My original plan was to wake up early and get it done before leaving the house by 5:30 am to go on a sunrise whale watch with darling daughter. But then I got the bad/good news that our trip had been consolidated so we were going to go out at 11:30 am. In all reality, this turned out best!
After "sleeping in" and making homemade waffles with my new waffle maker (yeah! I finally got the waffle maker I had been asking for for about 3 years!) I started my run. I was feeling a bit sluggish. I was playing pretend with darling daughter and talking a lot. And I ran negative splits at a very slow at home, easy rest day run. But in all reality, pace doesn't matter and I have found that my ego-squashing slow paces on some of my home incline treadmill runs are equating too awesome race day paces. I just need to distract myself enough to not focus on the fact that I feel like a slug may pass me by at any moment and focus on the greater good.
Ocean Intrigue
And how was the whale watch? AWESOME BEYOND BELIEF!!!!I would love to say I took amazing pictures of the whales but nope. Didn't even try. I know better. My little point and click would give the whales no justice if I actually caught them in the frame. So I focused on really cherishing the time with darling daughter.
It started out slow. Very slow. Barely seeing a blow. Okay, not even a blow but others were seeing them, not us. Darling daughter was doing her best to stay interested but looking at water can only entertain the best four-year old marine biologists so long and she was tiring of my made-up humpback whale songs....and so was I. But I felt optimistic but still scared optimistic. I wanted this to be wonderful for her but knew it was up to the whales.
Alas we came upon a mom, calf, and escort male. Awesome! We saw a lot of them but mainly their blows and dorsal fins. They were not feeling a wee bit feisty but were very beautiful...yet hard to spot in the choppy waters. After a bit we moved to the bow of the boat and were delighted when they appeared right before the vessel and darling daughter was amazed by the glowing turquoise water that magically appeared as you saw the white of their pectoral fins below the surface. It was very cool indeed.
West Maui Mountains
We were later blessed by one adult going right below the vessel and coming out below us and darling daughter got to see a whale from head to toe, delight again in the glowing blue water, and realize just how big their tail flukes are. But it was time to move on and darling daughter was saddened she didn't see a tail above the water. What we saw was more magical, more rare, and amazing but alas, her hopes were answered. The mom gave us a little fluke up and darling daughter was stoked. This would be the perfect ending to some amazing whale watching and it was time to head back to shore anyhow.But sometimes good tales keep going on. On our return we saw some AWESOME tail slapping and from our best guesses, a couple of males were being a bit competitive and perhaps hoping to woo a beautiful female...or scare away one of the males. We don't know the conclusion but I gotta say, we saw just about every wonderful thing you could hope for in a mere two hours. It was a splashing good time!
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful God answered my prayers and provided a wonderful experience for darling daughter today.Daily Affirmation: I am grounded in life and know what is important to me and my family.