Friday, December 23, 2011

School's Out

It's so weird typing this from home, but blogging about my semester in Hawaii is not yet complete.  A couple more blog posts will top it off.

So finals week came and went quickly, as did every other week on this island.  I don't know what it is about time here and it absolutely flying,  but it sure happened.

I had my microbiology lab final the week before finals week (and the marathon).  I calculated my grade before I started studying, figured I was fine, and half-assed preparing for the exam.  It was fine, I felt like I maintained an A, was relieved after it was over, and started thinking about my other exams.

The Monday after the marathon at 7:30 in the morning (ouch... literally) I had my Hawaiian studies final presentation, which was absolute cake, since that class may have actually been kindergarten.

I opted to take my microbiology lecture exam early, so my finals schedule was then
Wednesday - microbiology
Thursday - genetics
Friday - animal sciences

Tuesday I started reading the scientific article I needed to know for my genetics final since it was going to be ridiculously impossible, but Kelsey and my mother convinced me to read at the beach.  And so I did.  And it felt good.

The rest of Tuesday after the beach I studied for microbiology.  I calculated my grade in that class too, and the same thing happened there as my microbiology lab, so I felt fine.  The only part that had me worried was the prof screwed up the exams and the people with my form had an entire page missing, so we had 10 questions less than everyone else, all questions were old questions taken straight from our previous tests.  So he said he was going to weigh our tests differently, and I thought it was going to be an unfair advantage.  But again, I wasn't too worried about it.

Thursday's genetics final absolutely sucked.  It was 2 hours of straight essay writing over technical information from the paper we had to read.  Some of us took longer, and I think I was the very last one to leave (which isn't saying much because there were only like 22 kids in the class that could have had 40).  It took me two and a half hours to do this damn thing.  Afterwards I just felt relieved that it was over.  I didn't want to think about the grade I was going to get in that class.

Friday's animal sciences final was just like microbiology.  Calculated grade, figured I was fine, yada yada yada.

Final results you ask?

Microbiology lab - A
Hawaiian studies - A+
Microbiology lecture - A
Animal Sciences - A
Genetics - A-

I GOT A FREAKING A- IN GENETICS!!

That was the best news ever!  I was in the best mood the night I checked my grades, and my parents were really proud of me.  The glory from that class is still with me.

Hey, guess what?  I spent a semester in Hawaii, did some of the coolest things I've ever done in my life, had an absolute blast, and still managed to get straight A's.

Am I a star or what??

Aloha!

Random Tidbits/What I've Learned

I started making this list when I got to the island, and this is what I've come up with.  Enjoy!

The number one rule on the island is to bring an umbrella with you no matter where you go.  It could be perfectly sunny outside and then randomly start raining or misting.  It rains almost every day in the mountains (where campus is), but a light sprinkle and for like 20 minutes if I'm exaggerating.  It's not too bad.  On really hot days, I don't even mind it.

Rule number 2: Wear a swimsuit wherever you go.  You never know if you'll end up on the beach, and chances are good that you will.  It never hurts to be prepared.

Grass here is not grass.  It's mutant.  It feels like the grass on turf fields and therefore not real.  But it is real.... I don't understand.

I have more problems with sand in my bed than bugs.  Although cockroaches are not my favorite insect to find in my apartment.  Tiny lizards aren't ideal, either.  Technically I guess they're geckos.

If you don't get to class by skateboard/longboard or moped, you're not part of the norm.  Mopeds are actually cool and useful to have here.  Crazy, right?!

There are wild chickens and roosters that run amok around campus and the island.  Mongooses/mongeese (I have no idea of the plural word for them.  Also, is a bunch of mongooses/mongeese called a gaggle?  Something to think about.)  There is also a huge problem with feral cats, too.

A traditional Hawaiian meal consists of 3 things: meat (usually pork or chicken), rice, and mac salad.  Mac salad just means macaroni salad which I didn't know for a really long time, and then I looked like an idiot for not knowing what mac salad was.

Hawaii does not observe Daylight Savings Time.  How neat.

In the Hawaiian language, no two consonants are ever right next to each other.  There is always a vowel in between every consonant.

The reason the water is so clear and blue here is because there are no rivers washing out sediment and other things that would make the water all icky.

Within the entire four months of my stay here, I did not once encounter a drinking fountain that spewed Hawaiian punch.  I'm not sure if people actually think this myth/legend is true (or if this is even a plausible thought), but to the dismay of many enthusiast punch-drinkers, this is a fable.

There are no bilboards anywhere on the island.  They were banned because people wanted to be able to admire the beauty of the island, not stare at ads everywhere they drove.

That's the island life for you.

Aloha!

What I'm Not Going to Miss

So I wanted to write a post about everything I was going to miss here in Hawaii, but I figured that would take 10 and 2/3 hours and be 2354 pages long so I thought it'd be easier to make a list of things I'm not going to miss here on the island.

Don't take it as me being a negative Nancy and think that I hated Hawaii, because the exact opposite is true.  I realize this much more clearly now that I'm two hours away from leaving this paradise.

The first thing I hated: pigeons.  Damn pigeons were everywhere!  As well as signs saying "Don't feed the birds", but you knew those spazzy high schoolers outside the Burger king were going to dump their fries on the sidewalk anyway.  And then the birds would flock.  And shit on your head.  And get just a little too close for comfort.  There were also a bunch of stumpy pigeons with deformed feet.  What's that about?  And their beedy little eyes.  So disgusting.  So much disgustion.

Second thing I hated: lack of bathrooms everywhere.  Since Honolulu is such a touristy place and also has a lot of the homeless, businesses either weren't available to the public or weren't there at all.  Those poor employees at Taco Bell probably have to run who knows how far just to take a pee.  That's inconvenient.  I stress out over not knowing my restroom options.  I am also a freak (but you already knew that).

Third thing I hated: having to shave all the damn time.  At least during the winter back home in Illinois I can go a couple extra days with the 24/7 pants-wearing buffer.  But here in Hawaii it's always shorts and swimsuits, which have no give for hairy legs.  I had to always be on top of my game.  Not to mention the number of disposable razors I went through.  It was almost a nightmare and turned into such a chore.  Am I just that lazy?

These next two had nothing to do with the island itself, but the university here.

Four: genetics class.  I can't even begin to describe my hatrid of this class.  Plus I could go on and on for a thousand paragraphs of rage.

"Katie, no you could not.  That's way too many paragraphs.  That is an exaggeration.  I don't like a girl that exaggerates."

Reference?  Anyone?  Okay so maybe not a thousand paragraphs, but this class was ridiculous.  No textbook, no powerpoint slides.  Just a very Chinese professor who had us read scientific articles and attempt to extract their information to add to our wealth of knowledge.  Also, it's a 4-hour class, but only meets 2x a week, and there's no lab.  Also also, there were only 100 points total we could earn in the class.  I swear if I make it out of here with a B I'm going to cry with joy and then perhaps do something very dangerous and life-threatening, just to make sure I'm still alive.  Sound good?

Five: the cafeteria.  My excitement for being done with dorm food is through the roof.  Not that the food was bad; just the opposite.  The food was absolutely delicious, which made it even more frightening.  Endless amounts of food do not go over well with me.  The staple here in Hawaii is rice.  A carb.  A nice, big, fat, carb.  I want to throw up just thinking about the slices of pizza and bowls of cereal I consumed over the course of the semester.  Ew, ew, ew.  Hopefully marathon training balanced out the eating of the food (which it probably didn't).  But this brings me to my next point...

Six: marathon training.  So I used to like running.  I would go out with my dog all the time and run like 2 miles and come back and feel so accomplished.  After training for this marathon (specifically between Thanksgiving and the marathon itself) I realized I did not like running.  Or more, the thought of getting ready to go spend three hours running was not a fun idea whatsoever.  The aftermath of this whole thing is that now, 2 miles will never again be enough to a decent workout for me.  If I don't spend at least 2 and a half or 3 hours running I will not be satisfied.  And that's not okay.

I think I'm going to end this post with my favorite number, good-ole 7.  Although the content is not as happy and lucky.
The seventh thing that I am not going to miss in Hawaii, is the feeling I experienced while my dog was sick and eventually passed.  I'm not going to drag on about how sad and depressing it was, because you already know about it,  but it still was the worst feeling knowing I was so far away and couldn't do anything about it, much less say goodbye to my best friend.

On that awful note, I will be boarding a plane in a few hours to come back home!  I'll still post another blog post or two after I land.  But my time in Hawaii is pau.  It's sad, but I can't wait to see everyone back home!

Aloha!

UPDATE!  Don't know how I forgot to mention a few little gems.

Cockroaches were absolutely disgusting while I was in Hawaii, and shall not be missed back home.  Also, back to the topic of school-related issues, the maintenence men/people at UH were way more concerned with the outer appearance of the campus as opposed to things that actually need work done, like toilets that had been out of order since September and nobody got around to it.  I get that it's a beautiful campus and all,  but come on people, get your priorities together.  Don't spend your time raking a few stray leaves on the ground.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Honolulu Marathon Part 2

First let me tell you a little about the run.  The marathon started in the middle of town on Ala Moana boulevard (which you don't even know where that is but it's fine).  We ran through town for the first seven or so miles was through downtown.  The eighth and ninth miles took us around Diamond Head Crater (the only hilly part, thank the Lord).  Then we were basically on a long stretch of road that ended with a loop at mile 17 and then we made our way back the same long stretch, back down Diamond Head, and finished at Kapiolani Park (but you don't know where that is either).

If you really want to know the exact route, click here.

Right after the gun went off, a display of fireworks was set off.  Mind you this marathon started at five in the morning to avoid the heat of the day.  Those fireworks were spectacular and it just set the entire mood for the whole run.  It was as if I had never seen fireworks go off before in my life, and got me so excited for the run!

The fireworks went off for about the first half mile.  During that time, people were taking pictures of them with their phones (I was surprised people even ran with that kind of stuff. I was so naked compared to these people carrying phones, credit cards, water bottles, and Gu).

Kelsey took off like a bullet and started weaving in and out of people like it was her job.  I stayed back to try to gauge my pace.  It was really hard trying to figure out how fast I should go with a sea of people around me.  I was constantly comparing my pace with others, judging them to determine if I should run faster than them.  Old, fat people?  Go faster.  Anyone skinny or moderately in shape?  Try to lag a little bit.  Intense marathon runners?  Well those people weren't even in sight so I didn't have a problem with them.

It was strange how even before we came up to the first mile marker, people were already walking.  You people paid $150 to do this marathon, why not break a sweat?  No?  Okay, I'll pass by you and have an actual victory at the finish line.

I remember distinctly passing the one kilometer marker.  I was curious for a bit, then realized the people around me were all Japanese and use the metric system.  Silly me and my American ways.  However, I did not know that I should have probably learned how many kilometers were in 26.2 miles, as I found that there were more signs that were in kilometers than miles.  By the time I was at 35 kilometers I was thinking Jesus Christ how much more do I need to run?!?! And then five minutes later I'd pass the mileage sign, and it would make me very sad that I still had a lot farther to run than I thought.

Those first 8 or 9 miles were absolutely spectacular.  The atmosphere was incredible, it was great that there were some people already lined up along the route at 5am to cheer us on.  When I came upon the first water station, I felt like the coolest person ever (when I'm really such a dork).  It was tough trying to drink water while running and not choking on it, but I made it work.  Hey, I said I was running this entire marathon, there was no time for stopping for water breaks.  Shenanigans.  I felt the coolest when I got to crunch up my cup and throw it to the side of the street.  The only time I've ever not felt bad for littering, 'cuz I knew it was going to get picked up.

We passed Kapiolani Park (where we were going to finish) at mile 6, and I couldn't help but think we will meet again.  I will be back.  I really truly am such a goof.

It was a little annoying those first miles when a lot of people were passing me, yet I wasn't really passing anyone at all.  Of course, I hadn't trained much at all for this thing, and people have probably been running for six months preparing, but the competitive person inside me was just pissed off that I wasn't passing anyone, and all these other people were just passing the shit out of me.

Right around mile 9, I ran into Kelsey, which was so bizarre, because running in a huge mess of people I thought I'd never see her again.  We both freaked out and screamed out of pure surprise and excitement to see each other.  We may have also shouted out a few Chee-Hoo's as well.  But our paces were too off to stay and chat much, so I continued on.

The next few miles were a little difficult.  I just kept thinking how I wasn't even halfway done yet which made me a little distraught.  But actually running the  distance wasn't bad.  I had run 13 miles multiple times (well like twice) so physically I was perfectly fine, it was just mentally challenging.  But when I commit to a challenge that's important to me, I will stick to it or die trying.  So I kept on trekking.


A mile or two before I got up to the halfway point, a pack of 4 Kenyans were already passing me going the opposite direction.  There was nobody even remotely close behind them.  That was both amazing but also pissed me off because I knew that they were almost done, as were people that were eventually going to be passing by going the other way.  I couldn't wait to finish the loop and start heading back.

After completing the 13.1 miles, I felt a lot better.  Nothing really exciting happened between then and mile 17 when I started the return trip, besides a large poo building up.  It had been there since about mile 5 or so, and I was determined to finish this race without stopping, even to poo.  I went almost fifteen miles with a full colon, but right before mile 20, I had no choice but to stop or it would've ended badly with me having to throw my pants out.

You have no idea how fast you're able to run when you're playing beat the clock.  I literally picked up my pace so much I was passing people left and right.  By the time I saw the porta-potties I was in a full-out sprint like it was the finish line.  It was a successful poo, didn't take too much time waiting in line, and I got right back in my groove.  I'm actually surprised I was able to get back to my pace easily since I had heard that once you stop it's hard to start back up again.  But I was on a mission.

I had bought a Gu pack, which is an energy gel of sorts that you eat when you do really long, physically demanding, dumb stupid things like run a marathon.  It seemed like a good idea to eat it at mile 20, since that's when everyone says you hit the "wall" where you want to stop and die.  The Gu actually helped, and I felt a lot more energetic.  But that lasted about 2 miles, all the while my stomach trying to argue with me about taking it.  The flavor - mint chocolate.  It was either that, citrus, or "original" flavor (and I didn't want to find out what original gel Gu tasted like).

Those last 4.2 miles dragged on forever.  Seriously.  I felt like I had been running for like 15 minutes and had to have gone at least a mile, but the signs never appeared.  I'm convinced those last miles were actually at least 10 miles, that's how much it sucked.  Also, those damn kilometer signs didn't help when I was trying to  gauge how much further I needed to go.

Once I got back to Diamond head, the mileage signs were starting to have clocks on them telling us how much time had passed by.  I thought maybe I could make it under 4 hours and 30 minutes.  The original time I had in mind before training was 4 hours, because I heard it was really impressive, and hey, I wanted to be impressive.  But given the time I had to train and the amount I actually trained, there was no way in hell that was happening.  Kelsey said she'd be excited if she was under 5 hours, but I thought that was too easy of a feat, so I set my bar at 4:30.

I knew I was cutting it close to my time, so I knew I had to pick up my pace.  If I had finished with a time of 4:31 or even 4:30:01 I would have been incredibly mad at myself.  I also would have blamed the poo stop for my finishing time, which would not have gone over well with me at all.  So down the Diamond Head hill I picked it up my pace hardcore, without realizing I still had a mile and a half to go.  But hell, that was the home stretch for this long-ass run, so I thought I could handle it.  Plus it was a hill, so I took advantage of it and flew by people towards the finish line.

Finally, I had come into sight of the huge Finish banner and final clock.  It was a long straight stretch, absolutely lined with people cheering and an announcer and all kinds of exciting stuff.  But I was too tired from sprinting down the hill (and the accumulation of just running 26 miles in general) to really look around and enjoy it.  I was excited, of course, but I was just more determined to finish this race in my time goal.  When I thought I could see the time clock, I thought it read 4:31:something and I was absolutely pissed.  I even shouted out "Dammit!".  But I never stopped running.  When I got closer, I saw it was actually 4:28:something, which made me so so so so happy I cannot even explain.

I cruised into the finish line with my hands in the air and a huge smile on my face.  I had just run 26.2 miles without walking, and that was a huge accomplishment itself.

Final time - 4:27:08

My time started when my Championchip crossed the starting line, so I was actually under what I thought it was.  I was officially under 4:30, and I was absolutely ecstatic.  I wanted to go hug a random stranger.

Some of our friends were at the finish line waiting for us, and I was really happy to see them!  I was really glad that they wanted to come out and see us finish this marathon.  It was great.

I thought about sitting down to stretch, but as I began to move to sit, my body said "NO!" and that was that.  I figured I'd be less sore if I stayed up and moving around anyway.  So I got some food at the finisher's table and went to watch Kelsey finish.

Kels came in right after 5:15, so she didn't reach her secondary goal of time, but she ran the whole thing, which was her first and most important goal, and I was so proud of her!!  It was great to have somebody to go through something like this with, and she helped me so much.

We even got lei's when we finished!


We thanked everyone for coming out to watch us, and then went to go get our free massages that were absolutely deserved.

Throughout this whole run, I saw some really crazy and funny things.  People were wearing costumes.  On separate occasions, I saw old Japanese men, one in a Minnie-Mouse costume, and one dressed as Wonder Woman.  People also wore wigs and santa hats and other crazy outfits.  I even saw a man carrying a full-sized American flag on a pole.  Like WTF?!  I also saw some pretty funny signs, like "You're going the wrong way" and "Because 26.3 miles would be crazy".  There were also some really encouraging signs that were adorable.  But it was the funny people and funny signs that made this marathon a lot more enjoyable.

People asked me if I was going to come back next year for the run.  And that answer would be a no.  Because flying to Hawaii just to run a marathon is ridiculously expensive, plus this time of the year is when finals are, and I don't have time to be horsing around running marathons.  But if I'm going to run another marathon ever, I'm not sure about that answer.  It would be great to run a marathon under 4 hours, but I was so proud of this accomplishment, I may just be retired for good.  I don't really understand how running marathons can become addictive like people say they can.

But overall, running this marathon was one of the best  decisions I've ever made.  It's just such a big accomplishment for me, something I can be proud of for the rest of my life, and that is just an absolutely incredible feeling.

And then I got a Happy Meal from McDonald's to top it all off.

Aloha!

Honolulu Marathon Part 1

Soooo... remember that time when I decided to run a marathon and had less than 2 months to train for it?

I do.

What a sick joke.

Here's a summary of my training schedule:

Monday, October 17 - Day 1- ran 3 miles without stopping.  That was such an accomplishment.  (No but seriously.)

Between then and Thanksgiving - ran 3 miles several more times, worked up to 4.5 and 6.5.  Ran one 10-miler.  Ran one 16-miler.  Thanksgiving day - ran almost 20.

And that was the day I decided I hated running.

Between Thanksgiving (November 24) and December 4, I did not run one time.  According to all the official guidelines (that I had found online....okay they were blogs and small articles), we were supposed to peak at our maximum distance 2 weeks before the big day.  We were also not supposed to run a full 26.2 or farther.  Well we did one thing correctly.

The next week we probably should have taken it back down to 15 or something.  That weekend mysteriously came and went... and no running was done.

I mean I guess I worked out in between.  But I don't think cardio on the eliptical for a half hour counts as training for a marathon.

The week before the race I decided to get my shit together because it hit me that this was actually happening.  I ran 5 miles on Monday, 6.2 on Wednesday, and.... well that was it.

Damn I trained real well for this thing.

I couldn't help but think the Sunday before the marathon that in one week from today, it will all be over.

That was a consistent thought the weekend before the run.  Only 48 hours before I start... in 36 hours I'll be done... 24 hours until I'll be dead at the finish line...

Kelsey and I stuffed our faces with carbs the Saturday before the run.  We went to the convention center to get our packets with our bibs and running chips (cleverly named ChampionChips) that would keep track of our time.

What I was not expecting was the intense number of Asians that were at this convention and were going to be running this marathon.  They had their own section in the convention and everything!  Even the papers we got were English on one side and Japanese on the other.

Saturday night I strategically set my alarm for two in the morning so I could wake up, get a solid breakfast in, wake poor Tawni up to french braid my hair that tended to get nappy in long runs, take a nervous poo, and stretch for a solid hour, all while freaking out a little in my mind.

I tried to trick myself into thinking the freaking out was just excitement.  I think it worked.  Oh, mind games.

Kelsey's friend was kind enough to give us a ride at 4 AM, as he had already promised his other friend that he would take him to the starting line.  That saved us a cab ride.

We got there just in time to get to the clusterf*** of people trying to be corraled like farm animals (I may have "moo'd" once or twice).  It was a giant sea of people, and it was never ending.  Twenty-something thousand people were standing there waiting for the race to begin.

I won't lie.  Seeing all the people there actually helped to get me pretty excited - the first time I felt excited about this whole experience.  Better late than never.

We had ten minutes before the marathon started at 5, so I tried to take another nervous poo, to no avail.

We worked our way back to the starting point for people who were looking to finish in around 3 hours because if we had started in the front with the Kenyans we surely would have been absolutely trampled.  And nobody wants that when they're trying to run 26.2 miles.  Of course we weren't aiming to finish within 3 hours but we were advised to start there because otherwise we would have been caught in the back with all the slowpokes.

I turned on my ipod, started to jam out, and waited for the gun to go off.

This post is long and has taken me forever to write, so I'll leave you with this now and start writing the second part.

Oh, and here's a picture!
Ready to run!
Also, attractive.


Aloha!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Pipemasters

Friday morning, the roomies and I had an exit survey for our ASH program that was mandatory.  Kelsey and I had literally just gotten home from Stairway to Heaven at 9, and we had to get ready real quick to be at the meeting by 10.
Afterwards, we trekked to the north shore for Pipemasters, the biggest surf competition on the island.  The bus was packed, so we had to stand for the 2-hour journey.  Needless to say, Kelsey and I were doing our bodies a real favor before this marathon.

The waves on the north shore were GIGANTIC.  I had never seen waves like that in my entire life.  Well I guess that's not really saying much.  Before coming to Hawaii, I didn't get out to the beach that much, being in the middle of the mainland and all.

But you know how you've probably seen surfers in movies or on TV or somewhere and the waves look too big to be real?  I assure you, my friends, these waves are very much real, and so very large and in charge.  I'd be scared shitless to go surfing on one of those things!

The beach was packed with spectators, grandstands, and announcers.  We found Tawni right next to the Redbull house and that's where we parked our rears for the rest of the day.

It was while listening to the announcer that I realized I don't know squat about surfing.  But here's what I gathered throughout the day:

There are like 2 or maybe 3 surfers out at a time.  They surf in heats of 30 minute timespans.  One surfer will get priority over the other (I don't know how they figure this out) but that just means that if a good wave comes the one with priority has first dibs.  If no good waves come within the first 10 minutes of the heat and neither surfer catches a wave, they restart the heat.

They get scored out of 10 points per wave.  The judges take the top two scores of each surfer and combine them for their total score.

Don't even ask how the judges give the scores.  Maybe it's whoever catches the prettiest wave?  Who knows.

All I know is that it's cool as shit to watch.

We stayed until it was over, but by that time we were all sleep deprived and grumpier than the dwarf.  The bus ride home was not fun at all because there were annoying high schoolers on it being louder than my mother was when coaching first base telling me to take two.  They were being so inconsiderate.  They got on the bus sometime after we had gotten on and I had fallen asleep.  They literally stood right next to me and either didn't realize or didn't care that I was asleep.

So rude.  But of course I didn't say anything to them.  Of course I'm too nice.  Someone find my backbone for me because I sure as hell can't find it myself.

But the day still ended up being pretty awesome.

PIKCHAAAAS:
Yum.


Baby wave compared to the other waves that day


The only surfer I had really heard of: Kelly Slater
Aloha!!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to heaven is almost like a rite of passage in Oahu, it just has to be done.  Never mind the fact that it's illegal, dangerous, and oh did I mention?  It's illegal.  Also... it's dangerous.

Who did it anyway?  This kid right here!

I'm not entirely sure why it's illegal.  Something about it being dangerous and nobody wanted to be liable for deaths.  Anyway, there's a guard there pretty much around the clock, so the only time to go is like 2 in the morning (which ironically contributes to the dangerous-ness).

Kelsey and I had the bright idea of going the night after our last day of classes, so it was technically Friday morning when we did this.  Mind you this is a taxing hike, and we had a marathon to run in two days.

Eh, what the hell.  We're 20 years old.  We're practically invincible.

Game on.

Don't I sound so confident?  In actuality I was borderline shitting my pants.  First of all, I'm the type of person who absolutely hates getting in trouble.  I'm a good girl, I follow rules.  I cried in elementary school when teachers accused me of any wrong-doing.  Okay fine, middle school.  Point is, I'm not the kind of gal who partakes in illegal activities on the regular.  I was stressin'.

Second of all, this hike is legitimately dangerous.  Going into this hike, those were the only two things I knew.  But hell.  It's Hawaii.  Gotta get out there and explore.  Plus, it's not living unless you're close to dying, right? ...or something like that.

I guess the original purpose of the trail was for the military.  Something about radio tower/signal/something that I wasn't actually interested in enough to learn about.

I brought nothing with me except a poncho (while everyone else had legitimate rain gear, making me look like a complete idiot) and dressed in layers.  I was told it was going to be cold.  So I wore my capri yoga pants, a T shirt and long sleeve shirt over that.

We left the dorm at around 12:30.  There was a group of 6 of us, including Kelsey and myself.  None of us had ever attempted this before, and that's always a good feeling when you're about to do something like this...  Anyway. One of our friends, Drake thankfully had his jeep wrangler (in LOVE) and drove us all.

Before the stairway, we first had to get to its origin, which included walking around and getting lost in the bamboo forest for a while and attempting to find openings in fences that were there to keep us out.  But eventually we found the guard station, a good sign  that we were at the forbidden trail.  Nobody was there.  Green light.

By the time we started the actual hike, I wanna say it was around 2 in the morning.  What I was not aware of was that Stairway to Heaven is literally a staircase.  With steps and railings wide enough for one person at a time.  Well hell, I didn't think it was going to be as dangerous and everyone made it out to be.

Wrong.

It's the middle of the night, so we only had moonlight guiding us.  Also, I was in the back of the pack when we started going up the stairs.  It started out fine... until it got steep as shit.  And when I say that, picture the stairs turning into a LADDER because that's literally what happened.

Oh, did I mention we were going up the side of a goddamn MOUNTAIN?

Sorry for all the caps lock.  And also the profanity.

Wait... my entire font is in caps lock.  You can't tell when I use caps lock.  Wow I just realized that.  What a fail.  This is my 40-something-th post and I just realize this now.  Piss.

But seriously 5 minutes into the climb I got scared shitless and realized my life was seriously in danger.  And I'm not even exaggerating.  One wrong movement and I could have tumbled down to my death.  That sounds neither graceful nor pleasant.  I had to carefully position my feet and hands on the steps and railing, respectively.

(By the way, I just learned how to use the word "respectively" in context.  When I was younger, I thought it meant like actual respect.  Like hey, man, I respect you.  It wasn't until calculus that I learned about the whole with respect to x and y thing, and I just learned recently how to use it in writing.  I'm an intelligent being.)

Getting back on track here, I was freaking out to Kelsey, feeling like the biggest pansy in the entire world about climbing this ladder and falling backwards and dying.  So when we got to a relatively safe point, we switched positions so she was last.  I don't know why it made me feel safer.  All switching positions did was make it so that if I fell she was coming down with me.  I don't know how she can deal with me sometimes.

I wasn't kidding when I said I knew nothing about this hike.  After about a half hour of this stair master from hell, we reached a platform.  I was all excited, thinking we were at the top.  But of course I was wrong.  That was only platform one out of about 4.

Woof.

We stopped for a bit and rested.  I was hot as shit and cursing myself for bringing this long sleeved shirt with me.  After being at a higher altitude not moving for a few minutes, though, it became a little breezy, and so we continued to hike.

Taking a short break now to present images of this hike to spare you from googling this yourselves, and to also present the dangerous-ness of this friggen hike.


That probably wasn't even the top, either.  Seriously.

I don't know these people.

Ohhhh, why they call it stairway to HEAVEN.  You hike up into the clouds.  Got it.



We were on a ledge the entire time.  To either side of us was a steep, scary hill.  Well, you can see that.

And we were doing this in the dead of night.  Like wtf, right??

What nobody had thought about was the fact that we were about to ascend into the clouds, where there was plenty of moisture, making the steps and handrails wet and, consequently, more dangerous.  Eventually we made it to a second platform and a little bunker, a third, and fourth platform that came in quick succession.

But I cannot emphasize enough how scary this hike was.  I was not having fun at all.  I'm not particularly afraid of heights, but this was potentially life-threatening, so my hands never came off that handrail.

The temperature dropped the higher we climbed.  At one point, I actually had to put my long sleeved shirt on.  Then between the last platform and the top, it started to rain a cold, cold rain.  Everyone busted out their rain jackets (and poncho...) and powered through to the top.

By the time we got to the top, we were all soaked in sweat/rain, were cold, and tired from just climbing 3,922 stairs and ascending 2,120 feet.  And it was around 3:30 in the morning.

Thank the good baby lord Jesus that there was a building-type structure at the top, because we had a solid 3 hours of waiting at the top for the sunrise and climb back down.  Anything to protect us from the wind and rain I was praising like a god.

But even the building did not suffice completely.  Holy moses was it miserable!  For family reading this, it was colder than the Parade of Lights without any hot chocolate.  For any softball players, it was colder than the first outdoor game in mid-March.  For anyone else reading this, well it was just damn cold.  Plus the fact that I was sleep deprived and wet as a dog from being in a freaking cloud did not help with my mood.

Kelsey offered me her rain jacket, and I didn't hesitate at all to take it.  I don't know how the others weren't as completely miserable.  I'm from Illinois!  I should be used to this frigid weather.

Obviously I had not prepared myself both mentally and in terms of clothing for this hike.

THIS was how I was going to die.  At the top of the stairway in the building, not from falling over the side of the stupid mountain.

I must have been a complete bitch those entire three hours.  I don't want to drag on anymore about the waiting at the top, because it was just too miserable, and thinking back upon it makes me want to cry.

After the sun rose (finally!) and it was time to start the climb back down, I was more than ready.  Even that first drop from the top to the closest platform had a dramatic change in the weather, and also my mood.

Before this hike, I was fairly suspicious that I had seasonal affective disorder.  After this hike, I'm pretty sure I actually have it.  Once the sun came out and I warmed up, my mood took a complete 180.  I felt a natural high and was so excited about life, jumping around and laughing and smiling and having the best time ever.

I may have been a little delusional from sleep deprivation as well.

What made the hike completely worth it was the way back down, being able to see the gorgeous views from the daylight.  I wish I had brought my camera, but I was afraid it was going to get damaged.

The hike down the stairway was 10x less scary than the hike up, which may have also contributed to my happy mood.  Knowing you're not in danger of kicking the bucket can turn you into a much more pleasant person.

The fantastic scenery in combination with the realization of what I had just done made hiking Stairway to Heaven one of the best and coolest things I had ever done on the island.

I remember on the trip up the stairs how badly I wanted a helicopter to be waiting at the top to take us home so I wouldn't have to go back down.  I'm so glad that wasn't part of the deal.  The hike down seriously made the entire experience worth every second.

When the people I went with upload pictures from the hike, I'll post them here.

Until then, this is Kat reporting from the warmth and comfort of her bedroom, not the top of some God-forsaken mountaintop.

Aloha!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

First Weekend in December... or Something

So this is all out of order now.  I'm not really sure where to start on this one.  With finals coming up and me getting excited about going home, these past few days have been a whirlwind, to say the least.

And I'm sure the madness will just keep increasing.

So.... the other weekend.  Not sure which one so don't even ask.  You don't even care which day was which so everybody wins.  Maybe it was last weekend?

Anyway.  So Friday I got done with class at 10, went to the beach and played sand volleyball with some colorful characters ALL AFTERNOON.  It was heavenly.  I really enjoyed myself, and realized how much I missed volleyball and team sports in general.  Cannot wait to get back to Illinois and start back up with club softball again!

After volleyball, my friend Erin and I decided to go on a "booze cruise", which is exactly what it sounds like: all you can drink mai tais on a sunset catamaran for an hour.  It was really interesting.  A whole mess of vacationers were on the boat too, and it made for an eventful hour.  Plus, watching the sunset over the ocean whilst in the ocean was a crazy cool view.  I'm glad I'm not blind.  But I wish I had brought my camera with me.

But here's a picture I stole from Facebook of Erin and I:

The sunset hadn't really kicked in at that point, but it's the best I got.

I pride myself on great grammar.

Saturday the roommates and I went to the football game since it was the last one of the season, and it was senior day, although the latter fact had nothing to do with why we went.  Because we don't know any seniors.  Or anyone on the football team for that matter...

That was about it for Saturday.  Damn my weekends got progressively much more interesting as this semester droned on...

Sunday I slept.  All.  Day.  Long.  I was supposed to be productive and write papers and study and all that jazz.  Didn't happen.  Whoops.

That's really all I have to say about this weekend.  I feel like I'm missing a weekend somewhere, but let's be honest, I probably didn't do anything spectacular.

Marathon training update:  Hadn't run from Thanksgiving until This past Monday.  I'm a champ.  I have decided I hate running, or training when I'm not in the mood.  So we'll see how this marathon goes.  It's in 3 effing days.

Plus!  Pipemasters is happening right now!  Which is the big surf competition that all the important people go to!  Tawni is going up to the north shore tonight, but I have a mandatory meeting in the morning for my ASH program =/  Not okay.  I might go up to the north shore afterwards and stay all day, but I'm supposed to be getting a good night's sleep Friday night for the marathon on Sunday.

I really want to start packing.

Also, nothing get's me more excited than Christmas music and thinking about packing to go home.

Sorry this was such a lame post.  I'm just spewing out facts with no commentary.

It smells like cookies right now.  Which is a good change from the constant smell of MARIJUANA.  Seriously.  It's not okay.  Sorry if that frightened you, family (mainly those who have authority over me).  But rest assured that I have not partaken (partook??? wtf is the word?!!!) in any of these shenanigans.

I guess this is post about me having ADD and typing whatever comes to mind.

Okay I'm done.

Aloha!

So This is what I've Been Doing for the Past Week...




GHR Deficiency in Connection with Laron Syndrome



ABSTRACT



Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) are essential components in the growth and development of an individual.  Mutations in the GHR/BP gene cause a multitude of issues, including high levels of GH in serum and low levels of IGF-I in serum.  These particular characteristics are unique to Laron syndrome, an autosomal hereditary recessive disorder.  Other effects of this disease include retarded growth (dwarfism), lack of growth hormone binding protein (GHBP), and delayed puberty.  A mammalian model for the disease other than humans was needed in order to advance in research, knowledge, and understanding of Laron syndrome because of ethical issues surrounding the use of humans as test subjects.  Mice were utilized as potential candidates for research.  The knockout mice were engineered to show the disrupted GHR/BP gene through use of a vector and homologous combination.  The effects of the resulting mice that were homozygous and heterozygous for the mutation (GHR/BP-/- and GHR/BP +/-, respectively) were analyzed.  The results of the knockout Laron mice (homozygous for the mutation) were compatible with characteristics shown by patients with Laron syndrome.  Conclusions about insignificant differences between GHR/BP+/- mice and wild-type mice (GHR/BP+/+) were drawn, suggesting that only one functional GHR/BP allele is necessary for almost complete function of the gene.  By studying Laron syndrome through knockout mice, potential applications including treatment of patients with the disease through biosynthetic IGF-I administration is a strong possibility.  The success of the Laron knockout mouse promote further study and will help to solve many unresolved questions about the GHR/BP gene mutation and Laron syndrome in humans.



INTRODUCTION



Background of Growth Hormone

Growth hormone (GH) is produced and secreted in the anterior of the pituitary gland, from where it then goes on to perform a multitude of biological functions including the promotion of growth.  GH affects many types of tissues; its main role is to stimulate bone and soft tissue growth.  Other responsibilities of GH include binding to growth hormone receptor (GHR) and internalization of the GH/GHR complex.  This hormone/receptor complex is formed by a single molecule of GH that binds to two molecules of GHR.  After the complex is activated, it signals stimulation of other genes, one of them being insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I).  IGF-I is a hormone and ligand that is mostly produced and secreted by the liver, but other target tissues may produce it as well.  Its function is to mediate some of the indirect effects GH has on an organism’s growth and development.  The function of IGF-I is continuous throughout an organism’s development.  Growth hormone binding protein (GHBP) is a truncated or shortened form of GHR as it does not possess the transmembrane and intracellular regions.  Instead, it corresponds to the extracellular domain of the GHR.  The function of GHBP is not clear, but it seems to monitor the amount of growth hormone that circulates in the serum.  GHBP is not produced the same way for all animal species.  In mice and rats, alternative splicing of GHR precursor messenger RNA replaces the transmembrane and intracellular regions with a short hydrophilic tail (Coschigano, 2608).  In humans, however, GHBP is made by proteolysis (the hydrolytic breakdown of proteins) of the GHR as opposed to alternative splicing.  Both GHR and GHBP are encoded by a single GHR/BP gene, and are expressed in nearly all tissues of the body.  The GHR/BP gene is encoded by 10 exons, with exon 4 coding for the GH binding domain.  This is true for both humans and mice.  Almost all of the functions of GH are accomplished due to its ability to interact with its receptor.  The binding of GH to GHR leads to receptor dimerization (the chemical union of two identical molecules) and activation of a signal pathway that promotes growth.



Laron Syndrome

In 1966, the first account of growth hormone resistance was described.  Laron syndrome, also known as growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (GHIS), is caused by mutations of the GHR/BP gene for GHR.  This variation of GHR leads to an insensitivity of growth hormone.  There have been about 30 different types of inactivating mutations reported, including deletions, nonsense, missense, frameshift and splice, that affect the expression or function of both the GHR and GHBP.  Mutations can reduce or inhibit dimerization of GHR once GH is bound.  The mutation of the GHR/BP gene causes the GHR to become ineffective.  Because of this, GH and GHR cannot communicate by signal transmission; therefore growth hormone can’t bind to its receptor.  It has been found that most people diagnosed with Laron syndrome are from the Mediterranean or Middle Eastern regions, although some spontaneous mutations have been reported in other ethnic groups as well.  Laron syndrome is a hereditary autosomal recessive disorder that is characterized by impaired growth even though levels of GH in blood serum remain normal or are even increased.  This disorder is distinguished by short stature, or dwarfism, as well as facial dysmorphism, truncal obesity, delayed puberty, and recurrent hypoglycemia (Zhou, 13215).  Those affected with Laron syndrome also show very high levels of GH in blood serum, very low levels of IGF-I in serum, and absent, low, or dysfunctional GHBP in serum.  The high levels of GH are due to the fact that it cannot bind to GHR, so it simple continues to circulate in the serum.  The reason IGF-I levels are low is because the active complex between GH and GHR are not formed, so there is no signal for IGF-I to be synthesized.  Many features about the GHR mutation and Laron syndrome are unknown due to ethical issues surrounding the study of patients who have the disease.  Therefore, an appropriate animal model of the disease would aid tremendously in determining all of the effects GHR and its mutation has on an individual.



MATERIALS AND METHODS



Use of Knockout Mice

To study Laron syndrome and the effects of the disorder, a mammal species would be the best candidate to use.  However, there have been no reported mammals other than humans with a mutated growth hormone receptor.  The only known animal that has been discovered exhibiting this mutation is the dwarf chicken, and is not an appropriate contender for the studies on Laron syndrome in humans as birds are very different from mammals in terms of anatomy and physiology.  In addition to ethical issues, using human models for studying this disorder is impractical for identifying long-term effects because of the slow growth phase and long lifespan of people.  A suitable model for Laron syndrome is the mouse with the correct knockout gene to mimic the disease in humans.



Creating the Mouse

One method of generating an animal that displayed the characteristics of Laron syndrome is to make the mouse resistant to growth hormone by expressing a GH antagonist gene.  Another approach is to disrupt the mouse GHR/BP gene, which is essentially the defect that causes the disease in humans.  In one study conducted by Zhou, Xu, and Maheshwari, the knockout mouse (Laron mouse) was created by disrupting the fourth exon and part of the fourth intron of the GHR/BP gene.  This was done because exon 4 is where the binding domain for GH is, and also this is the location where mutations have been discovered in patients with Laron syndrome.  Next, an EcoRI fragment was isolated from a mouse genomic library that included exon 4 of the mouse GHR/BP (mGHR/BP) gene.  Then a targeting vector which held a neomycin resistance (neo) gene was created to replace/delete exon 4 and part of the fourth intron of the gene.  Next, mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were transfected with, or introduced to the newly created mGHR/BP targeting vector by electroporation.  The knockout gene was integrated into the mouse genome by homologous recombination.  Genomic DNA from the ES cells was then digested by BamHI, and the genotypes were identified by Southern blot analysis.  The ES cells that were heterozygous for the disrupted GHR/BP gene (GHR/BP +/-) were then injected into blastocysts which were then transplanted into pseudopregnant mice.  The embryos developed and the resulting mice were able to pass on the disrupted GHR/BP gene.  Homozygous GHR/BP-disrupted (GHR/BP -/-) were the result of inbreeding of the F1 GHR/BP +/- mice.  Southern blot analysis confirmed the results that mating of the F1 heterozygotes resulted in progeny that were GHR/BP+/+, GHR/BP+/-, and GHR/BP-/-.



RESULTS



Effect on Size

The physical effects of GHR/BP mutation are not directly evident, nor can they be measured and significantly interpreted between the GHR/BP+/+, GHR/BP+/-, or GHR/BP-/- after birth.  After around three to four weeks of age, however, the weight of the Laron mouse (homozygous for the GHR/BP mutation: GHR/BP-/-) was considerable lower than the +/+ and +/- mouse.  The +/- mice had an intermediate phenotype between those that were +/+ and -/- (Fig. 1).  In terms of gender, the weights of males and females in both +/+ and +/- mice were notably different, but the weights of -/- mice were statistically irrelevant when comparing males to females.  This indicates a loss of gender difference in the -/- mice (Coschigano, 2609).  Overall, -/- mice grew much slower and reached their maximum weight earlier than the +/+ and +/- mice.  The differences in weight between -/- and +/+, +/- mice increased progressively with age.



Effect on GH, IGF-I, GHBP

Other characteristics of Laron mice were observed as well.  The level of GH in blood serum in GHR/BP-/- mice were significantly higher than those of the GHR/BP+/+ and GHR/BP+/- genotype.  The levels of GH between +/+ and +/- mice were similar.  For these results, there were no major differences between the male and female mice of any type.  The high levels of GH in the blood was due to the mutated GHR and lack of signal transmission, which inhibited the binding of the GH/GHR complex and left growth hormone free to circulate in the serum.  In contrast to increased levels of GH, there were diminished levels of IGF-I by approximately 90% in -/- serum.  IGF-I levels in +/+ and +/- mice were, again, not statistically significant.  Again, no important distinctions were found between males and females.  The decrease of IGF-I levels was a result of the active complex between GH and GHR not forming.  Therefore, no signal to synthesize IGF-I was produced (Fig. 2).


 



Fig. 1 (above). Phenotypic size differences between

GHR/BP+/+, GHR/BP+/-, and GHR/BP-/- female mice at 5 months.  Left, wild type (+/+).  Middle, homozygous for the GHR/BP gene mutation (-/-).  Right, heterozygous for the GHR/BP gene mutation (+,-) (Coschigano, 2609). 



Fig. 2 (right).  Concentrations of GH (A) and IGF-I (B) levels in blood serum for the +/+, +/-, and -/- mice.  Average results from 3-4 mice of each genotype at ages 30 and 60 days (Zhou, 13219).





Along with low IGF-I levels reported, IGF binding protein (IGFBP) was also evaluated for the effect that the GHR/BP gene mutation has on it.  No differences were seen among IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, or IGFBP-4 levels in the -/- mice.  However, IGFBP-3, the principal carrier protein for IGF-I, was greatly reduced when compared to the level of IGFBP-3 in +/+ mice.  Levels of all IGFBPs in +/- mice were comparable to those of the +/+ genotype.  GHBP was not identified in the serum of -/- mice.  The wild type (+/+) displayed normal levels of GHBP, but those that were heterozygous for the GHR/BP disruption had slightly decreased levels.



Effect on Sexual Maturation

The average litter size of GHR/BP+/- mice (similar to +/+) vs. that of GHR/BP-/- mice was 6.57: 2.71, respectively.  Furthermore, the mortality rate of newborns from inbred -/- progeny was significantly higher than the +/+ or +/- genotypes.  This may be a result of several different factors, including maternal-fetal size mismatch and inadequate lactation of the mothers to feed their pups adequately.  In addition to litter size and mortality rate of pups, a delay in first pregnancy of -/- mice was observed, implying that sexual maturation is delayed in females (Zhou, 13217).



Effect on Longevity

The lifespans of each genotype (+/+, +/-, -/-) and gender were analyzed for the purpose of gauging longevity.  The hypothesis was that decreased body size increased lifespan of an individual.  The results showed an increase in lifespan of nearly 40% in those homozygous for the GHR/BP gene mutation.  The -/- mice live, on average, almost an entire year longer than the +/+ and +/- counterparts, who showed no significant difference in lifespan themselves.  More research needs to be done in this area with knockout mice to determine what exactly causes the increased lifespan of those with the disrupted GHR/BP gene, or those with smaller body size in general.



DISCUSSION



Functionality of GHR/BP Allele

The results of the knockout mice heterozygous for the GHR/BP gene mutation were noteworthy.  Most of the results, including serum IGF-I levels, serum GH levels, sexual maturation, and longevity showed insignificant differences between the +/+ and +/- genotypes.  These outcomes suggest that the loss of one allele for the GHR/BP gene (heterozygous individuals) has little to no effect on the gene functioning in a normal manner.  Loss of both alleles (-/- mice), however, results in drastic changes to the phenotype.  Therefore, the observation of the slight differences between +/+ and +/- mice implies that only one functional allele for the GHR/BP gene is needed to almost completely express its activity to the fullest potential.



Applications

Knowledge concerning Laron syndrome is an important field of study in determining how to treat patients with the disorder.  An example of such a treatment is administering biosynthetic IGF-I to children.  This method of treatment stimulates growth and appeared to regulate biochemical abnormalities.  One of the unanswered questions with this technique, however, is whether this treatment is safe and if it could reverse changes that were caused by long-term deficiency of IGF-I.  A possible safety issue is potential overdose on IGF-I treatment which can lead to complications such as hypoglycemia and edema (Laron, 4397).  These effects are supposedly reversible by lowering the dosage of IGF-I.  A useful means of controlling the amount of IGF-I treatment given to a patient is monitoring IGF-I levels in serum.  With further study, this treatment may become essential in treating patients with Laron syndrome.



Success with the Laron Mouse

The results from the knockout Laron mice discussed above are analogous to results found in humans with Laron syndrome.  The most prominent features that occur in both knockout Laron mice and people with the disease in physical and biochemical terms include high levels of GH, low levels of IGF-I, nonexistent amount of GHBP, growth retardation, and delayed sexual maturation. This signifies that mice are a good model to use to study the GHR/BP mutation and its effects.  It was imperative that a suitable substitute was found in order to make advancements on knowledge of this disorder and its consequences.  Humans were not viable candidates as there are limitations on the types of tests that can be performed due to ethical reasons.  It was also important that a mammal be used to mimic the effects of Laron syndrome in order to compare the results obtained to humans who possess the disease.  When considering the effect this gene disruption has on longevity and other long-term consequences, it is crucial to use an animal model with a rapid growth rate and short lifespan in order to avoid limitations based on time restraint.  Along with researching longevity, using a mouse model will allow for research on body composition and tissue characteristics on individuals that possess the GHR/BP gene mutation that wasn’t able to be performed before.  The success of the knockout Laron mouse will prove to be helpful in discovering answers to many unresolved questions about Laron syndrome.



REFERENCES



Coschigano, Karen T., David Clemmons, Linda L. Bellush, and John J. Kopchick. "Assessment of Growth Parameters and Life Span of GHR/BP Gene-Disrupted Mice." Endocrinology 141.7 (2000): 2608-         613. Print.



Laron, Zvi. "The Essential Role of IGF-I: Lessons from the Long-Term Study and Treatment of Children and Adults with Laron Syndrome." Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 84.12 (1999):       4397-404. Print.



Zhou, Yihua, Bixiong C. Xu, and Hiralal G. Maheshwari, et al. "A Mammalian Model for Laron Syndrome Produced by Targeted Disruption of the Mouse Growth Hormone Receptor/binding Protein Gene (the Laron Mouse)." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 94.24 (1997): 13215-3220. Print.



....Holy shit, right?  Most scientific thing I've ever written in my life.  And I'm damn proud of it too!

Now who wants to proofread this and edit it for me?  You know your life sucks when you write a paper you don't even want to read yourself.

Gotta love end of the semester projects, papers, and... finals!

"Deck the dorms with cups of coffee - fa-lalalala-lala-la-la
Tis the season to....eat toffee - fa-lalalala-lala-la-la
Don we now our baggy eyelids - fa-lala-lalala-la-la-la!!!!
Trolls, we are, us dumb college kids - fa-lalalalaaaa-lalaaaa-laaaa-laaaaaaaaaaa"

Okay but seriously it's two in the morning and I've never stayed up this late on a school night in college.  Ever.  But now I can't say that.

Between the paper writing and being awake at this ungodly hour, I think it's time for me to hit the sack.

I'll make another more productive post sometime soon.  In the meantime, if you need a leisurely read, knock your socks off and have a go with my genetics paper (if you haven't indulged already).

Aloha!!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Timeout

Let me get my thoughts together, my weekends/adventures in order, and my finals over!  Actually after Thursday I'll submit a possible nice long juicy post about events thus far.  Right now I have to get through a midterm and an impossible paper.  Yee-haw.

Thursday, come back Thursday.  I'll send you to the moon Thursday.


If you absolutely must, skip ahead to 3:08.  But I recommend watching the whole video, because it's just too damn funny.

Hope this keeps you entertained until... well you know when.

(Thursday).

Aloha!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Weekend Full of Athleticism!

Bear (bare?) with me here: my blogging timeline is out of order. I apologize.

Well that's enough of that.

The weekend before Thanksgiving... I think... is when the following events went down:
Koko head
16 mile run
Kayaking

Boom.

Friday Kelsey and I wanted to do Koko head crater, a really difficult and athletically demanding hike. We got off the bus about a mile or so from the start of the hike, but it wasn't that hard to follow the giant mountain to get to where we needed to go.

Once we got there, this was the view:


Yeah. See how it just kinda escalates in the middle and becomes instantly steep as shit?

But we weren't scerred (...or scared, if you're a regular person). We started the hike and it wasn't that bad. I wanted to make it up at a decent time, so I didn't stop to look around. Besides, the view was going to be the best at the top anyway.

The trail turned into a bridge at one point:


Frightening. I couldn't trust my muscles to keep me from falling through the cracks. How people literally run up and down this beast is beyond me. It's actually quite terrifying when you get to this point. Especially with those few loose boards. It's called maintence repair, Hawaii. Get on it.

I'll admit I was sweating like a man and my quads absolutely burned throughout this hike. But we made it to the top in 20 minutes, which was actually pretty good. Imagine being on an intense stair-climber for that long. It's not really enjoyable.

But the view at the top was completely worth it.


Kelsey and I then proceeded to goof off for 45 solid minutes taking pictures. Here's the evidence:





You really don't understand how long it took us to get a good picture of both of us in mid-air. Lots of setting the 10-second timer on the camera, running into place, and jumping too early, late, or having a ninja turtle neck and/or 80-year-old-lady-cottage-cheesy-looking legs.

Unattractive.

The hike back down was scarier than the hike up. One false step and you would tumble your ass all the way back down, and I'm sure that's not a happy ending. Kelsey could kind of trot down the stairs but I was Cautious Carol and took my sweet-ass time.

One thing's for sure - by the time I got down to the bottom my legs were shaking a bit. And then it was a solid mile walk back to the bus stop.

Solid.

And we were gonna go run 16 miles the next morning? Kthanksbye.

But Saturday morning we woke up at 5:45 to get ready to run. I was actually anxious and excited to get on this run, because my parents had just left the week before and I hadn't been training as much as I needed to, so this was a test of my endurance.

And I actually survived! It took us 3 hours, and when we got back to the apartment I put my feet in the bathtub with some ice-cold water and didn't move for a half hour. Then I attempted to stretch but instead cursed my body and feet for not cooperating. Thankfully my knee and hip flexor that had been causing me problems earlier were not hurting.

Score.

Then Kelsey and I took fat cat naps and had a giant brunch.

Sunday we had to get up early again because all 3 of us (Kelsey, Janelle, and I) were going kayaking with some RAs as one of their mandatory programs they needed to put on. We met at 8 in the morning and got the van loaded up and were on our way. There were about twelve of us altogether.

We loaded into our kayaks in one of the bays of the ocean. Kelsey and Janelle were in a 2-man kayak, and I was in a single because, let's be honest, I probably would have gotten pissed at and killed whoever was in the kayak with me for making one wrong turn.

Of course, curse my luck, right as I sit in and get situated in my kayak, a wave comes to tip me over, and I fell right into the water. Literally 5 seconds after getting in the kayak. And everyone saw.

Lovely.

But whatever, I got right back in and paddled away from the shore. Kayaking through the ocean was actually pretty cool. My only previous experience with kayaking was in the lake in Virginia where there was no water movement of any kind. And that was kinda lame. But kayaking in the ocean was a lot more interesting.

Spoiler alert: I didn't fall anymore after the initial spill. So don't get your hopes up for another accident.

We kayaked to the opening of and up through one of the small rivers that was close by. Towards the end of our journey inland, the river got incredibly small, sometimes barely even big enough to fit one kayak through. We had to go through tree branches and other shenanigans and pray we didn't get stuck and hold up the rest of the group.

At the end of our journey, there was a tiny rope swing. Kelsey and I got out to try it. The water, first off, was freezing!! Secondly, it was muddy as shit, and it had been a while since I had mud under my feet in between my toes, so I freaked out (only momentarily). The rope swing was definitely not as fun as we thought it would be, but it was entertaining to witness some of the guys attempt backflips and hopelessly fail.

That day was really fun. I wish I could have brought my camera and take pictures, but it was too risky of getting wet.

Oh, did I mention it absolutely poured on the kayak? Good thing I was already wet from my spill into the drink, so I was laughing while Kelsey and Janelle were crying over getting wet.

Joke's on them!

But really, it was a fun day. I'm realizing that these kinds of adventures are coming to an end, and it's getting so sad! Literally three weeks from right now I will be in the air on my way home.

It's so bittersweet.

I'm going to try to have as many more fun days and adventures while I'm still here. Because once I'm gone, I know I won't be back for a long, long while... if ever. And that's such a sad reality.

What am I doing blogging?? I should be out doing something fun!! Or sleeping - since it's 11:30 at night

Womp =/

Aloha!