marathon chronicles 01. first run.

i jokingly mentioned in my fashion to fitness post that this blog may turn into a documentary of how i ran my first marathon. well, it won't...but since fitness has become a huge part of my life, i am going to write about it here in this series called marathon chronicles. if health and fitness don't interest you, then feel free to skip these posts...but ya might miss out on some fun stuff!

last weekend, i completed my first run of the year.

while i haven't officially started training for the marathon, i had been training for this 8.15 mile great aloha run. it was a nice substantial distance that allowed me to gauge my fitness level at the start of this year. i did this run last year with absolutely no training and completed it just fine. not fast, but not last...probably running 60%/walking 40%.

this year, after running 3-4 times a week, i shaved 10 minutes off last year's time and ran 85%/walked 15%. the one issue i faced this year was heavy and fatigued legs; they felt like lead at the start of the race. i was on my feet for most of the day-before, so it's possible my legs didn't get enough rest and recovery time? anyways, it's something i'll have to look into so that it doesn't happen on marathon day.

i slept at my friend's house the night before so that i didn't miss the 3:15am wake up call. last year i woke up at 5:30am!! after coffee and cereal, we headed out and arrived at the buses by 5am.

here we are around 6:15am making our way to the corrals.

7:00am gun goes off. so many people this year! it took a while before we were actually able to start running.

and...crossing the finish line.

next stop? breakfast!

fashion to fitness.

"it's only $1 per mile."
that's all it took for me to sign up for the honolulu marathon.
never mind that fact that it is twenty. six. miles.

i was at my friend's house for dinner one night, and somewhere between hellos and a couple drinks later, i was all in. we have been talking about training for the 8.15 mile great aloha run coming up in february, so what's another 18 miles?
but seriously, despite all my anxieties and fears about finding the time to stick to a training schedule, i'm excited. i told mini-she that i was going from fashion to fitness this year...that i was going to live and breathe fitness. trade in my stilettos for nikes, my necklaces for a pedometer, my skinny jeans for compression pants.
she's not convinced.
but look. my first marathon-training purchase...a hat to shield my face from the sun when i'm running all those miles.

just a warning that in six months, this blog may turn into a documentation of how i ran my first marathon. haha.

and a few other things i plan to pick up along the way:

- a pedometer to track my workout miles

- lightweight sunglasses

- sunscreen

- new running shoes

- swimsuit for those cross-training workouts

- workout clothes

have you completed a marathon?

if not, do you have the desire to?

veterans...any advice on what to do or not to do?