GREAT ALOHA RUN!

I started training for this race in September. This race was 8.15 miles, the longest run I have ever done. When I first got into running, 5k's (3.1 miles) were the only races I was interested in. Short and simple. The Great Aloha Run is a race my sister-in-law does every year. She encouraged me to do it. I thought about it and said why not. I made a goal to be able to run 10 miles before the race. With the help of friends who trained for it as well, I was able to hit that goal. I ran, by myself between 5:30am and 7:30am in the rain that morning I hit 10 miles. Yes, I was very sore!

In order to get to the race on time, my friends and I had to be up somewhere during the 3 o'clock hour to get ready and leave at 4am. It was so fun to do it with friends! Going to the bathroom was such an issue. We were nervous about needing to go during the race. We used the bathroom at the stadium parking lot and at Safeway after the shuttle dropped us off. There were soooooo many people. I think it is estimated that about 22,000 people usually run this race. When we were at the starting line, you could definitely feel the energy of everyone ready to tackle the 8.15 miles of road ahead of us.

Reality set in during the 1st mile that maybe I wouldn't hit my goal. My new goal was just to run the whole race. When I saw the 8 mile marker, I was so happy to see the end in sight. I had run the whole race and was happy to finish.

I was hot and tired, but glad to be done.

The girls!!! Everyone did awesome!! Jen Hippolite, Me, U'i Kaitoku, and LeeAnn Akina at the bottom.
Randy and the kids were there to see me finish. Yay! I did it.

Later, I looked up my time online and saw I did it in 1:32 hr. I actually surprised myself. I felt like I had run slower than that. I was happy, but the competitive side kicked in and I thought, "Awh man! I could have run a little faster to make time!" Oh well, there's always next year.

All of us ladies had so much fun, there's talk now of a half-marathon in June. I'll keep you posted.