Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Toronto Maple Leafs Break My Heart Again!!


I decided to leave the picture above as it is typical of my beloved Maple Leafs - never in the right position. Congratulations officially on another season missing the playoffs and 50 straight days without a home win - this truly takes dedication and perserverance.

The other teams around the league are appreciative for letting their goalies get some much-needed rest as they prepare for their respective playoff runs. FYI - playoffs are what happens AFTER the regular season. I know it's been 7 years since you've been to the Big Dance so I thought I'd remind you.

Isn't anyone searching for Kessel?? Tyler Seguin sends his condolences.

As usual, though, like mindless robots we keep filling the Air Canada Centre - well save for the first 20 rows of suits.

This is what success looks like. Unfortunately I was 1 year old at the time so I really did not have the chance to bask in it.
So this caption once again says it best - which one are we?! See you on the links - don't forget to wear sunscreen!

Cheers (with tears in beers)!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Aloha, Eh! Part 2

Midweek we made our way to same popular landmarks. First on the list - Place of Refuge. A historical setting depicting the traditional Hawaiian way of life, Place of Refuge has a village setting on display. Here's Sara and Logan amongst the many hand-carved statues here.

In the traditional Hawaiian shelter was this native making fish hooks out of bone. Logan mistakenly said to Sara "he's in a costume" to which Dude replied all pissed "got more clothes on than your mudder" (nice response to an 8 yr old Keanu!). Logan was interested in what he was doing and watched him for a least 10 minutes and the Dude did not speak or look up once - I hope we were driving him nuts!

I went snorkelling and made some new friends! I managed to swim out some distance and found my way into a pod of Spinner dolphins. There was a least 30 of them and they got this close every time they came up for air. It made my purchase of an underwater camera worth it. It was very cool!

Next landmark is trigeek-related. I managed to do a couple of swims at the Kona Aquatics Center. This pool is open from 6:15am to 7:30pm with 2 pools with 6 lanes each and it is free! The number of pro triathletes and Ironman World Champions that have used this facility is huge so it was pretty cool to swim there.

I did not have my camera with me the first time I swam which was unfortunate as in the lane next to me was Yvonne Van Vlerken, pro triathlete.

For those unaware, Yvonne was 2nd female overall at the 2008 Hawaii Ironman. I'm pretty sure I could hear her laugh underwater at the site of my technique.

Oh Yvonne you know you shouldn't wear white after Labour Day but thanks all the same (this one's for the gentlemen).

Just before Sara took pics of me at Kona Aquatics she was walking down the street. She heard bikes behind her and none other than Lance Armstrong was approaching! Sara said "hello" and Lance slowed down and said "good morning". I somehow think I would have had a different reaction from Lance given that I'm not female or blond. Well played, Lance! (insert whisky slow clap here).

Finally, landmark #3 was Hapuna Beach. Hapuna is a mile long sandy beach with consistent great waves. Here I am absolutely rocking the boogie board - I'm rad, stoked and gnarly all at the same time.

Logan trying to sneak up on me like a shark.

Not to be outdone by the gratuitous Van Vlerken pic, Sara snared some meat of her own. Check out Buddy rocking the Ol Marble Bag - well played Sara, touche! (insert another whisky slow clap).

The waves were awesome - the climate and the ocean are incredible. Being active here is so easy with so many options.

After a tough day of play it's always important to rehydrate. I decided to try a different island microbrew - it was sooo goood! Wait - Sara, is that you?!!

Take me to your leader! Geek in the Pacific!!

Aloha - Cheers!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Aloha, Eh! Part 1

Sara, Logan and I got to Pearson on Friday, March 2nd for our 8 pm flight to LA. We stayed overnight in LA and did the final flight to Kona the next morning. Above is Sara and Logan prepping for the long trip ahead. We flew Air Canada for the first half so that meant catching up on movies with the entertainment system.

Once in Kona, my favourite endurance playground, we got our bags, picked up our car and headed to our condo on Alii Drive. Here's a picture of Magic Sands Beach which was directly across the street from the condo. It was quite convenient to have this small beach so close with good waves. The only issue upon arrival was my luggage did not make it but I did have shorts, tshirt and board shorts for the water so I was still equipped enough for the beach but not for the Peaman race at the Kona Pier - a half mile swim followed by a 4 mile run. Though disappointing I took to the surf as a consolation prize!

The first morning, due to the 6-hour time change we were all up at 4:30 am which was 10:30 am to our bodies. We spent the morning with coffee (ok it was just me but I drank enough for everyone). I did a dark 5-miler along Alii and had a nice breakfast with mango, papaya and pineapple - awesome! As the sun started coming up at 6:30 we headed across to the beach - above is Logan and I at 6:45 am - first on the beach!

After getting in the ocean and swimming about, Logan decided he wanted to body board and I was pretty pumped cause I thought he might be a little afraid of "things" in the ocean. Turns out he wanted to be in the waves as much as possible.

Kelly Slater?!!

After a half hour of surf it was time for sand play and constructing the mandatory beach habitat for Logan's dinosaurs. So to recap I ran, had breakfast, played in the sand and surf for over 2 hours and it's not even 9 am - Booyah!
Later on we ventured down to the Kona Pier, sight of the Ironman swim. The banyan trees are gi-normous and spread out everywhere - very cool looking.
Here's a view from the break wall of Dig Me Beach where the Ironman swim takes place. We saw lots of swimmers out. This place justs oozes activity no matter what the age. People were all over the place surfing, riding, running, swimming, kayaking, standup paddling and livin life large in general - I love it!!
This is a view from the pier overlooking the small beach and heading down Alii Drive.
No trip to the pier would be complete without a pic of the Hawaii Ironman Finish Line marker. Here's Logan standing under the sign indicating the Ironman finish - one day you will be mine, Ironman Finish, oh yes you will be mine! Someday I'll make this a reality......stayed tuned for Part 2.

Aloha - Cheers!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Kona Bound!!!

This will be my view come Saturday afternoon. Sara, Logan and I are headed to Ironman sacred grounds in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. We plan on doing a swim-run race out of this harbour on Sunday. The race is called Peaman and it's free. There's a race for kids, relays, individual with no timing or prizes. The adult race is 1/2 mile swim followed by 3.9 mile run (not sure why it's that distance).

We plan on doing some hiking as well.

Meet up with old friends.

This view is from Dig Me Beach, site of the Ironman swim start and finish - a very cool place that is always a buzz with activity.

It's also the site of the Ironman finish line.

And here's what it looks like just after sunrise on race day. I hope to send lots of pics shortly.

Cheers! Aloha!!