Van Mommy on the Run....in HEELS!: December 2013

Hello! Last week I was working at a school and noticed that one of the students had a backpack with a large hole being held together by safety pins. His teacher mentioned that his bag had been broken for awhile but that the family did not have funds to buy a new one. I mentioned that my kids had many extra backpacks that they could donate. On my way home it dawned on me that other families must have extras that they could donate as well. If you do, please contact me for pick up. I hope to have some backpacks ready for students when we start the new year. I have already contacted one Principal who would be grateful and will be contacting a few more. Mahalo for your help and let's all GIVE BACKS!!!!

For more info please see this link:

Give Back on Facebook

Today is two days post Honolulu Marathon and I went on a nice and easy 2 mile run. It is the first day in 2 years that I am not training for a race and it feels soo weird. During my run I was waging a mental battle with myself whether I should run 3 (ridiculous), run 1 (not enough) or just run 2 (ok, that's satisfying enough).

I began training for the 2012 marathon on January 1, 2012. I had always wanted to do a marathon by 40 so that 2012 marathon was it. I trained diligently with the marathon clinic adhering to training schedules, strict nutrition and everything else. The result was a huge loss of weight, a body in amazing shape, and a 4:50 marathon completed on December 9, 2012.

The high that I felt after completing that first marathon was like no other. In fact, even though I swore I would never do another one at mile 18 I signed up for the 2013 marathon just a month after. By charging that $26.10 I had sealed my fate. Not long after signing up for marathon #2, I signed up for the real marathon #2 (North Shore Marathon) to take place in April 2013 and just like that I was training for another marathon.

Training after the North Shore Marathon for the Honolulu Marathon was bumpy. I took on a lot of responsibilities at home and got a new job. I could not devote the time or energy to training that I did in 2012 and no matter how many races I completed in the mean time I had many doubts about my ability to do well in the 2013 Honolulu.

Race weekend came and I still did not commit to a plan. A type A personality, goals usually rule my life but this time I was afraid. Afraid to put myself out there and afraid of failing. So I told a lot of people that my goal was just to finish and I convinced myself that it would be okay to "just finish."

However, to make things a little crazy, the hubby aka running partner declared that this would be his last marathon because he just wasn't into it. As many of you know Marathon 2012 was a total debacle because of him and he missed hitting his sub 5 goal. So here I was, torn. Torn between "just finishing" and running sub 5.

The day before the race was hectic and I didn't have time to really commit to a plan or get myself mentally prepared and so I woke up at 2:30 am on race day with no real plan. Type A, no plan? Not good. Hubby and I met our friends and everyone talked about their plans. I still did not commit to sub 5 but came up with a general idea and talked to hubby about targeted paces. Before I knew what was happening the gun fired, fireworks went off and the crowd moved forward. It was time to run.

The plan was to start at an 11 minute pace and warm up. The dark run through Down Town was surprisingly easy. It wasn't cold, there was no need to warm up, and the crowd was not as fierce as it was last year. Hubby and I ran very easily for the first 4 miles. We were hitting about a 10:40 pace and I enjoyed looking at all the sites as I ran and saying hi to people that I knew as they ran past us. When we go back to Ala Moana Blvd. we saw bathrooms at the park and decided to make our first bathroom break. The lines were fast and it ended up being a great move. Last year I had waited til mile 6 at the base of Diamond Head and that was a disaster.

After the bathroom we got back on pace and cruised through Waikiki. The mile through Waikiki is an awesome one with lots of screaming, cheering, banging, and clapping. Many of the runners started speeding up here as did the hubby but I tried to keep the pace slow. Diamond Head was just around the corner and I wanted to make sure we ran the "home field" strong.

Diamond Head came quick and I prepared myself for the ascend, the crowd, and the wheelchairs that would be zooming downhill. I knew we were ahead of pace and we were doing good. This stretch is also a great one with the kids from Youth Challenge high fiving and cheering us on. Teenagers on the course is just the best because these kids had me cracking up the whole way up and the mood helped me relax. The hubby and I ran this hill strong and passed many, many people on the way up. When we reached the top we were running a good 10:30 pace and continued to run strong all the way up to Kalanianaole.

I am not sure what happened but when we got onto Kalanianaole something in me changed and I turned to the hubby and said, "I just want to tell you, this is mile 12 and I am going to start dropping F bombs." Right before this we had talked about how happy we were that the sun hadn't risen yet and that we wouldn't need to run into the sun for such a long time, but in retrospect the sun was not the sole problem. In fact, even though the sun was out it was still warm. Very warm and very humid. The heat had started to get to me and I had some rough miles out on Kalanianole going in and coming out.

There were a few highlights, including seeing the lead women racing down Kalanianole (we were too late for the men), and seeing our friend KG in the Hawaii Kai Loop. He ran a few 100 yards with us, sprayed our knees and gave mike some ice. Other strangers handed out food which was a God Send for me as I dropped my bag of pretzels on the road.

Some of the lows that brought me down were seeing the ambulances, hearing the ambulances, and seeing a bunch of god Samaritan runners carrying an older men who had fallen and had blood coming out of his head.

Sights like these, although now new, I was somehow not prepared to face, and the run back toward the finish line was tough for me. I wasn't in a lot of pain, but I was hot and tired and it was a struggle. The hubby was breaking away from me and I wasn't sure if I could keep up. Feeling weak and insecure is not something that I normally allow for on the course and the heat and the marathon was playing games with me. I told hubby many times to go ahead but he refused to leave me. It became a game of trying to keep up and I chased him all the way back on Kalanianaole while chomping on ice, pouring water down my shirt, and just trying to keep moving. All the while I was checking my Garmin and realizing that despite how much crappier I felt than last year we were still on track to sub 5.

When we finally got back to the end of Kalanianaole Hwy I eagerly began looking for our friend JY who had told us on the way out that she' be waiting with some coke. This was the same JY in the same place that gave me a kick in the ass last year and helped me finish strong. When we saw her it was so nice to feel her energy and it was the kick in the ass I needed. Still struggling I told the hubby that all we needed was 4 11 minute miles and we'd hit our goal. We were determined, but Kahala Ave loomed. The hot incline to Diamond Head has always been our foe and it again kicked my ass.

I was hot, delirious and being a wuss. I started resorting to desperate measures and grabbing sponges, oranges, ice, anything to get me through. The howl of ambulances and another person collapsed on the side of the road with a cop calling for help shook me. I began to look at the hubby for signs that he was going to collapse too and was getting nervous. Did we have it in us? What if we didn't make it?

As we reached the base of Diamond Head I told the hubby we were going to walk a little to get some energy back and then were were going to get our sub 5. We had time to work with. We just needed to stay steady and not pass the eff out. Together, on the verge of cramping, me afraid he was going to black out and I would have to carry his ass over the line, we ran and walked. Somehow we got over the hill, and checking the Garmin I told him we were going to sub 5. We just had to keep moving and not pass out. I told him not to run hard, to coast, to conserve energy, but to just keep going. I was so afraid that a catastrophe would occur. Victory was so close I could taste it but being the athlete that I am I was so scared to jinx it. and so we ran carefully, walked a bit when we entered Kapiolani Park. Drank water, took what we needed to and sucked it up for the longest .4 miles of our lives. We turned into the long stretch and could see the finish line. Except that it was blocked by an ambulance. Yes, an ambulance. I again told the hubby to slow down and take it easy. We were going to sub 5 but we would have to cross that line and not pass out before. We ran steadily toward the line, so close, so tempting to try and sprint for it...but playing it smart and taking one step at a time. As we neared the tennis court, I could taste it. After two long years of training, many ups and downs, Team Pila Racing was going to cross that Marathon line together. We were going to have that Finishing picture that our friend KU dreamed about. I grabbed his hand and we approached together smiling, happy, elated, strong. The F bombs, the whining, the complaining, the pain, the declarations that I would never do this again were so far from me. I was in the moment, enjoying a sweet victory. I looked up and saw our friend JF cheering us on the sideline, the crowd was roaring, and we were crossing the mat. Sub 5. We did it.

And we did it more than a minute faster than I had completed it last year. And of course that got me thinking. And angry. And then planning and scheming.

This half of Team Pila Racing is in for 2014. I am hoping to convince the other half that we can kill this record in one year.