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Yea, that didn’t happen… and if you follow me on Instagram, you know why: The week before the Brooklyn Half, Justin and I were set to run 10 miles. We pre-ordered Carmine’s delivery for 8pm and set out right after work for an easy 10 miles in Central Park. Before going home, we walked into a Northwell Urgent Care and I literally said, “I’m just here so someone can clean up this hand. I’m thinking I may have to bring back my all-time favorite summer run: the easy 60-minute Friday night run.

After an easy first night of sipping cocktails in a lounge chair overlooking the water, Justin and I ventured out to the town of Lahaina for our second night on Maui. We had set aside an entire day to devote to driving the road to Hana but hadn’t booked an official guide or tour experience; we just figured we’d do it ourselves and go at our own pace. Even before we left the Big Island, Justin and I began to question if we even wanted to go to Haleakala at all since we already did a sunset atop Mauna Kea, which is taller than Haleakala. Instead of gallivanting around the island, we stayed around the hotel, went for runs along the water and in nearby neighborhoods, read on the beach (me), went down the water slide a million times (Justin), and drank fruity cocktails in our lounge chairs.

I had no idea what to expect of the Big Island and, looking back, I can’t even remember what it was I was expecting, all I know is that the Big Island wasn’t what I had in mind. * The active volcanoes on the Big Island are shield volcanoes. It’s astounding but not completely surprising, given what I learned about Big Island natives and residents while on the island myself. The love and spiritual connection Big Islanders have with the land is inspiring and even though my body and the majority of my heart is always on the island of Manhattan, there is now a huge chunk of my soul on this island of volcanoes in the Pacific.

(I struggle to talk about this island without tearing up), it is this feeling that I think about most often – the feeling of having breakfast outside overlooking Waikiki Beach, having a cup of coffee with my new husband, on our first full day in Hawaii. Not only did we spend the day at Pearl Harbor, our guide also made sure to drive us around and show us other areas of Oahu (where Obama was born, where Bruno Mars went to high school, Honolulu’s financial district, Iolani Palace When we first got to Pearl Harbor, we had time to walk around the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Sooo we forwent the North Shore and went back to Waikiki for a quick run to Diamond Head and some beach time.