Friday, August 1, 2008

Mango Days

Wow! Where to start? I went back home to Hawaii for a little less than 5 days to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday and my Grandma's 88th birthday. A lot of family stuff jammed in, but I really enjoyed it.

My parents live in a planned community that has seven recreation centers with pools. When we were little kids we'd go quite often to these pools, but I hadn't been in one of them since mid-high school over ten years ago. My dad looked into it and found out it's still very affordable. Only $6.50 for a whole YEAR! I'm paying $4 a VISIT here in San Francisco to the local pool. Fine, I know my parents pay association fees that go towards the maintenance of these pools, but come on! I'm feeling ripped off here in San Francisco. So I skipped my swim workout here in SF on Tuesday and instead swam 3 times this past weekend.

I went back to the rec center we most frequently visited when I was a kid. So it has to be minimum 25+ years old. I was happy to find they recently retiled it! They even had the hawaiian turtles like these,



tiled into the pool bottom which was a nice surprise the first time I looked down. I went during lap swim hours and it was so peaceful. For one, it's an outdoor pool and the water felt so warm from the sun. Two, there was hardly anyone there! Once I had the 5 lane pool to myself with just one other person, another time two other people, and the most was three other people. Sure beats swimming around all the kids at the SF pool who bob up and down at the ends even during "lap" swimming! At the end of my weekend I felt really good in the water. I probably need to be swimming more than the 2x/week I'm doing in SF, but at $4/pop I'm hesitant. I'm going back to Hawaii in September for a wedding so will get to utilize my pool card at least once more before the year is up.

My mom has been a walker for many years. About three years ago she started mixing it up by running when she was out on her walks. She started off with one block, then went to two. Recently she told me she was up to 2 miles(!) which really impressed me. My parents have never been to a road race that I was running in. I thought it would be fun to enter my Mom and I in a 5K for her birthday present. I told her I'd stay with her the entire time.

What luck, a local 5K the weekend I'd be home!

I expected her to do a walk/run routine to get through the 3.1 miles. She trained extra hard for a week and got up to running 3 miles. And I was so impressed when we ran the entire distance (except for one walk through the water stop)! She calls her pace "Senior Chugging." She was worried she would come in dead last, but I assured here there would be someone who was going to walk the whole thing. She joked she'd probably be last in her age group and I laughed and said, "You probably won't be last in your age group, but I might be!" Turns out, we both weren't last in our age groups (I came pretty close to it, though). My slowest 5K ever, but it will probably be my most memorable.

My mom on the left and me on the right (disregard man in white)

The race was aptly named, "Mango Days." Mangoes from Hawaii are the BEST THINGS EVER. I've had mangoes in the UK, mangoes in NYC, and mangoes here in CA and they are nothing like ones from Hawaii. I've had very bad luck with getting back home during mango season. The last few years the crop has been bad, there's been some insect that burrows into the fruits, or I get home at the tail-end of the season and all my mom's got is one overripe mango in the fridge. But this year, oh this year was special because there was a never ending supply of perfectly ripe mangos. I was in heaven.

I had a tough time running in Hawaii. I'd get an early start at 6 am, but it was still either very humid or very hot. I know I'd acclimate if I ever moved back home, but give me San Francisco weather any day!

Today I hit up the San Francisco Marathon expo (even though I'm not running it). I was in Running Skirt heaven. I also got a cute shirt from Running Divas that says, "Runalicious" on it. I may even go back tomorrow for more shopping. Please stop me.

Oh, and to answer the question posed: No, Mario did not get to come to Hawaii. Rabies does not exist in Hawaii and there are very strict rules about bringing animals into the Islands. Mario and Boyfriend hung out together during the weekend. I hear they had fun involving an action flick, beer, and carrots. Bachelor fun.

7 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

That's so cool that you did a 5K with your mom!

Anonymous said...

You should try the mangoes in South East Asia...delicious! I haven't had a Hawaiian one yet. My mom always hides them when I go home, because she knows she'll have to go to the store every day to buy me new ones!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Cool you did the run with your mom, my mom used to walk the Bay to Breakers in her late '70s. Sounds like Mario and the boyfriend good time. My rabbits and boyfriend always report some sort of semi-party when I am away.....hmmmmm.

Deb Cushman said...

What a wonderful experience to have with your mom -- one you'll always remember and can recall together for years to come!

We are mango lovers, too! Don't know if any we've had came from Hawaii. Maybe we'll have to go to Hawaii to check this out.

The Bunns said...

Fun on the run! Good for the Bunn!

We are poet bunns!!!!

ShirleyPerly said...

Yes, what a fun way to spend time with your mom! I agree that mangos (and papayas) in Hawaii are much better than those in the States. I look forward to going back in September.

Jodi said...

I have that hawaiian turtle tattoed on my waist! I got in done on our honeymoon :-)
There's nothing better than racing with your mom, how cool.