E Komo Mai

Welcome to Hawai'i!

E komo mai or 'welcome' in Hawai'ian.  I'm on the ground in this most gorgeous place!

Having been here a week, I'm starting to settle in a bit.  But, not too settled, I don't have a job yet!  I had my interview with one person last week and it went well, but one of the decision makers was sick, so I'll have another interview this week.  Fingers crossed!

Most of my time here has been spent prepping for interviews, but I've also been checking out the city.  Waikiki is obviously the tourist paradise that you imagine.  The business district is 15-20mins west of Waikiki by bus and very similar to the downtown of most cities.  The main differences being that here is relatively small and most business people wear Hawai'ian shirts.  Yes, seriously.  Business slacks and Hawai'ian shirts.

I'm staying between Waikiki and downtown (not sure if people here call it "downtown", but I will) in a very local and heavy traffic area.  It's not a long-term spot, but it's cheap, safe, has a grocery store, restaurants and the main bus lines nearby.

walking around Kaka'ako

Another place I checked out, which I doubt most tourists get to, is an area called Kaka'ako.  It's kind of the Shoreditch (London) or Lower East Side (NYC) of Honolulu complete with industrial/ warehouse buildings, street art and of course the relatively recent organic cafes with great coffee.  No hipsters, but it felt very homey.  To top it all off, they have a night market and food trucks at the end of every month, so hopefully I'm still around.

As for working out, I’ve been running, swimming and doing strength work down at Ala Moana Beach Park, which is about 15min walk straight down from my place.  It’s a nice beach, bigger than Waikiki and with less people, so great for swimming.  From one end to the other is just over 1km.  The water is relatively calm but moves enough to throw off a mainly pool-bound swimmer like me.  It’s incredible to do all this outside for free!

Ala Moana Beach Park
pic from www.hawaiiforvisitors.com

I also popped into a local tri/bike shop and picked up loads of info on races.  I’ve got some picked out, so let’s hope we’ll be here long term!

30/30/30 Challenge

Swim 13

Bike 4
Run 30+

Lucky 5,000!

We hit 5,000 views!  Yay!  Thanks so much for following guys.

The last couple weeks have been filled with packing and farewell parties in Japan, a quick trip to Bali (incredible!) and of course a bit of training.  I'll fill in all the blanks later, but it's now T minus four hours to takeoff for Hawaii (interview on Wed).

Strange, sad and nervous are all in my head, but so is a lot of excitement.  It's strange that my home will no longer be my home, sad to leave friends, awful to be apart with my wife for a bit (we're working on her US visa), and the uncertainty of where our future leads makes me nervous.  But overall, we're chasing a dream, and that's just excitingly awesome!

Watch this space.

Change It Up

30/30/30 Challenge
Swim 11
Bike 3
Run 30+

Last week was a nice reminder of why it's good to change up your workout routine every now and then.

I was running on a trail and passed an outdoor workout area with a pull-up bar, so decided to do a quick routine: 5 => 1 => 5 pyramid set of pull-ups with dead lifts in between.  Looking around for something to dead lift, all I found was some small rocks, about 3kg each.  The weight was really low, so I decided to do 12 reps with each set (i.e. 10 sets x 12 reps).

little outdoor workout area with pull-up bar

During the workout, it felt like nothing, but the next day and the next and the next, you better believe I felt it.  I've been doing dead lifts at higher weights in the gym, but the number of reps and sets was a total change.

Moral of the story, change up your workout!  Just like medicine, your body builds up a tolerance and ability to handle the same exercises.  After a while, your marginal improvement is very little or nothing at all.

For my strength and conditioning work, I like to change the routine about every 15 weeks.  For me, this is enough time to see improvement, and it's about the time I start to get bored with a routine.

Most of my workouts come from the sites below or just watching what personal trainers do with their clients at the gym.  My 15 weeks is up in about 2 weeks and it's time to change.  If it's been a while for you, think about mixing it up.

Triathlete.com
Runnersworld.com
MensHealth.com

Great Rides Around the World

pic from www.cnn.com

Every once in a while, CNN.com has a great article about endurance sports around the world.  Click HERE for one such treat about great rides all over.

I've had my eye on the Great Divide for a while and recently learned about the Shimanami Kaido which seems like the most basic of all those in the article.  Should I get these two out of my system, the others would be next!

Finally

30/30/30 Challenge

Swim 10

Bike 1

Run 30+

Got out on my bike!  It was awesome.  A bit shaky at first and not so impressive, but that didn't matter today.  Overall, it was wonderful!

Also, side note, EverySecondCounts will soon be celebrating 5,000 views!  Thanks for following everyone!

The Latest, Early June

30/30/30 Challenge
Swim 9
Bike 0
Run 30+


The job hunt continues.  Everything still rolling with the Hawaii-gig, but no offer yet, so hoping there's a decision either way soon.

As far as training goes, I've settled into a decent routine each week: 1 trail run (10-20k), 2 road runs (10k), 1 or 2 swims (1k) and 4 strength and conditioning sessions.  The only thing missing is at least one bike!  But, that all ends this week.  Wed morning, I'm getting up early and heading out on the bike.  The forecast says rain, but I've been making excuses for 5 months, so nothing is going to keep from getting out there.

While I'm enjoying this routine, the lack of clear training goal is frustrating.  I can't wait til we find a place and settle, then I can sign up for races and have a few goals.  Can't wait!

On the professional triathlon front, the ITU season is underway having finished 4 events with some great races and a few surprises (at least surprising to me).  Javier Gomez leads the points for the men while Gwen Jorgensen of the US leads for the women.  The surprising thing for me is that Alistair Brownlee, the 2012 London gold medalist, has not finished on the podium in either of the two races he's competed in.  I'm sure it'll start going his way at some point in the season, and I can't wait to see those fireworks.

Read more HERE or check out the videos below.  If you like all out sprint finishes, I highly recommend the first video.

Switching over to soccer, in case you missed it, Arsenal ended their 9 year trophy draught by taking home the FA Cup trophy last month!  This is a totally different and more mature team than in recent years.  On several occasions this year, they've gone down early only to charge back and take the victory.  The FA Cup was another example of this going down 2 goals in the opening 10mins only to come back for a 3-2 win.  Let's hope they carry this into next season!

Finally, with the World Cup around the corner, click HERE for a nice site giving previews of all of the teams.  Of course, I'll be rooting for Team USA with a bit of love for Japan too.

What's Been Going on

30/30/30 Challenge
Swim 7
Bike 0 (need to get this off the ground!)
Run 30+

Time has about run out on my stay in Japan.  I've been looking for jobs from Japan for about 6 months and it's not working.  So, here's the plan.  I'm now waiting on a 3rd round interview for a finance job in Hawaii, which would be awesome!  If it works out, I'll probably take it, and if it doesn't, I'll pack up and move to Cali around the end of June.

Unfortunately, Natsuko will have to stay in Japan while we wait to finalize her papers for the US, so it'll be tough, but it'll all be worth it.

Expect more regular updates from now, and hopefully we'll see that cycling number get past 0!