30 days until 30

23 Friday May 2014

Posted by Making Magic in Coach Jenn, Life on Maui, Runners HI, Wanderlust

…2 days until Anu’s Bach party, 6 days until the end of the regular school year, 7 days until my Moms 50th birthday in Oahu, 15 days until my Uncle Rays Maui wedding, 30 days until my 30th birthday, 50 days until Anu & Joe’s wedding, 55 days until Colt’s 30th birthday, 81 days until Lika’s wedding, 94 days until our 2 year wedding anniversary and 113 days until Kevin and Kristen’s wedding in Florida! (whew, are you exhausted yet?!?)

To say I’ve been busy would be a total understatement but not the kind of busy that you hate and all you want to do is pull your hair out, but more of the kind of busy that your non-stop living your life and wishing that there were just a few more hours in everyday. With that being said you can only imagine my surprise when I jumped on my blog to renew my yearly dues and I realized I haven’t posted since December (shame, shame) so here it goes!

This school year of coaching has been nothing short of amazing! I’ve learned so much and grown not only as a person but also as a coach. I’ve established an irreplaceable relationship with my students and I couldn’t feel more blessed to wake up everyday and go to a job that I truly love! It’s been such a positive and enlightening change in my life and I often wonder how I EVER (ever) did anything else!

On top of coaching full time and Lightning Electric part time I’ve also recently started a new adventure with a long time friend and his production company. The role is still evolving but I’m excited to be apart of yet another successful small business on Maui that I believe in. It’s such a big (and rewarding) change after working for corporate all those years!

Aside from my professional life my personal life has also been delightfully busy and filled with all of the things that I love which include but aren’t limited to being a wife to Colt, being a maid of honor to my best friend Kristen and Anu, spending time with family & friends, running, beaching, exploring and traveling!

The Warrior Dash in Oahu, I finished in the top 20 woman in my heat which was a huge accomplishment not to mention a blast!

The run till your green race was my fastest 5k to date!

The happiest 5k on earth, need I say more!

I also took a girls trip to Tahoe with Anu to celebrate her upcoming wedding. To say it was the best girls trip EVER would be the biggest understatement of the century.

After Tahoe came my favorite trip of the year which is going to Cali to visit sister stew, go to stagecoach (watching Lynyrd Skynyrd perform free bird live is now at the top 10 happiest moments of my life) and of course we couldn’t leave without saying hello to the mouse!

As you can clearly see married life continues to get better by the day. Being married to your best friend is truly life’s greatest blessing. I fall in love with Colt more and more everyday and being away from him (even only for the work day) is truly hard. I love being by his side, he makes my life richer and me better. I can’t wait to celebrate our 5 years together, and 2 years married in August!

When I woke up this morning and realized it was 30 days until 30 a part of me felt really sad to know that my 20’s (the best years of my life, thus far) were coming to an end. Yet part of me felt so incredibly overwhelmed with excitement for the next year to come! 30 — three zero — the fact that I am now a walking and talking adult is still extremely weird and overwhelming to me on the daily and now to know that I’m a soon to be thirty year old is even weirder!!! Especially when you hear things like “make sure you have a good a skin-care regimen if you don’t already” and that my exercise routine will now be a necessity rather than a leisure which I can’t lie scares me a lot. But on the flip side I am also ready to find out the good stuff like why they say life begins at 30 and to experience all the new adventures, lessons and blessings that are yet to come.

As for the rest, they say counting time isn’t as important as making time count..” and I fully intend to do just that!

Unless you puke, faint or die, keep going…

05 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Runners HI

≈ 2 Comments

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!

Great. Aloha. Run

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Runners HI

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Tags

8 miles, community, Fitness, goals, Hawaii, mile foot race, runners, running, sports

This past weekend Colt & I ran our first race of 2013 with my sister & her friend Jen in Oahu. We had signed up for the Great Aloha Run back in January when we made our New Year’s resolutions to run 200 miles over the course of the year. At the time I thought that goal would be attainable without it being too easy or too hard. I liked the idea of attaching miles to my workouts and signing up for some races as well.

The Great Aloha Run or GAR is an 8.15-mile foot race in Oahu that begins at the Aloha Tower and finishes in the Aloha Stadium. The Great Aloha Run has been recognized nationally as one of the top “100 Great Road Races” to participate in by Runner’s World Magazine and this year they had over 18,000 runners. It is a relatively flat course with several aid stations and a ton of entertainment which makes it perfect for any runner.

Here I am with my sister at Aloha Stadium getting ready to catch the bus to Waikiki at 4am (fun fact: it was her birthday and she still got up to run 8.15 miles)

Riding the bus from Aloha Stadium to Aloha Towers to the starting line. I look way to excited considering it is 4am and we are about to run 8 miles.

At one point of the course you run under the highway so there is a lot of shade and the temperature is cool. This was our favorite part of the run and lasted for a good two mile stretch. They also had multiple aid stations with water, bands and tons of people cheering you on!

one of the many bands playing music and cheering on all the runners

A kids band playing awesome music and cheering on all the runners.

You run into the stadium to cross the finish line and it is pretty awesome. Colt said he as he ran in he could just imagine the whole crowd erupting and screaming "COLT" as he crossed the finish line (not going to lie the energy and feel really was that cool)

You run into the stadium to cross the finish line and it is pretty awesome. Colt said as he ran in he could just imagine the whole crowd erupting and screaming “COLT” as he crossed the finish line. I am going to have to agree, the energy was AWESOME!

So happy to be done and run right into Colt’s arms! (I will have more pictures of all of us crossing the finish line once the photographers upload all of them onto the GAR website)

Going to see my Mom, Kai, Addie and Brandon after the race. It’s so fun to have people waiting and cheering you on.

Colt, Jess and I with our proud Mama. She was so proud of us for doing it.

Colt, Jess and I with our Mama. She was so proud of us.

Colt's officail time, 1:15:19 I couldn't have been more proud of him. He totally rocked it at 9:15 minute miles!

Colt’s official time was 1:15:19. I could not have been more proud of him. He did so amazing and ran 9:13 minute miles. He truly inspires me.

My sister & her friend Jen did so awesome also they finished in 1:25:15! This was amazing considering my sister predicted upon signing up that she would finish in 2 1/2 to 3 hours haha she is so funny!

My sister & her friend Jen rocked it and finished in 1:25:15! This was amazing considering my sister predicted upon signing up that she would finish in 2 1/2 to 3 hours haha she is so funny!

I beat my personal goal by 2 minutes and finished in 1:18:21 about 3 minutes behind Colt. He really set the mile pace for me and pushed me to run faster and harder. I couldn’t believe I finished 145 in my age category out of 1258 other runners! I’ll take it for my first 8 mile run.

Go Team!

Now for the fun part! Rewarding ourseleves with fresh Acai bowls from the North Shore truck and pieces of pies for Colt and Jess.

Now for the fun part! Rewarding ourself with fresh Acai bowls from the North Shore truck and pieces of pies for Colt and Jess.

Great Aloha Run Finishers. I am so blessed to have this man by my side. Thanks GAR for a great run! We will see you again next year.

Great Aloha Run Finishers. I am so blessed to have this man by my side. Team work makes the dream work. Thanks GAR for a great run! We will see you again next year.

As of today I have already ran 73.16 miles (in January I ran 42.88 and so far in February I ran 30.2) only 126.84 more miles to go until I hit my goal for the year!

(I think I might have to consider a new goal….)

Chasing the Maui Son ✨

Category Archives: Runners HI

30 days until 30

Unless you puke, faint or die, keep going…

Hana Relay 2013

Week 1, donezo

From Zero to Three Hundred

Great. Aloha. Run