Capt. Debbi Eleneki wasn't the lean and fit firefighter she is today when she was attempting to become the first woman to join the Honolulu Fire Department back in 1987.

"I wasn't really physically active," said Eleneki, who went on to become the first female fire captain two years ago. "I was pretty much a couch potato."

As an architecture student at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa at the time, Eleneki said she didn't grow up intending to become a firefighter. She set off on that course, which changed her life plans, because of a dare.

"I had taken the written exam at my father's suggestion, just because it was good practice as a civil service exam," she said. "It ended up that I scored pretty high, so I was called back to do the agility and physical exams, which I didn't intend on doing."

Then the father of one of her high school friends caught wind of it.

"He was making fun of it," she said — doubting that she could pass the tests. "I wanted to prove him wrong."

Eleneki plunged head first into some serious physical training.

"My dad and my brothers are all firefighters, so I had a little inside insight. They gave me pointers, but they didn't train me. They just told me, 'Do this,' and they let me go," she said.

Eleneki began running stairs while wearing a backpack full of concrete weights, swimming and running up and down rough terrain in Waimanalo. All of it was in preparation for parts of the fire department's agility exam, which included running 10 flights of stairs carrying a 50-pound bundle and diving into 12 feet of water to retrieve a weighted object.

"We lived on the mountain in Waimanalo, and I would hike up and down the mountain, sprint up and down. I'd strap weights all over just to get used to how it is to carry all the gear," she said.

Fitness has become second nature now for the mother of two. In addition to physical conditioning while on duty in 24-hour shifts at the Makiki fire station, Eleneki also makes it a point to stay in peak physical shape while at home.

"With this job being so physically demanding, men naturally have the advantage. That in itself is a challenge. I know I have to be strong. It motivates me to push limits, do the things I normally wouldn't," she said.

Eleneki's fitness routine consists of daily runs in her Enchanted Lake neighborhood, and she routinely incorporates her children in her exercise.

"I have stairs by my house so I'll throw my boy on my back — he's about 80 pounds — and we do the stairs together," she said. "If I have to pick them up from school, I'll run it holding their scooter, and I'll run back home and they'll ride the scooter."

While at home Eleneki says she runs a lot. During any moment in her day — whether she's sitting in front of the computer or doing laundry — when she gets stressed, she goes for a run.

"It's funny. Sometimes I tell (my family) 'I'm going to run to the store,' and they don't know if I mean I'm actually running or if I'm going in my car," she said.

Training at the station normally includes aerobics, jumping rope, riding stationary bikes and weight training, but Eleneki tries not to overdo it while on duty.

"We don't exert ourselves to total fatigue, because we're still needed to respond to alarms," she said.

Most of Eleneki's fitness training is to condition the body for her firefighter's gear, which weighs in excess of 70 pounds.

"When I do aerobics, most of the time I push hard because I know I need to get my body used to that feeling of labor, the feeling I have when I go to high-rise fires," she said.

Eleneki says fitness is now a lifestyle she is attempting to pass along to her children.

"We focus a lot on education, but you have to remember that the mind and the body work together. You need them both," she said.

Once a couch potato, she got fit to get a job — and hasn't slacked since

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.