Honolulu Marathon Re-cap

I can't believe that a week ago I was STILL running in Hawaii :) It has been go, go, go since I got home on Monday night, including two 12+ hour days at work. I did pretty well with the sunscreen because I don't have any color for that bright yellow orb in the sky!

The run was great, but HARD! With absolutely no humidity during our training, and probably a high of 60 degrees on our long runs, the weather alone was a huge factor. I am proud to say though, I never though I couldn't or wouldn't finish. The thoughts of "why the H-E-double hockey sticks am I doing this" did cross my mind a few times. Here goes the re-cap....

Wake-up at 3 am (do people actually do this?) to be prepared for a 3:45 am meet time. Some yummy oatmeal and some G2 and I was ready to go. Met up with the team (in the dark) at the hotel for a few last minute tips from our coach Ellen, so chatter and a nice, loud GO TEAM! Then it was a hike walk to the START line. It was like being in a foreign country. There were 25,000 registered runners and 2/3 of them were from Japan. There were people of ALL ages...and a lot of young children. (Which I have a huge issue with a 4 year old running 26.2 miles!) At 5:00 am the fireworks went off over the Pacific Ocean and it was time to go! We ran through Downtown Honolulu, past the old palace and wrapped back around towards the start line. By the time we had clocked 1 mile, I was dripping in sweat! We needed a quick potty break (from the good hydrating we had done) so to the port-a-potties we went. Man, runners can be foul! Yep...you know what I mean. We hit the pots labeled "MEN" since there weren't any in sight and we needed to GO and didn't feel like waiting 15 minutes. Maybe that was the problem:) Perhaps the one labeled "WOMEN" smelled like roses, but I doubt it!

Back to the course we cruised passed our hotel and through Waikiki. The sun was starting to come up when we passed the Zoo, and started up Diamond Head. Along the way we met up with Coach Kevin, from Minnesota. Who couldn't love a coach in a coconut bra, grass skirt and a dinosaur hat!? He told us about the snow in Minnesota and how the dome had collapsed. Man, it sucks being in Hawaii! Soon the wheelchairs came roaring past us. Then we saw the Kenyans...yeah, they only had a mile left to run (we were 9 miles in). Although they looked amazing, they looked like they were HURTING.

Over Diamond Head we saw Erin and Coach Ellen. We were now running towards the highway out and back. (This was the part I feared!) Soon we ran into another TNT runner from Hawaii running her 1st marathon and a Coach. Chatter of energy was brought on and there were smarties given out. I love me some smarties....but passed, I can't eat just one! There were CRAZY costumes out there!

We were on the highway for quite awhile until we hit a loop. AKA the Costco loop. Our Inspiration Dinner speakers gave us the advice to remember our Costco cards for a clean bathroom, hot dogs and pizza along the way! At Mile 17 there were two men down. The ambulances were running like mad. I later heard that there were so many people needing assistance the ambulance would pick up one and still have 5 or 6 people in cots to come back to. Then it was back to the highway. Along the way we passed multiple Marines, in full gear. Talk about humbling!

Mile 22 brought us to the nice houses of Honolulu. They were BEAUTIFUL! We also saw the smarties coach....this time he was carrying a 25 pound bag of ice. Just to lighten the load we took a handful, mine went down my pants to ice my hip which was beginning to hurt like heck. All three of our feet were killing us. I was beginning to think that amputation would be a serious option. Mile 24 and we saw Coach Ellen again. Only 2 miles to go, we were going to finish this! All we had to do was get through Diamond Head, again.  Mile 25, Coach Kevin. We were HURTING.

We were walking, it hurt to run, but I knew we could finish STRONG. So I rallied K and T to run the rest of the way. We were pushing through pain and sweat.We could see the FINISH line, and we were about 30 seconds from the 7 hour (gun) mark. Turning to the girls I said "we don't want 7 hours on our finish photos...come on!" Those girls pulled it all out, and we finished with 6:59:54 on the gun time! Our "official" time was 6:33. (by Garmi....who doesn't count potty breaks ;) ) We left it ALL out on that course.

Kristy completed her first marathon and Tryna her 6th. I am so proud of these girls! It was so much fun to train with them, and then complete 26.2 miles of Hawaiian fun with them. The rest of my mentees finished also, and I am so proud of them. No one gave up. We were all heroes that day, finding a cure for cancer one mile at a time!

ALOHA!

Last night was our last track night as a team. It didn't hit me until I was walking down the stairs at Olde Town Pizza. We will most likely be the last Winter TNT season, so it was even more sad. Six months of hard work training, time given and new friends and on Sunday it will show.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Honolulu! The excitement is mounting. Due to my HIGH anxiety of flying, I may be hitting Gustavs (at the airport)  for a beer. Yes, at 6 am. We get to Hawaii at 11 am, and have almost two days to spend enjoying Honolulu. The race starts at 5 am on Sunday morning. I signed up for runner tracking on Facebook, so I can be followed on that.

My goals for Honolulu:
-To not get sunburned
-PR....I am hoping that I might get a little faster than my 1st marathon time
-Have fun!

Send-Off

One thing I love about Team in Training (ok, there ALOT of things I love about them!) is that we know how to throw a great send-off party. This is when we get ALL the details of our trip, our race jersey and our tickets for the Inspiration Dinner and Victory Party. Almost the entire team was there, and it was great to see everyone in "real" people clothes. (I stole this pic from Tryna....thanks girl!)

(These are our AMAZING coaches....Janeen, Kevin and Ellen. We are bummed that Janeen and Kevin won't be joining us in Honolulu, but I am sure they will be entertained by the texts, photos, videos and other great messages they will receive while we are on the trip. Ellen will be our "official" coach with TNT and Erin will be our staff. )

We heard how great (and tough) the course will be. How crappy scenic it will be to climb Diamond Head at mile 23, but hey...it is all downhill from there. The temperature will be a feels like I am in hell warm (roughly) 80 degrees. Other interesting facts about this race that there is about 80% Japanese "running" the marathon. This is because in Japan if you complete a marathon you get a decreased insurance rate. In Japan you need to qualify to run in a marathon, so they come to Honolulu. We were told not to be surprised to see people smoking while running, some having picnics in the middle of the course and some creative costumes.

The course has had sponges to "wipe down" with along the course, unless I am severely desperate I think I will pass. Apparently they reuse them. (Note to self: do not drink from the sponge!) I can only imagine where some of those sponges have been used. Ewww. I am hoping they will have runner tracking. (It makes it easier than texting through out the course.)

After all of the details and most people were leaving, our great hosts Kevin and his wife Becky showed off the fabulous bling collection. After seeing the medal for Ragnar, I am about 85% sure I am going to do it this year! Their medal collection is great, and inspiring!

Only 7 1/2 more days until I get on the plane. I am still not sure how I will deal with my anxiety through the flight (I HATE flying!). Kristy and Tryna promised they would make sure I get off the plane though. The excitement is building though, and I can't wait to hit the pavement with my teammates!