Well, just as I predicted, it was a busy day yesterday. It started bright and early with Rebecca and I embarking on our 13.1 mile journey through Waikiki and over Diamond Head out to Kalani'anaole Hwy and back to Kapiolani Park. It is really a beautiful route! If you have to run a half marathon, I can't think of a better place to do it! We did make it all the way back--a little slower than we would have liked, but we made it.
My recommendation is to never do anything like that when you have not trained for it! I was in good enough shape cardiovascularly to run it twice probably, so BZ2 was perfectly safe (for all you worry-warts out there). However, the combination of the added 10 pounds or so, and the repetition of just running for that long really took a toll on my legs! They were shot by the end! In fact, we sprinted the last 100 meters or so, and when I crossed the finish line I was afraid to be still because I thought my legs would cramp up and I would not be able to move for the rest of the day. We made it out of downtown in time to grab a lei for Zak and get showered before worship services (we missed class). After church when we were at lunch I started to cross my legs and both my thighs completely cramped up! I stood up from my chair and realized there were 15 people looking straight at me. Apparently we were getting ready to pray! When I realized what was happening, I quickly sat back down and just tried to breathe deeply until the prayer was over and I could stand up again. If it wasn't so uncomfortable it would have been funny!
After lunch we continued with the Father's Day festivities. Koa and I got to surprise Zak with an airplane ride where he got to help pilot a Cessna. We went to a little charter/flight school over by the Honolulu International Airport and Zak got to take a thirty minute flight with his instructor, Jon Vong. He spent about half an hour familiarizing Zak with gages and controls and then Zak actually got to do the take-off. Then Jon took them out over a pineapple field and let Zak take the controls again to do some maneuvers like turns and changes in altitude. Then they headed back to the airport and Jon did the landing. All told we were at the airfield for about an hour and a half. I think Zak really enjoyed it. Almost as good as the experience itself was the cost - it was only $56 (including a $10 tip)! Now that's a cheap, incredible adventure! Pictures will be coming soon (hopefully!).
While we were waiting for Zak and Jon to land, Koa convinced a nice lady who worked there (he called her Auntie, just like a polite little local boy!) to let him pilot her golf cart. When he came back inside with her he told me they had gone to the beach.
Saturday was just about as busy as Sunday (but less painful for me!). After I signed up for the race and picked up my packet we ran a couple of errands and then headed for the North Shore for Zak to do some of his advanced certification dives. If you didn't read the website I linked to in the last post, to become an advanced diver a student has to do 5 "adventures dives" from about a list of 20 (along with the usual book work and written examinations). Two of those dives are required - a deep dive and an underwater navigation dive. The other 3 can be picked from the list. So, Zak's 5 dives are going to be a deep dive, an underwater navigation dive, a night dive, a wreck dive, and a boat dive (dive from a boat instead of shore).
Zak's first dive on Saturday was out of Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach Park (where we got married) for his deep water dive. It's a dive location called Hale'iwa Trench. He had to take a math test on land before they went out and then another at depth (in this case 92 feet was the deepest spot they could find) to demonstrate the effects of nitrogen narcosis on a person in deep water. Zak actually did better at 92 feet (by a full minute)! So, I guess that explains something about how Zak's brain functions! Zak did his second dive at Shark's Cove (Don't worry Regina, there are very few sharks - its mostly named for some of the lava rock formations.) In this one he had to do some underwater navigation which involved first counting how many fin kicks it took him to swim 100 meters. Then using a compass and counting his kicks, he had to swim a square underwater and end up within 6 meters of where he started. I figure after 8 years of navigating a submarine he ought to be good at this, but he explained to me that he uses lasers and gyro navigators on a sub and not a compass. He still passed his dive though.
While Zak was diving, Koa and I played around at the park and then down near Shark's Cove. Koa desperately wanted to snorkel, so I helped him put a mask on and tried to help him stick his face in the water with it on. Just as he would get his face right up to the water he would lose confidence and stand back up (and hit me in the face with his head on one occasion). Then he just wanted to splash around and throw rocks (with the mask on, of course). He finally took the mask off and decided to make "juice" in his sand bucket. The ingredients for the juice were sand and soy. He liked putting the soy in because it got a good reaction from me when I would say, "Ewww, not soy!" and I would pick it out and throw it away.
Zak is well on his way to becoming an advanced diver. He has three dives left and he is loving it! I'm so glad he is finally getting to do some of the fun things he has put off because of the boat and then school the whole time we have been here. Fortunately he has some really good friends to do these things with, too! You can see the pictures we have of him diving so far in the SCUBA Diving photo album. What a fun weekend with a fun Daddy!! We are so blessed!
Both Saturday and Sunday we were gone all day and didn't get home until after 9 PM and Koa hardly napped at all either day. So, Monday has been a somewhat relaxing day with a short trip to the beach to get some salt water therapy for my sore legs! Hopefully we will be mostly recovered by tomorrow.
