Our Posse’s On Maui

GTL

We started off our day with GTL: Gym, Tanning by the pool, and Laundry. Who does laundry on vacation? People who run and go to the gym and don’t want to travel home with stank clothes. Thank you, Kahana Falls, for providing us with laundry soap and a washer and dryer. Our Airline home thanks you too!

The Gang’s All Here

Today my best friend Cam, her hubby, their 2 boys and her parents flew into Maui! In addition their extended family and our friends Robert and Jenn are here! We are now rolling 14 deep baby!

It’s Cam and Ricky’s 10 year wedding anniversary on Thursday and we all get to celebrate with them (in a really pretty beach ceremony)! 

For their first night here we ended up at Aloha Mixed Plate on Front Street for dinner

This place is on the water and has a great happy hour and really good food for CHEAP!

 

Doesn’t that lady look like she just got the most shocking news?!?! I wonder what they are talking about…

Anyway, it was so nice to be in a relaxing setting and getting to catch up! Plus sharing dinner with my best friend is priceless!

Yes those are our crazy husbands in the background. We expect nothing less out them!

I have a feeling that we are in for a very fun few days before we head home…

This Mama can cook for me anytime!

This morning we rolled out of bed and made the 45 minute drive to Paia Town. It’s a super laid back community on north shore in Maui. It reminds me of OB (in San Diego) but cleaner and with prettier beaches

Do my eyes spy a Lulu?

I used every ounce of willpower to avoid going in. Nevermind that it wasn’t open. No, that had nothing to do with it. After venturing around town we headed to the beach. We had lunch reservations at noon so we figured spending time on the beach was the best way to wait!

 

 

 

 

After picking out the perfect spot for our retirement home we headed to the restaurant to check in!

This little peace of heaven known as Mama’s Fish House is about 1.5 miles past Paia town. It has a tropical, soothing atmosphere and the food is crazy good!

The view from our table

We could have sat there all day and just stared. Seriously, it was breathtaking. After scouring the menu we decided on lunch, but not before this pupu

Just when we thought guacamole couldn’t get any better, Mama’s Fish House went and added Lobster to it. Best guac we have ever had. Ever. Still thinking about it 8 hours later…

Final Race Report: Maui Half Marathon

Warrior Challenge Done

I woke up at 3:45 am and felt pretty blah. I am not going to lie. For a good 15 minutes I contemplated not running today. My Achilles was really sore and pretty much told me she hated me. Whatever. After walking around and stretching I talked myself into it as long as I promised myself to take it easy. And that’s just what I did.

The Race

I made it to the start around 5 am. It was dark and warm, close to 70 degrees. There was a fun warm-up led by a local instructor and a fire dancer that put on a show! So cool. The race went off at 5:30 am sharp!

I know this is confusing because it says finish. I promise this was the start!

This race started in Kaanapali,  went out 6.55 miles through Lahaina then turned around and went back. Pretty flat out and back along the coast. AWESOME!

Hello runners!

It was so weird to be running it pitch black! The only light was the glow of Garmins and the moon shining off of the ocean. I hit the water station at mile 1, grabbed a cup and strolled through. When I say strolled I mean strolled. Pretty sure I was singing along with Katy Perry. The rest of my race was pretty similar. I stopped at every water station said a little prayer, BS’d with volunteers, ran with a really nice lady from Seattle, stopped at the turn around and sipped powerade and stared at the ocean. Could I have been any more ridiculously chill? My Achilles was hurting and my goal was to finish and get that warrior medal baby. I didn’t have a care in the world about that darn clock.

Around mile 10 I saw a girl that I met yesterday. This was her first half and she was run walking. I stopped to say hi to her and cheer her on. I hit up a porta pottie around mile 11 (must have been the powerade) and then cruised in. My watch lost GPS around mile 3 so I was clueless to what my time would be. I was certain it would be over 2 hours. I rounded the corner home and crossed the finish line in 1:51:xx. I’ll take it!

It was really cool to get recognized for the Warrior Challenge and receive a medal for it.  I think my combined time for all 3 races was around 2:20! I would for sure take this challenge again but would do the full instead of the half. Oh and if possible I would do it 100% healthy!

I would recommend that everyone get involved in this challenge at least once. Its small, laid back and really welcoming to runners of all ages and abilities. The volunteers were really nice and it just felt like a lot of small town road races in a beautiful place. I have never heard of a challenge like this on the mainland so it’s an excuse to vacay in Maui, right?!?

Now it’s time to get this darn Achilles back to 100%!

 

 

 

Race #3 Done

Maui Half Marathon: I am officially a warrior!

Sorry to leave you all hanging. Post race we headed out to eat and have been either poolside or at the beach the rest of the day! We have sushi plans at 5pm Hawaii time so I will post my final race results tonight!

Thanks for being patient with me 🙂

 

The Front Street Mile

Race #2: The Front Street Mile

We headed down to Front St around 2 pm to check things out and get ready for the one-miler. Front St. is right on the water and has a lot history, along with touristy type shops and restaurants. 

The View

 

Old Court House

We wandered around and checked things out before getting ready for the race. The kids races started at 3:00 with the littlest ones running first. There was more than one kid under the age of 7 laying down 7 minute miles. Fast little ones!

At 4:00 the grown people races started. It was pretty darn warm and humid so I was pretty happy it was only a mile! The masters went first, followed by Elite and Open Men 18-39 and last but not least the Elite Women and Open Women 18-39. This was an old school small road race with no chip times. Just a clock, a gun, a guy on a megaphone and a guy with a stop watch.

We got lined up and I somehow got stuck back a few rows. The road was narrow so I planned to do some major dodging and weaving when the gun went off

We ran down Front St for a half mile, hit a turn around and came back. After some weaving I caught a girl I was talking to at the start and paced with her. As soon as we hit the turn around and came back to the straight away I made my move to pass her and never looked back

Yes I realize my shorts are super out of control. In my defense it was freaking hot out. I have never run in just a sports bra and was pretty self conscious but once we got going I didn’t care anymore!

I crossed the finish line in 6:32. 2nd woman in the open age 18-39 (there were not that many women, but I’ll take it)! Pretty stoked on this time! 

Got my top 10 finishers medal and headed to dinner.

Overall my body feels good. I will be taking it nice and easy at the half tomorrow to give my achiles a break. 2 races down, 1 to go. Almost a MAUI WARRIOR!

 

Maui Tacos 5k

Race 1: The Maui Tacos 5k

The first race in the Maui Marathon and Half Marathon Warrior Challenge is the Maui Tacos 5k.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning, It's HOT!

Check out that dude behind us. He is not feeling it. Somone get that guy a tall glass of happy: stat. 

The race started at 8 am and it was very warm, windy and humid.  I could have sworn they said it was a “fast, flat course” so the 75 foot climb at about 1.5 miles in was unexpected. I must have had my head firmly planted up my hiney when they revealed the course. Ooops, my bad! My Achilles was not happy with me. Not at all.

I crossed mile 1 at 6:58 and was feeling good and thought I could speed it up after mile 2. Then the hill rolled up along with a headwind and I slllooowwwweeed down. I think mile 2 was 7:30ish and I was happy as a clam to see the water station. I took about 2 sips of water out of a ginormous cup and hit the turn around. I thought I could make up time on the down hill but it wasn’t happening. The roads were not closed so cars were driving right alongside of us on much of the course. That was a little scary but it did help push me at the end.

I hit mile 3 and tried to go faster but my legs weren’t jiving. The last .10 was at a 6:48 and I finished in 22:41(7:19 pace). This is my worst 5k finish yet such an awesome experience. The unofficial results: 14th woman, 51st overall, 4th in my age of oldies (30-34). To give you an idea of how tough it is to run in hot, humid, windy weather the  fastest man finished around 17:01 and fastest woman finished in 20:xx. That made me feel pretty awesome so although it was a PW it was a freaking AWESOME!

Check out some of the characters on the course

Male Minnie Mouse throwin’ up a shaka

This guy is doing the entire Warrior Challenge on stilts. 

Breakfast Time: CJ’s

After taking about 20 minutes to cool down and attempt to de-grossify myself we headed to CJ’s for breakfast.

This little hole in the wall boasts an awesome menu (at reasonable prices) and a great atmosphere. This place reminds me of somewhere we would eat at home!

I went with yogurt and fresh fruit (pineapple, mango and banana) and a macadamia nut coffee. It was so.good. Perfect post race breakfast

Isn’t that outlet on the wall weird? It’s sideways and there for no particular reason. Hm.

I am now icing the Achilles and getting ready for race #2: The Run Forest Run 1 miler. I bet there is going to be a few speed demons out there!

Aloha!

An Early Call

LD and I got up at 5:00 this morning and made our way to the SD airport to get the heck out of dodge

Lets Go

 

Hello Waaaay Too Tan Girl

We boarded the plane and somehow scored an empty seat in our row…score! I turned 2 seats into a cot and got a solid nap in. Before we knew it we were landing in Maui!

How awesome are those clouds? These pictures don’t do the beauty justice.

Once we landed we got our rental car, stopped at Costco and made our way to Kahana! We are staying at a time share and it is perfect for the two of us. We have a little kitchen, a decent closet, a big bathroom and are steps from the beach. For $250 for the week we are STOKED!

After we got settled we headed down to the Westin to pick up my race bib and 8 zillion t-shirts. When you run the Warrior Challenge they hook you up with a shirt for each race. Pretty cool! 

 

From the expo we headed to a late lunch at Leilani’s. The food was good (we were starving) and the service was great! We could get used to this…

 

Now we are headed to the pool. Chill time!

It’s Vacay Time! Maui it to me

Packing

I haven’t had to pack for a vacation in a long time. Little weekend overnighters here and there are simple. Having to actually think about more than one night is a bit overwhelming for me

Yes that is a disaster of a hot mess. Probably not a good idea to just throw it all in a pile. After way too much back and forth this seemed like a much better idea

Just call me contortion runner. Why did we pay for 2 plane tickets? Ok, I promise to grow up in the next 12 hours and I will behave for all 5 hours of the flight to Maui. Thank goodness for a direct flight. Who knows what kind of crazy I would get into if we had to go much longer than that.

All Of This Vacation Action

Lead to LD and I deciding that we needed fro-yo. Desert makes everything better, especially when it involves red velvet and cake batter and cookie dough

Did you spy the guitar shaped cutting board? Totally awesome, I know. And so is this

I promise I am not that bad of a photog. LD asked me to cut his face out. He just wanted you to focus on the rad shirt he has on (yes he copied me. If you recall, I have this shirt too thanks to my mom and dad!). Oh, and maybe his “delicious creation” from Golden Spoon.

Off To Maui In The Morning!! Vacay Here I Come!

 

Chick Chat

Time Is Flying

Dude. I still have a butt ton of stuff to do before I leave for Maui and time is a ticking. Seriously work, don’t you know I have more important things to do? Ya know, bathing suits to pack, flip flops to shove in my carry on. Yeah, important stuff. What’s that? Oh right…that little thing called a paycheck. That is important…

And since we are talking about important stuff, it’s time for us to have chick chat.

**DISCLAIMER TO THE DUDES THAT READ THIS BLOG. Now is your chance to bail off this page. There are just some things that dudes don’t want to know about. Just like there are things us ladies don’t want to know about you. If you choose to read on, consider yourself warned. Or you can skip to the bottom of the page where I’ll get back to talking about running since that is what I am supposed to be doing. Riiiggghhhttttt.

Chick Chat

As I am getting ready to go on my first real vacay in 5 years I want to be ready to chill on the beach with no worries. As a lady I am willing to endure, to a degree, some pain to take care of myself.  Happy wife = happy life. Feeling me ladies?

Today I had to take on female grooming. GOOD LORD IT HURT. And not the same kind of hurt as say a deep tissue massage. Waxing freaking hurts like a mofo. Butttttttt to me it’s worth it since I will be living in a bikini for more than a week. However, for those of you that are wimps about pain (like I am) you need to be prepared before you head in to your local esthetician. 

1. Know what you are having done and make sure the esthetician knows too. THIS IS SERIOUS. I once had a snafu where I didn’t confirm with my girl what services I was having done that lead to a HUGE SNAFU. It WAS NOT awesome but it did lead to a few good nicknames from my hubs and my best friend. At least I could give someone a good laugh.

2. See an esthetician that will just get the job done. This should not be a 45 minute ordeal that involves a lot of talking. Wax on wax off baby.

3. Plan your appointment a few days prior to when you actually need it done. Your skin is going to be red and it’s going to be sensitive. You don’t want to walk out of the salon and into the ocean- unless you enjoy that kind of thing. And that’s just weird.

4. There are people who are good at waxing and people who ARE NOT. Get opinions or a referral before you go. A jacked up hoo-ha is not fun to deal with.

After my ordeal back in July I hope this info will help another sister out. We’ll talk about that craziness some other time.

Now that I got that out of the way I need to spray a little bronzer on, paint my nails and I am ready for paradise. At least those things are seemless, right?

Running In Maui: The Warrior Challenge

As you all know I have 3 races this weekend. A 5k and 1 mile race on Saturday followed by the Half Marathon on Sunday. Sadly things are not going to go as I originally planned due to my nagging achilles. Darn thing is still sore when I wake up in the morning and feels tight when I run. At least it doesn’t hurt when I run, but regardless, its still bugging me. The last thing I want to due is rupture it. That would be bad. Really bad. So I will likely be in total slow-mo. At least I will come out of it with pretty pictures, sweet schwag and a rockin tan.

This weeks workouts:

Mon: 45 min moving stair monster, weights, core

Tues: Rest

Weds: 6.3 miles, core

Tomorrow will likely be a cross-train day and then Friday I am leaving on a jet plane!

What was your workout today?

Don’t Forget To Help Us Name Our Ragnar Team! Once all entries are in we will narrow it down to the top 10 and open up a vote. There is a sweet prize involved so what are you waiting for?!