| Earlier this year as Karen and I were working out pretty regularly, we started to write down our goals pretty regularly. So someone recommends a website where the main goal is to run 1,000 miles in one year. Initially I thought it would be a really lofty goal, but it broke down to 2.78 miles per day. So Karen suggested that while I was running 1,000 miles, I might as well sign up for a marathon. So I started looking and signed up for the Auckland marathon: the whole 26.2 miles. Yes, I had done 5-6 1/2 marathons, but the full marathon is a whole different beast, and I knew I would need to follow a regular training schedule. |
Fast forward 9 months and I had just crossed the 1,000 mile mark in October and coming up soon is the marathon! Karen is beyond relieved at this point because it is over an hour a day that I am away from the house excercising. We got all of our luggage together and packed up and took a group photo with our friends.
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| marathon here I come! |
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| Group photo time right before we left |
So we get to Auckland, and the weather has been amazing. We have an extra day, and Karen and I have been trying 4 previous times to swim with dolphins. These aren't penned dolphins at sea world, these are wild dusky dolphins that live in the ocean. So this was attempt number five. We had to leave at 4:30am in order to drive the three hours to Tauranga. Needless to say we failed, ended up on the boat about an hour and the winds picked up… no dolphin swimming for us.
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| The dolphin boat |
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| Some amazing views! |
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| I was a bit tired from the drive from auckland |
One of the towns that we had to go through was the town of Paeroa. This is town that is "world famous- in New Zealand" which is the motto for the kiwi soft drink called Lemon and Paeroa or L&P which is a lemon drink mixed with the local spring water. The kiwis also like building oversized tourist traps and we stopped and took some pictures and stopped at the local cafe.
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| My personal bottle of L&P |
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| L&P ice cream! |
So we got back to Auckland and spent the night in and prepared for the race. Karen was still feeling bad from her 24 hour flu so she wasn't sure if she wasn't going to run her 5k. I set up for my 3:30am wake up call- because I had to catch a 4:20am ferry over to the start of the marathon.
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| Really early start! |
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| How kiwi is this? You couldn't stop because I'd the birds. |
The race itself was great! Couldn't have asked for better weather. My goal time was 4 hours 30 minutes. My pace started out great,and I was easily keeping up with the 4:30 pacer. I passed them and saw the 4:15 pacer. I followed him for a few miles... but then he stopped suddenly and ran to the side of the road and started to throw up! He seemed fine and we ran a few more miles till he stopped and ran into a toilet! My pacer had gastroenteritis! So I kept on running and it was the 1/2 marathon mark, and I felt great. So I pushed my pace a bit and started to run faster. It was getting warmer out and the sun was starting to blaze. I was drinking every mile and I finally hit mile 20! Common marathon knowledge is that the 20 mile mark is when most runners hit "the wall". I didn't hit the wall at mile 20, I hit it at mile 22, mile 23, and mile 24! I started to cramp up badly, and I realized that my split times (my pace per mile) was slowly increasing! I stopped a few times just to ease the cramps, but I kept to a slow easy gate and crossed the finish line! It was as much of a mental challenge as it was a physical one, in some ways even more. I am glad that I did it, still considering whether I am going to run another one.
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| Some amazing views during the run! |
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| Funny road signs |
I got my marathon medal!
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| Karen ran her 5k |
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| Later on that day, we went out to dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse on the waterfront, it was amazing! |
The next day we got up, I was pretty sore, but was able to move and I hopped on a plane to San Francisco for a conference. We managed to get our three bags packed and checked in for the flight! Stage one of operation Texit complete!
The flight to the USA went smoothly, air New Zealand was amazing. When I landed, we had signed up for the trusted traveler program and it saved me from standing in the customs line. I literally went over to a kiosk and then over to grab my bags and then out to the hotel.
Karen went home to Wanganui and the prepped for her trip to the raglan coast with the Brenna, Lina, and Molly. Post coming soon!
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