For years I have nurtured a special love for Kauai and the Kalalau Trail. (My wife would say I’m obsesses with it, but … not there’s anything wrong with that!)
After my last 4-day solo adventure on the trail, I decided to create a new site dedicated to all things Kalalau Trail. Please say hello to Hiking Kalalau!
Running has been part of my life since I was 12 years old. I’ve always done it. Now, if you therefore assume that I find it exciting or that it comes particularly easy to me (“he must be one of those runner types!”), the answer is surprisingly no.
I had always started my runs where I live. Why would I get into the car and drive somewhere? That would be a waste of time, right!? For that reason, my runs had been on pavement. No big deal. As I was getting older, I realized that my particular running style wasn’t good for my knees, so I made adjustments and switched to mid-foot strike and zero-drop shoes and things were going pretty well.
When COVID-19 hit, a number of my usual exercise options evaporated and I was on the lookout for something new. So I got in the car and drove to local trails that I knew from hiking and tried running them instead.
Ever since then, I’ve made trail running a weekly habit and I really enjoy it. Once I got the hang of it, it turned out that there are several advantages of running off the road and in nature:
(more…)In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s been quiet from me lately. There’s a good reason for it: With Covid-19 raging on the mainland, I’ve had the unique chance to spend a few months in Kauai, which unfortunately also required two weeks of strict don’t-leave-the-house quarantine with regular check-in visits from the National Guard and local police.
However, and more importantly, I’ve finally done it and checked off a major item from my bucket list: Hike the full 11+ miles of the Kalalau Trail, a world-famous, but treacherous, and very challenging hiking trail along the Napali Coast. (For the movie buffs: check out A Perfect Getaway.)
I had been dreaming about this hike for more than 10 years and … continue
For most people, there is a magical time of day when, under the right circumstances, they just get stuff done. Some call it a state of flow when they get absorbed by a challenging task, achieve real focus, and things just “click”. Others call it being in the zone when they are able to do really deep work and knock out sticky and mentally taxing stuff.
I like to call this time MPT, your Most Productive Time. For me, this time is in the early morning, the quiet first hour after getting ready and before meetings start and messages begin pouring in. That’s when my brain is the freshest and able to focus. This is the time when I’m best able to do deep work such as writing, coding, or diving into data analysis. When I use this precious mental clarity, I can leverage it to boost my productivity and get challenging things done in a way that cannot be replicated during the remainder of the day.
(For those interested in learning more about how rhythms and timing influence all of us and our lives, check out Daniel H. Pink’s insightful book “When – The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing”.)
(more…)