Ben Collins

What a day! Tough run then an even harder swim this morning, followed by a nice nap at Hapuna Beach State Park here on the Big Island of Hawaii. The past few times I’ve been to Hapuna Beach there have been very few people, but today was as crowded as Waikiki in the rain (very)!

I got to use the underwater feature of my camera (Olympus Stylus 790sw) again. Check out the video below.

For the afternoon workout I was going to run an hour then swim an hour, but my 60 minute run  turned into 75 and I stopped a couple times to stretch my aching legs.  It’s been a hard couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to a day off on Wednesday (my first day of school).

Tuesday: I just did about 4000 yards with the Columbia Men’s Swim Team.  I made the send-offs! Now it’s time to pack up my stuff and head back to Oahu.  Aloha!!

[Left: an octopus on a fishing line being towed by a free diver about 500meters out from shore]

I’m going to the beach today. Hapuna Beach Park, where the Honu Half Ironman is swam. It’s my favorite beach park in this part of the island. Normally I would be excited for a long swim around the crystal clear waters, but right now I’m pooped after having done my longest two swim workouts since April back to back. Two more runs and two more swims with these guys and then I head back to Honolulu.

[Left: the 25 yard pool at Hawaii Preparatory Academy.]

Friday was a rush. After a long breakfast and some electronic geeking out at Bob’s place I went to the dentist, followed by a 2k open water swim, followed by a pit stop in Waikiki, straight to a track workout at U of Hawaii, another pit stop at Momentum Multisport, back to Bob’s for an early dinner, and frantic packing, then a b-line across the island to return the minivan and then to the airport where I checked in 30 minutes before my flight and island hopped over to Hawaii (the big island). The 40 minute flight was enough time to get through a chapter in my MCAT review notes, and by the time I got off the plane I was still in rush mode.  I trampled a few bystanders as I put maximum speed into my slippers (which is what Hawaiians call flip flops or thongs). Managing only minor stubbed toes and no slipper bowouts I arrived at the United carousel to find about 35 swimmers waiting for their baggage and the familiar faces of coaches Jim Bolster and Eric Scheingoltz.

We rode a school bus from the airport up to Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA), where the Columbia Swim Team will be training from now until the 15th. It was completely dark out (no street lights on the Queen K Hwy), so with the new moon we could clearly see the Milky Way outside the yellow bus.

I love to arrive in Hawaii at night because when you wake up to the sunlight it’s like waking up in another world. The tropical sunrise always seems so surreal.  This morning was no exception.  I woke up at dawn for a 50 minute run up to the town of Waimea just a couple miles away. I felt like crap running, but the orange and yellow light shining up from behind low clouds made the snow on top of Mauna Kea glow. At the same time, the 25mph wind gusts while running uphill were demoralizing.

This afternoon I will swim with the CU swim team for their first Hawaii practice. I was eyeing them up at breakfast, and I’m ready to take names! I’ll see how long I can hang with the college boys.

Today (Friday) I’m heading over to the Big Island for the weekend.  I get into Kona tonight and will meet up with the Columbia Men’s Swim Team, who will get in from New York at the same time.  They’re spending 12 days at Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Waimea for their annual training trip, and I’m going to see how many yards I can do with them before I cannot physically move my arms. Because I will likely die this weekend there are a few things I want to say before I go.

Hawaii has treated me very well. Getting away from the gray and the clouds of Seattle is an essential ingredient to survival in the Northwest.  The other ingredients include coffee, skiing, and lunchtime runs and full spectrum lighting.

In Hawaii it’s fairly common to run into people you know when you’re out training. It’s the Island effect. There are only a few good places to do workouts, so someplace like Kapiolani Park at 5:30pm is sure to have other athletes in attendance. My old roommate nearly ran me over during my swim tonight, then I saw Marion Summerer walking by the beach while I was drying off, and as I was walking to my car a group of runners from Team Jet, where I used to coach, tried to trample me as they came running past. I waited for them to finish and got to "talk story" (as they say in Hawaii) with my old friends Chet the Jet, Matt Pitts, Bob Bevaqua, Andrea Maglasang, and Lori Nishida. Afterwards I wen to dinner with Lori, who was one of the two people that showed up to my first workout as a triathlon coach. It was fun. Not only is Lori beautiful and athletic, she’s also an engineer, so I understand what she’s saying to me. (Lori, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry to make you blush.)

I will definitely miss Hawaii. Maybe even more than when I first moved away a year ago. Nothing quite makes you appreciate your home so much as leaving, and nothing makes you miss it more than a short return visit.

Right now, however, I’m focused on running hard, and a few days of good old fashioned eat, sleep & train style living. I may not be a college swimmer anymore, but I’m going to do my best to keep up with 30 of them.

This morning started way too early for me.  2007 seemed to have more to offer than time to give it, and while many people are starting off the new year with hangovers and blurry memory, I’m lucky enough to be merely low on sleep from days of saying, "why not" to every opportunity that comes my way.

It started Saturday night after Italian food. We (Adam and Bob) watched a movie (Pollack, which is excellent), and went to bed. It was a recovery night that still managed to keep me up until midnight. I awoke Sunday morning early to join a group that rides from Boca Hawaii. I wanted to have the group leader, Eduardo, teach me some Portuguese for my trip to Brazil in four weeks from now. I now know how to ask for little kisses, beer, and to compliment women. I’m not sure how that gets me to my hotel, or finds me food, but it’s a start.

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