As the fatal hour drew near, we headed for Ala Moana Blvd. and our designated starting area. Navigating through the crowd was tricky, like being at a rock concert or at Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Bear in mind that it is distinctly night time and that the harsh lights set up specially for the marathon beam at you from every direction. Once in a while, an odd image would dart by: a woman wearing playboy bunny ears and tail, a man wearing a school girl’s sailor outfit, and strangest of all, someone dressed as a huge Japanese eggplant. My brother thought that surely, the eggplant was not planning to run. And then we spotted the number pinned to its belly.
We shook our heads in wonder and moved forward. It was nearly 5am.
With about 40 minutes until the start of the marathon, Paul and I made our way towards the hottest attraction…the portable toilets. Although neither one of us really had to go, we had nothing better to do. Of course, the lines were massive so we settled in for yet more people watching as our line inched ever so slowly forward, and sometimes not at all for disturbingly long periods of time.
All around us everyone was WIDE awake and there was a din of nervous chatter. We heard from runners who had trained with the AIDSmarathon and the Leukemia Society. We saw people of just about every age, shape, and size queuing up. One Japanese man, very skinny and wearing all the latest running apparel, carried a plastic bag with a huge lunch plate, or bento box. When, I wondered would he have time to eat that and digest it before the race?
Finally, by the time we got a good look at the toilets, my brother and I agreed that we both had to go. At last our turn was coming up. It was only then that I, and the other women in line around me, realized that all the toilets facing us had signs taped on them that read, “Men” above the universal symbol for the male species. What the..? Who thought it necessary to separate the port-a-pottys into gender specific rows? Now they tell us!
Believe me, with 10 minutes left to the start (yes, we stood in line for 30 minutes!) it was every man and woman for themselves. When nature calls and you have 26.2 miles to run that morning, the niceties go out the window.
The site of the race start was an absolute zoo. Ala Moana Blvd. was packed, wall-to-wall with bodies. I had not seen such a crowd since New Year’s eve on the streets of Pasadena waiting for the dawn and the start of the Rose parade. (BTW, that was many, many moons ago.)
It was around 4:15am, the dead of night, and a bit chilly, especially for Hawaii. As my brother, Paul, and I made our way forward, we noticed a Japanese woman wearing a huge garbage bag with holes for her arms. A little later, we saw a whole group of Japanese similarly clad. And as we scanned the scene, we realized that plastic Hefty bags were seemingly all the rage in Tokyo. Then I realized how smart (and probably experienced) they all were.
The plastic kept their bodies from getting too cold and were easily discarded once the race began. Unlike at some other organized races, in Honolulu there was no clothing transport system from the race start to the finish.
A disposable warm-up suit. Kind of gives the term shabby-chic a whole new meaning.
It became the running joke within my family that I was obsessively trying to control as much of the marathon experience as I possibly could. I had the race route committed to memory, the breakfast strategy in place, and even a listing of all the street closures ready for my dad who would drive and drop my brother and I off near the starting line at 4:15am.
Partly in order to calm my nerves, my brother even drove us down to the starting area on the way home from our carbo loading dinner so that I could clearly see how sections of the street were marked off to indicate where runners who ran a 2-3 hour marathon should stand vs. those who would run 3-4 hours, 4-5, or more than 5.
Still, even with all the details arranged and accounted for, I can’t say that I slept very well that night. Falling asleep around 9:30pm, I woke at 12:30am, 1:30, 2 and 2:30 before finally rolling out of bed at 3:15. The funny thing was that when I did get out of bed I wasn’t tired at all.
Ain’t adrenaline is a wonderful thing?
It has taken me much longer than expected to get back into the swing of things post-Hawaii. I thought I would have had all my marathon musings posted by now. But somehow, that last week in Maui with not much more to do than lie on the beach, rewired my brain into acute-leisure mode. It’s hard coming back to the world of caffeine, deadlines, and more caffeine.
Still, no more excuses. The end of my odyssey will be told. Let it serve as either inspiration or warning, depending on your point of view.
Our pre-race dinner was at an Italian restaurant at the Ala Moana Shopping Center called Assagio’s. There we stuffed our faces with salad, bread, and a mountain of spaghetti and meatballs. I ate so much that those sitting across the table from me saidI looked miserable. However, in the end, that load of pasta would come in handy!
Yes, contrary to my long silence, my brother, Paul, and I successfully completed our odyssey of running the Honolulu Marathon last Sunday and we actually live to tell the tale. I am currently sitting on the floor of my hotel room, accessing the internet via the TV and listening to the sound of the ocean waves. Rough life, eh? Let me tell you, after 4 humbling days of cringing wth every step either uphill or down, this is a fitting reward.
My final time? 4 hours, 11 minutes, 44 seconds.
Want to see pictures? Visit honolulumarathon.com and scroll down the home page and click on the link to the photos. Enter last name: Nishida,Bib Number: 8938 and see me in all my agony and glory. To see my handsome brothr, use the same las name and number 8888.
More posts to come…
I have a few odd training runs left totaling 27 miles before the big day and distance of 26.2. My brother is nursing a strained calf muscle and has had to take it easy the last couple of weeks. I feel fortunate that I haven’t sustained a major injury during the countless miles, each step a potential sprained ankle or pulled muscle.
And once I have completed this journey, what then? Do I keep on running? What for?
What happens to your life when the goal is finally reached?
I suspect for me, it will be time for a huge pat on the back and acknowledgement of a job well done. And then? More running, perhaps. Another marathon? I doubt it. Maybe the occasional 5K now and then.
Beyond the physical aspect, I think the most valuable part is knowing that I can accomplish something that I once considered impossible; that I can muster up the self-discipline to stick with a goal and see it through, no matter how painful. This must be applied to my day-to-day life. That will be my crowning glory.
A helping of fiber and antioxidant-rich leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and other green vegetables, may do more than help maintian a healthy weight and reduce cancer risk. A study conducted at Tufts University found that women who ate sufficient amounts of vitamin K, which is found in leafy greens, had higher bone mass at the hip and spine than those who consumed less than recommended levels. Researchers speculate that osteocalcin, a protein that promotes bone formulation, requires vitamin K to function.
The temperatures here in Southern California dropped overnight into the high 20s. That is a far cry from the Hawaiian norm of nights in the 70s. This cannot be good for my training. I will be ready to run a marathon in Alaska at this point, not Honolulu.
I started my forced acclimation program today of sitting in the steam sauna for an extended period of time. It was pointed out to me that I should be running in the sauna to really do it right. I’ll leave that for the over-achievers.
