I was sick all week and was only able to run a mile a day to train. The weather was crazy hot, the air poisoned with vog, my throat raw from coughing, and my body fatigued from lack of sleep. I drove the course so that I would know what I was up against.
The race began at Ka'ala Elementary, went out on Kilani Avenue, then out of Wahiawa via the bridge (slight incline) onto Kamehameha Highway toward Whitmore, pass Kukaniloko, a left onto Kamananui Road (downhill) then a left onto Wilikina Drive (uphill, mile 3, similar to Nob Hill in Mililani), and then back to Wahiawa passing Schofield and Wheeler Air Force Base.
Driving the route I got more worried as I realized that running in the country meant ZERO shade. Nevertheless, it was the first run that I was going into that I would be able to run strategically. Knowing this made it hard to run for fun as opposed to run for time.
The night of the race I tried to get to bed early. Being that this race was close to home I was happy that I wouldn't have to get up at 3:45 like past races. We had plans for parking including a Plan B and I had everything laid out and ready to go. I was feeling pretty good about the race.
In the morning I woke up and my throat was still raw and my cough still persistent. I wasn't sure how the race was going to go but I took my meds, popped in a cough drop and decided I'd try my best.
At the start horn sounded I took off with the 900 other runners at an easy pace, about 10:15. I saw one lady running in what looked like cheap payless sandals and another man running in Crocs. CRAZY! The first half mile I remained calm and as we approached the first incline I put my head down and ran strong, passing a few people on the slope. As we flattened off it was time for about a 2 mile run in open hot air next to former pineapple fields. This part of the run was tough and I just kept telling myself to conserve energy because the next turn was downhill. I was able to push through those miles and get to the downhill.
I took a gel here because I didn't want to wait till I was dying and at the steep hill. I was able to pick up some speed here and got my average pace to about 9:15. Not as fast as I would have been able to run had I not been sick but I was happy with the way I was running. When I got to the bottom of the hill my legs were feeling a little fatigued from the lack of training during the week but my breathing was strong and neither my throat nor my cough was an issue.
I ran strong up the hill and knew that once I was at top it would be flat all the way home but running into the sun. These last 2 miles were tough but I picked out targets and managed to catch all but one. As I turned left into Wahiawa town I knew I had one mile to go and I reminded myself how short the distance was. I began to run harder, trying to pass as many as I could. When I turned left onto California I saw that I was making good time, however, fatigued and confused I could not do the math for my PR. I started chanting, "Balls out" in my head and gave it everything I got. I sprinted hard through the finish and my Garmin gave me a time of 56:09 and that's when I realized I was about 12 seconds off of my PR time. A little disappointed but glad to know that I still ran a strong and more importantly SMART race.
All in all I had a great time. My chip time ended up being 56:06.3 which was 216th over all and 27th in my age group. I got to run with my friends, see a lot of new and old friends, and won my Dole Pineapple.
See Results Here
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