I have been looking forward to writing this post for a while now. I should start off by stating that I am NOT athletic in any way. I joke that I am allergic to exercise. When in high school I talked my way out of 2 of the 4 years mandatory P.E. I hate to sweat, and I hate to stink. As I get older though, I have come to discover the benefits of exercise. This past summer I was talking to a friend and mentioned that I would like to start running. She recommended a beginning runners book with a scheduled program. Just what I needed. I committed to this schedule, and decided to RUN my first race - The Great Aloha Run. This run is every Presidents Day in Honolulu, and it goes from the Aloha Tower near downtown, to the Aloha Stadium near Pearl Harbor...8.15 miles. I think it was a little ambitious, but I DID IT!!! I cannot express how proud of myself I am. I know to many, this may be a small thing, but to my little out of shape self, it was a BIG deal.
Here is my wonderful running companion, Chris. This picture was taken at about 5 a.m. before the race started.
I absolutely loved running with my husband. He was just the right person to motivate me to go a little faster. Here we are crossing the finish line together.
A few weeks after the race we received all the stats from the race. Our time was 1 hr. 35 mins. (I'm still upset about the 5 mins. wasted waiting in line at the porta-potty). I finished in the top 1/3 of women in my age group.
This was such a great experience, both personally and as a couple. I'm not sure I'm ready for a marathon, but you never know...this race proved to me that anything is possible :)
