For the past week I have been on a much needed vacation and had the opportunity to visit one of my “bucket list” places. I had the extreme pleasure of visiting Oahu, Hawaii.
Before I left for Hawaii I was concerned that my fitness that I have worked so hard to achieve, would go by the way side and I would also take a vacation from fitness. So many people did comment and tell me that I deserved a break and had earned a vacation where I didn’t need to think about fitness. At first I thought you bet – why not! I’ve worked hard for the past 9 months and I am sure that 10 days is not going to do any harm to my level but in the back of my mind I heard that inner little voice saying “who are you trying to fool?”
In the past I have heard and listened to many of those little talking voices that whisper in your mind giving you excuses to ignore what you need to do to maintain a healthy body. Just one day, just one week….you deserve it! We’ve all heard these little messages and all too often have heeded their message to steer us down the path of weight gain, the middle tire, love handles and unhealthy lifestyles. Not this time – I was determined that this time it would be different – I hoped! One of the first things I asked my sister who I was going to be staying with was “Is there a gym where we will be staying?” She said no but that there was 39 steps to the 3rd floor of our condo and that might work.
Before I headed to Hawaii I made sure I got in two workouts. One was on the Sunday and then the next day Monday morning before I caught my fight I went to the gym for my sweat out before sitting for over 5 hours on the plane.
On vacation there are MANY distractions to keep you from thinking about fitness and working out - soaking up the sun, relaxing in the pool, bubbling in the hot tub and not to mention go old retail therapy. This was not to be I soon discovered on my first morning. At 5 am my friendly little exercise monitor started calling me. Yes at 5 am the my fine feathered local rooster would start my wakeup call reminding me of my commitment to keep it real. I guess it was destiny for me that I received this “divine” assistance to get my workout done early before the blazing sun had slipped over the horizon every morning and I had the excuses down firm and no time to get it done.
I felt that this was my own personal wake up call to remind me that I needed to get up and get my workout done for the day before I got distracted by all the vacation activities or heat. I would ever sooooooo slowly pry open my eye lids to look out the window to see if it was light yet and to think in my mind “rooster stew” and slowly slip my feet into my flip flops to slid out of bed to have a bit of food to get ready to jog since where we stayed there was no gym in sight! I knew that once the sun was well up that it would be way too hot to jog. I think that the rooster had been given my Makha address by the fitness trainers from Westside to ensure that I got my workouts done while away. It would have been all to easy to say – no gym around so I will forget it until back in Calgary. I tired to close my eyes but that little rooster would have none of that – cock-a-doodle-do! I am sure he could see my eyes.
Once out of bed, dressed and warmed up by jogging I noticed that there were quite a other joggers out there that had been roused by the “rooster alarm” as well as an ever vigilant group of peacocks scattering as I jogged by. Jogging in Hawaii certainly has advantages. The scenery is beautiful with the view of the serene blue ocean on the horizon, the golden beach sand beckoning at me for a post workout swim, palm trees gently waving in the morning trade winds breezes, the air filled with the sweet aroma of flowering plants and my ears treated to the chirping of what sounded like thousands of birds cheering my every step and not to mention that ceaseless crowing of that silly little rooster! It was an experience that anyone who was not out jogging at 6:15 in the morning missed! I felt truly blessed to be able to experience the undisturbed peace provided by the great Creator (except for that rooster.)
I soon learned that the jog from the condo to the ocean was only 15 minutes there downhill and 15 minutes back uphill. Didn’t see any women out jogging but there were senior men and some with friendly dogs. Most people looked very healthy so I guess this was a good and inspiring sign. Everyone had a smile on their face and always gave a friendly smile and a wave as they went by. Most, if not all, were faster than I was but I was giving it a try. That’s all I could ask of myself and at least I wasn’t laying in bed wishing I could find my ear plugs to drown the rooster call.
Once my jog was done for the day I was ready to go and get on with being a tourist on vacation. One day was spent on a bus tour of the island. I would highly recommend doing a bus tour your first day on the island if you haven’t been there before. The bus ride gave me a real sense of the layout of the island and places I might want to go back and spend more time at as well as giving a historical background on the important parts. Well worth the outlay of the cash and I got to visit the Dole pineapple plantation as well as the macadamia nut tasting store, numerous beaches, jungle and ancient volcanic structures.
What else does one do for exercise in Hawaii? Well there is the pool…much colder than the ocean to say the least however you can get a good workout there by doing just your basic swim or you can do your own version of aerobics or water jog. The ocean is another good place to get a bit of exercise and not having to work up a sweat. The waves and current are enough to keep you having to constantly move your body to keep close to shore. Walking on the sand is a chore in itself. Not sure how one might be able to run in this almost quick sand sucking your feet at every move. Seems like there is so much to see that you are constantly walking and of course there is always retail therapy (but can get costly) where you can walk for hours shopping – it’s all exercise.
Well I’m back in the land of ice and snow. Missing my workouts in Hawaii but like all good vacations they come to any end with a screech of reality with a wakeup this morning of -19 C. Aloha!
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