{"id":16871,"date":"2015-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=16871"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:36:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:36:00","slug":"running-the-honolulu-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/running-the-honolulu-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Running the Honolulu Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most of my life, I told myself I wasn\u2019t a runner, and that my body type wasn’t right for running. This belief was reinforced because I got winded easily during short jogs, like those through the airport. \u201cSee, I can\u2019t run,\u201d I would tell myself.<\/p>\n

Though I\u2019ve always been in pretty good physical shape (which I credit to my middle- and high-school days as a gymnast), at nearly 46 I made a commitment to myself not to fall into a trap of letting the pounds add up as I’ve seen happen with so many people. I revisited what I had been telling myself for so long; rather than buy into the fact that I wasn\u2019t a runner, I would figure out how to become one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I invested in some technical running gear, including a GPS watch, and started running in my neighborhood and during my travels. Over the course of a few months, I ran in places including Rome<\/a>, Berlin,\u00a0Kauai<\/a>, Italy<\/a>, Bangkok<\/a>, and Washington, D.C<\/a>.\u00a0Three miles was my average distance. If I was feeling good and had the time, I would push myself to four or five miles. Then I’d give myself a mental high-five.<\/p>\n

Long-term, however, running wasn\u2019t quite doing it for me. It bored me, and my muscles always felt tight afterward. I never got comfortable running more than five miles, and a marathon seemed out of the question.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

Runners in Honolulu Marathon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I ran for about two years until someone introduced me to P90X, a home fitness program that combines strength training and cardio. Meant to be a 90-day program, I continued with P90X for 13 months, working out six days a week. This involved more mental high fives. After grueling P90X workouts, I deserved them.<\/p>\n

These workouts helped me get in shape for experiencing the\u00a0Snowman Trek<\/a>\u00a0in Bhutan. Having successfully completed that epic adventure, I knew that in order to stay in shape I needed to have another big goal. I thought about that\u00a0marathon I said I could never do. No more excuses, I thought. T<\/span>he challenge was on.<\/span><\/p>\n

I upgraded my running gear to include a GPS watch with a heart rate monitor, uploaded great running music to my iPod, and made sure I had the proper clothes and running shoes for all types of weather. As of right now, this girl is training for her first marathon! The location of that race: Honolulu, on Oahu<\/a>, of course.<\/p>\n

Why Honolulu?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of my heavy travel schedule, I only have a couple windows of time this year that make a marathon possible. After all, marathons require not only participation in the event, but at least four months of training in advance.<\/p>\n

I chose late in the year as best for my schedule, then pretty quickly decided the Honolulu Marathon was the best option. Warm weather, palm trees, Oahu<\/a>: What better motivation does one need to train for a marathon than to travel to Hawaii as a reward?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Marathon and sunrise photos courtesy of Honolulu Marathon Association<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The race sounds challenging. Skies will still be dark at start time (5:00 a.m.), but the sun will rise in the early-going and provide a beautiful backdrop for the course that follows the ocean. Though there are some uphill climbs on the course, the race ends in famous Waikiki shortly after passing Diamond Head.<\/p>\n

An added bonus to the Honolulu Marathon is that 48 percent of participants are female, the largest percentage of any major marathon.<\/p>\n

No excuses<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

So what got me to the point that I now believe I can complete a marathon?<\/span><\/p>\n

First, I had to rack up some small wins. Completing 90 days of P90X was the start. The mere fact that I stuck to that program gave me confidence (and a new body) to believe I could push myself to new physical heights. By the way, I’m still doing P90X, but I now run on my cardio days. Rawr!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, I looked for inspiration. I’ve been reading magazines and books that feature ultramarathoners (those who race 50 miles or more). I figured if they could run more than 100 miles at a clip, why couldn’t I run 26.2?<\/p>\n

Viewfinder Tip: Never say never. Don’t let anyone (including yourself) talk you out of doing something before you at least have tried.<\/p>\n

Finally, I’ve been talking to a lot of friends who run regularly, like my friend and Expedia Viewfinder colleague, Matt Villano. He has written about destination racing<\/a>\u00a0and now has a plan to run eight half-marathons in six months. That made my one marathon this year seem paltry.<\/p>\n

Bolstered by the far more ambitious goals others have set forth, I\u2019m convinced bigger challenges lie ahead for me.\u00a0In addition to the marathon in Honolulu<\/a>, I think I can do at least two half-marathons this year alone. I mean, why not?<\/p>\n

All I know is that most excuses are those I have made up in my own mind. I\u2019ve discovered that sometimes all it takes is looking up to others as mentors to find that I can move my goalpost and do things I never thought I could.<\/p>\n

What have you done that you thought you never could do?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding inspiration to push beyond limitations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1789,1813,1782,1930,1890,1788,1792,1914,1776],"tags":[],"authors":[2225],"class_list":["post-16871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-beach","category-destinations","category-fitness","category-hawaii","category-interests","category-nature","category-oahu","category-type-of-vacation","authors-beth-whitman","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRunning the Honolulu Marathon | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/running-the-honolulu-marathon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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