The Hawaiian Recap Part 2 (better late than never!)

Hi Everyone! It feels so great to be back at blogging!  Grad school has been kicking my butt, hence my absence, but I just took my last final a few hours ago! This time next year I will have my MBA! Its snowing here in PA so lets take a trip back to Hawaii... You can read the first recap post here. 
    Ok so the next morning we were up early to run the race! It was very well organized but it was definitely the toughest course either of us has run but it was so beautiful I just decided to take it all in and go with the flow.  I wish I had brought my camera on the course!  Here are some pictures from the finish line.

The LT and his wife..he carried a flag the whole course!

Dan and I very happy to be done! Take a look at the background!

The PA team

Our All Star Emily's prize for taking first in the half marathon! She will be heading to the Olympic trails in Houston!

Bart Yasso and Dan- He was on our flight home too- he is very nice!

The National guard relay team (with two PA members) took first!

Most of The National Guard Team!

Most of the PA Team with Dean Karnazes

    Overall for race goals, I just barely made mine, which was to get under 3 hours, with a 2:59:25 and Dan was disappointed with his time (even though I think its pretty good!) with a 3:19:15- this included him having to stop at a med tent to get cramps rubbed out of his legs! He learned he reallllllly doesnt run well in the heat.

    After the race and we were all well hydrated again, we headed to Kalapaki Joe's which was hosting a post race party.  They had food and drink specials and everything was delicious! For the rest of the day we just relaxed by the pools and packed up our stuff. 

    The next morning we headed out on an 8 hour adventure tour with Outfitters .  It was expensive but well worth it! Truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life! We did the Kipu Zipline Safari and it was everything they make it out to be.  We started with a kayack and then we hiked a bit.  A huge tractor picked us up and took us the rest of the way up the mountain.  The tours guides were filled with tons of knowledge about the island and would tell us fun facts about the local plants. They even picked guavas off the tree for us to eat! The ziplines were incredible (even though I was terrified) and we got to see some amazing site along the way. A lot of movie and commercials had been filming on that part of the island so we got to see some scenes from Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Indiana Jones. They said the Chase was filming a commercial just a week prior and I saw the commercial on TV (its the second one) a few months later.  After ziplining and hiking we stopped at what they call the Bamboo pool. It is surrounded entirely by bamboo and they had a zipline into the water and you could also jump in from a platform. 

Us kayaking..we sucked at it ha

pool from Pirates 3

Dan on the rope swing

Us on the tractor ride

Guava tree

Fresh Guava!

all geared up to zipline!

me being super graceful on the zipline

our second zipline

zipline into bamboo pool

Afterward we came back to our hotel and had a romantic dinner before our 10pm flight out of Lihue Airport.  I hope we are lucky enough to go back again next year!!!! The 12 hour travel is most definitely worth it!

I Totally Feel This Way

 

 Haha anyone else feel this way?

The Hawaiian Recap Part 1

There really are not words to describe our wonderful experience!  Even the flight wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and it was the best hotel/ resort we have ever been to.  Ok lets start this long overdue recap!
Day One: We arrived and the airport caught me off guard.  It was mostly open air except for the gates!  You did not get lei'd at the airport unless you bought one but I was pumped because we got lei'd at the hotel.  I just love flowers so thats why I was so excited I guess ha. I look like balls from being on a plane for 7 hours ha but I think you can sense my excitement.

We then had a delish meal at the hotel and I was so lame I passed out about 6pm.

Day Two: I woke up about  super early the next day. We went grocery shopping and waited for Dan (and the rest of the runners) to go to a meeting the the Team's director.  We decided that since it was kinda rainy we would go do a bunch of non beach stuff with another couple.   First we drove almost across the island to get to the island's only winery.  They make mead which is honey wine and they says its the world's oldest drink! It was pretty good and we brought two bottles home.

Nani Moon Meadery

They were bottling that day and had quite a system!

After that we stopped at a local shopping plaza trying to find some souvenirs and lunch and we accomplished both tasks.  We then headed to a rum tasting which was also on a bed and breakfast type place with some shops and things. The rum wasn't anything spectacular but it was fun to do!

 Then we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company and they had many free samples and a walking tour of some of the plants they used so that was cool!

coffee beans!

That night we had a dinner at our hotel provided by the Kauai Marathon Committee and it was amazing and delish but someoneeee may have had too much wine and forgot to take pictures..whoopsie!

Day Three:
We woke up early and drove to the canyon in the middle of the island with the PA team.  It was a seriously winding road...pretty much everyone felt car sick but by the views were worth it!

the first stop on the winding road

the lovely PA team

the second stop was on the ocean side :)

After we got back from this jaunt we decided to check out the beach and much to my delight a seal had beached itself!!!!

it was soooo cute

since it was so cute i was calling it "the puppy of the sea"

After some beach time we went to a luau at the Sheraton which was the race's host hotel.  Bart Yasso and Dean Karnazas were there to pump us up and we had a front row seat.  I also got picked to do some hula which as I was in front of tons of people dancing poorly I realized it would have been way better if I had a drink or two lol.

Bart Yasso!

Dean!

our lovely entertainment for the evening

the fire dancer was our favorite part!

one thing kenyans are not good at- hula

Stay tuned for Part Two which includes our race recap and an 8 hour adventure!

Aloha Anxiety

Hey everyone..long time no see. Just wanted to give you all quick update. I was sick for a little over a month so that's why I have been off the grid. Many many dr's visit and many many blood tests later they could not determine what was causing my symptoms and chalked it up to anxiety. I just hope it never happens again it was very scary and upsetting but I feel better for the most part now so let's hope it stays that way! I hope al of you have been well! Dan and I just got to Kauai yesterday to run the full and half marathon( I will be walking most of it due to my recent sickness) on Sunday so I will totally have some exciting updates for you all soon!
Oh and in other news I'm back to school finishing up my MBA annnnd Dan and I are going to have a little niece or nephew in about 7 months here...his sister is pregnant!

It's That Time of the Year Again....

Fundraising season ha! This year Dan and I will be running for Team Fisher House at the Army Ten Miler on October 9th. As usual our reasons for selecting this years charity is due to a personal tie.
In May one of Dan's best friends was injured in an IED attack in Afghanistan that killed 6 members of his unit. Once he was stateside he was put in a hospital almost 500 miles from his family. Fisher House provided a free place to stay for his wife and parents and free child care for his children.
Please check out our website if you would like to donate or if you would like to read more about Fisher House or other causes we have raised money for.
http://kysela.weebly.com/

Montana, Missoula Marathon, and Our Next Race

    So our first stop in Montana was one of my best friend's Pap's house. He lives about an hour out of Missoula at Seely Lake. We pulled up and deer were sitting in his yard, not phased that we pulled up.  They were however frightened by his 15 pound dog ha.

He has a stream running through his back yard and I have to say it has to be wonderful to wake up to that in the morning.  We ate lunch and chit chatted with him before we went on our way to Missoula.  We had a few hours to spare before we met up with the team so we stopped at a winery..duh!

 Afterward we met up with the team for a few drinks and then we went back to our hotel room and settled in for the night.  The next day we got up and decided we would go for a drive to a ghost town.  Now it seemed pretty close but what we didn't know is that when we got to the turn off we had an 11 mile drive up a steep, narrow, dirt road.   These guys got in the way for a bit too. And yes I totally had to pee which was awesome ha.  

We finally got to the ghost town (sidenote: I am not a fan of going to the bathroom where you can feel a breeze) and took a short hike down to the town.

It was a mining town that was semi destroyed by fire.  Overall it was effing creepy! All the old newspaper or wallpaper peeling off the walls, random old shoes and stuff. I just got bad vibes or something it just really freaked me out.  So we left there and Dan went to work at the marathon expo booth. I was left to fend for myself shopping the mean streets of Missoula.  I found some discontinued Fiestaware pieces that made me squeal, got some huckleberry froyo, and some yarn for my gay husbands. I got my bffs some presents from Jim Beam earlier in the trip because thats just the kinda girls we are ha.  The next day was race day!

   This was totally one of my favorite courses (do I say that about every race? I dont know lol) the scenery for the first 3 miles of the half was amazing, the weather was near perfect, and the course was relatively flat. People that ran the marathon said the scenery was amazing until mile 16. They had TONS of water stations and it was very well organized.  The only thing some people may not like is that it is a point to point race rather than out and back.  We did have to take a shuttle to the starting line but it was was very well organized and we did not have to wait.  The only thing I didn't like about the race was that I couldnt seem to find regular water after the race..they just had vitamin water.  It was an OK race for Dan and I.  I had an awful heartburn flare up around mile 8 so I pretty much couldn't breathe but I felt like my legs had so much more to give! They were barely sore the next day so I was pretty upset with myself.  Dan said his legs did not feel like moving that day but he was pumped on the inside.  Womp Womp..not every race is perfect! The medal is one of our nicest medals to date!

National Guard Team members- they are hard to miss!

The Guard Team did pretty well.  Dan came in 36th with a 1:24:34 and the girl from PA won the women's half marathon with a 1:21:27 and she set a new course record! Emily was nice enough to share her victory bottle of wine she won with us :)  A few of the other guys on the team got age group awards too! The Missoula race was SO supportive of The Team and gave some great shout outs.

   After the race I figured I was already sweaty and there was this big white"M" beckoning me on the side of the mountain for the last few days so Dan, Emily and I decided to climb it. Very slowly.  I'm glad they didn't make fun of me for having to make stops.  I am nowhere near as athletic as them ha.

us and part of someone's finger sitting on the M

a view of part of the city

Go Griz!

 Anyway, I hope we are able to come back to Montana next year and hopefully we both will be able to redeem ourselves.  It really is a perfect course for a PR.

I am excited but nervous for our next race.  After my heartburn flare up I am worried it will happen again and I have been told that our next race's weather will be far from perfect.  But I am pretty sure none of that will matter because we will be in HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!  Thats right!  The Team got enough funding this year that pretty much everyone on the team is going to be able to do the Kauai Marathon.  I will be doing the half, of course, and Dan will be doing the full.  They say the course is hilly and it is normally pretty hot so to add 15 minutes to a half an hour on your regular time.  I am totally not running for a PR here, just running to enjoy the sights!  So Labor day weekend, watch out for us Kauai!!!