A look back at 2014

Another year is about to come to an end and it was another good year.  

Happy 3rd Birthday Run Streak!

Today marks 3 years of running every day. I can clearly remember my last non-running day on December 26, 2011.  I had celebrated the whole day with dear friends and decided to take a little break.  I knew I was planning on attempting the challenge set forth by the I <3 to Run page to run a mile every day in 2012.  I was up to the challenge.

Apparently I am still up to the challenge.  Celebrated day 1000 with a surprise party with friends on September 21st and today celebrated quietly by myself after a long day cheering for Dannika at her double header soccer tourney.  You see, run streakers are just ordinary people who commit to taking at least 12 minutes outta their day to get a mile in.

And so here I am, day 1097, year 3, 4,987.55 miles (average of 4,5 miles a day) ready to keep going.  Some call me crazy, some tell me to take a break, but really, what is living without a goal?  Me, I don't know. I am always pushing on, learning, growing, challenging myself, and pushing a little further.  2014 has been an amazing year.  I ran 16 races.  In April I ran the Ford Island 10K, the North Shore Marathon, and the Hapalua Half Marathon in the span of 8 days.  Just two weeks ago I ran the Honolulu Marathon and the Hawaii Kai Ultra run in the span of 6 days. I earned the title of Marathon Maniac.  I am not a 3 year run streaker. I am 42 year old mom of two who works full time.  Every day I am blasting past everyone's expectations. I kind of like that. :)

Hawaii Kai Ultra December 20, 2014

Who the hell runs another marathon less than a week after going down in flames (well, wind and rain)?  This CHICK!  That's right I went out and ran the Hawaii Kai Ultra today just hoping that I would be able to finish.  After last week's Honolulu Marathon my legs were a huge mess so I had the hubby to roll them every night.  They finally felt better on Tuesday and I did a bunch of short speed runs to get the heart rate going.
With a super busy work week I was also worried about racing on a Saturday. I usually run on Sundays so that I can rest the day before.  Not this time!  I tried to hydrate as much as I could on Friday and get to bed early.
Race day came and I knew I had nothing to lose. I was going to try and I was either going to fail or I was going to succeed.  It was 50/50.  Not bad odds.  I thought it was funny that less than a week ago I was questioning my sanity and questioning why anyone in their right mind would pay to run 26.2 miles for fun.  I guess it's like child birth, you forget the pain.
Anyhow, I signed in at the race tent, talked story with Kawika and took off running with Glori and Cathy.  All three of us soon settled into our own paces and began running.
Running solo for so long was very, very relaxing. I was surprised at how fast the time went by. I was worried about having to run loops but I think counting to 7.5 loops was much easier than counting to 26.2 miles or running to Hawaii Kai or Kaena Point.  When the sun came out it got way hot and the run got harder but since it was no pressure I walked or stopped at the tent to talk story or to eat and drink.  I ended up only taking two GUs on this run but munched on pretzels, apples, and drank a lot of Gatorade.  This seemed to work well for me because I never felt like I was out of energy.
On the road I got texts and Facebook messages form friends and visits from The Price Family as well as my own. On my last half lap the hubby ran with me and when it was all over I could not believe that I had conquered such a huge goal!

I am a marathon maniac! #10643!

One of those things you kinda want but not sure you can get and then when it's in reach you go for it and are so glad when you get it!!!  :)

Honolulu Marathon 12.14.14

And marathon #5 is in the books!  Finished the race at 4:47.31 which is almost 2 minutes better than last year and my best time at the Honolulu Marathon to date.  Full race recap to come.