Maui!

We are so lucky we arrived here the week AFTER the heavy rains and flooding. We flew in on Sunday afternoon and, except for a few stray drops Sunday night, haven't seen any rain.

Our weather so far has been pretty good. Sunday evening was quite windy, but both yesterday and today have been pleasant, some scattered clouds but enough spells of sun and blue sky to suffice. Temperatures in the mid-70s to 80, mostly, I think.

My secret is that I don't really want it to be TOO hot. Especially in the mornings, when I run! And especially on this coming Sunday morning!

I've been leery to go out and run while it's still dark out (which it is until at least 7 am), so both yesterday and today I ended up out around 8:00. Which has been fine. I wear shorts and a sleeveless top, and I am sweating by the end, but I haven't felt overheated at all. I suppose it would be good to get out earlier for planning purposes, but I am on vacation after all!

Tomorrow will be a rest day as we have an early trip to Molokai scheduled. Thursday may also be an off day depending on how early we leave for a drive to Hana...it will be quite early, I am sure.

My running course here has been basic but it works. I run north along Front Street in Lahaina from Prison Street till Front Street turns into the highway (that's about two miles). Then I run along the highway for just a bit (there's a wide shoulder) until I veer off onto a dirt trail that parallels the highway and the water. It probably goes a couple miles (maybe a little less) before it starts running into some resorts (Hyatt Regency, etc). Today I continued on through some parking lots and onto the grounds of the Hyatt before turning around and retracing my route back. Final destination, Starbucks!

Yesterday I did 6.7 miles total and I swear, for the first five miles my legs were lead. I was so relieved when they perked up at the end! Today I felt much better from the start and did 8.5 total. As I mentioned, tomorrow is off, Thursday is either off or very short, and Friday will be my last run before the half marathon on Sunday.

On the vacation side of things, yesterday we drove up to Haleakala (the mountain/volcano). Much cooler up there--I was happily wearing a jacket, hat and gloves. On the way back we stopped in Makawao for some cute boutique shopping and dinner at the historic Makawao Steak House.

Sunday night, our arrival day, we headed to Aloha Mixed Plate for some cheap, plentiful local food. Our only misjudment was the distance--we decided to walk and it was 1.5 mile each way! That's not far on my running routes, but after a long flight, when we were starving and not wearing walking shoes, we would have been better off with the car.

However, it filled our bellies! We both got the Ali'i Plate which included (as I recall): lomi salmon (yum), poi (meh), kalua pork (always a yum), lau lau (double yum!), rice (I had brown), and a gelatinous coconut dessert that I don't know the name of. But it was good and apparently Mark Twain really liked it when he was here (per Rod, who read Letters from Hawaii last year).

One more food thing. For lunch today Rod picked up a couple of musubi from the grocery store (at my suggestion). What is that, you ask? Okay, don't be shocked. It's a local favorite. A slab of rice topped with a slice of spam (and some kind of unknown sauce) wrapped in seaweed. They're wrapped in saran wrap for selling. A compact, handy snack or light meal. I liked it! :)
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