you need to know how to dive, when you own a boat.
Lots of things happens under the water, and you have to be able to intervene.
A part changing zincs and cleaning the hull, the main issue is usually the ground tackle, i.e. Anchors, i.e. Mooring.

My giving gear for my Padi Re-certification

I used to dive, in another life, like 15 years ago. I did not even remember the name of the organization which certified me at the time. I suppose in this context, a re-certification - at your local dive shop was a must-have.

It was a little intense, 6 dives on 3 days, and 30 hours of online content, but ended up well.

Not mine. Yet. Mine is temporary.
read "email" certified.

Ended up well, considering the tight schedule and getting up at 5:45 every morning.

And that, now, I will have the pleasure to clean my own (boat) bottom, all by myself.

Yeah.

Actually, the first use of my brand new temporary certification might be to finally install a mooring for the boat. It is well known that the mooring situation on Maui is a vast joke, orchestrated by bureaucrats who do not want any open ocean mooring anymore, but at not willing to offer any alternative, from state to private marina, it is quite a sport to keep your boat anchored in Maui.

Don't dream about a slip, it takes 30 years on the waiting list, if you are lucky.

Get Ready....

Anyway, with my well-known determination, I might be the first one in the last 6 months to be able to obtain an official mooring permit for the Maui County. Believe it or not.

Still have to do some pendant lines, which I am working on when not busy diving.

And .. Done !

Seems silly, but doing your own splicing, your own the fate of your boat in your hands. If you just buy a "professional splice", you have a peace of mind. But who's the professional ? Anyway, I did my  mooring splicing myself, and made sure I had a good insurance for the boat. Won't be the first time I screw it up :), but I like to live dangerously.

Between surfing, sailing, kiting and diving, I suppose I am now certified water-man-apprentice.

Assuming that your actual skill level for any of those above activities doesn't really matter :)

And on top of those things, it was father's day !

Got a nice waterproof watch - to swim more - and a nice real-feather-light running hat.

A nice replacement for my worn-off orange cap...

To run more. 

I wish I could, but I am still in restorative mode.

Step by Step.

As they say:

Left.Right.Repeat.

I love the sound of it.

Restorative Mode

No real updates in the last couple of weeks.

Actually, one pretty bad one. My hip pain has been back with a vengeance. Soon after the passage, I never could really go back into a decent running routine.

Maybe Post-Trauma after the last marathon, or the couple of months of inactivity due to the passage...
Tired of struggling with the pain, and half-running around, I decided to stop it all, and go into Restorative mode.

Personalized " stretching " plan

I have to say it kinda help to have a gifted massage and yoga therapist at home !

Bored to hear my endless complains, she -finally- decided to make a deal. If I shut up and follow her advices - to the letter - I am known to not listening - She will provide 

   - personalized yoga postures

   - gentle poses and restorative running

   - massages, massages , ... and more massages.

On top of that, I stopped all running (except the couple of 2 miles family runs twice a week, no offense, let's call that warming up), and focus on swimming (need to spend my bad mood on some activity - if not, that will be a real nightmare at home).

And after 10 days, we begin to see some progress. 

I did a 75 minute super slow run without pain. And my back is feeling way better.

On top of that, we isolated the source of it all.

The back. 

As always.

Then, she decided to open a yoga class just for me :)

Isn't it nice ?