More. To This Life.

The Cure finally came to Hawaii.  First time ever.  Steve bought us tickets, the day they went on sale, and I must say that I felt like a teenager driving to the Blaidsdell Arena.  I was that excited.  And we stashed beer in a cooler.  Rebels.

refreshment in the car before the concert. 

They played Lovecats. Hot Hot Hot. Let’s Go To Bed. This Close To Me. LOVE that music.  I wore super high strappy sandals.  The damage they did to my feet in 3 hours will be felt for a least a few days.  Next time I’m wearing my Newtons.

Which leads me to why I am blogging.  I ran into a ton of people I hadn’t seen in a long. long. time at the concert.  Some Facebook “friends” who I rarely see, but we keep tabs on each other through social media.  At one point in our lives we saw each other face to face.  Often.

Three women.  Not together.  All commented on my running.  Like the first thing out of their mouth. 

“Love keeping up with your running.”

“Wish I could run like you”. To which I replied, just lace up your shoes and run.

 “I think of you and want to run, but….”.  See above comment.

“Are your pictures staged?” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“You inspire me Malia!”  Music to my ears.

You get the picture.  They didn’t ask about my work.  I do work 40 hours a week, usually more. I carry a phone on me and am “on call” 24/7. In fact the night of the concert.  6:30 pm. I was working.  While applying make up.  And figuring out an outfit. No one asked about my kids either.  Have 3 of those the last time I checked.  3 darling little creatures who are constantly asking for money. Or anything else in my life.  Not that cooking. laundry. or keeping up with the house is very interesting.

I was in no way offended.  I LOVE to chat about running.  They probably regretted opening up that conversation.  

But it got me thinking....

Have I given the impression on Facebook that all I do is run?  It is my happy place.  (Other happy place is the beach. In Hawaii.) I love to share my adventures.  And the underlying goal: inspire someone to get out the fricken door.  Cancer? Puuleeez! Kids? Apparently The Bob is the new Baby Jogger stroller.  Husband deployed?  All the more reason to lace up the shoes.  Yet running only takes up a very. very. very small portion of my day.

Let's average 1.5 hours of running a day. Ok, maybe 2 hours.  There ARE 24 hours in a day.

I don’t find my office super interesting.  (Work yes. But a lot of what I do is not be to shared.)  Except when I get a Plank Owner's Surfboard.  Stein. Country Music Stars stop by for a visit.  Speedy aircraft.  Then I take a picture and post.

Speedy Aircraft.  The pilots I work with are much more badass than those that fly these.  I just think jets are way cool! 

No one needs to know how many loads of laundry I fold a day.  Or when I clean the house.  But I do “chores” daily.  Really I do.  I do not wear Lululemon throughout the day.  I’m not sure my boss would approve.  So I put on a dress, with heels.  Weekends? I live in a bathing suit.  After my run, of course.

Football season started today.  My feed will soon have game posts about the most adorable 10 year old.  1^st Cross Country Meet is at the end of the month.   Yeeeeeees. You know I must give weekly race reports.  The oldest is in college.  Surely there will be some OSU updates that I must share?!

Am I obsessed with running?  I feel quite certain I've given that impression. Probably not a good week to have this conversation with myself.  Monday, I “officially” started the countdown training plan to my 1^st Ultra in October.  And knock off some minutes for The Honolulu Marathon in December.  I would carefully say that running is my hobby and sanity rolled up into one.  It also keeps me fit and healthy.  And challenged.  The challenge makes me feel alive and incredibly fortunate when I conquer it. 

There are days when Kanoa wakes up before I get home from my run.  Sometimes he is waiting for me at the door with his Brooks on.  And we log a mile together.  Other times he is watching TV, still waking up.  There are hours when running takes Steve and I away from the kids.  But we choose to have date “night” in the morning running 3 hours in the mountains.  We could drive into town.  Eat at a restaurant.  See a movie.  Same amount of time away from home.  Running mountains is our idea of a great time together.

"Date" morning started with a sunrise on the north shore.  17 miles of beauty followed.

 

 

This run was gorgeous.  I ran it with Steve and Kai.  And a part of it with Kiana and Kanoa.

Facebook is filled with people I've known since I was five to peeps I've never even met in person.  I get messages from people who ran their first 5k and wanted to share it with me. If they share it with me because they think my whole life is running. Well....that is pretty awesome.

Running truly brings me joy.  Which is why I post about it so much.  But there is so much more to this life than my runs.  I just happen to work everything in around the run.  Or after the run.  Whatever...  

First "Official" Trail Race

I am no longer a Trail Race Finisher virgin! I've been running trails for well over a year, when Steve decided to tackle the Pikes Peak Marathon.  Not only have we been running the trail systems on O'ahu, but took a one week trip through the Ozarks to run.

The trails in Hawai'i are challenging.  roots. rocks. mud. They present big challenges for me as coordination is not in my vocabulary.

I did spend 20 miles on trails above Manoa for the most challenging race on Oahu, the H.U.R.T. 100 where I paced Lavy to the finish so she could claim her Belt Buckle.  We spent a lot of time "Riking" (Running/Hiking).  I'm super efficient at that.

I also paced Steve for the New Year's Revolution Ultra Run at Kualoa Ranch in January.  Beautiful trails, challenging....Steve's race, not mine.

Everyone is very supportive and appreciative you when you are a pacer, as it's no joke to "help" an athlete complete 100 miles.  But it wasn't my race.

After being a little too competitive with myself and discouraged over this whole liver/diaphragm pain which has slowed down my training, I decided to sign up for a trail race.  The H.U.R.T. Kaena Point Firecracker 10 miler seemed my best bet of 1. Remaining Upright and 2. Running the entire race.

Ran the course last week for a pre-race training run with some of the H.U.R.T. crew and although it is hotter than the hottest day in Africa out there, I knew I could run the entire course.  And I did, except for the one moment when I huge rock jumped in front of my path and I landed on my side/stomach/hands.

My hands. With gravel.

My elbow.  With gravel.

I spare you the knee and foot.  I did pop right back up and keep running.  I then asked the photographer down the way if he got a picture of it, but he didn't.  Now THAT would have been worth the fall.

Right after I became one with the rocks.  Notice the dirt and blood....and smile!

I was super fortunate to have one of my training partners run the 2nd half with me.  She kept my mind off of the heat and humidity.  The long uphill mile-ish at the end was brutal, but since I was running with her, I didn't slow down.  The race ended on the sand and my friend and I were sitting in 4th and 5th.  I told her I was not going to pass her.  She stopped when I fell.  It was a combined effort getting to the finish.  Finishing was awesome.

Who needs Girl's Night Out?  We have trails to conquer! 

Finishing not only Top 10, but Top 5 women was surprising.  I didn't want to suck.  Or come in last.  Added bonus: 4 of the top 5 train together.  I'm trying to get super woman Rachel to join us once in awhile. :)

Top 5 Women.  Honored to be in the presence of these amazing ladies!