After the Marathon

Well, it's been over a month since Jeff and I sped through Hawaii - but it still feels like it was just yesterday.

This is helped by two things: the helium balloons Jeff's sister had in our apartment, as congratulations, are still floating; and yesterday, my knees and back started to ache in a way that reminded me of the day after the marathon.

The 'welcome' we got when we came home was something nearly more memorable than the race itself. Friends, family, and complete strangers were writing us, or telling us how proud they were of what we had done. People we didn't expect were watching our times on Race Day to see how we were doing. And even better, several people have let us know that they plan on running a half-marathon or marathon, or even plan on getting off the couch and walking to the corner more frequently.

So, we succeeded in our goal of inspiring people - and the best part is, some of these people are people very near and dear to us. And we are so happy for the commitments they are making to improve their lifestyles after watching what we took on.

Our Goals

Back in my first entry when we signed up, I laid out the following goals:

1) Run 42.195 kilometres by December 13 (Yaaaaay success)

2) Raise $2500 by August 7, and a total of $6100 by November 13th - this goal is harder to figure out. We didn't raise the $2500 by the 7th, but did succeed in raising it. The totals are up for more debate and explained later on.

3) Be alive to go to Honolulu and run the marathon - Well, I guess I succeeded at that one too

4) Fit in spandex...and get out of it after my morning run - The spandex was a challenge at times, but totally doable. Getting out of it after my runs became more of a challenge the farther I ran; several times I had to call for assistance

5) Not murder my boyfriend as he attempts to train and fundraise alongside me...and of course attempts to beat my time by an hour and a half - Jeff managed to also stay alive although several times he almost didn't make it. The biggest challenge for us, together, was that I wanted to train with Jeff - and Jeff didn't care much about training since he was already fit. Also, Jeff isn't very outgoing in terms of fundraising. So, although he carried his own weight, he also left a lot up to me. The reality is though, Jeff always knew exactly when to come out running with me, to give me a boost, and he was better than anyone I could have asked to run the race with. Of course, he didn't beat my time because he chose to stay beside me the whole way to help me achieve my goal.

About a month or two later, the goals were appended with the following:

1) Challenge ourselves

2) Raise $12,000 for the Canadian Diabetes Association

3) Complete the marathon

4) Inspire others

As I'm sure everyone can guess, we did challenge ourselves. Even Jeff had days where he struggled. Again, the fundraising I'll talk about later, and the marathon, we completed. Inspiring others - as I said earlier, we succeeded there it seems. Several people are planning on running a marathon, half-marathon, or exercising more than before after watching what we did.

If you were inspired to do something, anything, even if it's not physical, after following our story, please do let us know! We'd love to hear about it!

Fundraising

This seems to be everyone's biggest question these days - did you make your fundraising quota?

So, originally, the goal was for me to raise $6100 for the Canadian Diabetes Association. We then adjusted it to $12,200 to reflect the combined total that Jeff and I needed to raise.

As it stands, at this exact moment, my fundraising page shows $5734 (after the deposits have been subtracted from the total) and Jeff's shows $3740 (after deposits). There are still little bits trickling in, but that means that we have currently raised $9,674!

We both got to a point of serious doubt as the marathon approached and both agreed that we would be satisfied with anything over $10,000.

So, this is our final plea to everyone - we have until February 14th to make any remaining pledges and still have the ability to issue tax receipts. If you have yet to donate, please do so now and help us reach our original goal.

Go to teamdiabetes.ca and enter Annie Devitt or Jeff Vanexem in the participant search field, then click on our name and enter your pledge amount and credit card information.

For all of you who have donated, Jeff and I want to extend our deepest gratitude to you. Same to those who offered their time or other services in any way.

An article in the Globe and Mail, less than one week before the race, called Diabetes 'a brewing economic tsunami' (read the article http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/diabetes-called-a-brewing-economic-tsunami/article1390792/?service=email ). You've heard all that I've said over the last several months about the shortened lifespan, the odds of children being diagnosed, the complications, and everything else. Diabetes is a serious problem for our society, and its economic impact only further emphasizes that problem.

And that is why I am so grateful to all of you. $9,600 is going to make a huge difference in the fight against diabetes. And not only that, the Canadian Diabetes Association offers support services to those living with diabetes, and advocates in the government, among many other things. So, the $9,600 we have raised together will also help improve the lives of those living with diabetes!

Events

Jeff and I are going to be running one final event for our cause - an online/offline raffle. As many of you know, Jeff and I often had bad luck with our events; many got cancelled or just didn't work out.

Well, some of these events included raffles and auctions. So, Jeff and I have built quite the collection of donated items. We will be selling raffle tickets until February 14th for $5 each or 3 for $12. If you want in on the raffle, either find one of us to buy a ticket from, or go online to our pledge site. As soon as you pledge your $5 (or more for more tickets), I will enter you into the raffle.

Also, if you are not in Guelph, Jeff and I will ship your raffle prize to you after the draw on the 14th.

The potential prizes include: a 48 can flat pack cooler bag, a 6 pack of Heineken, a fishing pole donated by Hook Line n Sinker in Guelph, a $100 Stone Road Mall gift certificate, $50 in Casey's gift cards, a Men's haircut at Freddy's Hairstyling in Guelph, a 13 cu. ft. Cargo carrier for your vehicle, a rot iron wall hanging, a folk art Santa coat hanger with 5 coat pegs, and a Westinghouse beverage warmer and mug set.

All tickets must be purchased prior to the draw on February 14th, which will take place at 5pm. Those who have previously donated to our cause will not be automatically entered into this draw. Only donations on our website after today's date will be included.

Buy your ticket today!

The Future

Beyond the fundraising, the next biggest question we have been getting is, what the future holds (both with marathons, as well as with the blog!).

Firstly, for the marathons.

Jeff and I have both agreed that we do, in fact, want to continue with marathons. We had barely crossed the finish line when we understood why people would be so crazy as to choose to do this again after all of the pain. The reality is, you keep wanting to do better. I was aiming for a 7 hour finish time, and due to my injury, crossed at 8 1/2. Of course, I want to go again because I know I can do it in 7 hours, and I would like to prove it to myself. Jeff wants to go because he thinks he can do it in less than 4 hours and never got the chance to try that in Honolulu.

We were talking to my brother and his girlfriend about making our next goal the Athens Classic Marathon in October. The Athens Classic follows the route that Phillepides took running from Marathon to Athens - the birth of the modern day marathon. And 2010 marks the 2500th anniversary of Phillepides' run.

Athens is still in the back of my head (because that would obviously be amazing), but two things get in the way. First, our budget, and second, the 6 hour time limit.

From there, Jeff has been looking at some local races, as have I. Jeff has also considered a triathalon. So, we're not sure where we're running, but believe me, we will be running again.

Finally, the blog - what will become of it?

I'm still thinking about it. It will be around - maybe continuing to document my life of running, or maybe just my adventures in general. Check back monthly to see if there are any new developments!

And on that note - the quest for the Honolulu Marathon is over.

Once again, on behalf of Jeff and I, thank you to all of you for following us, leading us, supporting us, pushing us, donating to us, believing in us, inspiring us, and being inspired by us. It wouldn't have been the same without you.

Aloha!

Monday, December 14, 9:00am Honolulu Time:

Once again, we woke up early this morning. I'm sure that it was, not only a combination of not being completely on Honolulu Time, but also from waking up so early the last few days.

My body is so stiff. It's not painful, just very uncomfortable and irritating. Most of it is in my lower back and it is causing me to lean slightly forward and semi-waddle everywhere. There is also stiffness, of course, in my legs and knees - but I do feel much better after my sleep.

We wandered down to the Hertz Rental car booth around 7am. It Check out is at 10, and our flight shuttle is not until 7pm, so Jeff and I both figured we could toss our stuff in the car and jump around the island all day.

And yes, that means we're not using our extra day. Continental was going to charge us an extra $1000 each to fly out tomorrow. Ain't gonna happen!

So, we get to the booth and ask for a Compact car - well, they have none left. All they have left is a new Cadillac that was special ordered in for someone and is thus, our only option. Oh darn.

I tried to convince the guy that he should only be charging us for a compact since that is what we want and he can't deliver, but he only dropped us down one price range. Better than nothing I suppose! When we get out to the garage to check out this car, it's pretty classy. Sun roof, leather interior, all sorts of fancy buttons that we don't understand! Good start to the day.

We plug in Jay's GPS and head out to find some breakfast. I was hoping to stay in Honolulu, but we weren't having much luck finding public parking around any of the places we were directed to. So, we drove about 15 minutes out of town and had breakfast at a local pancake shop. It was a true Mom and Pop kind of place, they even had pineapple flavoured syrup on the table!

Now, the problem is, we aren't entirely sure where we are. Wait, that's not the right way to put it.

We know where we are - the GPS has told us. We just don't know what town it is, and we want to start using these maps we got at the hotel to drive the highway along the coast. The GPS wants to cut us right through the middle of the island I think.

Jeff is excited for the adventure so has decided to just start driving and hope we figure out how to get to this highway, or where we are, eventually!

Monday, December 14th, 2:00pm Honolulu Time:

Wow, the drive along the coast was absolutely beautiful. Everyone knows that Hawaii is a lot of extinct volcanoes, and accordingly, a lot of mountains - but I don't think you truly realize how beautiful until you get out of Waikiki and check it out for yourself. The whole island is like a rainforest, so lush and breathtaking!

We followed the highway all along the coast up to the North Shore - before we left Toronto, the news was reporting that waves were hitting the North Shore with heights around 50ft. Right now is also the Billabong Masters, (the Superbowl of Surfing) so we thought it would be great to head up to the beaches, even the infamous Bonzai Pipeline, and try to see some of this.

Unfortunately, the waves weren't really making a show today. As such, the competition was on hold until tomorrow (and we won't be here! :( ). We hopped out of the car at the first place we saw a beach. There were lots of lava rock formations as you got closer to the water, which made me semi-happy as I learned very quickly that walking in the sand was tremendously painful to me.

I should also point out right now that every time we got out of the Cadillac, both Jeff and I felt more stiff than when we had gotten in. It got harder and harder to walk each time.

Either way, we wandered onto this beach and noticed all sorts of cameras with telephoto lenses on them, snapping away at the surf. So, we hung out for a bit, watching pros and amateurs jumping over waves, as much as crashing into them.

From there, we drove in to Haleiwa, an old surfing town that has unfortunately, been knocked up by daily tours from Honolulu and Waikiki. At first, it was nice to go into, the buildings were very 'seaside surf town-esque' - but then you started to see the busloads. And when souvenir shops started offering simple shot glasses for $7, we knew we weren't going to find much here.

We grabbed a bite to eat - some shrimp and other 'traditional' foods. I grabbed a drink in a real coconut, just so I had that as a souvenir. From there, we headed off to find a beach I had read about on some alternative travel sites. Being one who doesn't like the common, well-known sights, I had to find some secrets. This one was nicknamed Turtle Beach and when we pulled off on this quiet, dead-end street, and wandered through a small beach path to a completely empty shore - we knew we had at least found a secret.

Just ahead of us, a group of 4 had run off down the beach. One guy had stayed back, playing in what looked like a lagoon in the lava formations on the shore. As we got closer, Jeff realized he was tossing seaweed to a giant sea turtle that was in the lagoon. So, carefully, Jeff walked out and chatted with the guy.

Coming back to me, he said the guy was running a Lost tour - for the tv show. He pointed to an orange snow fence about 400m up the beach. "See that?" Jeff said, "It's the set of Lost".

I'm wandering slowly along the beach - my hips are starting to ache from the waddling motion in the sand. Jeff has run on ahead to snap pictures of the set, but this beach is beautiful - and there's practically nobody here.

Monday, December 14th, 6:00pm Honolulu Time:

So, Turtle Beach - we found 3 more sea turtles laying on the beach, warming up, while we wandered around. These things are huge and beautiful, and much to our surprise, one decided to head back to the water while we were on the beach - so we got to see that amazing moment.

The set of Lost really was the set of Lost. I was more amused by the port-a-potty on the set than the fact that the set was right there and we'd just, sort of, stumbled on it.

Jeff played for quite some time with little crabs in the sand before discovering the big guys hiding in the rock formations. This was about the time that I discovered I have a fear of crabs.

I can handle scorpions, black widow spiders, and all types of gross and disgusting cockroaches and insects - but crabs? The way the move sideways and make a little scuttling noise everywhere they go gives me the creeps.

I'd be walking along on the rocks behind Jeff, because I quickly learned that if I put on my (new!) flip-flops (yes, they are Sanuk and I am so happy) and walked across the rocks, it was the most level ground for me to walk on and significantly less painful than the sand. As I'd walk along, I'd hear things moving around in the rocks and get entirely grossed out. So, crabs are not for me. Jeff, however, loves them.

On the way back to the car, Jeff got mad at me for walking on the rocks - sure that I was going to injure myself. I couldn't explain to him that an injury was more possible in the sand, so I wandered on a little longer and then, eventually, jumped down to walk with him.

From the beach, we headed back down to the coast to the shrimp trucks (like chip trucks, but with shrimp) - it was the plan for supper, but Jeff wanted to get back to the hotel and so we chose to skip it. We did both grab some shaved ice though, a traditional Hawaiian treat.

We took a slight detour back to the hotel to drop off the car, hoping to hit Nuuanu Pali Lookout - which we sort of did. We found a look out near the top of the mountain, got out, took pictures, kept driving, and sped right past an entrance to the real lookout. Unfortunately, being a mountain road, we would have had to go down the mountain a mile, back to the other side, and back up to the entrance. So, that one will be saved for another visit.

Right now, we're just leaving the parking lot at K-Mart - picked up some souvenirs (we heard this is the cheapest place - which seems true) and some snacks for the plane. We are now trying desperately to find a gas station to fill the rental back up before we are meant to catch our shuttle.

It seems like this whole trip has been rushing from A to B - the only time we weren't rushing was during the marathon. I want to be in the marathon again - it's so relaxing.

Monday, December 14th, 10:00pm Honolulu Time:

We made it - we are on the plane to Houston.

A little breath of relief, since we were once again, basically running (minus the part where we can't physically run today), to catch our shuttle. Luckily, our shuttle driver (which was basically a black cab thingie) was working a side business in aromatherapy oils and offered me some oils to relax the muscles in my legs before the long flight ahead.

We were greeted by a rep at the airport who helped us through check-in, although, didn't really help us as much as we needed. There was a huge mix-up at the check-in counter with the woman not understanding that both pieces of luggage were going on the same flight and Jeff almost getting double charged baggage check-in fees and oy vey. We were high strung because we hadn't filled up our car's gas tank, and were sure we were going to miss our cab (we even phoned our Team D rep to let her know we might be late), and then this woman took nearly 40 minutes to check us in.

Eventually though, we did get through the gates. Entertainingly, when security had us kick off our flip-flops to go through the metal detectors, the guard asked us if we'd been to the beach. The sticky sand at Turtle Beach was still stuck to our feet, and still is!

We managed to grab some supper at the airport restaurant - a little pricey, but what can you do. I finally got to have a Blue Hawaiian, and then we headed to our gate.

We didn't luck out the same this time with our leg room - we were even in different rows, but convinced someone to switch with us so we could sit together.

We're only about 10 minutes into our flight (and very tired), but we have a bit of a tailwind. The flight is expected to be shorter than coming out here, I'm just hoping we get to Houston on time.

Tuesday, December 15th, 10:30am Houston Time:

Well....we made it....barely.

We get off the plane in Houston at 9:45am; boarding is at 10:00am. I have Jeff look at the board to figure out which gate we need to be at (because of course, it's not on our boarding pass), while I try and find a person to tell me. Jeff finds the gate before I get to talk to anyone - it's in another terminal.

We are in Terminal D, it's in B.

As my chest tightens up, I grab Jeff and run towards one of those golf cart things you always see in the airports. The guy tells us to hop on, and after about a 5 minute ride (imagine us, cramped up, trying to walk that!), he drops us at an escalator.

The escalator takes us up to the stop for the monorail, which takes us to Terminal B after stopping at C. Once at Terminal B, it's about a 5 minute walk to our gate. We would be late for boarding, but they are waiting on one of the crew.

Finally, luck is on our side. We even have enough time that I can change into my jeans and regular shoes - Jeff, however, has forgotten to pack such things in his carry-on and I look forward to landing in Toronto and seeing Jeff walking around in his shorts, and no jacket.

With this, it's done. The whirlwind of Hawaii will be over within the next 3 hours and we will be back in the snow with a t-shirt, medal, and some worn out running shoes - trying to explain all of this to you.

It really is a dream.

The Finish Line

Sunday, December 13th, 2:30pm Honolulu Time:

Okay, pretend I am being very excited and full of energy as I write this....because I'm really not. I can't move. If anyone wants to experience what you will feel like on your 80th birthday - take 8 1/2 hours to finish a marathon.

You feel pretty good (I mean, as good as you can, all things considered), and then you stop moving. Then there's problems.

So, let's backtrack.

I last checked in at the Mile 25 marker - that final mile was the longest mile I have ever experienced in my life. You know the finish line is there, but you keep looking, and can't seem to see it.

We turned down Diamond Head, and that was alright - except that I really wanted to pick up speed (it was downhill, who wouldn't want to take advantage of that?), but Jeff kept telling me to be patient.

We knew the Finish Line was in the park, which was right at the base of the hill, so we followed the route into the park entrance, where we were greeted by a sign '1 km to go!'

"Pleeeeease Jeff? My short runs are usually 5km, I can do 1km!" Nope. Not allowed. Interestingly, that single kilometre seemed pretty long as well - I sure couldn't see the finish line, but I could see a long line of people.

At this point, I had my iPod blasting my 'finish line' songs - which had my emotions going 10x crazier than I think they would have in general - songs like "What have you done today (to make you feel proud)". Although, after squeezing so many wet sponges on my head, my ears were quite wet and my earphones kept sliding out - but I still heard each song, and got prouder and prouder with every step.

Finally, we start hitting the crowds of people - complete strangers cheering every single runner on. Then we cross under the banner that read 'The Last 100m - You're Almost There!'. I sped up. I was walking, because Jeff kept glaring at me, but I sped up.

And then, there it was - the Finish Line! People all around us, cheering, lights, cameras (for real), the media stand, where they read our names aloud to the crowd and congratulated us. Jeff and I grabbed each others' hand and ran across that finish line.

Of course, movies and tv would have you believe that with the overwhelming sense of accomplishment and all the emotion, the next thing to happen would be a big tearful hug between Jeff and I. Perhaps collapsing on the ground, thanking God for getting us through it.

Unfortunately, the reality is that the next chunk of time was chaos and confusion. We had barely even clicked that we had crossed the finish line before the finish line volunteers (clapping the whole time) called to us and started waving us through the chute. "Keep going, keep going" (clap, clap, wave, wave). Wait a minute - I thought I was done! Didn't I just run 42km? Make it 50, for all the weaving around people I had to do in the first half. Why do I have to keep going??

I should point out - this is because otherwise there would be a huge bottleneck as other runners finish, and the Honolulu Marathon did a really good job of the logistics of the finish line - however, from my point of view at the time, I wanted to scream at someone "STOP MAKING ME WALK FARTHER".

At one point in the chute we were greeted by girls in hula gear who lei'd us with shell necklaces, and then were waved further on. Finally we reached a large map of the park - key for us since we had to find the tent where they were handing out the medals for on our necklaces, as well as the Team Diabetes tent to check-in before finding the shuttle back to our hotel.

I should also point out that pre-race paperwork explained that the finish line was near most of the partner hotels and that racers could walk back to their hotels. Thank God we didn't have to do that.

All the same, we had to walk from the west side of the park to the east side to find our team, and then up to the north side to get the medals, and back to the west for our shuttle. My muscles were completely cramping and I thought Jeff was going to have to find a dolly to wheel me through the park on.

Even worse, the natural divots in the ground of the park were doing a huge number on the blisters on my feet. During the race, I had a technique for walking that helped with my feet and the pain in my legs - uneven ground, even during the race, automatically caused pain. Therefore, the park was entirely painful.

Either way, we eventually got our shirts and medals (thanks Jeff), checked in, and caught our shuttle back to our hotel. The plan had been to grab a Blue Hawaiian at the bar by the elevators to our room, but by the time we got to that point, we just wanted to get up here and get to bed.

We made quick calls to our parents to let them know we were alive (partially), and now I am buried in the blankets on my bed, bags of hotel ice surrounding me. I want to sleep, very badly, but there is not one position to lay in that is not painful. Plus, I'm really cold (not because of the ice, I was cold before that). So, I still have all of my gear on. Eventually I'll get moving. I hope.

Sunday, December 13th, 9:00pm Honolulu Time:

Funny story. I was about to fall asleep when my parents called us (they weren't home when we got back to the hotel). Talking to them seemed to energize me.

So, I got up, soaked my feet in a hot bath, dealt with my blisters, ate a little bit, and was ready to go.

At this point, Jeff had crashed.

All the same, around 6pm we headed downstairs for our Victory Dinner with Team Diabetes. We bumped into some of our teammates in the elevator who were limping just as badly as I was. It was actually fun and amusing. Never have I enjoyed my absolute pain to such an extent before this.

So, the Victory Dinner started with a cocktail party, where we got to check in with our teammates and trainer and see how everyone did. Most importantly though, we got to numb our pain with some beverages. :)

Many people had horror stories from the trenches as well - cramps, blisters, one teammate was tripped by a cameraman; and many had performed better than expected. The important thing was, every single one of the participants had completed the marathon or 10k run as they had planned to. I'm not sure how many of the team were diabetics, but we all had our struggles, and we all finished. The last participant for Team Diabetes crossed the finish line around 12 hours.

Overall with the Honolulu marathon, approximately 3,000 people did not cross the finish line today. The last participant to cross the finish line did so at 12 hours 58 minutes. Makes my 8 1/2 hours seem that much more awesome!

At dinner, Fred de Fina started the 'speeches' by asking everyone to stand up. He thanked the 'cheerleaders' who had supported us all day, and asked them to sit down. He congratulated the 10km runners, and asked them to sit down. Then he asked anyone who had participated in a Team D event before to sit down. Finally, he asked anyone who had ever participated in a half marathon or full marathon before to sit down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the people standing before you to the club" - and the room filled with applause.

Note: The finish line photos show a time around 8:41. This time is not accurate, as it is the time that it took us from the starting gun going off to crossing the finish line. As mentioned, it took us some time to actually cross the starting line after the gun, due to the crowds. For that reason, our actual time was 8:29.

Race Day

Sunday, December 13th, 3:00am Honolulu Time:

I've already been up for 15 minutes - I can't sleep anymore. It's not that I'm even that nervous, my body just won't let me sleep. I got up and tip toed around Jeff, asleep in the other bed, and put on my gear. I even put on my sunscreen and Vaseline and began drinking water to hydrate for the day.

I spent quite a while out on the balcony, watching golf carts full of Marathon volunteers zip around the street below and even did some yoga to help relax. The biggest challenge of the morning so far has been, since we are up so early, there is no breakfast service. Jeff and I thought ahead and bought some cereal and milk last night (that's my standard breakfast prior to a run), but we didn't think about how we would eat it.

So, I've been attempting to eat Raisin Bran in a hotel water glass, using the paper lid as my spoon. I'm worried I may not have the amount of food in my system that I should - but what else can I do?

Last night, before bed, I started my glucose sensor to wear today so I wouldn't have to carry my glucometer. It's been having a minor freakout since I woke up but seems to be doing alright. The lights are on in the room now, so Jeff must be waking up. We are due to meet the team downstairs in half an hour.

I can't believe it's almost here.

Sunday, December 13th, 4:30am Honolulu Time:

We've finally arrived at the starting carrells - err, well, the washrooms really.

We walked for at least twenty minutes, and the sea of people washing out of the hotels and into the street towards Ala Moana Blvd was unbelievable. Again, hearing that approximately 30,000 people are participating is completely different than seeing them all, along with their cheering squads, heading for the starting line.

Along the way, my sensor decided it didn't want to work anymore. Yeah, talk about bad timing.

Since we were already on our way to the starting line, I didn't have my glucometer with me, or the chance to go back and get it. So, I will be running the entire race without a method of knowing what my sugar is doing, except my common sense and general physical feeling (which isn't always accurate when your legs feel like jelly because of running for so long).

Jeff offered to turn back and get the glucometer, and since he's basically carrying his entire life in a backpack, he probably could have carried it for me. I was just too afraid of losing him in the crowd, and now that we are here, I'm semi-glad I made that choice. He never would have found me.

And yes, his whole life. Jeff has decided that eating is very important to him, so has packed several bagels and other snacks in his bag. I'm just hoping that the other Team D participants don't think he's carrying this backpack for me!

So, we arrived at the starting carrells which are basically big banners hanging from lampposts indicating your estimated finish time. Our trainer suggested starting in a group faster than you anticipate finishing in, as many of the runners overestimate their abilities and will supposedly pull back before we reach Diamond Head or the 10k marker. Normally, it is suggested to start in a carrel slower (so the adrenaline doesn't cause you to run fast and burn out) but this crowd is so large, that would involve a lot of dodging eventually, and by moving ahead, one hopes to decrease that.

People are literally shoulder to shoulder with each other, covering the entirety of this 3-lane road and spilling over the curbs. Luckily for my crowd-anxiety, we weren't going to stand there long, because we were headed for the washrooms! We've been standing here already for about 15 minutes and we still have around 12 people ahead of us in line.

Myself and a few of the Team D teammates are getting a little anxious that we won't be through the line in time for the fireworks display. They keep making announcements for it - I don't know! I'm just glad that I don't pee much when I'm running because I won't have to fight these line-ups during the race!

Sunday, December 13th, 7:30am Honolulu Time:

We're on our way up Diamond Head Crater - the start was unbelievable. I had to hold my hand over my chest several times because I was so overwhelmed by what was happening. Everything I had done over the past 6 months was coming to a pinnacle, the race was about to begin.

The fireworks display was unlike any I had ever seen before. The colours were gorgeous, the size gigantic, and the various styles of fireworks were inspiring.

The adrenaline was buzzing through the air as everyone knew the end of the fireworks marked the start of this huge undertaking. In front of Jeff and I in our starting carrell was an elderly couple, probably in their mid-70's, tightly holding one another's hands in preparation for the first few steps.

As the fireworks ended, the crowd slowly started moving forward. I mean slowly. Based on where we were in the carrells, we probably had at least 10-15,000 people to get through the starting line ahead of us. All the same, that initial movement got my heart racing. Twenty minutes later, we were finally crossing the starting line. The crowd started to pick up speed as we crossed the mats, and a relentless ringing noise filled the air as hundreds of timing chips crossed the starting line in unison.

The first little while was simple, the crowd was so thick that I could only run at a fraction of my normal pace, which permitted me to run for a longer time period. The frustrating part was that people who were just walking would be in the middle of the crowd and we had to keep dodging around them. I'm sure, by the end of this, we will have done several miles beyond the requirement just trying to get around the walkers and people stopping to take photographs.

There were a lot of photos to take initially though - great Christmas lights and sights around Honolulu. And it was nice and cool and an easy start overall - aside from the cramp that refused to go away. I kept stretching it out, but nothing seemed to help. I promised Jeff once the sun came up I would pull off to the side and stretch since I would probably be ready for a break once it got a little warmer, but I'm actually feeling good now.

We just passed the 10km mark, slightly ahead of my anticipated time, and are working our way up the biggest incline of the race. We have a good bit of motivation under us, as we just saw the men's Elite runners, including Patrick Ivuti, the expected winner and record breaker, coming back down the route towards the finish line. All the runners pulled over to the side of the course to cheer him on, and watch his graceful stride - so cool!

Unfortunately, since the route is doubling back on itself right now, the track is pretty narrow, so it's getting crowded again and is pretty slow going. Soon though, we'll have a downhill and hopefully we will break away from some of the slower movers.

Sunday, December 13th, 1:30pm Honolulu Time:

I can hardly believe it - we are in the final mile. We are heading down the hill where, at sunrise, we had seen the Elite runners going by. We are here. We are actually finishing this.

This really is a big deal, not only for all the reasons you know that it is - but just before the mile 14 marker (just past half-way), we were getting ready to start another run interval. As my right foot landed on the asphalt, it was like a nail was being driven into the inside of my heel. The pain dropped me where I stood.

It was mid-morning and getting very hot, so I tried not to cry as I pulled off my shoe. I had to see what was going on with my foot. I figured, if it was a blister, I might be able to pop it with one of the pins from our bib numbers, and that would kill the pain. If it was anything else, I needed to know for my own diabetic health.

Well, it was a blister, but it was calloused over to the point that popping it was impossible. Nerves must have been exposed or something because even a light brush with my fingertip sent pain coursing through my entire body. Jeff suggested I try putting my shoe back on, that perhaps the pressure would help with the pain. I couldn't get my heel in the shoe.

The blisters had been building since around 10km, and we had stopped at several aid stations for moleskin, antiseptic, anything. All they could offer me was Vaseline for the friction. I wanted to shake someone and say "the friction has already gotten me!"

So, when this calloused blister or whatever it was, wouldn't let me put my shoe back on, I knew it was over. Jeff agreed to wait until an official came along so that I could get shuttled back to the starting line. There was still half a marathon to complete - if I couldn't put my foot in my shoe without screaming in pain, how could I walk even one more mile.

Sitting there, feeling sorry for myself, being utterly incapable of stopping the tears from flowing down my face, a feeling came over me.

I have been preparing 6 long, grueling months for this day. Hundreds of people have contributed their time and money to help us reach our goal, but many people back home are still doubting my ability to really accomplish this feat. How can I legitimize coming all this way, going through all that trouble, to go home and tell them I only made it half way.

I put the tips of my toes into my running shoe, rested my heel on the back of my shoe and literally tip toed an entire mile to an aid station. For anyone who can't comprehend that distance, the average person walks at 3 mph, or more simply, can walk a mile in about 20 minutes. Tip-toeing I imagine would be about half an hour. :)

Finally, this aid station was truly able to help me out. They sat me down, took off both shoes, wiped Vaseline over the entire heel, taped a large bandage over both heels and wrapped it in medical tape to secure it.

Unfortunately, by the time we got moving again, the tip toeing, and the sitting, had both caused my legs to severely cramp up. We agreed that if I planned on finishing this marathon, I was going to have to walk.

Even this became a challenge as my step technique impacted the pain in my feet from blisters or the pain in my leg muscles from the cramping. The last 4 or 5 miles now, we have stopped at least once per mile to sit on a bench, where Jeff, the hero that he is, has massaged my legs before we keep going.

Equally, these pauses have helped us have some really neat experiences! We met a man who is in his 80s, running in full coveralls and a straw hat, who had run in the Honolulu marathon ever since he was 18. We also saw a near accident on the highway as we crawled along on the curb, and several people trying to overcome their own marathon day challenges.

After several litres of water, one bathroom stop (a huge challenge when there is no toilet paper left, some 20,000 runners have already gone through them, and you have no working leg muscles to SQUAT over the toilet!), at least 10 cold wet sponges from aid stations, and countless (lying) volunteers shouting "you're almost there!" - we're actually almost there!

Within the next half hour, we will be crossing the finish line.

Within the next half hour, I will have done EXACTLY what I said I would do.

As we crossed mile 25, Jeff offered me another high five, as he has every mile and kilometer marker we've passed. I've begged him to let me run the last mile, but rightfully so, he doesn't want me collapsing so close to the end. So, since he spends so much time doing what I ask/tell him to, it's only fair that right now, I do what he tells me to.

And even if we're walking, we just passed a guy running backwards. At least we beat him. :)

I still can't believe that we're in the last mile.

Honolulu!

Saturday, December 12th, 5:00am Honolulu Time:

Oh look, 5 AM exists in Honolulu too. Crazy, I know. It wasn't that hard to wake up this time though because my body is still back home, where it is 10am, so I've actually been tossing and turning for a while.

Today Jeff and I are heading out on an excursion that we booked from home to help cross another life goal off the list - swimming with dolphins. We're taking a boat out with Ko'Olina Tours to snorkel with dolphins, sea turtles, fish, maybe seals, and....supposedly, it's whale migration season too!

So, although I'm feeling slightly tired, I'm really excited for today - there's a lot in store.

Saturday, December 12th, 12 noon, Honolulu Time:

Wow, watching the sunrise for the first time in Hawaii from Ko' Olina was pretty neat! All of a sudden, mountains started popping into view.

Since we had signed up online and got the 'sighting guarantee' package, both Jeff and I got a wetsuit to wear and one underwater disposable camera. Even though Jeff has his digital underwater camera, I figured this might be nice because I might not be able to poke him to take a picture every time I saw something cool.

The boat crew were really great - very chatty, and the Captain had a bit of a fishing addiction which gave him and Jeff something to talk about.

We finally pulled out of the bay just after sunrise, around 7am I think, and headed out to try and find Wild Spinner Dolphins. They warned us that we might have to travel for a bit before finding them, but before we even got out of the channel, Jeff poked me and pointed at one of the buoys. There was a HUGE pod of dolphins hanging out right at the edge of the channel.

We spent at least half an hour just pulling the boat alongside them and watching them jump out of the water and spin in the air for us. We'd hang out on the sides of the boats and watch them come right up, swim right under us, and generally check us out. The pod was at least 50 dolphins, including babies, and even the crew sounded pretty excited about our luck.

After watching the dolphins for a while, we started getting ready to be dropped in the water. We were given our masks, hosed down (so we wouldn't be cold getting in the water), and were lined up on the pontoons. We didn't get flippers this time because we had to lay absolutely still to get the dolphins to come as close as possible. The captain explained that since they're wild, if you start towards them, they will get freaked out and turn away from you. This made me a little anxious - my first chance to swim with dolphins and I had to rely on the 20 or so other people on the tour to not move.

On a side note, for anyone wondering why I haven't done a swim with dolphin experience before - I don't believe/agree with the programs with captive dolphins, especially in most southern countries. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that if I wanted to swim with dolphins, they had to be out, free, and enjoying their natural environment.

Anyway, we got 3 drops for the dolphins because they kept taking off to the other side of the channel so it was getting complicated to do a good drop. The first drop was amazing but so fast, I barely even saw them because they came from behind.

The second drop, the entire pod was no more than 10 feet away from me. In looking back at the pictures, Jeff didn't get to see them that close. It was inexplainable. During the second drop I put my head into the water so that my ears were submerged and I could hear the dolphins whistling and chatting and then suddenly, they were right there, spinning in front of me in the water.

The third drop was actually entirely uneventful, we waited, but they never really came back that time.

Our next location was a drop with the sea turtles - the water was so clear you could see them moving around on the bottom from on the boat. They looked so small from the top of the water where we were kicking around, but then they would look up and head to the surface for air. The few that floated on the surface with us were much larger than we had expected. This was one of Jeff's favourite parts - he is in love with sea turtles as much as I am with dolphins.

The final location was a large area for tropical fish. I was feeling really tired and cold at this point so opted to stay on the boat while Jeff jumped in. While enjoying the sun, the Captain asked me if I wanted to help him bring in a Needlenose. He was throwing fish food out to bring them in, which was neat because a lot of other fish were coming to check it out - including pufferfish! When he finally hooked the Needlenose, he handed me the rod, and boy, that fish took off out to sea. The line just kept zipping out further and further. Finally he stopped and I gently started reeling him in. I only moved him a few feet before he zipped out again, and snapped the line.

That's when I heard Jeff behind me. Apparently his fishing radar had gone off and he'd climbed back on the boat. The captain and I hooked another fish and as I was bringing that one in, Jeff asked if he could 'feel the power' of the fish. I (mistakenly) handed him the rod. Jeff never gave it back. He landed my fish. I will never forgive him.

About twenty minutes and we're back at the hotel, switching our bags and heading for the Marathon Expo to pick up our bib numbers and ChampionChips! How exciting!

Saturday, December 12th, 5:00pm Honolulu Time:

Thank goodness, we got to sit on the beach! Only for an hour though because we've got to get to our Pre-Race Pasta Dinner with Team Diabetes Canada.

This afternoon we walked the mile from our hotel to the Marathon Expo - what an overwhelming feeling already. Even just seeing all the people walking on the street with marathon bags brought to life how many people were actually participating in this race. That's like this morning as we were leaving town, we saw so many groups of people out for runs. I kept thinking - I must be doing this wrong. But I know, our trainer said that you should be resting the last few days before the race!

We walked into the Hawaii Convention Centre to find an entire wall lined with Bib pick up stations. Think about the size of a convention centre and then realize how many bibs that entails. About 30,000, incase you weren't sure. Then we went through a station to activate our chips - these are important, they go on your shoe and send a signal when you cross over mats at different checkpoints along the route. It helps to ensure that you didn't take any shortcuts and to tell your friends and family where you are on the route!

We wandered around the expo for a bit to see if there was anything of interest to us. There was a large section with memorabilia for the marathon, but a lot of it was race gear related, and I'm just not sure if I'm going to do any more racing after tomorrow. I bought myself a tshirt that says 'Run like a Wahine' instead. There were a lot of booths directed to the 65% of the participants from Japan, so we couldn't understand what any of that was. I think the only other 2 booths we stopped at were the booth for the Marathon DVD to record my audio clip to myself and a booth that was selling necklaces that said 26.2 miles. I told the girl if she had a metric one I would buy it. No such luck.

We also signed the graffiti wall to leave our mark on the Honolulu Marathon. We are officially a part of this now.

Saturday, December 12th, 9:45pm Honolulu Time:

We just got back from our pre-race Pasta Dinner with Team Diabetes Canada. Jeff and I sat with a table of participants from Ottawa-Hull, two of which were running the 10km (for the 5th or 6th time), and one who is considered one of the 'elite' runners on the team, as he finishes around the 3 1/2 hour mark. We also met Fred de Fina, the head honcho of Team D, and Jenn who organizes all of the marathons trip-wise. Jenn told us that if we could sort something out with the airline, we could add a day to the end of our stay since we missed the first day! That made us both pretty happy, although we're not getting too excited until we call Continental.

I didn't eat much at dinner, I was so tired I was getting spins - which, less than 12 hours before your first marathon is very anxiety-inducing. Not only the spins part, but also the not eating much part.

We listened to a few speeches - my favourite of which came from Fred, who pointed out to us that as of tomorrow, we will be part of 2% of the North American population who has ever attempted a marathon.

Nobody ever told me that was the percentage before.

Now I feel really special.

Except that we have to be up in like, 5 1/2 hours and we still have to lay out all our gear, pack our bags, put our chips on our shoes, and anything else we need to do for tomorrow. Let's face it, we won't remember it all at 3am.

Here's hoping it won't be hard to get to sleep!!