Martha's So-Called Life

fall adventures - maui, part 2

On Friday we hiked out on the lava field to a lovely beach with awesome tide pools.  We parked at La Perouse Bay (which is apparently good for snorkeling) and hiked on the trail that was supposedly built in th 1500s and used to go around the whole island.  It was not an easy hike ("annoyingly rocky" according to the guidebook), but worth it.

We saw tons of wildlife: goats, whales, spinner dolphins, and a whole bunch of sea creatures in the tide pools.  

After our hike we headed to a sandy beach to cool and rinse our feet and watch the sun set.

fall adventures - maui, part 1

We arrived in Maui last Saturday.  After waiting over an hour to get our car (and we did have a reservation), we headed to Paia for fish tacos at the Paia Fish Market.  A-mazing.  Seriously, probably the best fish tacos I have ever had.  

After dinner we walked around Paia, got some gelato, and then headed to our condo.  We went to check out the beach nearby before heading to the grocery store to get essentials.  The moon was full and very dramatic at the beach.

On Sunday we went to the beach.

Then we went to the Five Palms for pupu happy hour...and ate all the food (seriously, we ordered more than 50% of the happy hour menu).

On Monday...we went to the beach.

After snorkeling, we went to another beach for lunch and boogie boarding.  

On Tuesday we headed upcountry to Haleakala.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  

On Thursday...we went to the beach up past Lahaina for more boogie boarding.

winter training plans

After several exchanges via Facebook messages with my running buddies who are scattered across the country (well, there's two of us on the West Coast and several on the East Coast...apparently no one wants to live in the middle part of the country...) about what races we want to run next year, I realized that it's time to start thinking about training for my next race.  Yikes!  It's been almost exactly a month since I have gone for a run.  I'm not going to lie...I've enjoyed the time off, but I'm ready to start cardioing it up again.  

In my infinite wisdom I signed up for the Disney Princess Half again (I have bad luck with this race) AND the 10k the day before.  So, I'll be running 19 miles in two days...in Florida...where it's humid and hot.  Why do I keep doing this to myself?  I'm not sure.  I guess I like to torture myself.  

Anyway, I whipped up a training plan for the next three and a half months and realized that 1) I have no idea how to run back to back races and 2) being in Africa for almost three weeks the month before these races is going to make things difficult.  I'll survive and adapt I suppose.  I wish that I could see running a race for fun and not trying to do my best, but I don't think that is part of my genome.  

I'm pretty sure that I'll replace some of my easy miles with cross-country skiing, given that winter running is difficult at best, but I'll be sure to keep all of my quality workouts (tempo, speed work, etc.) as running workouts.  

Ok, enough talking about running...time to go for a run!

going to africa - the logistics

In the last few weeks, my trip to Burkina Faso has become very real.  More than just I'm going to Africa in January.  A couple of weeks ago, Dr. McCreary had me and the other nurse who is going with her over for breakfast to talk details.  

That relieved a lot of anxiety for me and allowed me to simply be excited about this trip.  We looked at some photos, talked about what we would be doing and how things ran at the clinic, where we would be staying, and details about getting there.  

The next steps involved getting the necessary vaccinations.  Yellow fever is the only vaccine required to enter the country, but there are several other vaccines that are recommended for travel to that part of the world: Hepatitis A and B, polio, meningococcal, tetanus, and typhoid.  Fortunately, I had Hep A and B prior to going to nursing school.  The rest however, I had to get either for the first time or get boosters.  

I made an appointment at a local clinic that specializes in travel medicine.  I ended up talking to the doctor for over an hour about what I should and shouldn't get as well as malaria prophylaxis and any other medications I might need while gone.  We decided on five (!) vaccines (typhoid, yellow fever, polio booster, TDaP, and a meningococcal booster), the right kind of malaria pills, and antibiotics for travelers diarrhea.  

We also decided that since I tend to react strongly to the TB test I have to get every year, that maybe we should do one vaccine per arm and I could come back and get the rest at a later time.  That way, if I had a reaction to one, we would know what it was and be aware for the future.  Good thing too, because my tetanus shot made my body rather angry...

Now I have all the required documents to apply for my visa, which I will be doing this week.  

I also purchased our plane tickets last night.  I'm surprised that my credit card company has not called me yet to ask me to verify charges.  They were rather expensive.  However, we were able to work in a two day layover in Chicago where we can visit my grandma.  I think this will be a nice way to split up almost 10,000 and 36 hours of traveling.  

We still have to work on gathering supplies that we need to take with us as well as figuring out how to pack all of it.

Also, if you are interested in donating to this trip, please email me ([email protected])!  I previously mentioned donating through Alaska Medical Missions, which you can still do, but know that your donation will not go to our trip or the McCreary Foundation.  I am working on setting up a website for the McCreary Foundation, but in the mean time, get in touch with me and I will share with you how to donate.

Thank you for all of your interest and support in this adventure!