Maui No Ka Oi

two little runners ~ Kristen

Ah yes, gentle readers, we left off with aloha--I was Maui bound for a birthday vacation. 

When people ask me how old I am, I have to think about it for a minute. Does that happen to you? As a runner, I think my age 5 year intervals:  currently still rocking 30-34. 

Maui was also my last week of easy running/base building/mileage buildup. But as it turns out, although Maui is an amazing tropical paradise, it is not a great place to run. (1) It is windy. (2) Activities start before dawn because the best weather and water conditions are in the early morning. (3) Pina coladas. 

The deets. 

We stayed at the Ritz in Kapalua. Thanks to a major hookup from my Ragnar teammate (SoCal April 19-20!), we got upgraded to an ocean view suite and treated to a bunch of goodness at the Ritz. Awesome resort. Kapalua is beautiful with its rugged coast and pine trees. The *one* run I did the week we were there was along the Kapalua coastal trail, which is gorgeous. But I only ran 3.5 miles, ouch. So much for easy running/base building/mileage buildup. 

Lava rocks!

But there was hiking. In the weeks before we arrived, Maui had tons of rain. We saw huge waterfalls over two days of hiking along the Road to Hana. 

400 foot waterfall.

We jumped into a sea cave and then warmed up on a black sand beach. 

No progress on those runner tan lines.

For the birthday itself, we went on a whale watching/snorkeling/booze cruise. 

No one tells you this - but you need a windbreaker in Maui - it
was my most worn item of clothing!

There were so many whales we didn't know which way to look! And when we were snorkeling, we could hear their songs under the water. 

Whale!

We did a couple of other snorkeling days, seeking sea turtles--but were Bogarted on turtles! 

Other major activity was a 30 mile bike ride down the (inactive) volcana on Maui--Haleakala. 10,000 feet (and dang it is cold and windy up there) all the way back down to sea level.

Looking down on the crater. 

The biggest surprise of the trip was how much I liked swimming in the ocean. Is a triathlon in my future?

two little runners ~ Kristen