Ainokea: On Stress in the Aloha State

17 May By

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I’m going to assume that you can guess.  That’s right.  According to a Gallup Poll, Hawaii is the least stressed state in the nation.  And while I know you’re thinking that it’s because folks who live here spend all day surfing in crystal clear waters at the base of Diamond Head, you’re wrong and I want to spend this post explaining why.

When you learn that Hawaii is the least stressed state in the nation, you have to understand some other statistics to have the full picture:  Hawaii is regularly listed among the most expensive places to live in the nation (Honolulu is third on this year’s list), it’s traffic is the second worst in the nation (although it might rank #1 if you do the calculation a little differently) and the number of people working more than one job to make ends meet is exceedingly high in this state.

The point?

We may have incredible beaches, incomparable mountain vistas and tropical beauty all around us, but most folks on these islands spend long hard hours at work or commuting.

And yet, the people of Hawaii really are incredible.  Laid back.  Content (or maybe sometimes resigned).  I say “the people of Hawaii” here because I don’t feel like I’ve been here long enough to include myself.  And offering that caveat, I’d like to share a list of reasons why I think Hawaii is the least stressed out state:

  • People are nice.  During my daily commute I travel 12 miles in 50 minutes.  You mathematicians know that means I average 14.4 mph.  On a highway.  And you know what?  If I need to change lanes, there’s always someone ready to let me in.  If a pedestrian needs to cross that highway, we all kindly stop.  Because people here are nice.  And, they’re not just nice in traffic.  I’ve been clomping around in my office in a post-op shoe trying to heal a stress fracture and every day, dozens of people I’ve never met stop me to ask what happened, offer sympathy and tell me they’ll pray it heals soon.  It’s hard to be stressed out when there’s so much Aloha floating around.
  • American culture as main-landers know it, is absent.  I love my country and I’m proud to be an American, but folks, there are some things American culture just gets wrong.  Like over-consumption.  Like keeping up with the Jones’.  Like making a perfectly decorated mansion with white picket fences a life goal.  Practically, these things don’t work here.  Over-consumption is cost-prohibitive and white picket fences?  Hey, you’re lucky if you even have a yard here.  But beyond practicality, I think Hawaii’s young statehood and cultural melting pot are its greatest attributes.  “Foreign” cultures are hugely influential here and since looking different from your neighbor is the norm, I get the sense that folks spend less time comparing themselves to one another and more time absorbing the beauty of all those differences…and realizing how much sameness there is.  Instead of pursuing the two-kids-SUV-white-picket-fence-golden-retriever cliche, folks here pursue the best part of the ‘ol American dream:  happiness.
  • Family.  Family, or ohana,  is big in Hawaii and you don’t have to share genes with someone to be in their ohana. When I still lived in NC and after my first close friend had a baby, I developed the habit of calling myself Auntie Sarah to the offspring of friends and acquaintances alike.  I am confident that a good 50% of those parents – who don’t mistrust me in anyway – felt like the designation of Auntie was awkward because we weren’t related.  In Hawaii, I’m Auntie Sarah to kids whose names I don’t know, because community is family.  I know strong family bonds are partly a product of geography:  people tend to live near their families because islands just aren’t that big.  And so, here at last, I’ll give a physical aspect of the Hawaiian islands a little credit:  thanks for being islands, which keep families close.
  • Work Hard, Chill Hard.  Before I explain this one, let me first say that folks on Oahu are very active in all kinds of outdoor hobbies, so I don’t want to imply that folks just sit around on their butts all day.  BUT. But, Hawaii understands the value of not scheduling every moment.  Go to a beach park on any given Saturday or Sunday and you’ll find huge ohana gatherings (use that definition of family I gave above) grilling out and just stone-cold relaxing.  Drive through a neighborhood pau hana (after work)  and take note of how many folks are sitting in folding chairs on their lanais or in the driveway just shootin’ the breeze.  People know how to relax here.  For real.  And they don’t feel guilty about it.

These reasons, in my opinion, are why Hawaii is the least stressed state in the nation.  Not the blue water.  Not the palm trees.  Not the Mai Tais.  It’s all in the way people handle stressors.

A favorite bumper sticker I see during my very slow commute reads “Ainokea”.  If you pronounce that with Hawaiian phonics and use a little imagination, you realize it means ” I no care” (Eye No Cay-uh).  Now, I do know the origins of these bumper stickers, but for me, they conjure up the old slogan of Alfred E. Newman of MAD Magazine:  “What, me worry?”.  And so when I see that particular sticker, I’m reminded not to stress out.  Why worry?  Lucky we live in Hawaii.

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Trip to the Mainland

29 Apr By

Y’all the past few weeks have been a wonderful blur.  When last I wrote, The Gentleman and I had survived a series of disaster flights home from the mainland and I had just (re) started my new job.  That was three weeks ago and we have been busy bees.

For today, I want to acknowledge the mainland trip.  Hubs and I did a ridiculous (exhausting) tour of the homelands:  Charlotte to Charleston to Raleigh to Chapel Hill to Charleston to Jonas Ridge to Charlotte in just over 11 days.  We put over 2000 miles on rental cars and wore ourselves out with an awesome wedding, family and friend reunions.  Here are a few pictures from the trip:

The Gentleman and I all dolled up for Matt and Alissa’s wedding.  We are fully Hawaii-ized:  65 degrees just about gave us hypothermia.  Good thing we were at an awesome wedding to warm our hearts!

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Ya’ll know I’m a NORTH Carolina girl through and through, but if I have to travel to the south lands, Charleston’s a great stop.  We saw lovely sunsets like this one and caught up with tons of friends and family (even some UNC folks in SC…Brad).

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Then it was up to the Carolina on Top to visit with more great friends.  Loved seeing everyone!  We even enjoyed a night in lovely Chapel Hill at the Siena.  Southern part of heaven, y’all.  Here I am cheesing with the inimitable Jessica at Sitti in Raleigh.  Just like old times!

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After Chapel Hill, we drove The Gentleman’s Shelby Mustang back to it’s foster home in SC (Thanks Mom and Dad P!) and then headed for the hills of NC in a rental car where my parents were waiting.  No question folks, my heart is in the NC mountains.  LOVE that place.

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What’s that?  You see me wearing a toboggan up there?  Yeah.  It was COLD up in the Blue Ridges.  Cold enough for…. SNOW!  Y’all, I missed winter so bad this year and especially snow.  I seriously almost cried when we started up the hill to my parents’ mountain house and saw flakes falling.  Thank you, God, for the amazing taste of winter.  The pic below is my parents’ driveway.

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We ended our NC/SC trip with a home-cooked meal at the home of one of The Gentleman’s oldest friends back in Charlotte.  These folks always show us a good time and that night was no exception.

If you read NTD with any regularity (as if I post that way) then you know our flight(s) home turned into a nightmare.

Alas, here we are, safe and sound back in pretty Kailua.  I’ll post some updates on live on the island soon!

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Something Special in the Air

10 Apr By

If you’ve ever asked me about air travel, you know I’m not a fan of the legacy carriers (United, US Air, American, etc.) as I’ve routinely experienced poor service and quality from them in my business travels.  However, a recent experience with American Airlines has me eating a little bit of crow.  I am impressed enough with the service care we received to share this story with you.

The Gentleman and I spent the last two weeks visiting family and friends in North and South Carolina.  We celebrated a wedding, drove about 1000 miles in 3 different cars to beds in five different cities, reunited, ate too much, slept too little and generally had exhausting fun.  When we woke up on our last mainland day at 4:15 a.m. we planned to sleep on planes for several hours and then, after a smooth noontime landing in Honolulu, collect our cat from the kennel and rest all afternoon.

This is not how things played out.  Instead…

…Our originally booked United Airlines flight out of Charlotte was delayed 3 hours meaning we’d miss our connection in Houston.

…We were re-booked on a pair of American Airlines flights connecting in Dallas

…Twenty minutes into our new AA flight, we learned a passenger on board was seriously ill.

…Five minutes later, our pilot announced we’d be making an emergency landing at the Atlanta airport to offload the sick passenger to paramedics.

…After wishing the ill passenger good health and good luck, and after taxiing for about 20 minutes, we began speeding down the runway for takeoff.

…Just before we reached takeoff speed, the pilot hit the brakes.  We taxied back to another gate.

…We learned that we had a major electrical malfunction that would take an hour and half to fix.  The pilot of was apologetic, honest, and efficient at working for a solution to the problem.

…We were deplaned and spent half an hour or so working with extremely nice and capable agents to  re-book(again) and secured a third pair of flights connecting through Dallas.  We were also provided with meal vouchers so I had breakfast courtesy American Airlines.

…Our new pair of flights pretty much guaranteed our bags wouldn’t arrive in Honolulu with us.

…Gate agents in Dallas assured us that our bags would be on the next possible flight to Honolulu.

… Our flight crew on the Dallas-to-Honolulu leg of the trip were super nice, provided special treats to active-duty military members and even knew how to spell the state fish of Hawaii.  No easy feat, that.

Seventeen ridiculous hours later, we landed in Honolulu (about 5 hours after our original arrival time).  Upon checking in with the baggage agent we learned that American Airlines had called ahead and provided an update on the luggage.  It was delivered to our home, intact and unharmed the very next day.

Based on all prior experiences with air travel disruptions, I’d expect to still be stuck in a Texas airport while our bags landed safely in Istanbul.  I’d expect to have been yelled at, insulted, lied to and ignored by customer service agents multiple times during the chaos.  I’d expect to never see at least one of our suitcases again and to then have to argue about the value of its contents in order to be reimbursed.

I’d expect the usual crappy service America expects from legacy carriers.

Instead, American Airlines did the very best anyone could do with a series of crappy situations, got us home on the same day (pretty tough considering the distance we had to travel) and managed to treat us with respect, kindness and care the whole way.

During our last flight, I remembered an AA commercial from the 1980s.  The jingle lyrics were “We’re American Airlines, something special in the air!”

American Airlines, y’all really were pretty special on this trip.  Consider me a reformed legacy carrier hater…at least when it comes to you.

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On Chaos

7 Apr By

Yep, I’m still here.  Actually, I want to toot my own horn for posting anything at all during the last four weeks.  We went from TDY deployment to house guests to me starting a new job to an epic tour of both North and South Carolina in a ridiculously short period of time and I’m worn slap out.  I’ll (re)start my new job on Tuesday after we arrive back in Honolulu and The Gentleman and I are hopeful we’ll finally be able to establish a rhythm for our new norm.

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Then again, after the last – oh – 18 months or so, it’s becoming clear that chaos might be our norm.  If that’s the case, we’ll have to adjust our approach to life a little bit.  The Gentleman recently spent dawn patrol (that’s surfing first thing in the morning for you land lubbers) with a more seasoned [crazy] surfer who rides the big waves in Hawaii.  This experienced hanger-of-ten shared some strategies for surviving turbulent seas, one of which I’m calling the rag doll approach.  Basically, if you’re caught in breaking big waves and can’t get past them, the best thing to do is  to go limp, like a rag doll, let go of your board, and let the water take you where it will.  If you fight the surf, you’ll wear yourself out and really end up in trouble.

It’s an uncomfortable strategy in practice.  Imagine being pounded under the water, hurtled toward the shore or rocks or a reef and just relaxing, going with the flow when your greatest instinct is saying “Hold on to the board! Breathe!  Swim!”.  It’s not easy to let go and hope you’ll be able to resurface, but ultimately it’s the only option.

I’ve often thought God gives me chaos so I’ll loosen my white knuckle grip on the surf board, but I probably don’t take that far enough.  If our norm is chaos, we need to ask God for a fearless calm in which we totally let go of the surf board and go with the flow, rag dolls in God’s hands. 

As we prepare to fly back to Hawaii from our brief visit to North Carolina and South Carolina, I find myself focused on this strategy, and secretly hoping it applies to airport security lines as well.

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Change is good

22 Mar By

Rather than respond to the oodles “how’s the new gig?” emails I’ve gotten this week (and thank you, thank you, thank you to each of you for thinking of me and praying for me), I’m just going to toss out a quick blog post here and answer with…

….Excellent!   (as much as one can say that after a single week of work, but based heavily on one’s perceived ability to identify good people when one sees them)

I’ve always thought the perfect job was defined as follows: 1) I care about the subject matter; 2) I work with truly talented and pleasant people; and 3) the leadership is great.

I’ve just transitioned out of one job where 1, 2 and 3 were true and, near as I can tell, into another job where 1, 2, and 3 are true.  God is God.  Therefore, coincidences and “lucky” aren’t real and I’m feeling some serious gratitude in the midst of this change that I can say EXCELLENT.

Change is good, and so is my new job.

And, by way of disclaimer, I’ll get some legit content on this ‘ol blog soon!

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Throwback Thursday: Hula

7 Mar By

Sifting through old pictures, I found a memento of my first taste of Hawaii.  This photo of me was taken on Maui in 1988 or 1989.   I wonder if I still have the grass skirt somewhere?

 

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Big Island

5 Mar By

Last week we took a very quick trip over to the Big Island to see the volcano doing it’s volcano thing.  Since we’re a military family we have the benefit of staying at the Kilauea Military Camp, a collection of cabins with kitchens and fireplaces right inside Volcano National Park.  The Gentleman and I loved these little cabins (felt like camp, but less rustic) and have plans to go back as soon as we can.

We flew in at the crack of dawn and fortuitously sat on the correct side of the plane to see the sun rising over Mauna Kea.  It snowed on this high peak last weekend, so the view was especially striking, and the photo, I think, is not bad for having been taken through an airplane window!

Our first mission on arrival was to check out the black sand beaches along the Windward shore.  This is one the slightly less popular ones called Kehena.  It is also a “clothing optional” beach.  Y’all, I’ve had one too many experiences stumbling upon a grown man doing naked yoga on the beach (yes, it’s happened before).  Cropped that dude out for these  pictures!

 

Next up, we made our way in to the Volcano National Park to see the caldera of Kilauea.  This overlook is best viewed at night as the lava creates an eerie red glow in the crater, but our crew was too tired to make it back up in the evening.  Still pretty amazing to see it simmering away in the daylight hours.  This caldera is about 4 square miles and 400 feet deep.

While in the park we also checked out inactive lava fields, a lava tube, petroglyphs and the amazing views of the Pacific.  Y’all know I’m a sucker for this beautiful ocean out here!  I also got a much-wanted taste of “winter” weather.  Temperatures in the park dipped to the low 50′s at night and I got to wear a coat – I was pumped!

The highlight of our trip, however, was touring the flowing lava via boat.  Our captain navigated us through rough seas for about 20 minutes (NOT for the faint of heart) to several points where lava flows steaming in to the Pacific Ocean, creating an enormous shelf of barely cooled and unstable rock.  Big shout out to our captain who deftly maneuvered us within 30-40 feet of the “shoreline” to see the flow up close and personal.  In fact, he told us that we’d get quite wet from the ocean on the way out, but that he’d get us close enough to the lava to have our clothes dry in a matter of minutes.  All true.

The lava tour was a feast for the senses:  the acrid smells of sulfur and smoke, neon bright molten lava, and the sound of explosions as chunks of pumice rock exploded in the cool water.

This wasn’t my first experience seeing the lava flows of Kilauea as we toured Volcano National Park when I was a kid.  However, seeing the rare flow of lava into the ocean was a far more dramatic experience and one I highly recommend (tip to travelers: the lava isn’t always pouring in to the ocean – call tour companies ahead to check!)

Capped off with an unbelievable sunset over the lava flow, our two-day Big Island adventure was amazing.  The Gentleman and I will be back for a more extended tour in the future!

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Catching Up

4 Mar By

It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve written in this space, but I’m back!  Quit groaning.  I can hear you.

Anyway, I’ve got lots of good excuses.  I’ll unveil excuse #1 in about two weeks when it’s appropriate (no, I’m not pregnant) and excuse #2 is that I’ve been busy entertaining my awesome sisters-in-law who came to visit our lovely island for a week.  Excuse #3 is that life has been a bit chaotic in both the good and bad ways.  So much has been going on I’ve not really taken a break to address it.  I’ll try to catch you up at least a bit today.

First, I’m delighted to have The Gentleman back home after a TDY (temporary duty for you non-military types) that took up most of February.  I’d like to point out that the Army has made sure my husband was thousands of miles away from me or stuck in the office for 1) our birthdays; 2) our first anniversary; 3) my first marathon; 4) Hallmark (Valentine’s) Day.  I’m very glad he’s not been full-on deployed, but the timing of temporary out-of-country work seems awfully coincidental.  I don’t believe in coincidences, Big Brother.  Anyway, he had a great work trip to Thailand that ended with him featured in a news story and snuggling fuzzy tigers.  I’ve dreamed of hanging out with these “tame” (we all know they’re not really) tigers for over a decade and it was awesome to see pictures of the hubs cuddled up with the big cats. We’ll be heading that way for vacay ASAP.

Second, I mentioned that my sisters-in-law came to visit.  It’s so great to have family in town  and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy showing off our beautiful new home town.  In addition to showing off our favorite off-the-beaten-path parts of Oahu, we took the sistas-by-another-mista to the Big Island for two days. I’ll dedicate a whole post to that adventure, but suffice it to say, timing was perfect to watch Mother Nature really show off with her lava skills.  I also got the opportunity to really get to know my sisters-in-law better and am so glad for that.

Having family in town, and doing some inter-island travel with them, solidified a feeling I’ve been having for the past few months:  that Kailua is really home.  If I’d said the word “home” back in August or September, I would have been referencing North Carolina.  Now, however, that word means here.  What a wonderfully turbulent adventure it’s been to go from aching for my roots back on the East Coast to really REALLY loving and craving where I live now… and not because it’s paradise, but because it’s our home.  We’ve reached the point of knowing local store clerks, having favorite running routes and surf breaks, haunting the same restaurants, and randomly running in to friends in town.  We leave our home for a few days and miss its comforts and expected irritations. I know the FedEx gal and that one of the property caretakers can catch a rooster with his bare hands. Kailua is home.  I love that.

In a final moment of change over these past two weeks, I was finally able to run again after six weeks of rest to heal my stress fracture.  I can’t understate this:  WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  Okay, honestly the first run was quite awkward and I was clearly favoring (out of fear, not pain) my uninjured foot.  I’ve got a long way to go to be back in the running condition I was pre-injury, but y’all…. Oh it felt so, so good to see the pavement whizzing by under my feet and to hear my measured breaths.  I ran two miles in 18:20 and it was AWESOME.  Shout out to the forced cross-training, too. I could tell a difference in my stride that I attribute to the ever-hated recumbent bike.  My quads were bearing so much more of the running motion than usual and my ankles felt almost slack.  I still hate that stupid bike, but it really made the run effortless.  I’ll keep upping my mileage VERY SLOWLY for the next few weeks and hope this is goodbye to stress fractures!

So, there you have it, at least in part.  I’ll be back soon with Big Island photos, an update on my running and the REST of the news.

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An Awful (Great) Surprise

11 Feb By

Mercy Mondays with Jenn LeBow
I was sitting at my desk, with one cat slung across my lap and the other attacking pages as they were spit out of the printer.  I was newly married, cold-calling advocates about some dangerous legislation and giving myself a pep-talk about moving to NoWhereVille, SC where we’d learned The Gentleman would next be stationed with the Army.

I was desperate for a break from awkward phone conversations, so I set the phone aside and started typing up a report.  Naturally, it immediately rang.  It was The Gentleman.

“What do you think about Hawaii?” he asked.

“I went there when I was a kid and it was fun, why?” I responded, distracted by my work.

“No,” he continued, “What do you think about living in Hawaii?”

With that, he had my full attention.  I don’t really recall the rest of the conversation, but I know that my heart rate increased and I had a feeling of dread.  I remember The Gentleman’s superior officer in the background shouting something like “C’mon, it’s Hawaii!!” as I stammered through the conversation trying to be non-committal and non-negative all at once.

Learning that I’d leave my beloved home state of North Carolina, not for its next-door neighbor South Carolina, but for the furthest American soil possible was an unbelievable and unwelcomed surprise.  I’ve already addressed my misgivings about that slap-in-the-face surprise, but I’ve not adequately expressed the great mercy such a startling change has been for The Gentleman and I.

Before we moved, The Gentleman and I clung to some typical American ideals:  we worked our butts off for financial success, we spent weekends improving the look and feel of our home, we juggled social obligations and gym time and long commutes and generally ran ourselves ragged.  We were throttling down that pursuit-of-happiness path with an awful blindness and an enormous cartful of baggage.

My relationship with God has often involved well-timed smacks in the face.  My memory tells me I’ve always learned from doing more than from being told and it’s clear that God knows he needs to shake me up from time to time if I’m to keep growing.  He shook me big time when he put in motion a move that would break down every comfortable and known thing in my life and replace them with drastically different things.

In his great mercy, God thrust us into a place where we must truly live in community with his other children: y’all, you can’t get away from people in Hawaii.  We’re packed in here like sardines!

He ripped endless work hours (and, at least for me, the related reimbursement) out from under us and reminded us that letting our professional lives eat us up in the name of more stuff was a road to death.

He snatched us away from beloved family and friends, not to remove them from our hearts and lives, but to force us to rely more on him.

He moved us to a place where traffic is unbelievable, so walking is easier than driving (really, y’all) and the mountains and ocean are within an arm’s reach and temperatures inside buildings get uncomfortable during the day.  As a result we are outside and moving more and are healthier than we’ve been in ten years.

Here we are, with fewer things, less peace and quiet, a smaller house, more traffic, fewer nearby friends…and happier, healthier, more peaceful and stronger.

That phone call a year ago was not the kind of surprise I like.  It made me intensely uncomfortable and saddled me with anxiety for months.  If only my faith had been in the right place –with God instead of with me – maybe I could’ve seen that God was stirring things up as an act of incredible mercy.

Linking up with Jenn for Mercy Mondays.

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Recent Jaunt: Waves, Seals and Whales

24 Jan By

Ah, winter in Hawaii.  I’ve been asking locals about this season since we moved here, wondering if it *really* gets cold or how much it actually rains.  Following the Honolulu Marathon, our lovely island began the transition into winter weather and I’m enjoying experiencing this season for myself.

As I write, it’s 73 degrees,  there’s a misty rain coming down and the winds are blowing hard enough to knock over my plants on the lanai.  Yesterday was warm and sunny with only the slightest breeze until a downpour (during my run, thank-you-very-much) left Kailua chilly and damp. By the time we went to bed, a cool 65 degree breeze was blowing in our window. I dig winter in Hawaii.

Rain Clouds over Kaena Point, with just a bit of sun peeking through.  Winter in Hawaii.

The Gentleman and I recently took advantage of the weather to visit Kaena Point, on the northwest shore of Oahu and were treated to another wintertime spectacle: high surf.  I’ve been struggling to communicate these waves to people who’ve never seen them.  Photos don’t cut it and my words sound unimpressive.  Still, I’ll try, because these waves are an awesome, booming, frothing show of force and deserve to be shared.

A trail run along Kaena Point is bound to be interrupted for photos.  Notice the mist kicked up into the air by the powerful waves.

The wave in the picture below has a 20-25 foot face and is 15 feet “thick” from front to back.  That means that if you were standing in the water in front of the wave, you would be 1) insane and 2)looking at a crest almost the same height as your two-story home and as wide as an 18-wheeler.   These waves crash with tremendous force, throwing plumes of water 40 feet into the air and pounding the shore into a churning pool of foam.

The water’s motion is so violent, it can punch holes through solid rock, leaving formations like this natural bridge and “blowhole”.  Water pushes through the blowhole with such force, it can be heard at a great distance.

Standing on the shore, we noticed that these waves, more than the ones we’ve already seen along more popular North Shore beaches, were so powerful they made the ground rumble under our feet and sounded like distant explosions.  I’ve included this video in an effort to share this strength.  Please note: the video is NOT in slow motion.  The waves are so big they appear slow compared to “normal” waves because the water has to travel that much further to crash!

As if the incredible waves weren’t enough, we were delighted to see a pair of crazy-endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals resting on the beach and tons (ha!) of humpback whales frolicking just beyond the breakers. UPDATE:  This seal is named Kaena (appropriately) and was on the beach with another guy : either Noa or Kerby.  They’re regulars on Kaena’s beaches.

If you visit Oahu, especially in winter, take the time to trek up to Kaena Point.  The trail is easy (great for a trail run!) and the show God puts on with his oceans and animals is second to none.

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A little of this and that

7 Jan By

It’s been mighty quiet here on Notice the Dirt the past few weeks.  The combination of holiday chaos, my temporary client, and a fresh new exciting injury, I’ve been unable to pull it together for some regular posting.  I do have a few things to share, however, so here’s the mish-mash:

  • It’s officially winter here in Hawaii.  I mentioned this weather in my post about Kauai: lots of rain, battering wind and put-on-a-jacket temperatures.  And, I really dig it.  Looks like I’m a perennial winter gal.
  • I referenced a temporary client up there.  I’ve been doing some marketing work for the production company that brought Wicked to Honolulu.  The run ends on 12/12 wrapping up a month and half of listening to the same songs day after day.  It’s a great show, though I don’t recommend seeing it 19 times in a row.
  • I’m 99% sure I’ve got a herniated disk in my neck.  Awaiting an MRI, but in the meantime I’ve got radiating nerve pain across my upper left back and taking deep breaths is extremely painful.  Sweet.
  • It took a friend all of 3 minutes to talk me in to running the 2013 Honolulu Marathon with her.  Oy.
  • EDIT!  I almost forgot.  I also cut off 7 inches of my  hair.  WHEW is that freeing or what?!

 

  • I’m getting back on the wagon with menu planning.  Here’s ours this week:

I’m back to cooking through  Saveur’s 101 Classic Recipes (marked with a *)! For more great recipes and menus, click here.

Breakfasts:

Raspberries, blackberries, Honeycrisp Apples

Greek Yogurt with Flax Meal and Mila®

Veggie Omelets

Lunches:

The Gentleman eats on base.

Salads (lettuce blend, tomato, avocado, peppers, tofu or chicken)

Leftovers

Dinners:

I’m cooking two recipes* this week from Saveur Magazine’s 100 Classic Recipes.  The remaining meals are my own recipes.

Sunday: Dinner Out

Monday: Salmon , Grilled Veggies

Tuesday: Chicken Chopped Salads

Wednesday:  Whole Foods for sushi or hot bar after running club

Thursday: (Church Small Group) Mulligatawny*, Naan

Friday: Leftovers (working Wicked)

Saturday: Kafta, Jasmine Rice

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Christmas Trip 2012

25 Dec By

The Gentleman and I are not big on gifts as mentioned here.  Exchanging Christmas gifts, for us, feels like trading fifty dollar bills and we’re a bit anti-consumerist so instead of showering our loved ones with more possessions, we prefer to shoot out a few Christmas cards (see below) and donate the money we’d spend on gifts to a worthy cause.  This year we gave our Christmas funds to the Angel Tree and Salvation Army.

 

Still, it’s nice to do something special with the holidays, so it’s become our tradition to take a trip during our time off.  This year, we got more time off than usual thanks to the weekend, so we island hopped over to Kauai.  Y’all, this quiet, unplanned trip was all I needed for Christmas: quality time with the husband and soaking in God’s creation.  Amazing.  Here are some pictures from the adventure:

Hawaii is the land of the rainbows.  Kauai got the memo and gave us light shows at Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast.

Kayaking along the streams in Hanalei.

The destination for our kayak trip.

We boated down the Na Pali coast.  We were lucky to get a “low” surf day.  Note to travelers: Kauai in winter is not all sunshine and sparkles.  Actually, nowhere in Hawaii is.  We get some crazy big surf, battering winds and rain storms, so keep that in mind for vacation planning :) .

The weather in winter may not be fantastic, but it’s whale season!  We saw dozens of Humpbacks while on our boat trip, though not very many close up.  It’s still early in the season, though and I can’t wait to hit up Maui in February to see some more!

Strong recommend for touring the Na Pali coast, by the way.  Miles and miles of movie-set-looking coastline.

The sun played some cool tricks for us on the way back to harbor.

No photoshop here.  That IS a rainbow surrounding the setting sun.

Sunset as we pulled back in to harbor.

We flew back to Oahu on Christmas Eve and enjoyed great entertainment on Christmas morning…from our cat.  More on her antics tomorrow.

Mele Kalikimaka, Y’all!

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2012 Honolulu Marathon

10 Dec By

On December 9, 2012 I ran in the 40th Annual Honolulu Marathon.  It was my first marathon, one run to raise funds for my sister-in-law as she battles cancer, and ultimately a success. While I’ve typed out a full play-by-play of the race, for brevity’s sake I’m just going to share a few bullet points to mark the 26. 2 miles.

Highlights:

  • The Run to Nuke Cancer.  Y’all donated $1500 to help my sister-in-law and her family as she battles cancer.  That’s $500 over my original goal of $1000.  AMAZING.  I’m a beyond grateful!
  • Running over Diamond Head during the sunrise.
  • Amazing views of the Pacific Ocean from Kahala.
  • Sharing a race with some incredible elite runners including Olympic Marathon Medalist Wilson Kipsang (who won the Honolulu Marathon – see his time below).  Seeing those folks whiz by during out-and-back portions of the course is incredible.
  • Finishing my first marathon!

Things that Went Well:

  • My previously bothersome little toe held up like a champ. No blister, no irritation.  I just slathered it with Vaseline before running and it worked!
  • I hydrated perfectly – I was never thirsty and didn’t have to take a bathroom break.
  • Talking to God.  He kept me distracted and I swear he answered prayers for wind.  The tradewinds finally showed up during the race and cooled us off!
  • I stuck to my strategy for dealing with heat and poor air quality: slow, steady pace; listening to my body; tons of fluids; and use of every aid station.
  • Finishing!  My final time is below.  As of writing, I finished in the top 18% of my age group, the top 17.5% of all women and the top 26% of all racers.  I was pretty down on my time after the race was over, but then I’ve remembered that we Honolulu Marathoners ran in much harsher conditions (heat, humidity, vog) than most U.S. marathons. (Also include the race winner’s time, just for fun)

Things that didn’t go well:

  • Around mile 22 or so, I was sure that my lack of a longer run than 16 miles was an issue.  I was straight-out suffering and wished I’d been able to tell myself “but you know you can do this.” from experience.  Guess I can now!
  • Sun protection.  I applied sunscreen before the race but the combination of sweat and regular cold water showers (there were mist tents and cold sponges at some of the aid stations) washed the protection away.  I’m not burnt, but I may or may not look like I fell asleep in a tanning bed.
  • GPS Watch discrepancy.  If you’ve ever run a race with a GPS watch, you know that the distance registered on that watch and official mile markers rarely line up because it’s nearly impossible to run the originally measured course.  Sometimes you’re ahead of the mile markers, and sometimes you’re behind. Unfortunately, my watch had me .2 miles ahead of the mile markers.  This means that when my watch ticked over to 26 miles and I said “YAY! Only .2 miles left!”  I actually had .4 miles left.  And I knew it.  Big morale bust.
  • Hotel.  Because of parking issues and distance from my house, I would have needed to awaken by 2:30 to make it to the start line on time, so instead I booked a hotel near the start line so I could walk over.  I did this with the understanding that Honolulu buses would take me back to the hotel (the start and finish lines were 2 miles apart).  Except I forgot to bring bus fare. FAIL.  So, I ran 26. 4 miles (see GPS watch above) and then walked 2 more….oops!  Do they make 28.4 bumper stickers?

Funny Moments:

  • Over half the runners in the Honolulu Marathon are from Japan and in an effort to share their inspiration with Americans, many of them printed mottos on their shirts in English.  Or Engrish.  Cases in point:  An elderly Japanese gentleman had a shirt that read “I am not a virgin!” and another Japanese national’s shirt said “Do Not Retire!” and featured a photo of a man crawling.  Translations :  “I have run a marathon before!” and “Don’t give up!  Keep running!”  SO FUNNY.
  • Because we were running down city streets we ran under a number of stoplights.  I slowed my pace several times when lights turned yellow and almost stopped at one red light.  Guess those are good habits.
  • A friend from my running club ran the whole marathon in a taco costume.  She was raising funds for Girls on the Run of Hawaii.  I enjoyed all the costumes, but seeing that taco go by was priceless.

As I write this on Sunday night, I’m throwing back Advils and icing muscles like it’s going out of style. I’m most proud of all of you who supported the Run to Nuke Cancer – humanity IS good!  I’m satisfied with my showing in the marathon and so glad for the experience.

I’m also confident that I’ll never run a hot-weather marathon again.  To be honest, by about mile 20 I wasn’t having fun anymore, and I’m just not competitive enough to do something that makes me miserable for bragging rights.  I won’t close the door on trying a cooler weather race some day – now that I’ve finished 26.2 in summer weather, I feel like I could own a race in 60 degree weather!

My next goals will relate to speed.  I’m running much faster these days than I was a year ago and I’d like to knock out some super-speedy shorter distances, so I’ll be joining my running club for track training nights starting next week next month.

Linking up with Jen at That’s What She Read, Jess at Tooth N Nails, and Mallory at From California To Kansas  for #BragAboutIt Monday.

From California To Kansas

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Marathon!

8 Dec By

The Honolulu Marathon starts in just 18 hours – WHOA!  I’m about to head down to The Modern Hotel in Honolulu, where I’ll be sleeping tonight so I don’t have to get up at 2:45 to find parking before the race. Local news reported today that everyone’s least favorite running buddies, Vog and Humidity, will be racing with us, so I’ve adjusted strategies accordingly.  Tomorrow’s weather forecast is below.  I’m glad to see scattered showers on the menu – the rain usually only lasts for a few seconds, but cloud cover would be really helpful, but the humidity (84%??!!) is going to suck.

{from Hawaii News Now}

And here’s my plan:

Before the Race:

  • The vog irritates my asthma, so to combat it, I’ll take cold medicine and Advil today and tonight.  The Advil will help reduce inflammation (we’re talking airways here, folks) and the cold medicine contains an expectorant to help clear out congestion. I’ll also obviously be taking my normal asthma meds.  Bonus: cold medicine will help me fall asleep early tonight!
  • Drink ridiculous volumes of water.  I actually started this on Thursday and will continue right up until the race.  The cold medicine can be dehydrating, so I’ve got to do some extra hydration.
  • Leave my hair wet in the morning – “They” say this doesn’t really help keep you cooled off during a run, but I think it does, so I’m doing it.

During the Race:

  • Stop at every aid station, no exceptions.  I’ll drink both water and Gatorade with extra focus on doing this early (even before I feel thirsty).  I’m also carrying one bottle of water and several Gu gels.
  • Visit mist tents and carry sponges.  Once the sun comes up here in Hawaii, it does get toasty, so I’m going to take advantage of all cool-off opportunities.
  • Sight-see.  I’ve not scoped out the race route on purpose so much of the view will be new to me.  I’m particularly excited to check out the Christmas decorations around Waikiki.  A distracted running Sarah is a happy running Sarah!
  • Reapply Vaseline to my sad little toe at least once.  I’m carrying a small amount of petroleum jelly in a ziplock.
  • Run. SLLLLOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLYYYYY.  I’m talking 10:30 pace.  If I can stay at that pace, I’ll never really huff-and-puff which will prevent more vog from getting in to my lungs.  This will be extremely challenging, as I’m used to running a much faster pace, but I’ve got to rein it in!
  • Walk if I must.  I really really don’t want to walk, but finishing a marathon is not worth a major asthma attack or heat stroke.  I’ve got to listen to my body.
  • Pray.  Y’all know God is my favorite running buddy… I know he’ll keep spurring me on.

Here we go!

PS – if you’d like to track my progress, visit this website and enter my bib number (13666)

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Jinxed

30 Nov By

Happy Friday, friends!  I’ve been below the radar all week because my parents are visiting our little island paradise and I’ve been playing tour guide.  It’s been so fun showing them around our corner of Hawaii but I’ve realized a table has turned:  they are go, go, go all day long and at night, after getting them into bed, I wipe out on the couch unable to move.  I’m pretty sure they used to describe taking care of us kiddos that way.  Regardless, I love having active parents who can still conquer the same trails and waves I do.

Weighing big on my mind right now is the Honolulu Marathon, just 9 days away, and the inspiration for this post title. About 3 weeks ago, during a long run, I developed a horrible blister that took me out of training for almost 5 days.  Last week, I came down with a horrible cold, complete with fever, that again knocked me out of training for at least 5 days (as of writing, my congestion is still horrible – it’s very tough to get rid of a chest cold when you have asthma). These trip-ups at the end of my training have “conveniently” spanned weekends, when I have time to do long runs.

 

The result is that I’ll go in to the Honolulu Marathon with longest run being about 16. 5 miles…not ideal.  I’ve been researching this exhaustively, though, and handful of pro trainers out there poo-poo the idea of a 20 mile run being requisite.  I hope they’re right.  I’m clinging to the quote up there, shared with me by a pro friend, because it tells me success in this race is more about my mind than anything.
 

Still, when I received my race packet earlier this week and saw my bib number…. well, you can see how I might feel a little jinxed.
 

 

I’m not superstitious, but really? 
Happy Trails, friends, and wish me luck knocking out a final medium run this weekend!

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