Farewell, 2013 with a jingle! (#6 of #9 run till the Spartan Race)

 

2013 was the year of change, of discovering and an awakening of something deep within that gives you the "aha!" moment because there are so much analogies that you see in certain things you do to apply to life situations.

Running is one of them. Finishing the Spartan Sprint back in August shook me awake and it slowly started running forward with insanely signing up for 5k's, a 10k and going through with a marathon that I barely trained for that entire year!

Now why would I do that? Because it was the year of awakening and knowing that despite barely training for it (physically), mentally and wisdom of what to do will get you to the finish line. 

Now, you can't do these runs without fun. So, my last run of the year was the Jingle Rock Run hosted by Hawaii's Make-A-Wish foundation and as I shared in Yelp, if anyone of the Hawaii community did not participate, they truly missed out because it was such a feel good, fun run! 

You were not only running for fun but you were running to make a difference in a child's life! You were running alongside your family, friends and others who had the same intent in their heart! This also includes family pets dressed up for the occasion too!

The perks of the run is the well-organized planning by the host and sponsors who made sure we were entertained (entertainment along the 5k route), hydrated (water and Gatorade stations), not injured (first aid station) and replenished at the finish line (sweet bread rolls, fruits, power bars and water)! They also gave out prizes from children to adults.

Ahhhh-it is truly a great way to end your running year with a race that reaffirms why you sign up, show up and run...because running is something deeply embedded in your heart that will either whisper or shout, "You feel it? It's your heart-now get out there and run!"

 

 

4 of 9: Another Turkey Trot...North Shore Style

After signing up for the Turkey Trot at Kaneohe MCBH, I also noticed another run that looked interesting because I noticed it was on Thanksgiving Day.

See, at my household for our traditional Thanksgiving Day is that while I'm preparing the food, my husband and his friends from church will boogieboard (bodyboard) and return just in time to help with the carving of the turkey and eating. It's been like this for the past 15 years but I figured this year, I wanted to change it. Actually, I've been wanting to do this since last year because I never knew about turkey trots until I seen one of my friend's post last year.

Since I am a beginning runner, I didn't want to choose a time for a 10 miler! Plus, I've been paranoid about injuring myself before the Honolulu Marathon AND the Spartan Race. Anyhow, enters in the North Shore 5K Kawela Bay run presented by Oakley. When I noticed it was only a 5K and it was a trail run around Turtle Bay Resort / Kawela Bay, I was game. The price was reasonable as all other runs are for a 5K.

Our race packet pick-up was the day prior and on race day. Now, I have a confession to make before I go any further with this blog post. Ever since I've started on this fitness journey especially with training for the Spartan Race in mind, I have a thing for race shirts and race bibs. In all honesty, in my previous races when I really didn't take my health seriously or appreciated the races, it didn't dawn on me to hold on to my race bib or t-shirts (I wish I kept my 2002? 2003? and 2012 Great Aloha Run race bib and my 2012 Ford Island Bridge Run race bib!!!).

From the Spartan Race back in August, I've started to keep my race bibs and cutting my race shirts to muscle-T workout shirts that I can use while I run or workout. Well, I figured this turkey trot 5K was going to be the same but I was wrong. The t-shirt was already a workout shirt that I absolutely LOVED.

After picking up my race packet, I decided to stroll to the poolside because the race information shared that this would be the starting and finishing point for the 5K. It was a beautiful afternoon as you can see (NOTE: Why do people want to swim in the pool when there is a beautiful ocean right there beckoning to you?).

 

Evenings in Hawaii gets dark quickly around 6:00 and I decided it was best to head on back to the southwest side of the island because it was about an hour drive.

 

Since, I knew it would be an hour drive back home, I started planning on what time I would get up to head on out to North Shore. I knew there wouldn't be traffic except for the surfers and bodyboards who goes out on dawn patrol. After Thanksgiving service at church, I prepped all my stuff for the next day and went to be bed early.

Got up around 4:00am and left the house around 4:45am. Reached Pupukea around 5:30am and figured I better stop and eat a bagel to get my stomach settled because the run started at 7:30. I reached Turtle Bay Resort around 6:00am and sat in my car for awhile. As it got lighter, I decided to stretch out my legs for awhile by walking around.

One of the beautiful things about Hawaii and you're by the beach is watching the surfers paddle out. Seriously, you can't go wrong with this type of view.

Earlier that morning, it was raining and at first, it didn't seem like it would let up but the rain let up and the morning air was cool.

As I walked around to the poolside of the resort, more runners started trickling in to get themselves settled and ready for the morning run.






It was great seeing the enthusiasm of other runners especially the ones who was aimed to winning the best turkey trot costume. This group of individuals were nice enough to keep still as many of us asked if we could take a picture of them.

The announcer gave updates on how the race would start and where it would loop around. They also shared that there would be prizes for the different age groups and for best costumes. They then announced that men would go first and women would follow a minute after. This caught me off-guard but all right (not like I wanted to start sprinting). One thing I noticed though was that couples chose to run with eachother despite the lineup, which the men stayed next to their wife or girlfriend. How nice is that?

 

We first looped around the hotel, which I regretted using my vibram sprydion. I made a mental note that I could have used my running shoes for this run. But, as soon as we hit the trail after the golf course, I was glad that I wore my vibrams because some areas were muddy and sandy. As I ran back towards the resort, we passed the stables to our right, which I held my breath because I didn't want to start gagging at the smell of manure (weakling, I tell you).

 

As I reached the curve to head to the finish line at the pool, there were other runners cheering everyone coming in. I love it! Right after the finish line, there was volunteer waiting to give us our turkey leg that smelled heavenly but all I wanted to do was head on home to check on the turkey that my daughter placed in the roaster oven for me. As I drove away, I couldn't help but smile because the best thing about this 5K run was my timing. From January of this year to present, I improved my pace from 21 minutes down to 14 minutes. Granted, this may be slow to some but as I shared on my Instagram account...Slow progress IS progress.

What's one more?

This past weekend, I just added another race to my upcoming races as I train for my upcoming Spartan Races. 

It's the Jingle Rock Run by Make-A-Wish Hawaii foundation on December 21. It's only a 5k and should be fun! 

Do you know what this means? It means that between November 2013 to March 2014, I have completed 8 runs. 

If I want to add the Spartan Sprint that I completed back in August, it will be 9.

That's the most races I've ever done.

Keep me in prayer!

Aloha

1 of 7: The Color Run (Training for the Spartan Race)

If you've been reading my posts, I've gone on a journey to train for an upcoming Spartan Race ever since I completed a Spartan Sprint back in August.

Well, few weeks ago I realized that because of my enthusiasm and newfound appreciation for races because it will help me along in my journey to be ready for the Spartan, I signed up for races. Not just one or two but SEVEN races. 

My first race is the Color Run, which I signed up prior to the Spartan because I did the Color Run last year and it was fun! Seriously, it is the happiest run on the earth because you're being colored and it's not a competitive race!

I actually created a team with some of my family and we all had fun. The best thing was that they did not mind that I asked them to be ready by 5:00am (the race started at 8:00am).

One thing I realized is that it is great running with family and friends (when you don't have a time that you set for yourself to meet as a personal goal). 

 

What is even better is the fact that they respect and understand if you decide to break ahead in a run and will be waiting for them at the finish line. 

The pictures and memories are priceless especially when we are all making plans to do this again next year!