HARDASS FITNESS

Maila told me her Great Aloha Run story and I found it quite moving and inspiring and asked if she could write it down to share with everyone. ps. Maila is a very talented entertainer - visit her site HERE. Here is Maila's story:

One of the most intimidating things to me in high school was P.E. It plagued me all four years of my high school career, so much, that I decided to wait until the final semester of my senior year to finish it. Like most high schools, we were required to run the mile in 12 minutes or less or else, get an "F." I could barely make it around the track once without stopping to rest. As I recall correctly, on test day, I figured out a way to cheat my way through the 1 mile run by circling the track 3 times instead of 4 without the teacher knowing (or maybe he did and just felt sorry for me). Somehow I passed by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin. I'm very happy to say things are much different now.

When my husband, Kelii, asked if I wanted to run the Great Aloha Run, I was like, "No way! Maybe I'll consider doing the Great Aloha WALK." Running 8.2 miles was beyond me and while many people would say, "8.2 miles is eeeeeasssyy," to me it was a big deal.

I can't say I officially trained for the Great Aloha Run. I did a few 3-4 mile runs in the 3 weeks prior to the event and did CrossFit three times a week as well. Still, the thought of 8.2 miles started to plague me like the 1 mile run in P.E. class. Two days before the run, I decided to make it my goal to run the entire course without stopping to walk, even if my jog was ridiculously slow. I had no expectations other than that as I had never done something like this in my life.

I anxiously walked to the start line from Hardass Fitness/CrossFit Hawaii with Kimo, Kelii, and Gay. The thousands of people moving through the streets and lining up sparked my adrenaline but at the same time, made me ask myself, "Maila, what the heck are you thinking? You're not a runner." Next thing I knew, the gun went off and I was running, Kelii by my side. In no time, we passed the 1 mile marker and I thought, "Okay, I feel pretty good. Just get to 3 miles, Maila, and you can take a break." By mile 2, Kelii was running ahead of me but I realized I was settling nicely into a pace of my own. Mile 3 came and went...mile 4....mile 5. I thought, "Oh my gosh, now you can't stop. You have to run this whole thing!" Mile 6 started to mess with me a little. My feet pretty much moved on their own up until then. This was where I actually had to tell them to keep going. I wanted to stop and walk so bad but knowing Kelii was waiting for me at mile marker 7 made me keep going. Not to sound like a total goober, but when I saw mile marker 7, I actually had to choke back tears. We all have childhood demons and knowing that I defeated and buried one of mine before the race was even over (that dreaded 1 mile run in P.E. class) made me feel so liberated. Kelii yelled, "1 more mile! Let's do this in under 10 minutes." That made me even more emotional knowing how much my husband supports me, especially because he waited at every mile marker for me (Or was that just his excuse to rest? Hehehe...just kidding). I picked up my pace and crossed the finish line at 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 50 seconds...a 9 minute 48 second mile pace. WOW! So much for the 12 minute mile in high school.

I know the Great Aloha Run is mainly intended for fun and doesn't impose the pressure of a "real" marathon, but it doesn't necessarily have to take enormous pressure to change our lives or mindset. Running 8.2 miles without stopping to walk was a huge victory for me. After crossing the finish line, I really felt like I could do anything. Come to think of it, CrossFit makes me feel that way too. It's amazing how daunting a 20 minute workout of wall balls, box jumps, burpees, pull-ups, squat cleans, etc. can feel like an impossible feat but somehow at "3...2...1...GO!" we get moving and we get through it: one rep at a time, one minute at a time, one breath at a time. Our minds tell us to take a break but we keep going and before we know it, we're so far in that there's no choice but to finish.