Monday March 11, 2024 This week has felt like a real mixed bag - work being done on the house, a visit to the doctor - both of which have follows this coming week….And then for my wife’s birthday we spent a night on the island of Oahu, in Honolulu. The Hawaii equivalent of a visit to the big city. Maybe by some world cities standards Honolulu is a baby, but for me coming from rural Maui the island metropolis is a visual and aural stimulant.
Last Friday, March 8th was meant to be a Watch to 5K today, but I was in Honolulu to celebrate my wife’s birthday and so no running happened. The flip side is that I walked a lot over the day and a half that we were in the city - I was exhausted by the time that we got home and slept for an hour - and so feel that at least I kept some momentum going.
Today, Sunday, another run day, my excuse thus far is rather more prosaic. I’m just busy with things that need to get done and I don’t feel comfortable taking a break (which might be hard to get going again from). I might get out to run this evening…if not, it is tomorrow.
I find the Hide My Email feature on MacOS Safari very frustrating. I can set up a hidden email address manually with no problem, but I don’t think that I have ever seen it work in Safari? No pop up appears offering me to create a Hide My Email address.
Now this is something that I had not seen or tasted before. A green Matcha (green tea) IPA. We had been gifted a sushi meal at Islander Sake Brewery in China Town, Honolulu, and they served as this Matcha IPA from Kyoto. I think that this is the brew? Very tasty, and certainly a striking colour.
Yesterday we visited the Honolulu Museum of Art to see an exhibition of David Hockney prints, both old and new. I had wanted to see this exhibition and with my wife’s birthday a couple of days before the exhibition closes, it made for good timing for a reason to head over to Honolulu to view it.
🌧️ Today has been an unexpectedly wet day. I saw that wind was on the cards, but it has come with a strong dose of rain as well, heavy rain. A very wintry day.
I’m sitting in the truck after the first run of week three of the Watch to 5K program. It is my second time going through week three due to various pauses in the program through illness and visitors.
I’ve moved to a different running venue, a playing field. It is flatter than the park that I have been running in. With the running intervals starting to get longer, I wanted to move to more even ground. The times felt good today, and I tried to throttle back on the tendency to go out of the blocks as though my life depended upon in. I’m trying to tell myself, slow, steady progress.
While not always easy, I am starting to notice a difference in my comfort with the running. I’ll chalk that up as progress.
Some more waves. This time in Waihe‘e Coastal Dunes & Wetlands Refuge which is managed by the Hawai’i Land Trust. I find it a special area, little known about, steeped in Hawaiian history and with the largest sand dunes in Maui.
I watched episode seven of Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ last night. When I started watching the series I didn’t feel as though it was living up to its reviews, and after two episodes was unsure about watching any further. However, I decided to stick with it and am pleased that I did. I feel that it has got grittier. At least one plot line has been abbreviated in my opinion, but that may be in part due to run time?
My decision to stick with the series was informed by my having lost an uncle during the Second World War. He was a gunner in a RAF bomber. Of course I never knew him, though I am named after him through my middle name. I find myself wanting to understand in some way what he and the other men who he flew missions during the War went through. Like the men in the series, my uncle would not have been very old when he lost his life.
I end each episode reflecting on what war does to people, the hatred it fuels and multiplies, the sacrifice of so many and the loss. For these airmen, the courage they have to get back in one of those airplanes after what they see…for me is unimaginable.
I’m experiencing a lovely after exercise glow. I headed out this morning for another Watch to 5K run after a week off for family visiting. The runs felt strong and consistent despite the strong wind that I was running into at times. I repeated the final run of week two to get myself going again. Back to the first run of week three on Wednesday.
Monday March 4, 2024 Well it has been a long while since I sent out a newsletter to subscribers. The pause was initially caused by an illness last summer when I got pneumonia while visiting Portugal. Then that pause turned into a larger gap.
I am now remedying this omission but with a slightly different frequency.
Previously I sent out the newsletter on the first of each month with a hand curated selection of posts that I had made to my blog that month.
A quick update on my attempt to get myself to running a 5K, through the Watch to 5K program. My wife and I have had a packed week with family visiting. Fun, but on the go showing them the island. There was no time for running, and today I have decided to take the day off, rest, and catch up things before the week begins.
🫠 Having a slow morning. Our wonderful family guests left yesterday and today feels like a day of rest and catching up on a few things that need doing.
