# @321gaux on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DNEZwLzTKKB
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/33166444-321gaux-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7bd3b6bb4e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-08-07T21:24:49.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Margaux Celeste Alvarez (@321gaux) — https://gondola.cc/321gaux

## Caption

You won’t know what you are capable of until you push yourself outside your comfort zone. 

I started doing outrigger canoe paddling while I was a bartender at The Mercury when I went to school at HPU in Hawaii. Thank you to Drew and James for the push for this!

I did a handful of short races in my first year and in my second year, I was asked if I wanted to be a part of the team to do the Na Wahine race, where you paddle from the island of Molokai to the island of Oahu, 41 miles. I thought why not?

It was one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I’ve done to date. I remember the water being so choppy when we were in the Molokai channel that I felt like we weren’t moving anywhere.

We would switch every 20-30 min, rotating our spots out as we chipped away at the 41 miles. 

When we finally got to Oahu, we got a little too close to the shore break and our canoe flipped and I remember James asking our team if we wanted to finish the race. 

A couple of the ladies were crying and there was a sense of defeat. In my mind, I thought, yes the fuck we are going to finish this race! We decided to finish and we started scooping out the water from the canoe and finished the race. You can see the exhaustion and sunburnt face in the later photos at the end of the race but it was all worth it! 

Remember, sometimes we have push ourselves outside our comfort zone to learn, grow and adapt. This is a sign that you can do hard things! 

#justgaux #letsgaux #gauxgirl #molokai #nawahine #hawaii #hpu #outriggercanoe #paddling #throwback

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 176
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 5

## Tags

outriggercanoe, hpu, gauxgirl, paddling, hawaii, throwback, molokai, letsgaux, justgaux, nawahine

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