I thought I would do a mid Kona training post and update everyone all at once. I am now getting asked quite frequently if I am "Ready for Kona?" I can tell you simply. I will not be ready for Kona until October 12th, 2013 (that is the race day right?) Am I getting ready for Kona and preparing exactly the way that I want to be. Yes. I am. In fact, I am stoked.
I have not been this excited about a race in quite some time. Maybe it's because I really have not much else to do in my life right now (I can be honest about this at least!). Maybe it's because I am listening to my body and giving it 100% attention. I said I would be selfish. I wasn't lying. No boyfriends, no late dinners with friends, planned brunches and lunches around training.... and coffee chats are reserved for car rides to biking locations.
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| Post Half Marathon with these two lovely people that are now down-under! |
It's not to say that I'm not having a blast. I certainly am. I have put in more mileage on my bike than ever before... two 120 mile rides in 2 weeks... followed by runs. And I even had some crazy friends that joined me for parts of them! 3 weeks of 17+ mile long runs on the weekends and a secret 1/2 marathon training race which I PRed at almost a sub 1:40:00 (and a co-worker that somehow found out about my finish;-)). Happy, yes. I'm smiling ear to ear for each ride, even when I have to be pathetically picked up on the side of the road because my tire flatted and I forgot my hand pump. I definitely made the best of it and called in breakfast to the busiest local breakfast spot for take-out and picked it up for my amazing friend who drove almost 2 hours (round-trip) to come grab me. Who doesn't love eggs benedict and coffee as a thank you? No matter what, I realize that I am lucky to be training in Hawaii... lucky to be training without injury, and lucky to be able to train at all.
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| I've visited Ka'ena point more times in the past 2 months than the entire 6 years on island! |
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| Gotta love Hawaii for the training locations. |
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| Even getting a flat isn't bad when you can sit on the beach and watch the waves roll in! |
On my 28th birthday I was thinking about where I was 7 years ago. What I did for my 21st birthday. You probably wouldn't believe me when I said I was in an ER room. For what? My first marathon. I fractured my hip running the adirondack marathon (estimation around mile 15) and kept running... then walking... then barely limping until I finished the darn thing because it was my first marathon. I realized how lucky I am today to be doing what I am doing. Two years after my first hip fracture I fractured my other hip (nearly exactly on my 23rd bday) and started working with an amazing team of doctors in Hawaii. With a year of self administered shots I was able to re-build my bone density on a miracle drug that was just released to the public months before my second fracture. I was back run/walking within 3 months (instead of 10) and able to compete in a marathon later on in the year.
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| Super stoked about the cheesecake and party hat! |
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| Amazing crew and ohana... can't do a lot of this training without the support of these friends (and many more not pictured :-)) |
Now back to Kona. So, no... I am not ready for Kona but I am logging in the hours and enjoying every bit of the journey as I do so. I can't wait for race day so that I enthusiastically can jump up and down and say... YES! I AM NOW READY FOR KONA!
