Whatever it takes

You come to that moment in your life when you realize that to get to your goal you have to do whatever it takes...

 

But, this doesn't mean cheating or aggressively pushing your way through and offending anyone, it's the determination that you set within yourself emotionally and mentally as well as physically that you are willing to plan strategically and get out of your comfort zone to finish what you started or decided to do.

 

Some will groan at the unfairness that why can't there be a magic pill or drink that will melt away the fat and give us the ideal physique that media tells us we should have.

 

Some will groan on why is does one have to train a specific way for a race and why can't there just a gel blok or sports beans that will give us the supernatural power to conquer an obstacle race, marathon, half-marathon, 10k or 5k?

 

However, there is no satisfaction in the quick fixes. Quick fixes gives fast results that returns back quickly that places you further back. Half-hearted efforts will give you minimal results that will either leave feeling you dissatisfied and discouraged or challenged to do better. Ask me how I know-we've all been there until the lightbulb went off in our head on what we needed to do.

 

I asked myself this question as I started this blog post, "Why is it that we are willing to do whatever it takes?"

• Because we want the satisfaction of running that last mile with the feeling of sweat, your heart pumping and your breathing steadily going to making that run count until the very end...

• Because we want the exhiliration of climbing over that last obstacle and running through those gladiators to get to the finish line...

• Because we want to feel victorious as we meet our PR goals of rope climbing, thrusts and pull-ups...

We all want that heart-wrenching, deep satisfaction that we did what it takes and that means struggling, pushing through, creating meal plans, scheduling training WODs and researching tips to minimize injuries and maximize performance.

 

It's not about showing off but it is about earning the right to share what you have done and what you have learned along the way to get to your goals and that you are still running ahead full force because there is nothing else you can do but to go forward and conquer.

 

Your pace, your lifestyle, your well-being...do what it takes to get it done. You got this!

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.

¡Dos Mas! Two more added before the Spartan Race 2014

My posts will be confusing by the numbers because I just added two more runs to the list that I posted previously. First, I added the Turkey Trot at Kaneohe MCBH but I also decided to add the North Shore 5K at Turtle Bay / Kawela Bay "Turkey Trot" run.

 

 

 Not only did I add those runs, but I am now registered for the Neon Vibe as my first run of 2014 because my cousins decided it would be a great fun run to do as a family after I shared about the runs I've been doing because of my training for the upcoming Spartan Race.

 

So, what's adding two more runs before the Spartan Race in 2014? To other runners and sports enthusiasts, it's probably no big deal. In fact, I am pretty sure there are more seasoned runners and sports enthusiasts who have signed up for more runs than I have throughout a 12 month period.

But, as I shared in my previous posts...this is a first for me. This is the most runs I've ever done and God willing, I'm looking forward to many more.

 

(North Shore 5k Kawela Bay photo courtesy of www.oakridgevisitor.com)

(Neon Vibe photo courtesy of North Shore Kawela Bay facebook page)

(Running Quotes photo courtesy of http://extrememarathonguide.com)

 

 

How much is too much?

It's the first week of October and this just brings images of running through autumn weather with leaves changing color and the smell of wood burning through the chimney.

Unfortunately for me, Hawaii doesn't have that type of weather. However, I have been waiting to run in the rain because this is the time when it is to rain more, which I call it "Hawaiian snow".

Anyhow! Life is good despite the government shutdown because I am still running and training consistently. I just started using the training module that Spartan Race has in their eBook on training for a Spartan Super (Note: They also have training plans for the Spartan Sprint, Spartan Beast, Spartan Ultra Beast).

But, here is the main subject on today's blog post...last week on Instagram, I posted a picture of me in August and a current one from September because of my lifestyle change in making better choices in what I eat and keeping up with a schedule.

The difference? I dropped 15 pounds.

After I posted it, I wondered...is it healthy to lose that much within a one month period?

Picture by http://sincerelyjenni.com