Honolulu Marathon? Commit Me.

@postaday 353; #postaday2011.

Today was the Honolulu Marathon, so we got a better night’s sleep Friday than on Saturday. Last night was a write off. I never did sleep, well. Every time I felt myself making that drop, and for me it’s like taking that surfboard down a wave and never reaching bottom, I was jarred out of my almost sleep by a thought, or the gusty wind, the Xmas tree, the thunder, the lightning, and Kid2’s gasps from a few rooms away because of the storm.

I got up at 2:20 and took John as close to the start of the marathon as I could, and seconds later I was caught in a three-wiper downpour as I dropped from the Vineyard on ramp onto the H-1 Freeway and headed back to Hawaii Kai. And even that was complex. Spotlights and Honolulu Police Department blue lights were every where. I saw three ambulances in active transport, and a fire truck turning into Kuliouou Valley. Volunteers were setting up aid stations, bags of ice were as high as Minnesota snow drifts, we drivers were funneled into one lane as we headed east, and I to bed for a few more hours.

I actually did get two more hours sleep before I got up, fixed a coffee to go, and headed to Hawaii Kai Drive to spot John a fresh bottle, Zensas, a hat, and fresh socks if he wanted them. He wanted none of them. So all he really got was a little attaboy, some encouragement, and a kiss to send him off for another eight miles to the finish line.

There were nearly 22,000 participants in this year’s Honolulu Marathon. It is amazing. I was so happy to see friends. And truth be told, most of them saw me first! When you’re focused on trying to spot your gal or guy, you kinda don’t connect with the friends who pass by. So I am really happy that Stacy, Randy, Stacy, Buzz, and Diana gave ME a shout out! I gave Marvin a shout out, and then I saw John, so I called him over.

After that, I drove home, made ground turkey curry and jasmine rice for breakfast because the day was so wintry and it was PERFECT for that, and packed a bento to take to John when I left to get him at Kapiolani Park. Gawd, friggen traffic. You gotta be kidding me. Can we please figure out how to get this working right? And let me say that I do not ride my bicycle this very weekend each year. It’s too crazy stupid and nuts.

Part of our problem was that our girls each had holiday concerts. Kid1 had two at Kaimuki High School, Kid2 had one at Kahala Mall. And somehow we got them to their obligations.

So what am I talking about when I say, “Commit Me?” As you may or may not know, I’m doing #5kin100days and I’m about to begin week 12 of 14. I am finding my zen with these little snippets of running three days a week. And it tells me something: That I, too, could do the Honolulu Marathon. So come 12/09/12, I may be one of those people out there. I hope I’m actually moving faster than a walk, I hope I’m not a sad-faced cry-baby, I hope I’m able to finish in a respectable time. I’ve already talked to Brad Gansberg, my #5kin100days mentor, about a 10K program. Does this mean I’m a runner?

What can I say? Yesterday John and Kid1 had to go somewhere, and they were gone till late in the afternoon. I got really, really, really impatient and antsy. I was loaded for bear by the time they got home. I needed to work out. I needed to do my #5kin100days 11.3. And by the time I did get out there to do it, I got soaked. I ran in a side-ways, white-out, bone-saturating downpour, buffeted by the gale-force winds while I dodged palm fronds and automobiles on Kalanianaole Highway. It cracked me up. I kept saying, “Is this ME? Am I doing THIS? Are you kidding me?”

Finally, something on the inside of my leg, right by my right knee, is persistently bugging me. And my Achilles twinges all the time. So I still am in those early training stages. I am no where near being ready for something big. But something small? Bring it!