Unless you puke, faint or die, keep going…

05 Saturday Oct 2013

Tags

distance runner, half marathons, island life, Maui half marathon, runners, running, sisters, training

These are the words of “wisdom” I give to my sister as she looks at me (white as a ghost) two Sundays ago as we were getting ready to run her first 1/2 marathon in Maui.

It was 3 a.m. and in my still sleepy head it was the only thing that made perfect sense, you just keep running and don’t stop until your finished. As my words came out her big green eyes looked at me eagerly searching for more as I finished braiding her hair. I smiled as I reminded her that she was going to be fine, she was healthy, strong and perfectly capable of running 13.1 miles no matter how long it would take or how bad it would suck. She nodded and gave me a half smile as my father in laws Tahoe pulled into our driveway.

It was 3:45 a.m. and Mark was right on time. I couldn’t believe he was willing to wake up so early on a Sunday to come hang out with Colt and watch us run. It was nice to know we would have both of them waiting for us (holding us accountable) at the finish line. As we drove the 45 minutes to Lahaina we talked excitingly and nervously about the half marathon. I was excited, it was my second time running the half in Maui so I knew the course and felt strong. I had faith in my training and I knew 13.1 would be mine. I was also stoked and ready to cheer my sister on as she completed such a huge goal for herself.

As we pulled into whalers village the butterfly’s & nervousness started to kick in. We still had a little more than an hour to get our bibs on, music ready and stretch but I knew all to well that once that happens time starts to fly. As we prepared it was nice to have Colt and Papa there to make us laugh and keep us distracted as the reality started to sink in; 13 point freaking 1 miles here we go.

Listening to Papa Bear’s “last words of advice” as he warmed us up…LOL

We lined up as the one minute count down began and I saw the anticipation in my sisters eyes as I asked her if she was okay, she half nodded to confirm she was. I can still feel her energy and the energy of all the other runners around me as I listened to the gun blaze and the clock started ticking….we were off.

The first mile in my opinion is always the toughest in any run. Colt & I always call it the “bob and weave” mile as you try to find your stride and pace amongst the other hundreds of runners beside you. I mentally prepared for the miles ahead as I tailed my sister who was cruising along. I remember thinking the pace felt fast but I figured our adrenaline was pumping and we would even out.

We cruised through Kāʻanapali and hit front street hard, I was feeling great and thinking “damn if we keep this up we will be done in no time” and then I saw her, my sister. She had been keeping the pace the whole time so I never even thought to ask if she was okay until it happened, she started puking. At first I thought there is no way she’s puking as I physically watched her start heaving which was immediately followed by my next thought of there’s no way she’s finishing, MILE 4 GAME OVER.

At that point I had to stop thinking like “runner Jenn” and start thinking like “sister Jenn.” I quickly transitioned as my head began to spin, what did she need, what would she do, what would I say? I had to be prepared, ready, encouraging for anything she needed or wanted and as the reality sunk in that we probably wouldn’t be finishing she started to run. It was as if moments ago she wasn’t even puking her guts out. I wasn’t joking when I said unless you puke, faint or die keep going. Puking counted (oh it totally counted) it meant you could stop and bail, you puked!! As I got back in my stride beside her I couldn’t help but laugh my sister just totally “puked and rallied ” what a a freaking bad ass. We made it another mile and a half just as her second round of puke came up with little to no warning. Another 1/2 mile and more puke. The third time was it, I knew we would not go on there was no way I would have kept running after throwing up three times but she grabbed some water cleaned her mouth and kept going.

The turn around point (6.55 miles) came quicker than anticipated and I was happy to see the excitement in my sisters face. Three pukes and 6.55 miles in there was no turning back. The next few miles we found a good stride and made up some time until mile 9 hit and so did my sisters wall. It was like slamming head on into a brick. Watching someone hit their wall is a very interesting thing. As a runner we have all been there, but when you’re not there what do you do? Do you encourage, do you push, do stay silent and try to respect that place? [It’s a fine line] so I did what I do best opted for “D” all of the above. I encouraged when I thought I should, I gave her space and silence when I saw she needed it and I pushed and pulled, yelled and screamed when she felt like giving up.

As we pushed through the last mile and neared the finish I began to feel the extreme excitement of accomplishment as I grabbed my sisters hand and sprinted for the finish. This was it, 13.1 was ours, she had done it, she was here, failure was never an option.

As I crossed the finish line with my sister in hand it was one of the happiest feelings of accomplishments I’ve had as a runner. My eyes swelled with tears as I heard the announcer say “…and here comes the sisters, Jessica Carvalho & Jennifer Stewart in pink…” SHE DID IT!

We did it, 2 hours and 39 minutes, 13.1 miles, puke, sweat and tears we did it, we were there, our first half marathon together ~~DONE!~~

To say I am so proud of you Sis is a a major understatement because I am truly [still] beyond words! You are without a doubt a freaking rock-star!

Sister Team 2013

Hana Relay 2013

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Life on Maui, Runners HI

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

fun runs, hana relay, health & fitness, healthy-living, Maui, runner

This past Saturday I ran in the Hana Relay. The Hana Relay is an incredible fifty-two mile journey along 617 curves and over 56 bridges through the most breathtaking scenery in all of Maui. It was the best last minute decision I’ve made in a while. About 3 weeks ago my friend Anu connected me via Facebook with one of her friends from high school, who was looking for a sixth runner for their relay team. Since I am training for the Honolulu marathon and needed to do my training run anyways I decided to join. I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life.

Since the race is 52 miles instead of running it on your own you run it with a team. Each team consists of 6 members. Each member must run 3 legs of the course which are approximately 2-3 miles long. Some legs are a lot harder than others and the longest leg is 3.5 miles. Each leg has it’s own beauty and offers it’s own challenges. There are 18 legs total.

The race starts at 5:30a.m. sharp in Kahului at the junction of Palapala and Mua street with your first runner. As your first runner takes off on foot the rest of your team takes off in your race vehicle to meet the runner at the next hand off point. Teams & vehicles dress up in all kinds of themes and shanangians and as Colt kept saying it feels more like a moving parade than an actual race.

My team was team #47 which was 3 guys and 3 girls so this placed us in the “mixed” division. Since most of us had only met the night before we didn’t have time to go all out with costumes and a theme so we decided that the girls would wear tutus and we would just have some fun with it. I was assigned leg’s 3 (3.0 miles), leg 9 (2.7 miles) and leg 14 (2.4 miles).

My first leg was from Baldwin Beach Park to Hookipa. It had a slight gain in elevation with rolling hills. It was a beautiful run and my adrenaline carried me most of the way. Leg 9 was between mile marker 9 & 10 on the road to Hana and was my best leg. The scenery was amazing and I was filled with so much gratitude as I ran the winding road. I set a personal record on this leg for my fasted mile which I ran in 7 minutes and 41 seconds. My overall pace for that 2.71 mile leg was 8:02. My last leg was leg 14 which was mostly down hill. This was probably my “easiest” leg for running but it ended up being my hardest because I had a lot of time to cool down in between. I still however managed to do my best and finished with an average pace of 8:32.

Overall I was proud of my efforts especially since I found out only moments before that headphones were not allowed (so music wasn’t going to be an option). The reason for the no headphones rule is because the road to Hana remains open so you have to be able to hear all cars coming in front and behind you. It makes sense (safety first) but it also made for a much harder run (mentally).

After my legs were done I went into full cheerleader mode to get my team through our last 4 legs and to the finish line. Everyone did their part and you could feel the team work and camaraderie through it all.

Below are pictures of the entire day from Colt’s perspective, I was so lucky to have him by my side as my #1 supporter, fan, driver and picture taker.

and it begins…

….it NEVER fails, LOL

First leg pass off from Ramona One of the members from another team called the “Hana Ho’s” tried to run me off the road because I was running faster than his team! Seeing him in his thong and man bra was motivation enough to make me run even faster, hahahaha

Kale our team captain giving me a high five as I complete my first 3 mile leg in 21 minutes and 30 seconds

My baby girl cheering on her mama!

Hydration straight from the source before starting leg #14 …and again….handing it off to Devin on my last leg, boy did that feel GREAT! Devin, Ramona, Cameron, Chris & Rhonda finishing strong!

So proud of team #47! I love that even though we only met a few hours prior to this race we were still able to come together as a team and kick some serious butt!

Our ranking per the Hana Relay website is below:

We finished in 7 hours and 28 minutes with an average pace of 8:37.

Division Ranking:

We finished #43 out of 89 teams

Overall ranking:

We finished #96 out of 219 teams.

I am so thankful that I got to be apart of this wonderful race and I am sooooo READY for the Hana Relay 2014!

Week 1, donezo

07 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Runners HI

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Tags

determination, focus, goals, marathon, marathon training, runner, runners HI, running Maui

Monday

Rest day, not scheduled just happened that way (poor planning on my part)

Tuesday

I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m but snoozed until 6:30 a.m.

By noon (not only was I mad at myself for not getting up) but I was also cursing the 3 miles I had to run when I got done with gymnastics at 5 p.m. I got home and laced up my sneakers (I knew it was going to be a rough one). The sun was still hot and I suck at running at night (I know this is all psychological ) but I just feel like I run better in the morning, plus it was day 2 which meant payback.

Payback is a bitch especially when it is self inflicted and today was payback day. I wasn’t particularly happy with myself for walking the hill on Sunday so I decided that today’s route would be mostly hills. From my house I ran the back way to Wailea then headed back down to south Kihei road and then back up the hill to my house until I hit 3 miles. Once I hit my 3 mile mark, I ran for 1 more minute just to prove that I could.

The break down of my miles are below:

Mile 1 @ a pace of 9’01”
Mile 2 @ a pace of 9’10” ( +0’10”)
Mile 3 @ a pace of 10’44” ( +1’34”)

I finished 3.04 miles in 29’26” with an average pace of 9’41” (not the greatest)

The verdict…I suck at hills!

The bright side…another ~~3 miles down~~

Wednesday

I slept in (again) it’s seriously starting to become a problem. So I had to run at night, again. I got home at 4:30p.m. and had a “to do list” that was never ending so I decided to sneak in my 3 miles at the gym between my trip to Longs and the Water Store.

Running on a treadmill always seems easier in theory, but really it’s boring and torturous even though it is a great way for me to build endurance (overall I know nothing will prepare me better for this marathon than my outdoor runs )

The break down of my miles are below:

Mile 1 @ a pace of 8’47”
Mile 2 @ a pace of 8’44” ( -0.’04”)
Mile 3 @ a pace of 8’37” ( -0.’05”)

I finished 3.01 miles in 26’22” with an average pace of 8’45”

The verdict…I need to shave at least one minute off my mile when running outside

The bright side…another ~~3 miles~~ down for the day and ~~6.05 miles~~ down for the week!

Thursday

I woke up sore and I mean sore!

Packing to move, double gymnastics classes plus running = a much needed rest day for this girl!

Friday

Woke up an hour later than I set my alarm for so I decided to run the 1 mile loop around my house (3) times to hit my goal for the day.

This run is actually pretty great in regards to training. It offers a good variation of flat running, hill running, steep hill running and down hill running all within the mile. The only negative is running the same exact thing (3) times in a row, I really had to pump myself up to get it done and I did.

I found that positive reinforcement works great (even when using it on yourself) so every time I got too tired or too hot I just kept telling myself “you are stronger than this run..” and believe it or not it worked!

The break down of my miles are below:

Mile 1 @ a pace of 9’20”
Mile 2 @ a pace of 9’18” ( -0.’02”)
Mile 3 @ a pace of 9’16” ( -0.’04”)

I finished 3.00 miles in 27’22” with an average pace of 9’06”

The verdict…I ran my first mile a little too leisurely I need to start pushing myself a little harder each time

The bright side…I found a new trick to break barriers by using positive reinforcement to get my desired results.

Another ~~3 miles~~ down for the day and ~~9.05 miles~~ for the week!

Saturday

This should have been my cross training day but instead I put my muscles to work with moving. We moved out of our old place and into a new place down the road so I was lifting and sweating all day (not exactly your typical cross training of swimming, or biking or hiking) but it was still a killer workout!

Sunday

I set my alarm for 6a.m. in hopes to get out the door and into my 6 mile run before it got to hot. I didn’t end up getting out the door until 7:55 (I have some serious getting out of bed issues lately) but I got it done.

We slept at our new place last night so my route was a little different and very unplanned. I just walked out my door and started running. I ran from our place down South Kihei road to the green church and then turned around, it was a little under 3 miles down. I was feeling great and then boom mile 3 and mile 5 were like hitting a brick wall, and I had to dig deep to power through. By the time I got to my road (5.41miles) all my adrenaline and endorphins kicked in and I took off to finish at Kalama Park.

My goal for this run was to finish in under an hour and to not walk at all. I was happy to have accomplished both.

The break down of my miles are below:

Mile 1 @ a pace of 9’25”
Mile 2 @ a pace of 9’40” ( +0’15”)
Mile 3 @ a pace of 9’55” ( +0.’14)
Mile 4 @ a pace of 9’44” ( -0’11”)
Mile 5 @ a pace of 10’03” (+0’19”)
Mile 6 @ a pace of 10’14” (+0’11”)

I finished 6 miles in 59’11” with an average pace of 9’51” per mile

The verdict…I did it, end of story! (would I have liked to run faster, pushed harder…of course) but it was my first long run of training and I accomplished the miles

The bright side….I did it in the goals I set for myself (under one hour and no walking)

First ~~6 miles~~ and long run down and another ~~15 miles~~ complete for the week.

My favorite things about this weeks run’s:

super cute, stay in place runner headbands by lululemon, thanks Jamie & Bryan Aloy!

(My awesome, brand new, never been worn Nike Free’s for training, thanks Papa Bear)

My husband (the super hero) hitting his 200 mile goal for the year and 4 months early! I am so proud of you Colt Stewart ….and look at that pace! You inspire me.

My sister motivating me (daily) through text, Nike running challenges and by putting down some serious mileage of her own (just because she’s a rock star..)

Overall I’d say I surprised myself this week of training and did better than expected with all that I had going on. I’m glad that my goals were bigger than my excuses!

1 week down, 17 more to go!

From Zero to Three Hundred

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Runners HI

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bucket list, fit life, girl runners, goals, Honolulu marathon, marathon, marathon training, Maui runner, runner, runners world, training

In 125 days, 18 weeks, 7 hours and 55 minutes I will be lining up in Honolulu to run my very first marathon. A marathon, 26 point 2 freaking miles and today my training begins.

Actually if I’m being completely honest my training officially began in January when I decided that I wanted to run the Honolulu marathon. I knew if I was going to do a full marathon that I wanted to do it right so I have been conditioning for the last 7 months and tracking my miles:

January – 42.88
February – 45.90
March – 31.50
April – 50.0
May – 80.10 (Hit 200 miles)
June – 32.40 (Tailbone injury)
July – 19.30 (Hip injury)

Equaling 302.08 miles

At the start of 2013 Colt & I decided one of our year goals would be to run 200 miles. I hit this goal after only 5 months and it really inspired me but then I got injured (13 crossings). So after fracturing my tailbone which then triggered a hip injury its no surprise that my last two months of conditioning have seen a serious decline in mileage. The bright side I’ve got the rest I needed to heal and I am now more than ready for this marathon training.

So today my 18 weeks of training begins. I woke up at 7:30a.m. and hit the pavement at 8a.m. (this was a little too late since the sun was already blazing) but I managed to put down my first 3.01 miles. I ran from my place on Ohina down to Maui Vista off of South Kihei road and back. I ran 2.40 miles straight and then walked most of the hill back up to my road. Once I hit the top of the hill I continued on my run and ran the last .60 to hit my three for the day.

Moving forward I will be leaving the house much earlier so I can’t use the heat as an excuse (believe me my psyche is already bad enough without excuses) and I won’t be walking any hills. My marathon training plan has me running 4 times a week with one long distance run (which I will be doing on Sundays) it also has one cross fitness day and 2 rest days. I really like the structure of the training program and I feel as though it is really realistic to follow with my life and schedule.

So here’s to day 1 and ~~3 miles down~~…only 124 days and 406 miles to go!

Coach Jenn

02 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Coaching

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Coaching, Fitness, follow your dreams, growth, gymnast, gymnastics, Happiness

This coming Monday marks the beginning of the school year here in Hawaii. It’s funny to be so vividly aware of this (since besides hearing about Colt’s two nieces going back to school and knowing that the tourist season is ending for restaurants) it’s not something that has directly effected my life in seven years. I pause as I write SEVEN years and recount the math on my fingers just to make sure. Could it really already be SEVEN years from when I walked proudly across that stage as a Hawaii Pacific University graduate with the whole world at my finger tips? The emotions of that day wash over me as I feel the weight of time passed heavily on my shoulders.

I can’t help but think how different my life has become in just the last four months never mind the last seven years! I put that aside though as I snap back to the present moment and look down at the pile of folders that are surrounding me on the floor. They are filled with new schools, class schedules, students names and information. I am officially a gymnastics coach, me, Jennifer Lee Stewart now also known as Coach Jenn. I mean who would have ever thought that the little gymnast years ago or the girl who did a back handspring in high school after getting her diploma would now be coaching?

I mean it all happened so quickly that its no wonder my heads still reeling. One day I was assisting coaching and thinking I was going to have this mellow laid back summer, and the next I was offered a full time lead coach / van manager position and riding alongside the coach I would be replacing in just four short weeks. So here we are eight weeks later (I spent four weeks training and since have been four weeks on my own) wrapping up my summer schedule and about to embark on a full school year that includes nine different schools, 18 plus classes and a ton of new students.

I’ve officially traded in my high heels for barefeet, my strapless bras for sports bras, dresses for workout clothes, curled or flat ironed hair for a ponytail, fishtail or tight bun, my love for MAC makeup every day (without fail) for a touch of mascara and bronzer and my Toyota Corolla for a Chevy Express. I’ve gone from watching the clock behind a desk desperately aware of every second passing and longing for freedom to trying to squeeze in 5 or 10 more minutes with each student in every class.

I feel like this is my true calling and purpose in my working life. I feel awoken, exhilarated and alive. I enjoy waking up in the morning and going to work. I love stretching and tumbling and giggling with each and everyone of my gymnasts. I love pushing myself and them to new limits. I love being reminded that anything is possible and that as long as you keep trying and don’t give up you will eventually get it and that falling (as long as you get back up) is ok. They make life sweeter, happier, better…they make me better and it feels great to be better than you ever thought you could be…”

Kona-teering

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Wanderlust

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

big island, family, friends, Happiness, Hawaii, Life, Travel, vacation, wanderlust

We spent this past weekend vacationing on the Big Island with Joe, Anu and her family. We were so stoked when Anu told us at the beginning of the summer that her Dad won a gift certificate for a weekend stay at the Hilton Waikoloa timeshares and decided to give it to us. It was such a generous gift to give and believe me we appreciated and enjoyed every single second.

The boys left early (5 a.m. kinda early) on Friday morning to catch the first flight into Kona, so they could golf with Auntie Shal & Uncle Russ. They were able to play golf at two of the nicest courses on big island and they couldn’t have been more happy.

Since Anu and I were going for more of the relaxing (let’s get drunk at the pool) kinda weekend we didn’t arrive until a little after 12:30 on Friday. Once we landed we drove over to Costco to stock up on all the essentials then headed straight for the hotel to enjoy some much needed girl time.

Anu & Jenn take Kona begins..

Next stop, best weekend ever.

Welcome to our home-base for the next 3 days.

As soon as the bell man (barley) closed the door Anu & I were jumping up and down and running through the condo like 5 year olds for a good 10 minutes.

It doesn’t get much better than this

(this picture captures “vacation” Anu perfectly, my goodness I just love her)

well until you open the back sliding door to your own private pool and jacuzzi…jackpot!

cheers to the best of friends and adult vacations on Kona

Pre-gaming with a game of Apples to Apples (to go) before heading over to Anu’s families place for a Friday night BBQ

Saturday morning the boys hit the golf course while Anu & I took over Kona, the Hilton, the pool and the pool bar

(you know just your typical girls day)

All that swimming and sunning sure did make us thirsty, so it was no big surprise that we spent the rest of our afternoon at the pool bar

We made friends with our bartender Donna and before we knew it we had sipped and laughed the afternoon away

Drink of the day (with vodka instead of rum)

Shot of the day (no clue)

Pact of the day

(you wish you knew)

the daily essentials…

flowers, heart shaped sunglasses, room keys, the boys credit cards and the vap (duh)

Best ranch in the whole entire world (ever in the universe)

A girls day wouldn’t be complete without a ANTM photo-shoot

We got these luscious looking drinks to take back to the room for the boys

(and then drank most of them on the way while stealing a golf cart…)

(don’t judge us, the ground was HOT!)

The boys were not amused with us so they hit the bar by themselves

(but we of course crashed their party)#jjacmusketeers aka double diva’s

After the pool we headed back to the room for some more apples to apples (to go) sunset, dinner and drinks

Since Anu & I had spent the day pooling & exploring we had found Sansei (which is one of our favorite sushi places on Maui) so we opted not to tell the boys and surprised them with late night 1/2 off pupus and karaoke

this is their “surprise” faces

we were pretty proud of ourselves

so we signed them up for some “surprise” songs, lol

Joe didn’t seem to mind

We even sang a few duets

(we would NEVER do this in Maui, btw)

On Sunday we all went down to the other Hilton resort and spent our day pooling and lagoon-ing

and we of course hit the slides

you don’t even want to know why they are cracking up

(or you do…but you just had to be there)

After hours of pooling we were totally water logged so we hit the road to go leave our mark on Kona by writing our hashtag in coral off of one of the main highways
finding the perfect spot

hashtagging it up

getting the “perfect” picture from above

#jjacmusketeers

(were here, best weekend ever)

Spon·ta·ne·i·ty

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Life on Maui

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Tags

Freedom, Happiness, leisure, Life, Maui, spontaneous

Spontaneity is something that I have always loved the idea of and wanted to be, just saying the word in itself gets me excited, spontaneity. Living on a whim, redirecting because of a feeling or emotion, taking off at the drop of a dime…but no matter how much I love the idea of living this way if I’m being completely honest I’d have to say my quality or state of actually being “spontaneous” in my day to day life is about a two. Ok, maybe a one (really its a zero) because Monday through Friday I am the most vanilla and least spontaneous person you will probably ever meet. I love my routine, sticking to a schedule and planning my days ahead. Now don’t get me wrong we can make plans but it better be 24 hours in advance (at least) and I will most likely pass if it keeps me out past 10pm! See, like I said vanilla no rainbow jimmies, no waffle cone just plain ol boring vanilla.

However like with everything else in this life with one extreme comes the other so it would only make sense that my weekend self (Friday night to Sunday afternoon) likes to live life undetermined and much more spontaneously. I like to stop thinking about schedules, time or money and I like to just go off and do whatever it is I feel like doing. I like to jump in my car and drive or go for a walk until I find what I am looking for. I like to wake up on my days off at 6am (just because) and lay in bed thinking of all the amazing things I want to go and do. I love feeling the excitement of endless opportunity and the unknown.

So with all that being said this weekend was no different. I woke up at 5:30am on Saturday with thoughts of beaching, hiking, traveling, exploring or camping running through my head. Around 8am Colt got up and asked what his options were, a few hours later we were out the door.

…and we’re off, destination Hana! drive time 3 hours, purpose camping at 7 sacred pools, coolness factor it happened to be a full moon! Car packed, bags packed, dog packed…ready, set, gooo!

The road was so busy and so was the campground! This was the most construction, cars and groups I had ever experienced when driving up to Hana!

But even with all the unexpectedness we still made great time and we were chilling & grilling in no time.

Later we were joined by Anu and Joe who also decided very last minute to come up and join us!

We gave them lots of props for driving all the way to Hana on a moments notice but I think the full moon, the fire pit and the s’mores made it all worth it!

Sunday morning we woke up with the sun, it had rained pretty hard over night but it was so peaceful to listen to while we slept. The smell of rain and damp grass embodied us in the tented moonlight and it made the experience that much more memorable.

Once we were up Colt cooked breakfast for us all. He made bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on a croissant and I’d have to say he gets the best breakfast for campers award because these were nothing shy of delicious!

Shortly after breakfast we cleaned up and hit the rode. We had a long trip back and a few more last minute pit stops on the way.

We have seen this sign for Thai food every single time we’ve been to Hana but not until recently had we paid it any mind and today it seemed to be screaming my name. We stopped by and I honestly felt like I had been time warped into the heart of Thailand! The restaurant Thai Food by Pranee, the sign, the people, the fresh made house specials they were all so perfect and lucky for me a lot closer than Thailand!

One of todays specials was the green chicken curry and we both loved it! It was so delicious and the closest taste to Thailand we have got since being back on the island. I am so happy we stopped to experience it!

After our Thai stop I wanted to photograph this sign (with my new Nikon) to canvas for the house! To me it is a great reflection of organized chaos and makes my wanderlust skyrocket.

I really just love it so much!

I photographed it from all angles since each side had a new variation of wonderful-ness!

After this stop Colt was on a mission to get home so I kept myself entertained.

WARNING objects in the mirror and in the car may appear closer or more naked then they really are;)

and last but not least for anyone who has ever been to Hana with Colt & I no trip would ever be complete without making a pit stop in Pāʻia at flatbreads! hmm hmm good!

As the week begins and it’s back to reality I cant help but think how thankful I am for my day to day life and my spontaneous weekends.

I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place with a wonderful job and the best people surrounding me. I have Colt as my best friend, my husband, my life partner as well as my partner in crime. I love that we can do anything or nothing together and still be happy. I love that he loves me like no one else ever has. I love that our love is deep, real, fun, funny, passionate and supportive.

I love who we are, who we are becoming and that we love with a love that is more than love.

Until next time…love whenever possible, it is always possible….

13 Crossings

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Life on Maui

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

13 Crossings, Hiking, HIlife, Maui, nature, paradise, Trails, waterfalls

This morning we hiked Makamakaole Stream which is also often referred to as 13 crossings. The obvious reason for this name is the number of times the trail crosses the stream before you eventually end at a series of waterfalls.

This hike isn’t particularly hard as much as it is tricky. It starts with trying to find the path head which is almost impossible to find unless you already have an idea of where it is. We got to what we thought was the trail head around 10:30a.m and headed down only to find an extremely over grown forest so assuming this couldn’t be the hike we continued down the road. As we continued to walk we came across a second trail head and decided to head on down.

It was a pretty over cast day so the ground was extremely wet and slick which made it very easy to lose your footing, but since this is pretty typical for Maui hiking we continued to wonder down the trail until we eventually came to this.

It was a beautiful lush area with this swimming hole which also happened to have a tree ladder accompanied by a rope swing. It looked like natures playground and had we not been so preoccupied with trying to find the 13 crossings hike we might have stayed and played but instead we continued on. We found a stream but it only brought us to a few other swimming holes and a lot of dead ends so we decided to head back up to the road to look for another trail head.

As we headed back up and over the stream there was a medium sized jump from one rock to another to clear the water and as Colt jumped over effortless I stopped. It seemed my legs were too short or maybe the rock was too wet or maybe I was just a chicken but I couldn’t jump. I quickly looked for another way and found one just a short distance down the stream. As I walked to the area I scolded myself for being such a wimp! I told myself that wasn’t usually like me and as I walked and wondered why I was all the sudden such a chicken …BOOM…. down I went into the stream. As my foot slipped on the mossy slated rock all I could see was Colts back still hiking up ahead and as I watched him walking away all I could hear was the sound of my own scream, it was broke, I knew it was broke. As the scream met Colt’s ears he quickly turned around in shock to see me in the stream screaming that it was broke. He rushed over thinking it had to be my foot until I told him it was in fact my tailbone. As he picked me up from the stream and put me on my feet I immediately fell to all fours crying out in pain. My breathing swallowed and I felt like I was going to pass out. As I sat there on all fours whimpering all I could hear was Colt laughing, did he actually think this might be a joke?! As I calmed down and caught my breath I finally managed to tell him I was actually hurt and in a lot of pain and that’s when he went right into husband mode. As he got me up slowly I realized that I could actually stand but the pain was at about 7 and getting worse.

Once I was steady on my feet I realized that besides the constant pounding in my tailbone the pain was manageable so we continued on and by the time we got to the road I was in pain and pissed. I came to hike 13 crossings and that’s what I was going to do hurt or not. So I insisted we walk back up to the car to look up the trail head on our phone because we were going in!

Colt got the GPS going and we quickly found out that the original path head that we started down with the over grown path was indeed the hike (if only we would have kept going my tailbone would have been spared) but none the less we headed down.

Other than a lot of over grown plants and bushes the trail was beautiful and the stream was clear and rushing with water. The pathway was pretty easy to hike but the actual crossing of the stream was some what of a challenge (mostly because the rocks were really slippery and I was in pain) but Colt didn’t seem to have any issues (it must have been his big bad water shoes).

The hike itself offered a wide range of beauty including meadow like fields, bamboo forests, exotic trees and lots of open clearings.

Don’t let this smile fool you I was hurting but too stubborn to admit it.

The only evidence left from the dreaded fall (besides the constant pounding of course…)

After you pass the last crossing there is a split in the road, one looks like a continued path and the other a rock bed you actually continue up the rock bed and that’s when you finally reach this beautiful waterfall and swimming hole.

From here you can also climb up to a second landing where you will find a double waterfall. I guess there is also a third fall but you have to scale a rock and I wasn’t really up for the challenge today!

This hike in total is about 3 miles long, 1.5 down and 1.5 back and it took us about 2 hours because I was moving slower than usual and we stopped for awhile at the waterfalls and swimming hole. Overall this is an awesome hike with diverse views and a killer swim at the end that I would highly recommend.

I too look forward to hiking it again on another day….when my ego is better and my butts not so sore!

Do you even Blog anymore?

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Thoughts from Jenn

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Freedom, Happiness, Life, married life, self discovery

Was the question that came from my husband’s lips as we pulled up the drive from the gym at 6:30 a.m. and as his hazel green eyes stared at me waiting for an answer I couldn’t help but laugh. Looking confused he asked “well I mean I was just wondering because I thought you were going to start writing full time and get us free trips and cool stuff...” this sentence of course sent me into a fit of giggles, my husband he sure does make me laugh.

But all laughs aside his question did get me thinking and the short answer to his question is yes, I do still blog. The long answer is, not in the traditional way. I have been thinking about his question all day and it’s been bugging me because I really do LOVE writing, blogging, note booking or anything else that allows me to release some creative freedom. However, lately it seems I haven’t done a whole lot of it. As I continued to wonder why it suddenly hit me that the reason I wasn’t sitting down to blog about my life was because I have been too busy living it. I have actually been living so freely that instead of escaping to my blog I have been blogging out loud.

Rather than finding my freedom in blogging (as I have for the last year and a half) I have found my freedom in living. I have spent so much time doing the things that I love and have had less time to sit down and write about it. When I was working for corporate America the hour or two of freedom I got to myself per day I would spend blogging, I would come home or sit down on my lunch break and escape my reality. It was a time for me to connect with myself and the world and anyone else that wanted to listen because I didn’t have enough time to connect any other way. My blog in so many ways has been the only way I could slow down and reflect on everything that was spinning around me. It also allowed me to later go back and read about it from my own perspective and re-live it. I have spent many days and hours re-reading my blog from last year and re-living my wedding and all of the other countless adventures we have been on and I couldn’t be more thankful that I am able to do so.

Life recently has been simple. No drama, no bullshit, no doing things that don’t serve us, make us grow or make us happy. It has consisted of falling in love with each other again and again and living each day to fullest. We are living a life of gratitude and it seems to be blessing us daily. We have so much to be thankful for including our health, our job, our relationship, our love, our amazing family and best friends. We are building a brand new foundation as a married couple and it couldn’t be more exciting, which in turn reminds me, we have so much to be excited for but that’s for another day…

Life Lately

11 Saturday May 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Thoughts from Jenn

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free bird, free living, Happiness, Laughter, leaps of faith, Life, love, Maui life

I have honestly been so busy redirecting my life that my blog has taken a serious backseat. This has come as a big surprise to even me since I thought it would be the exact opposite once I had more “time” to give to it but the reality is most of my time has actually been spent working and I couldn’t be more happy.

Now let’s be honest we have all heard the below saying a million times but finally for the first time I am the person screaming it from the roof tops and meaning every word of it:

“Do what you LOVE and you’ll never work another day in life”

It is honestly an unexplainable feeling to know that I am now in this very rare yet growing group of people that wake up every day excited and eager to go to work and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. A few months ago I watched the Alan Watts – What do you Desire video that was circling many of my friends blogs and Facebook pages (if you haven’t yet taken the time to watch it you really should Google it) but of all the memorable and moving points that were made the one that stuck with me the most was “do what you love and the money will follow…” and from there on that’s exactly what I have been doing.

Recently along with working for my father in law at Lightning Electric LLC I have also taking on the job and title of assistant gymnastic coach with Maui Tumblers LLC. Maui Tumblers is a locally owned mobile gymnastics company that provides noncompetitive learning to children in a fun and safe environment. I am currently assisting the owner (coach) with 9 different classes 12 hours a week and it is honestly the most fun, rewarding, exciting and humbling job I have ever had. Not only do I get to do gymnastics (one of my favorite sports ever) and get a killer workout I also get to teach, learn and mentor kids ages kindergarten to 5^th grade 3 times a week. The last 3 classes that I assisted in Melissa actually allowed me to be the lead coach in warm up’s and one way street (tumbling passes) which was awesome. She later told me that she couldn’t believe that I had never coached before because I was such a natural with the kids and the coaching. This was obviously a huge compliment and boasted my confidence in knowing I had made a great decision coming on board with her and her company. Since the school year is almost over I will also be assisting her with her summer programs and I can’t wait to see what opportunities will unfold as I grow and develop with the company, classes and students.

Although having a new job has been so fun my work at Lightning Electric has also been very exciting and rewarding. After several months of hard work we finally just launched our website for the company (www.lightningelectric.net) and I couldn’t be more proud. To experience first hand the happiness this has brought my father in law is unexplainable. Building this company has been a dream come true for him and I couldn’t be more grateful to be standing alongside him and my husband as we work our asses off to make it happen.

On top of working two jobs (that I love) I have also been training hard to get back into shape and ready for my first marathon in December. I am back in the gym full time and starting May 1^st my running schedule went from running 10-15 miles per week (or about 40 – 50 miles a month) to running 15-20 miles per week (or 70-80 miles a month). I am only 5 miles away from hitting my yearly running goal of 200 miles so I figured it was time to turn up the heat and boy can I feel it! This week Colt has been giving me a run for my money on our Nike running app and although I love seeing him so motivated and determined it’s a tough pill to swallow to have him sitting in the number 1 spot for the week (especially when he keeps taunting me about it) but the good thing is he pushes me to run harder and I can already feel the difference. Previously when running I would burn out by the third mile were as recently I am getting my second wind by the third mile which leads me to believe I am getting stronger and becoming more of a distance runner. Between the running, lifting and gymnastics my body doesn’t know what to do anymore expect fall in line and it feels great to be in such control. I can honestly say it is the first time in my life that I feel so connected (mind, body, soul) and it is euphoric.

I honestly can’t believe how much has changed in just a few short months but I guess I am living, breathing, proof that when you learn to free your mind, let go and take the jump the possibilities are endless…doing what you love is freedom, loving what you do is happiness, counting my blessings daily…”

Chasing the Maui Son ✨

Author Archives: Making Magic

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Do you even Blog anymore?

Life Lately