Winter Swimming in Hawaii

I've been wanting to write a post about our time open water swimming in Hawaii for, well years now. Today is the day!

 

mrC is a good swimmer. I used to swim in my grandparent's pool as a kid, but that's not the same as ocean swimming.

While living in Hawaii, I wanted to take advantage of two things:

1. warm water - the average temperature ranges from 76-81 degrees 

2. clear water - reduces my fear of what might in the water

One winter day during our first year in Hawaii, I came across a swimming group that met at our local beach in Kailua every Sunday: One With the Ocean. I reached out and they assured me that all are welcome, even beginners. The first time we went, we decided to paddle out on our SUP boards with the group to learn more about the route which started at the beach, out to Flat Island (some swam around it) and back. Our second week, we joined the group and we were quickly left behind. They were already around the island by the time we made it there!

Most of the group were previous competition swimmers and no one was a beginner. Although super nice, I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable swimming with them if mrC wasn't there. We decided to modify the route to something a little more manageable.

After that, we would meet the group on the beach to say hello and then walk down to our starting point and swim our route to the island. Usually we were the first to arrive, which gave us a much needed break waiting for the group coming from farther away. 

Sometimes, mrC and I would wear fins to make our swim a little easier. It's amazing how much faster you can go with those things on!

There are a lot of things I miss about living in Hawaii and swimming is definitely on my top 10 list. It was hard, but making it to the island was a huge accomplishment.

Maybe one day I will be able to swim in the waters here in Maine & New Hampshire....I won't hold my breath though, haha!

What is something you miss about a place you used to live or visit?

Koko Crater Arch Hike + Eternity Beach

One of the things I love about living on Oahu is the hiking. We don't hike as often as I would like, but when we do it is never a disappointment.

The Koko Crater Arch trail is located in East Honolulu, near Hawaii Kai. We picked this one because it isn't far from our neighborhood and is rated as moderate in the All Trails app. Plus, I love hikes that have an interesting feature. In this case, the arch.

Even though we did this hike on a beautiful Saturday morning, we had no trouble finding a parking spot at the Halona Blowhole parking lot. All Trails did not have trailhead information, but I found a couple blog posts that did and it seemed pretty easy and straightforward. We just had to walk along a narrow busy road about 100 feet to mile marker 15, cross the road and start climbing. 

So we walked, first past the beach we would go to later, and then the Japanese Fishing Shrine. I admit that I'm a terrible judge of distance, but it felt like more than 100 feet and we didn't see a mile marker. 

After crossing the road and walking back and forth, we found the broken mile marker. Thanks Hawaii DOT. We also found two entrances...one was on the All Trails map and the other looked easier. We went with easy.

We had to climb up some rocks to get to the trail, but then it was pretty easy walking across the lava rock. It was very windy, but we didn't mind and the views were spectacular. Soon enough we saw the trail we were supposed to be on when some hikers started making their way down. We weren't too far off, but we had a steep climb and some brush to get through until we were able to merge.

Looking up to the arch and beyond to the ridge

Once we were on the main trail, we took our time, carefully making our way up the steeper and steeper trail until we were eventually standing below the arch. As mrC said, we're not billy goats, so we opted to climb off to the left and go under rather than over the arch.

Loose gravel combined with the steepness and the wind made this the hardest part of the hike, but it was worth it. It was awesome to sit under the arch and take in the ocean views. 

More adventurous hikers continued past the arch and up to the ridge, but we had a beach to get to (and we are happy to stick with moderate climbs). To get back down to the trail, we had to scoot on our bums or fear slipping on the gravel, but then we just took our time going down the lava rock trail.

We stayed on the proper trail on the way down. The alternate entrance we took at the start was pretty easy for climbing up, but super steep to go down. When we got to the end of the trail, we had to climb down a much bigger section of rocks. Only one slip on the gravel (me!) and now I can say I've had lava burn.

mrC got us safely back to the car, where we grabbed our beach bag and hiked down to Halona Cove Beach, aka Eternity Beach. If you’ve seen the movie From Here to Eternity, this is where they filmed the beach kissing scene.

People more courageous than us were jumping off the rocks into the water, but we were quite happy to sit on our towel and watch. We respect the water and have no intention of needing a rescue (and for the record, this beach has no lifeguards and is technically off limits).

The cool thing about this beach, is that you can't see it from the road when you're driving past. I guess that's why it is also called Secret Beach!

We counted this hike as our leg day, although I think we could've done our regular workout, too. We didn't beat ourselves up over it though.

Let me know if you have any questions!

When the Winds Chased Us Up to the Lanikai Pillboxes

Fridays are our day for active recovery - low impact activities. We love to take the SUP boards out. We paddle and float, paddle and float. It's relaxing, but also great movement for the day.

Lately, the winter weather in Hawaii has been making it difficult to get out on the boards. We have had wind advisories and high surf advisories a lot more than last year. So, it wasn't super surprising when we loaded up our boards last Friday only to discover the water was way too choppy.

Instead of paddling out to the Mokuluas, we did a quick change of clothes and went for a hike up to the Lanikai Pillboxes.

The first time we did this hike was right after moving to Oahu in May of 2019. It's right in our neighborhood, so we pledged to do it ALL THE TIME. That hasn't happened.

But thanks to the windy day, we got back up to enjoy the views of the Mokes from above. 

This hike is short and sweet...or maybe quick and dirty is a better description. From car door to the top and back down is only 1.40 miles over an elevation gain of 418 feet.

Most of the hike is a gradual (less than) moderate climb, but there are some portions (like the beginning) that are leg burners and get your heart pumping. The best part of the big climbs are the views you get while you're taking a break to catch your breath.

We passed the first pillbox and made our way to the second one at the top. Once there, we found a spot to sit, enjoy the view and the blueberry protein bars we brought with us to break our fast! I love them, but I think they taste even better with that view.

So the day the winds chased us up to the Lanikai Pillboxes turned out to be an awesome back-up plan for paddle boarding.

When has your plans fallen through only to end up leading to something even better?

15 Minutes of Fire and Breaking in New Shoes

Tuesday's workout was 15 minutes of FIRE!!

Haha, not kidding. I should have known that Head Trainer Le was going to bring the fire to her Kettlebell workout. She always does. This workout had every single muscle shaking and completely dead in 15 minutes.

There were three pods

Each pod had 2 sets

Set 1 was 3 minutes of EMOM

Set 2 was 2 minutes of endurance

Here are some screen shots of some of the moves. To see videos of my workouts, you can follow my IG stories.

OMGOSH! Those were the longest 3 minutes and 2 minutes!!

It was the toughest FASTer Way workout for me so far in 2021 and I love it!

I love being part of a program that continues to challenge me. As I told my VIP clients this week, if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. I might not have finished all the reps each time, but I know that in this program I will continue to get stronger and grow. I’m proud of that!

The weather was so much better (if you missed it, Monday I wore pants), so I was able to get in a walk for my LISS. Best part, I broke in my new shoes! I know they are running shoes and I don't run anymore, but after walking over 15 miles last week, I need shoes with cushion. This is my first pair of Brooks and I figure run happy, walk happy. Same, same.

I only had time to walk to the Lanikai Monument and back before getting home to eat and get cleaned up for client calls. The monument turn around used to be my long walk. I love going down the hill to the lava rock to look for honu (turtles) and enjoy the view. No honu today, but the view was spectacular.

Do wear different shoes for your workouts (HIIT, strength) from your running/walking?

Cold Enough for Pants + Low Carb Eats

Yesterday was our first low carb day of the week. Sometimes I like low carb days, sometimes I don't. I think I was feeling a little cranky about all things yesterday because it was cold and rainy in Hawaii. Full disclosure it was about 70 degrees most of the day. Cold enough for me to wear pants -> I wear shorts 99.9999% of the time for my workouts.

Our workout for the day was HIIT with giant sets. We did three giant sets and completed each one twice. Each giant set had 4 moves with 10 reps each. It was a typical high intensity workout. The first move is kind of easy and fools you into thinking the workout won't be that bad, but then the intensity sneaks up on you! This might sound crazy, but it's the ones on the ground that get me every time - in & outs, man makers, mountain climbers on steroids. I was happy when it was finished!

Since it was too rainy to go for a walk, I did 20 minutes of LISS (low intensity steady state cardio) on my spin bike as my cool down.

Then it was time to break my fast. In the FASTer Way lifestyle we practice intermittent fasting. I fast 16 hours a day and eat for 8 hours. Most of the time I break my fast around 11AM and close my eating window by 7PM. Yesterday, I made egg wraps using low carb (but not gluten free) wraps. These wraps are stuffed with eggs, ham, chicken sausage, spinach and avocado. They were soooo good!

For lunch I made a chocolate blueberry protein shake. It's a recipe from the FASTer Way meal guide and currently on repeat.

Before lunch, I used our indoor grill to prep a few chicken breasts for dinner and probably today since I'm on my own ---> mrC had another overnight trip. 

My afternoon snack: strawberries. Low carb day doesn't mean no carb. We subtract fiber from our carb total. So the more fiber you have, the more carbs you can have.

For dinner I heated up some green beans and mashed cauliflower to go with the chicken breast I grilled earlier. Protein and veggies is the basic combo for low carb meals. And simple.

I spent the rest of my day checking in on my clients and hanging out in my winter wear. It was kind of nice wearing pants all day because it doesn't happen often...or ever here.

What's the weather like where you live?

Do you eat low carb at all?

Thanksgiving at the Hale Koa

Neither mrC or I have any desire to make a big Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of us. Instead we treat ourselves to the traditional turkey meal at a restaurant every year we are away from family. 

This year, the pandemic made it a little more challenging because of state guidelines for restaurants. Never one to be deterred, mrC found a way for us to enjoy a delicious dinner and staycation too!

After finishing our FASTer Way 5K walk and breaking our fast with a smoothie, we packed an overnight bag and headed into town, aka Honolulu. We were staying at the Hale Koa for the night and having dinner at Koko at Kalia, one of the hotel restaurants.

The Hale Koa is the military hotel in town. We've overnighted here for early morning flights before we officially moved to Hawaii. This is also where we came to see a luau when the girls and Sean were visiting.

They let us check in early, so we had plenty of time to put on our fancy clothes and share some wine on the lanai before we headed to our dinner reservation.

I was so happy when the hostess led us to our table and it was one with a view ---> it's hard to see in the photo, but we had view of the garden, the beach and the water. Being on the west side, we were in direct line of the sun. Fortunately it was partly cloudy because the sun warms things up quickly. In the shade and with the breeze, I would have needed the jacket hanging off the back of my chair.

Unlike like the big buffet we had at Hickam AFB last year, our dinner was a set menu. Onion soup followed by the main course and then dessert (we passed). It was SO. MUCH. food. The soup was delicious. I loved the asparagus (normally don't because it's too soggy), and the turkey and potatoes were very good. mrC had multiple helpings of the cranberry sauce and neither one of us cared for the stuffing.

After dinner we walked to the store to get some snacks -> sounds funny, I know. Our dinner was at 4PM because we wanted to be sitting on the beach for sunset. I knew I would want something crunchy later.

We sat right on the sand to watch the sunset, a few surfers and one crazy guy swimming with the sharks. mrC always reminds me that sunset is the time of day that the sharks get hungry, too. Ha! 

We spotted a heart on the high rise hotel next to us. Can you see it?

Walking back to the hotel, we got to see all the festive lights ready for the next holiday.

In the morning, I sipped my coffee and watched the sky light up from our lanai while mrC was still sleeping. 

After he woke up, we took our coffees and went to sit on the beach for a bit before heading off to our leg day at the gym.

We have learned to make the best of holidays away from family. I hope you had a wonderful holiday, too!