Following Scott and my adventure doing the Great Aloha Run (see Scott’s blog), I was inspired.
Early sunday morning, the first morning of March 2009, I found myself at Kapiolani Park surrounded by a crowd of women all wearing pastel dry weave running tanks and black shorts. I actually used to love running, I ran track, soccer, and mostly just for fun. The only community runs I did was the Straub Women’s 10K race back in high school. Fifteen years later, and 20…30…maybe 40 lbs heavier, I signed up again. I’ve been running a little frequently but I mix it in with a lot of walking so I wasn’t sure how I’d do, but I was really curious to find out.
Sunday, March 1st 2009
5:00 phone alarm goes off
5:00-5:15 Hitting snooze alarm multiple times…even lying on cell phone to muffle sound
5:30 rushing to the car with tons of stuff for church
5:31 stopping to toss some stuff into Scott’s car
5:32 In car and going going going
5:42 Pondering “I did toss my running shoes in the car, right? Yah, I definitely did.”
6:10 Finding a sweet parking spot only 1/4 mile from the race start
6:10 Sitting in my car realizing that I maybe didn’t bring my shoes after all
Yup, I’m sitting, all decked out in my workout clothes…and my black rubbah slippahs. Hmm. I called Scott and woke him up all distraught. Even in a deep sleep, he was able to offer insightful advice. He thought I should go to the officials and ask if I could borrow their shoes. He was really serious. When I didn’t jump at the idea of asking strangers to lend me their shoes, he volunteered to jump in the car and bring me my shoes. Yah, Scottie, my hero!!!
While waiting, I jumped in line for the bathroom at Kapiolani Park which took forever…scott actually had drive from Kaneohe to Waikiki before I got to the front of the line…and that’s even with the women taking over the men side as well. Much to the dismay of the very drunk weird guy who kept yelling “what? You got to be kidding me!!!” even as he patiently stood at the end of the line. And Scott got there five minutes before the starting gun went off, bless my bestest husband ever.
As I stood in the crowd of maybe a couple hundred women and waited nervously for the race start, I started to get the feel that perhaps I’m a little behind the times. All these girls that these earbuds with cords that disappeared into these cute little miniscule white mp3 players on armbands or in some pocket.
Here’s my music player of choice:
I can’t believe these are out of style already…I finally made the big switch from a walkman to the discman a few years ago. Scott and I hosted a dinner at someone else’s house and the host apologized that the stereo system was broken but offered IPOD speakers. Scott and I had to scoff a little and say “IPOD? We don’t have IPODS.”
I also can’t stand having things in my pockets. So, guess what was clenched in my sweaty hand for 6 miles.
And let’s face it, I’m not in the best shape. Check out these chubby legs. Do they look like capable of speed? I think not. These babies are meant for sitting on the couch watching Top Chef.
During the run, I tried to pace myself but I pushed myself too hard in the middle section cause I died at the end. I had to start walking at the end but then people kept stopping and encouraging me to run with them. So, when I crossed the line, I felt like I was going to throw up. And they have volunteers that form a tunnel and channel you to the middle of the park. They were waving their hands in my face and I pushed through them praying “please don’t throw up on them…don’t throw up…don’t throw up.” Thankfully I finally calmed down and got my breath back.
I’m so proud of myself and I want to keep going with this.
Final Time ~ 1 hr 7 min (10.8 min/mile)
