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Monday, June 29, 2009

A Little of This and a Little of That...

I love summer!~ I have been out of the blogging world for the past few weeks. It has been eventful...we had our good friends here visiting, so we have been in vacation mode. We met Matt Damon, saw Pierce Brosnan, visited several touristy spots, and just relaxed on the beach. We have had a lot of fun!

Of course, I am still training for the Kauai marathon (Sept. 6) and have had some great runs. It has been so hot, but those quick, cool, tropical rain showers are heaven sent! I am hoping and praying it rains on marathon day!

A few weeks ago, I was helping my friend Jackie move house. I mentioned to her some things that have been bothering me, physically. I'll give you the back history. Since moving to Kauai, I have been struggling with depression, I know, how is that possible in such a beautiful place, but it is true. I have gained weight and I have also been extra sweaty, I just chalked it up to the humidity, but I would continue to sweat for a while after my runs. It has been crazy! I expressed to Jackie how frustrated I have been and she said, "We can fix that." I was intrigued, yet skeptical.

Jackie is an RN and specializes in NeuroModular Technique (NMT). I had never heard of this before. Her description was "It's like defragging your hard-drive." So, we set up an appointment. Now, you have to know, I am queen of the skeptics! But I wanted to see what it was all about. What did I have to lose?

Night and day difference! I feel so much better, it is like the weight of the world is off my shoulders. I don't feel sad anymore, I have actually lost a few pounds and my sweating...back to normal! Honestly, I don't know how it works, but it worked for me! I have been to three sessions now. Each time I go, I have a list of things to "fix." On our last visit, I asked about my bowel issues during long runs, she said we could fix that too. I ran 15 miles on Saturday...no problems, not one cramp! It was fantastic! I don't know how it works, but it does!
If you want more information you can email me at runnergirl371 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Hope you all have a great week!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ha'ena to Hanalei

I ran the Ha'ena to Hanalei 8 mile race this morning. "The 8-mile course begins at the end of the road in Ha'ena, traversing the scenic stretch of road and one-lane bridges along the breathtaking North Shore towards Hanalei Town. Turn left at Anae Road after the Waioli Bridge, and then turn right at Weke Road to the finish at the Hanalei Pier." This was the 29th annual fundraiser run for the Hanalei Canoe Club.

As with everything, racing is different here on Kauai. You runners will be able to appreciate these differences. First of all, I picked up my packet yesterday. They handed me my race number and gave me a Ziploc bag with a shirt. That's it. No timing chip, which, I kind of expected since it was only an 8 mile run....They shuttled the 8 mile runners to the starting line. I made my way to the bathroom and noticed several people with timing chips on their ankles. What? They had them layed out over a car and handed them out as they saw your race number. There was no real start line, per se, just a big area (the road) where everyone was hanging out waiting to start. And then all of a sudden people started running...hehehe. But the highlight of the race was entrant # 36. She was such a cute "little lady" black fur, four legs and a wet nose! Only on Kauai! ( :

I have told you about this course before, it is beautiful! The road is a curvy, hilly, two-lane road. There are a number of one-lane bridges, where one side of traffic must stop and yield to the other. They didn't shut down the road for the race, like every other race I've ever run. But again, this is Kauai, so, the cars just slowed down and waited for the runners to go to the side of the road. On the one-lane bridges, you only had room enough to run single file behind the other runners if there was a car on the bridge, which made it hard to pass during those points.
There were no mile markers, except the tiny barely visible highway mile markers that run backwards on the other side of the road. But they did have several aid stations along the way, which was great.

The finish line... there really wasn't one. It was more of a cluster. After they removed the timing chip there was someone handing out water and fruit (watermelon and oranges). And they had a pancake breakfast! (one of my favorite things, by the way). My friend made me a ti leaf lei, which, I must admit is the coolest "medal" I've ever received! 

All in all it was a great race. I had low expectations going into it, but the beauty of the course far out ways the craziness....My Garmin said 1:14, but my official time was 1:12. Not bad for me.

Coming in to the finish line 

I love Hanalei Bay!! (It was named #1 beach in the country) 
The Wai'oli Mountain Range is magnificent!

Aloha!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

NRD


Have you done your run today? I ran a great 6 miler this morning before the kidlets woke up! The sun was just coming up and it was beautiful. If you haven't already, lace up those runners and celebrate. ( :