I have been back on the mainland for a little over three weeks now, and I am finally adjusting to not being in Hawaii. Now that the longing has receded (a bit), I can tell you about one of the highlights of our trip: the Kauai marathon.
Andrew and I actually planned our honeymoon around this race. We decided early in our wedding planning not to go on a honeymoon right after the wedding, for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that we both prefer adventurous vacations, and we knew we would be too tired after the wedding to go on a trip like that. Of course, the problem with postponing a honeymoon is that you can keep postponing it. A few months after the wedding, we still had no honeymoon plans. We both knew we wanted to go to Hawaii, but we didn't know when, which islands, or what to do there. Finally, I started looking for Hawaii marathons, and struck gold. The Kauai marathon was far enough away for planning, training, and saving money. Kauai- known for beautiful scenery and outdoor activities- looked like a perfect fit for us. Best of all, I found it less than a week before a price increase, which forced us to make a decision. After a couple days discussion, Andrew signed up for the half-marathon, I signed up for the full marathon, and we started planning.
Given the 6-hour time change and (slightly) different climate, I knew that I wanted a few days to settle in before the marathon. So, we decided to start our vacation by visiting my friend Katie on Oahu, and then head over to Kauai the day before the race. So, on a lovely Tuesday morning, we set out for Oahu. Trying to save money, we booked a flight with two long layovers in the middle.
 |
| Toasting to our honeymoon in the Minneapolis/St.Paul airport. |
By the time you factor in the time difference, we wound up travelling for about 23 hours on the trip out. I have a terrible time sleeping on planes, so I stayed up pretty much the whole time. By the time we landed in Honolulu, I couldn't care less that we were in paradise. I just wanted to sleep. We got our rental car, drove to our 1-night hotel in Waikiki, and crashed.
The good part about staying up through a marathon of travel? Minimal jet lag. At a totally reasonable time the next morning, we woke up and took a walk around our hotel.
 |
| Not bad. |
Now, it could sink in: we were in paradise. After hitting the hotel gym (go us), we spent the morning checking out Waikiki beach, and then drove about 30 minutes to Kailua to check into a micro-house we rented for out Oahu stay.
 |
| Welcome to our tiny home. |
We found this place on AirBnB (you can see the listing
here.) Its an 8x10ft. mini-house which our hosts built in their backyard. It was truly tiny, but had everything we needed and was in a great neighborhood right near the beach. As an added bonus, our hosts Denise and Henrik were super-nice and turned out to be runners and triathletes themselves. We spent a great happy hour with them swapping race stories and they helped us find a perfect local running route (see photo above).
Not counting the night we arrived, we were on Oahu from Wednesday-Saturday. During that time, we ran on the beach, ate at a famous restaurant for our (dating) anniversary, visited Pearl Harbor and a really cool museum, and checked out some of downtown Honolulu. Most importantly, we got to spend a day with Katie, my former roommate/running buddy (often featured in this blog) who moved to Hawaii 3 years ago. Knowing that I had a marathon coming up, Katie took us on an "easy" hike to see a waterfall:
 |
| Climbing. There was a lot of that. |
 |
| Andrew and Katie at the waterfall. |
Our "easy" hike was certainly scenic, but it involved a LOT of climbing. Knowing that I had a hilly marathon less than 2 days later, I freaked out a little. As we climbed, I mentally reviewed everything we had done so far and did not find much resting. We probably walked 5 miles in the course of our sightseeing, plus our run in Kailua, plus the hike. I tried to put it out of my mind and enjoy the visit with Katie, but I was worried.
On Saturday, we said goodbye to Oahu and got on a plane to Kauai. En route to the airport, Andrew and I kept exclaiming over the beautiful mountain scenery and lamenting our short time on the island. It was truly beautiful and Kailua had a laid-back, outdoorsy vibe that we both enjoyed... But then we saw Kauai.
After we landed at the tiny Kauai airport, we picked up a shuttle for the 30-minute drive to our hotel. We told our driver we were running the race, and she pointed out parts of the race route for us. It was spectacular. Here is just one tiny example, taken from the marathon's Facebook page:
 |
| This is called the "tunnel of trees." |
We got more and more excited as we drove along... and then we got to the hotel. The host hotel for the marathon was
the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa. Andrew and I consider ourselves more "micro-house" people than "grand resort and spa" people, but we got a discount for doing the race, and we saved a ton of money by doing AirBnB on Oahu, so we decided to splurge. GOOD DECISION. This hotel was literally breathtaking. Our first view when we walked in was a cavernous lobby, open on one end with a perfect view of the ocean:
 |
| "We get to stay here???" |
We also got the full "lei treatment" for the first time, which left us both fairly giddy:
There was a slight problem getting our room ready, so we went straight to the race expo. It was small, but very nice and friendly.
 |
| Very happy to be doing the half. |
 |
| Gulp. |
I don't usually buy things at race expos, but when were we going to get back to this one? We both picked up some t-shirts and a few things we forgot to pack (electrolyte tablets, earbuds, etc.). After the expo, we checked into our amazing room and took it easy for the rest of the night.
 |
| This is where we had dinner our first night in the resort. Amazing! |
The next morning, we got up very early to catch a 4:45am shuttle to the 6am start. We took a short ride to a well-organized and friendly start area. The announcer told us that 1700 people were running that day, but only a little over 300 of us were doing the full marathon. At that point, I got VERY nervous. I was already intimidated by the course, which features 2,205 feet of climbing, much of it in the later miles. Now, I realized that I would probably be running those later miles with no company. Gulp.
At 6am, the gun went off and Andrew and I headed out together. While he and I usually run at our own paces, we had decided to run together for the first 11 miles, where the half and full marathons run the same course. For Andrew, this meant slowing down. He could have handled a faster pace for a half, but I did not want to risk going out too fast. We decided to do 10 minute/2 minute run/walk intervals and enjoy the scenery as much as possible.
It was beautiful. Andrew tells me that the first 11 miles were hilly. Looking at my GPS, I see that he's right- we gained over 600 ft. of elevation in the first 7 miles in a long, slow climb. Somehow, though, I don't remember any of that. I think the remaining 15 erased all of those memories. I do remember how beautiful it was. Andrew and I didn't stop to take pictures because we didn't want to load and unload our phones, but we did slow down to take it all in more than once. The early miles were all about beautiful trees with mountains in the background (see above). We also had one brief downpour, which helped with the 80+ degree temperatures.
Back when we were training, I asked Andrew to do me one big favor during the half: not to countdown the miles. I knew it would not be good for my mental state to hear him say "only 5 more miles!" when I still had 18. He did exactly as I asked. Later, he told me that he was really tired toward the end of the half and ready to be done, but I had no idea. The only time I got reminded of how far I had to go was when we ran through a neighborhood at mile 9. Some very nice people who had set up a full cheering section on their lawn yelled "Only 4 miles to go!" I yelled back "I have 17!," and they groaned sympathetically.
All too soon, we reached the spilt at mile 11. Andrew gave me a kiss and headed downhill toward the finish. I turned and headed... uphill... alone. Of the 50 or so people who hit the mile 11 mark with us, only myself and 2 others headed for the marathon course. To add insult to injury, another downpour started just as I headed up the first big hill. I think I actually said "Really?" out loud.
At that point, I did something I pretty much never do in races: I put on headphones. I generally consider it rude (not to mention unsafe) to wear headphones in big races, but I always carry them along with an IPod containing an "In Case of Emergency" marathon playlist. In three previous marathons, I never needed it. This time, though, I was headed uphill by myself, missing Andrew and the crowds. To make things worse, I was heading into a long out-and-back loop, which meant I faced a steady stream of runners headed back. They were approaching mile 23 and I was only at 12. I needed a little boost to keep me from turning around and heading to the finish with them. The music definitely helped me re-energize and forge ahead. I do have one regret, though: a few minutes after I put on the headphones,
Dean Karnazes (otherwise known as "Ultramarathon Man") ran right by me. He is known for being really nice and encouraging and he looked me right in the eye and said something... which I couldn't hear. I appreciated it anyway.
 |
| Off to tackle the big hills. |
Shortly after Andrew and I separated, I started losing track of the 10/2 intervals. I think the music gave me some steam because I actually ran straight through a couple of walk breaks. This turned out to be no problem, because my planned intervals became irrelevant somewhere in mile 12. Mile 12 was totally uphill, with an elevation gain of a little over 200 ft. Mile 13 was a little downhill break, and then the real fun started. Miles 14-16 were literally straight up hill. We gained over 400 ft. of elevation in those two miles, with 300 ft. of that happening in mile 15. Picture one long hill, getting steeper and steeper for 2 solid miles. Every time we turned a corner, I thought I might get a break, but instead it just kept going up. Even better, I spent the whole climb watching most of my fellow runners coming down. For this whole stretch, I ran when I could and walked when I had to. There was a lot of walking.
(This would be a good time to note the awesome crowd support in this race, which was one of only things making the hills bearable. Because of the heat, the race directors put a water stop nearly every mile in the marathon loop, and almost every stop had musicians or dancers. In addition, it seemed like everyone who lived along the marathon route came out to cheer and stayed out to the last runner. I was on the course for over 6 hours, with only 20 people behind me, and I had people cheering me the entire way. That says a lot about the people of Kauai!)
Finally, at the 16 mile mark, I reached the top of the climb. The course leveled out on top of a ridge. I ran by a clearing in the trees and was greeted with a breathtaking view:
The picture doesn't do it justice. I could see all the way down a beautiful valley, with mountains at the top and the Pacific in the distance. It was awe-inspiring. I might even say it was worth the climb! We were treated to this view, and some steady downhill, for the next 2 miles. I started skipping my walk breaks again and just running through. I also started passing people, which felt awesome. By mile 18, when we hit some more hills, I had joined a small group of fellow runners who were walking the uphills and running everything else. I resumed my 10/2 intervals until I got through those hills, which (thank God) were the last big ones.
By mile 20, I was feeling fairly good. Going into this race, I was really worried about a total breakdown like the one I experienced in
the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon. Once I hit 20, I knew that danger had passed. I felt really proud of myself for toughing it our through the long, slow climb of the first 7 miles and the shorter, brutal climb of miles 12-16. I also felt ready to be done. As my coach Susan always says, the last 6.2 miles of a marathon are finished on mental strength alone. That was never more true for me than in this race. My body was pretty much done and it was only the thought of crossing the finish line that kept me going.
 |
| Waving was a major effort at this point. |
At mile 24, I passed the place where Andrew and I had separated and started a 2-mile downhill "sprint" to the finish. At that point, "sprinting" translated to "not walking." Once I made the final turn, I started running toward the resorts of the southern beaches and saw the spectacular ocean in the distance. It was so hot that I wanted to run right into it!
I always get a little teary when I see the mile 26 sign in a marathon. As an added bonus for this race, that's where Andrew chose to wait for me. As soon as he saw me, he started running next to me and tried to get me to do a sprint, but I explained that a fast jog was the best I could do. FINALLY, 6 hours and 15 minutes after I started, I crossed the finish line!
 |
| Into the chute! |
 |
| DONE. |
Andrew and I got our finish photo taken, and I started telling my war story.
 |
| Craziest honeymoon ever! |
Almost immediately, a fellow marathoner overheard me and said "Please don't talk about mile 16- I'm still traumatized." We had a little chat, which was my introduction into the "Kauai marathon survivors" club. Over the next few days, I had several chats with fellow marathoners of varying ability levels. Some had finished in under 3 hours, others (like me) took over 6, but everyone agreed that it was the toughest marathon we had ever run. I also had a lot of conversations with half-marathoners, which all seemed to include the phrase "You ran the
whole thing?" One of them even high-fived me. So, even though this was my slowest marathon by a decent margin, I wound up feeling really proud about it.
The best part of running a super-hard marathon in paradise was that, once it was over, I was still in paradise. Andrew and I spent the next two days relaxing and enjoying the resort and the rest of the island. When it came time to leave, we were talking about our favorite parts of our vacation and I said "As sick as this sounds, I really loved running that marathon." Andrew just rolled his eyes. I'm hopeless.
 |
| Toasting my finish at a post-race luau. |
 |
| Done and done! |
