Mahalo Maui!

I had such a good time in Maui...just what I needed to heal and relax! I also worked quite a bit while I was there...waking up at 4:30 Maui Time, 7:30 Cali time, working until 10 or 11, worked out with my dad...went to the beach...cooked great dinners...went out for dinner...went to Paia...hung out with a dear friend...read a great book...it was fabulous. I think everyone should go to Maui...it's like Disneyland for adults...but laid back, with gorgeous beaches, fantastic food, sights, shopping....and my dad and Deedee of course! I had such a great time...thanks so much, Dad and Deedee! Enjoy the pics.....

I love my dad! He is a great guy!!!  

Maui explained...

I realize that last post may have come as a surprise...I forgot to even say that I was coming to Maui! My life has been so hectic lately, I forgot what I had said on the blog and what I hadn't. In light of recent events in my life, I decided a trip to visit Maui would be a great way to clear my head and relax. I have mentioned before that my dad Steve and his wife Deedee live here. Now that I am self employed, I can really work almost anywhere...as long as I don't have meetings scheduled. So I cleared my calendar for the week and here I am! I am getting up at 4:30 Maui time, 7:30 California time. I work for 6 or 7 hours, exercise, and by noon I can head to the beach. It's perfect! Of course, I am passing out at about 8:30, but that's fine. I also find it really peaceful to get up so early here...the house is quiet, I can watch the sunrise, and focus my energy and thoughts for the day.

Yesterday I tried to run after the trip to the tomato farm at around noon, and it was AWFUL! It was so humid, I thought I was going to pass out.

Today's workout was scheduled as yoga, so I did a Dave Farmer Free Vinyasa yoga podcast...they are intense! and free on Itunes...FYI. I had the curtains open in my room over looking the Pacific Ocean. It was pitch black when I started, but 80 minutes later, the sun started to come up, my legs and arms felt stretched and strong, and I worked up a good sweat from exercise rather than from the humidity. Now I am getting some work done and am heading to the beach later. I hope to get another swim in...the beach I am going to today is much more calm on the wave front than the beach I was at yesterday, so swimming shouldn't be quite as labored as it was yesterday.

This is an old picture, but this is the beach I was at yesterday...Napili. The waves yesterday were about double this height..I am guessing 8-10 feet. I was getting tossed around everywhere...sometimes I was swimming with all my might but wasn't moving anywhere. What a great work out swimming in the ocean is.

Happy Friday. I hope you all enjoy yourselves this weekend!

Maui....

I decided to come to Maui for a few days to relax. It's also a great place to work as I have no distractions here. 

Last night my flight was late, but my step mom Deedee made me this fantastic vegetarian dinner after a trip to the new Whole Foods here. We had a huge and tasty salad and a big homemade veg pizza. It was so hard not to eat more of the pizza. It was seriously tasty...homemade pesto, squash, mushrooms, spinach...man...and sourdough crust...YUM!

Today I worked for about 6 hours, and then we went to a local farm and got some delectable tomatoes and lettuce....

 This is one of the green houses where the protect the fruit from Hawaiian bugs....

 Everything is grown hydroponicly here. Here is lettuce, basil and cucumbers...

 Baby lettuce...

 Cucumbers...the farmer just planted these about two weeks ago! They were nearly 5 feet tall. Unreal.

 This is cinnamon basil. I tasted it...it was great, but did not taste like cinnamon.

 Then I went for a run, spent time at the beach, and swam about 750 yards in the ocean! It was tiring...so I came home for a well deserved mai tai. Deedee is the bartender. 

 Mmm...mai tais....

At this point today, I have exercised twice, worked for about 7 hours, and had a hard day of relaxing at the beach. Dinner tonight is roasted tofu (my doing) and a big salad. Aloha!

My first 5k

Well, I made it through my first 5k. It was so fun! It was really exciting seeing everyone line up stretch and get ready. 

This was the view at the starting point looking out to the foggy Pacific Ocean...

Like I said, my only goal was to run the whole time...and I did! I came in at an official time of 33:04 but my timer said 32 minutes exactly. The course had tons of hills an was pretty intense but I made it to the finish. It was so exciting to hear the spectators...and I felt so official with my number and timing tag. I think I have definitely caught the race bug...my triathlon will be so exciting!

After the race, I walked around for about 90 minutes at the La Jolla Cove. I looked at the ocean and the seals...as well as the La Jolla Contemporary Art Museum.

After two hours of exercise...I headed to the beer garden. It was so fun and exciting!

 Look at me! I ran a race! :) I am so proud of myself.

I had an extravagant lunch at my favorite La Jolla restaurant, went home and sat in the sun...and then made a tasty and light dinner of roasted veg and tofu, and a big salad. What a great Sunday!

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Pre Race Jitters

Not sure if I mentioned it on the blog but I am running the La Jolla Half Marathon 5k. It's just 3.2 miles...but its my first race! I am excited but really pretty nervous.

Last night I tried an "uni shooter", basically a raw quail egg sea urchin. Why. On. Earth. is this thing so big? That is what I thought when the sushi chef brought it out and almost wimped out if front of my Hawaiian friends. I can't believe I ate it.....this looks like pickled brains!!!!! Uni is something I struggle with. It's Anthony Bourdain's favorite food in the world...most big name chefs gush over this slimy sea creature. It's rumored to be an aphrodisiac and get the ladies of the world a little randy! I don't know if I believe that...Uni has such a ritual that goes with it, there is such excitement when uni is on the menu. I also think sushi chefs take you for real if you order uni...instead of your everyday California Roll for example.  although I don't love it I try to order it once in a while. I do like the flavor of uni...like clean, crisp sea water, but softer, and somehow floral? The texture for me is a big problem. The only way I can describe the texture of uni is mushy.  But, uni is legendary and worth a go for the serious sushi eater...and I am a serious sushi eater.

Now I am about to tuck into my pre race pasta. Julienned zucchini and carrots with chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon juice, lemon zest, vegetable broth and topped with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan. I am so nervous about the race so I hope I can eat it!

Wish me luck for the race tomorrow. My only goal is to run without walking or stopping the whole 3.2 miles. 

Energizing Smoothie...

Riding the waves of yesterday's news, I woke up feeling sad, tired, and not wanting to eat. However, with all of my training, I really need to eat lots of healthy food for fuel and I knew a smoothie was just the ticket.

I blended:

1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
3/4 cup vanilla coconut milk
small handful of ice

And then I added a ton of supplements to boost my mood and energy:
1 tsp bee pollen (to fight allergies)
1 tsp spirulina (for energy and mental clarity)
1 tsp lecithin (for energy and clarity)
1/2 scoop Amazing Grass powder (for energy and greens)
1 tbsp flax
1 tsp chia seeds

The smoothie tastes fantastic (hello vanilla coconut milk!) and I hope it will give me all that I need to tackle, and enjoy my day.

I read yesterday about chia seeds on Tina's Carrots "n" Cake blog. I know they are great for you, but this excerpt from "Born to Run" really sums it up well:

In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone. As tiny as those seeds are, they’re superpacked with omega-3s, omega-6s, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants. If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you wouldn’t do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after a few months on the chia diet, you could probably swim home.

So...go out and get yourself some chia seeds! They taste great sprinkled on everything from salads to pancakes to granola...or you can just blend them into your smoothies....

Changes....

Today marks the end of an era. The closing of a four year, beautiful, wonderful chapter of my life. I feel it's so personal to share this information on my blog, but my blog is personal and I would be lying if I didn't share.

Aaron and I have decided to go our separate ways. We had an absolutely fantastic time together...partners, loves, friends, and confidants. 

Aaron is one of the best people I have ever met...and hands down my best friend. Aaron is loyal, dedicated, hard working, caring, funny, intelligent, interesting and down right wonderful.  

We have had so much fun together...I don't recall another time in my life that I have ever had so much fun. How could you not have fun with this guy?

But, after four lovely years, things have changed, and we have unreconciled differences that can't be fixed. 

I too, count myself as a fabulous person, and know in the end I will be fine...as will he.

So here I go again on my own. 

I am confident we will both have lives of love and happiness and hopefully one day will be the very best of friends. 

In the meantime, here is to the one constant in life: change. Run from it, and you will never live, embrace change, and you will constantly grow. 

Good night, Amanda and Aaron. 

Here is to each of our own tomorrows.