This is Fifty!
Well folks I did it again. Marathon number 4. It was the hardest yet but I did not die which is great considering I turned 50 that day!
It’s taken me a while to write about my Hawaiian adventure because it meant so much to me in so many ways and the place itself is almost indescribable.
The race was on Oahu in Honolulu. It’s the 4th largest marathon in the world and is a rarity in that there is no time limit. LOTS of Japanese people of all ages come to walk it. We stayed right in Waikiki in the middle of everything and more importantly, close to the finish line!
The day before the marathon, we took part in the Merrie Mile which was a fun, fast mile right on Waikiki beach. The weather was amazing and a fun time with other friends in town for the race. Calmed our nerves a little bit about the next day.
And then, just like that, it was time to put out the flat runners and set the alarm for 3 am!
We started out in in the dark with an epic fireworks display and headed out toward Diamond Head.
The winner of the race passed us just as the sun came up about mile 8. A mere 5 hours faster than us LOL. 2:07:59. And then we headed into the sun.
And it got hotter and hotter. I had stomach cramps for the first time ever and was struggling so much at the half marathon point I had to let David go on ahead. I mostly kept up with my intervals but felt like an ant crawling along the highway, burning under a magnifying glass in the sun. We trained in the heat. A LOT. This was a very different thing altogether and there was zero shade. I almost gave up a million times.
But then, there was ice. LIFE GIVING ICE.
That might be a bit dramatic but I put that shit everywhere. In a ziplock bag on my head, in my bra and in the back of my pants. If it wasn’t for the ice, I would have stopped because it wouldn’t have been safe for me to finish. I ate it straight out of my bra and I didn’t care that probably 10,000 people ahead of me had had their hands in it. Getting ice every chance I got became my focus and that was probably good for my brain.
By mile 20 I was full on walking. Slow enough to reach out to my tribe and let them know I was alive but barely. I got so much love and was so lifted up! Suddenly there was a random white tent that a local running group had set up and they had ALL the snacks. 4 animal crackers and 1 LIFE GIVING BUD LIGHT later I was back and ready to finish.
A little over 7 hours later, WE DID IT!
And that was just the beginning of an epic birthday! We spent our last day driving around the the whole island. NOT running :) We went to the North Shore and saw real pipeline waves. We saw a sea turtle. We ate a ton of shrimp from the roadside shrimp trucks with our cans of sparkling rose. We found secret beaches which were like stepping back in time. We found the valley of the temples which I had no idea existed. And we made it back to Waikiki for our last sunset on Oahu.
And then we were off to Kauai. The adventure island! At the Grand Hyatt no less. I had flowers waiting for me and of course special birthday treatment! Finally time to relax. Right? I will relax when I’m dead.
Time for adventure!! First up, tubing in the aqueducts of old sugar plantations. There was a weight limit on this one and I proudly put my weight on that form. Never in a MILLION YEARS would I have done this when I was morbidly obese. Thanks to my BFF Jess @funsizeathlete for all the video on her go pro. THIS is freedom!
Oh but wait there’s more! Went on a snorkeling trip up the Na Pali coast. Not just everyone can see this place. It’s very protected and rightfully so. I have never ever ever seen anything like it. Luckily I have a video but it doesn’t even do it justice!
At some point I learned how to surf which was incredible and we have ZERO pictures of there were mimosas! I swear to God it happened and I got up like 11 times. Thanks years and years of yoga!!!
There was only one mildly rainy day and we drove up to Waimea Canyon where Jurassic Park was filmed. Literally over the rainbow. Never seen anything like it!
I also ate my weight in raw tuna and macadamia nuts! This Poke was from the deli at a tiny market and we ate it at the beach.
Speaking of eating, on our last night we went to the luau at the resort and it was all you can eat and drink. There have been VERY few times I ‘regretted’ my surgery and this was one of them. I had a few bites of most of the stuff but had to choose a bite or two of only one of the desserts and it was hard. Surprisingly hard! I can’t even imagine how sick I would have made myself in my former life. Instead I just enjoyed the time with David and reminded myself how lucky I was to be where I was. And with him. After running a freaking marathon on vacation :)
Coming back was the WORST. We were happy to see the animals but both of our jobs were terrible, Christmas was a whirlwind and it was freezing and raining for 10 days. We managed a 5k on New Years Day and I had a REALLY rough 12k last week. More on that in the next post because it’s worth dissecting. I’m also doing a challenge at Orange Theory and next week will be SEVEN YEARS since my surgery so stay tuned!
If you’ve made it to the end of this congrats! It was as long as my marathon :)