North Shore Sunday

I took a visitor up to the North Shore on sunday, my last visit up that direction (just 3 weeks to go!). Some photos from the day....

Maybe I should get one of these for those Alaskan Sleeper Sharks....

Haleiwa Honu, they never get old....:0)

Sharks Cove

Kouloa Ranch in the mist...

Pacific Cardinal, hoping for some handouts...

I'm back!

And oh i've been enjoying the week of quiet time and not being bugged, sometimes it's just nice to be off the radar, but I guess that has to end sometime. Life has been going well, but I totally fooled myself into thinking it would be quieter once the container left, work was basically on hold there for a few weeks, so that all hit me and a week and a half on and i'm still playing catch-up! 

Here's the update in photos.....

Week before last  - Tuesday I spent the day cleaning my little Grodnick house and making sure there was nothing I forgot that needed to go into the container, doing some final packing and repacking of the container.

Week before last - Wednesday - the container was picked up and headed out on it's way. It won't arrive in Maine until the 27th December, just a few days before I do! Right at the moment it's somewhere getting close to California, it should be there on the 30th.

Last weekend - a little Aloha in the Park, getting my leaving party done and dusted - a little early, but with impending holidays and some major marine conferences, this was the best time to catch everyone. Last weekend all saw me start running again, it's been 2 weeks of very sporadic training, and now i'm pretty worried about the marathon.

Last weekend - sweet friends, presented me with a dive computer as a leaving gift, alongside a dancing hula girl for Beach Belle. I'll be thinking fondly of my friends here in Hawaii while I dive in Maine in January!

Last weekend - the end of the Aloha in the Park - a great moonrise, was beautiful!

This week - it's been all about catching up with work, running, and of course Thanksgiving holiday! I love this photo of Hannah and her Dadda!

Jenny and Doug did the first hosting of Thanksgiving in their new kitchen! I cooked the turkey for the day, came out pretty well I think!

This week - Todd and Doug give the turkey some serious carving...

This week - and of course there was plenty of dessert to go around too....:0)

Yesterday - here it was Furlough Friday (that's an enforced unpaid day off work, and a non-teaching day - woo hoo!) and the first one I actually didn't go into work for. I did a little work at home, but mostly hung out with Jenny and Hannah, which was really fun!

So what now. Well, i'm typing this lying in bed trying to stuff down some food at 5.30am so I can run my last long run of marathon training, 20 miles. I'm just hoping it doesn't rain, it's been wet and windy last few days. I'm still $100 from my goal of raising $1 per training mile for Sophie and the SADS Foundation - so if you haven't donated to charity recently now's a good chance to do so! Today's 20 miler is dedicated to my Dad and Sanchia - thanks for sponsoring me guys!

Other than that it's teaching (=exhausting!), catching up with work and trying to get myself organized to actually leave in less than 4 weeks. Yikes that's creeping up! I'll post more often from now.

Update

Packing went well, container loaded - check out the work blog for an update there. Taking a breather, taking the day off tomorrow to clean up my house and hand the keys back, gives me a chance to check over in case anything is missing before the container leaves on Weds. Hoping to get back to running tomorrow, it's been basically 2 weeks off regular runs, and to be perfectly honest, if I wasn't doing this for charity, and hadn't had such motivating sponsors, I would can this marathon, it's going to be a long one! So thank you thank you to all those keeping me motivated!

So a brief break - when I get my head back in a few days i'll be back with a better update, responses to emails and life in general. Until then i'm practicing my best monkey impression while hanging out at the Engels-Holdt's......

Packing....

The container POD arrived today........

....and not a moment too soon, we're all going a little nuts!

This week has been nutso, and the last few days even more so. Needless to say I have only run 5 miles this week, and am beginning to seriously doubt i'm going to be able to make my long run this weekend. Going to have to have some serious make up miles next week! Why again did I decide to tackle the marathon again? It's really going to hurt. Better sponsor me for those miles if you haven't already....:0)

Hope everyone has a way more relaxing weekend than I will!

"Those who say it cannot be done should not disturb those doing it"


Lots of good quotes this last few weeks. Particularly like this one I picked off a another blog!

Moving and Participating

Hannah gives me a lesson in how to organize my wallet. She's so much more organized than me!

The move went well this weekend, I didn't finish packing up my house, but that's okay, I have until the weekend to get my place squared away so I can move boxes into the container. It's been cute staying with Jenny and Hannah (Doug is out at a conference this week, returns on thursday). Hannah helped me settle in well....:0)

Apparently if I want to run faster I have to eat more blueberries.....that's what the whirling dervish tells me anyway!

Participating in the half marathon went well too. I like to say I participate rather than compete, as it's only in my dreams I would ever actually compete in running. It did go well though - 2 hrs 26 minutes - not bad, and nearly a half hour off my only other half marathon. I was a little bummed, as I thought I was doing better than that, but since I did run 2 miles down and 3 miles back after i'm not going to complain. My knee has been sore since though which considering my knee history i'm a little worried about - so i'm sitting with ice right now - much better today than yesterday, so i'm sure I just tweaked it a little trying to run the last downhill over Diamond Head. Sounds ridiculous, but sometimes running down is harder, and hurts more, than running up. I was pretty proud of myself as I ran all the ups and actually stuck to my plan (mostly) of running between water stops, walking for a minute or two after to refresh, and then running on. Only in the somewhat killer stretch on the way back to Diamond Head (a long way without water with no shade) did I walk a little. And in the marathon I know there is a water stop on that stretch, so I didn't feel too badly.

The one thing this race did tell me is that I can't expect a faster marathon time this year. Originally I was kind of hoping to, but this race cinched that that probably isn't going to happen, I just haven't had the time to do that kind of training. Maybe I can shave ten minutes or so, that would be nice, but anything more than that I think, this year, is just unrealistic. Oh well, at least I am still participating, and it's going to be fun!

Bedtime story with the whole family!

But now it's night night time, i'm pooped, today was a full day of teaching, meetings and loading samples, and tomorrow (and this week) aren't looking any better! If I don't update before next week when the container is gone, please excuse me, i'll be back soon!

Too cute!

"Dear Rhian. Thank you for your order!! Wash your eggs befor you cook please. It has been mudy and our hens have dirty feet!! Thanks!! Love Cassie"

The little note in with my egg order today! I buy eggs from a colleagues 7yr old daughter who raises hens. One of my favorite things in the world is fresh eggs! Made me smile as I opened the bag this evening. It has been pouring it down for the last week here, I hope it stops tomorrow for us to move me and the futon out of the house. It's cooled down so much I am in trousers, long sleeve shirt and socks!

Happy Friday!

This is a "Wordle" of my blog! Wordle creates word clouds of the most used words on your blog (I assume just on the one showing page not the whole blog given the arrangements of my words!) and ranks them in order of appearance based on size. Pretty cool. Good way to see what is concerning me most these days - Maine, Car, Invoice, Paid.....he he he...

Hope you have a good weekend! I am moving out of my place tomorrow and running a half marathon on sunday - wish me luck on both counts!

3 Things Thursday!

Thinking back to Alaska is still helping me find my "Zen" in these hectic weeks. 

1. I'm doing a half marathon this sunday - wish me luck! While i'm at it there are still plenty of miles left to purchase my training pain away and make all those miles worth it! Be sure to check out and sponsor me on my SADS page, yes that means you!

2. Ice is my new best friend. Shins are way better, but i'm still getting the twinge now and then. Ice, twice a day (AM and after run or PM) and all is going well! Ice, I love you.

3. Kim over at "Just Trying is for Little Girls" is hosting a t-shirt giveaway - take a peek, there are some awesome shirts!

Happy List

Okay, so i'm delayed on my Happy List after Moanday, but it means that I was actually busy, being happy, yesterday!

1. University of Maine is awesome. From what I have experienced already, it is doing cartwheels around the support we get at the University of Hawaii. I had a wonderful call from a lady in the procurement department of UMaine. She is dealing with my move. She totally solved all issues with my car, and little Belle, today, got on a truck to the Cape, and should be there on the 17th November. Awesome. She also walked me through other things I hadn't thought of for my move, confirmed the container and was just, generally, awesome. I have loved Hawaii, I have not loved the University of Hawaii. I love Maine and so far I love the University of Maine. Match made in heaven?

2. Did anyone notice that i'm now over 600 miles running? I didn't and it was a wonderful surprise!

3. After a few hours on the phone then getting that phone call from Maine I went on my 9 mile training run (this mileage was for the Kings - thanks guys!) and it went GREAT! I felt great, I blew out all the tension and just enjoyed it! I did 4 laps around my favorite park, stopping at the car for gatorade at each lap (which is around the same distance as the water stops in the marathon - so is great training!).

4. I got to spend some Hannah time yesterday. Play keeps you young, and it's so true, there's nothing better to wipe away stress than spending some time with a bubbly 1.5 yr old! Jenny and I did Costco and they had a great special on a big lion rug, so Jenny got one. So Hannah and I spent the store time roaring at each other. It was awesome. And at the house as I went to leave and said goodbye, Hannah came up to the door and said "Reee, up up!", it was so darn cute. I've officially moved on from Mary thank goodness, she's called me Reee a few times now, so we think it may have stuck, and that's close enough for me! I'm moving in with them this weekend, and can't wait to get some more little H time!

Moanday....

The above picture is to remind me that this weekend was fun, really, it was a lot of fun. I got to pack, relax, run and spend time with friends, you can't get too much better than that. Had dinner with Jenny, Doug and friends on Halloween night, the photo is Hannah playing peek-a-boo with Doug and me while out waiting for Trick or Treaters!

Today however, I need to moan. Nothing seemed to go right. So today i'm going to list out my moans. Tomorrow, after a state holiday day that I might actually take off (or at least just work at home and mix it up with packing) i'll put up a happy list. Today it's moan list time.

1. A parcel of lab supplies that I ordered 3 weeks ago is still not here. Last week they "lost" it and couldn't find it on the tracking (but knew it left on the 18th October). Today I walked into my office to a phone message saying they know where it is, it's on the boat, but they don't know when it's going to get here. Not only have I had to buy supplies from a more expensive place on island to see us through till these supplies arrive, now it doesn't even look like they'll get here before the container leaves! Ak!

2. A paper I sent out the revisions for came back to me asking for 2 revisions that were already made! Not sure what went on there, but everything they've asked for is already done in the files that are already uploaded. Headquarters for the journal is in Europe, so it'll be a while before they figure it out i'm sure. This is an accepted paper that just needs to GO and stop BUGGING me! (long story....)

3. Last week I had a hard-drive conk out. So I bought a new 2TB one from the University store - Lacie (good brand), good price, good to get it there to get it immediately to save the data from this other drive. That one didn't work (made crunchy noises). Got a replacement on friday, worked, set it up to transfer files (would take 12hrs), walked away. Went into work saturday and it still had 6hrs to go. Hmmm. Didn't have time to deal with it. Walked in today, still had 6hrs to go. Ug. It had corrupted, after some playing around it decided to die completely. I'm now on the third one.......sigh. That one "seemed" to work. Guess i'll find out tomorrow if it did.....

4. And the big one. My car. :0( It is in California. Yay. It's not going any further for a while. Boo. The car shipping is being paid for through the university through invoice. I got the quote, organized the invoice and submitted it to UMaine. Told the car company. They had said originally they wouldn't take it until the invoice was paid. So I waited. The next day (after i'd submitted the paperwork to Maine) they called me up to organize the shipping. I asked if the invoice had been paid, they said no, but it didn't matter they'd take it. What they didn't tell me until friday was that though they would take it, they wouldn't deliver it until the invoice was paid. This is the first I had heard of this, and my car is now in California. So now, unless the invoice is paid by this friday (as I haven't dealt with this in Maine before, I have no idea if this is reasonable - here in Hawaii, that would NEVER happen in time), they want to store it, and they want to charge me for storage. Nice huh. No, it was nowhere in all the paperwork I signed either, I would have noticed and I checked today.

I think the thing that pisses me off about #4 on there is the attitude of the company (Transporter Auto Services - do not use them), they actually said to me today "well if you'd told us how long it would take to get the invoice we wouldn't have taken the car". Well duh, if you'd either asked, or mentioned you wouldn't have delivered it without it, I wouldn't have dropped off the car with you until it was! They've admitted they didn't tell me about that gem, but still want to turn this around to be my fault?!? Yeah, cause i'm knowingly going to give you the most expensive item I (half) own knowing it 'aint going to be delivered.....

Only time will see if this one pans out, until my car is in MA, i'm just not going to stop stressing about it......and I have a feeling it's going to be many more hours of phone calls and emails....

Bumper Sticker

"Don't take life to seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway."


Made me giggle...

Well....

So I finally sat down and worked out my distance for yesterdays run (long story, but I didn't have my Nike pod in my shoe as i'd put them in my new shoes to try out and forgot to change them back), and as suspected, I lied, I didn't do 18, I did 14.2. I thought it was a tad short......:0)

Oh well, this week was supposed to be a 14 anyway, with next week an 18, but as i'm doing a half marathon race next weekend i'd switched them over. I'm moving into Jenny and Dougs next weekend too (did I mention TIME FLIES!), which will actually work out great for the race, as they live about 2 miles from the start - so i'll run to the start and run back, thereby making it up to pretty darn close to 18 miles next weekend. I'm not sure i'll feel like that was such a good idea next weekend on the way back, but ah well, at least i'll have done the miles, all be it a little broken up!

Hope you're all having a good one, on the cards for today is....you guessed it....packing! And we're moving my large plant pots to Laura's house, as she's going to take them over. First, it must be nap time! I'm already a big fan of midday napping (really need to land a job in Spain!), but with all this running, I seem to need the naps more, especially since my schedule has been so crazy it's been 5-6hrs max at night for me for the last couple of weeks.

Damariscotta Webcam

Check out the webcam from the village in Maine the Darling Marine Center is just down the road from - http://www.mainecoastbookshop.com/webcam2.html

There's a rumor on the loose that just up the coast there is snow......already.....31st October! As I sit here tucked up in my blankets at 74F, I know i'm pretty much in for it......!

I think I have a shoe problem.....

My new running shoes arrived this week. My neighbors were laughing - "why are their boxes arriving when you're leaving so soon!". If only they knew.....

I couldn't find my running shoes around the island (except in one store that wanted $20 over internet price), so I ordered online. Here's what I ended up getting....

A new pair of Nike Structure Triax (left), the shoe that ended my shin splints so i'm sticking to like glue. While Road Runner Sports had free shipping I decided it was more economic to buy the trail running version of the same shoe (right - 'aint they pretty!) at the same time  to get me psyched up for running in Maine - can I hear a woot woot? The difference I hear you ask - the trail running version is water-resistant (gore-tex), has a grippier sole, slightly more cushion and nifty things like a sewn in tongue to stop water getting in there. And they are purple. Why oh why don't they make the road running version in purple? Why oh why don't my feet and legs like running shoes that are actually purple? Since the rest of my life is purple, there is a mystery....

clockwise from left: My first marathon shoes (structure triax 12, 500+ miles), my current running shoes (100 miles), my new trail shoes (0 miles) and my new road running shoes (0 miles)

My kingdom of shoes. I should put all these outside the door then my neighbors would really think i'm hiding dead bodies in my 300 sq ft house! Kidding aside, this shot actually makes me feel better about this purchase I really could have done without right now. Look at the difference between my current running shoes and the new ones. I can't believe how worn they look already at 100 miles in (the blue ones were also originally white mesh, not grey!), and there is another 189 miles to go before the marathon!

By the time the marathon comes along, I could have risked injury just having the one pair of shoes. Last year I got a stress fracture in my foot from the marathon, probably because i'd worn the same shoes throughout the training as I did in the race, now at least i'll have a pair i'll gently break-in, and i'm more likely to get to Maine still being able to walk (a bonus!).

I really thought when I first started running you could throw on any shoes and just go. Shin splints taught me I needed to have the right shoe that supports in the right places. Now returning shin and knee pain have taught me you need to keep track of how many miles your shoes have - running shoes average between 300 - 500 miles a pair before they need to be replaced, and I learnt that the hard way! In normal running that would probably last me a year, in marathon training those miles add up fast. The program i'm on sees around 450 miles in training over 12 weeks to get you ready - and that's the novice level!

The other thing in my parcel? Easy Laces! These bungee laces were really an awesome find (my friend Laura bought me a pair for xmas!) - not only are they super easy for the on and off (great after a hard workout, and awesome for plane security lines!), but they also support my foot so much better during running than normal laces - not too tight, even so no hard spots and just enough flex. I stopped having foot aches and pinches, and stopped having to re-tie laces a dozen times on runs when I discovered these. I've tried another companies bungee laces too - Easy Laces are my favorite - and I needed another pair to put on my trail runners - don't they look good!

The only problem.....

Nike laces are NICE! Anyone need laces for stocking stuffers??

This week saw me run 34 miles (18 miles today!) - my third longest week (Marathon week is number 2 at 36.2 miles and in 3 weeks I have a 40 miler) - so i'm off to have some ice cream! Hope you all have a good weekend and Happy Halloween!

Packing....

My office, half packed......also a storage area for boxes, because....

....there is literally no room for any packing boxes in the lab right now. It is packed to the gills down there, both with "stuff" and with people. At the moment we have 7 people vying for time in there. In 1.5 weeks i'm closing the lab, as in 2 weeks, the container arrives and we need time to clean equipment, turn it off, and pack it! 

I thought sending all the samples would free up some room down there, however it looks like all the shelves are just being filled up once again. Good thing i'm going to be getting nearly treble the amount of lab space in Maine, I need it! 

Three Things Thursday!

Haliewa Beach Park. 

1. There is still 185 unclaimed miles to sponsor me for! Be sure to check out my SADS Fundraising page to help me through those painful training miles!

2. The move. It's happening. And it's happening soon. On friday it'll be exactly 2 weeks until the container arrives. It's less than 2 weeks until I close the lab. Everyone is going nuts in there, and the sink got totally blocked on monday slowing down progress (one of the joys of owning your own lab, having to go out and buy $100 worth of drain-o). It's really happening....

3. I start teaching next friday. Argh. I actually enjoy this course, but the first few lectures kind of suck for topics (evolution - always a fun one when half your audience is creationist), it'll be a week before I get into the fun marine stuff, the lectures I actually enjoy giving. But I guess that's why I get paid the big (ha ha) bucks.....

Where's Belle?

There she is! My little car is just 24hrs out of LA onboard the MV Mahimahi (that's tuna in Hawaiian!). After this i'm not going to be able to track her though, so i'm a little scared. I think i'm a little too attached to my car.....

Loving in running!

Loving my rocking North Face Eat My Dust run skirt! I've had this for about 6 months and adore it (it has compression shorts under to stop my rugby player thighs rubbing), this photo was taken after this mornings 16 miler! Don't love - that I got it in closeout so can't get another, and definitely don't love that my house is filled with boxes, ug. I also kind of love how this photo makes me look way skinnier than I am in reality right now, must be my best angle....:0)

Loving Espresso Love and Island Nectars Gu! These, and Vanilla, are my favorites. I love love love the Island Nectars, I did get this box free though through a GU offer, and am not sure i'd fork out again for the "Roctanes" (it's not like I go fast enough to really need those!), but it tastes just like Mai Tais, and who doesn't need a Mai Tai at mile 20??

And my Amphipod! I love Amphipods, this is the Run Lite Air Stretch, just picked it up the other day and tried it on todays long one - love it! It is so hot here, and in certain areas water fountains are not placed the ideal distances. It's also good to take along some energy drink powder to fuel up alongside the GU. I love that it's velcro, my previous low budget one was a buckle, and so hard to adjust mid run, this one is awesome and really doesn't bounce at all. When I walked I lowered it on my hips, when I ran I revelcro-ed it higher up. The one I got is a little too large (the only size they had, and a coupon I had runs out soon), so I need to sew some more velcro on there today, an afternoon project.....after those boxes.....

Skirt Sports

I'm such a sucker for "kit", but man, isn't this Skirt Sports running skirt so darn pretty!?! No, I haven't ordered it........i'm trying to be good.....but it is purple and has flowers on it........and it benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society........anyone need an xmas present idea??

This is what happens when I look around the internet for new running shoes.....