Honolulu Marathon Turkey Trot!!! A 10 mile predict your time race. Being that my training has been helter skelter I had no clue what to write. I looked at the time I predicted last year and decided to add a few minutes since I am slower. I went with 1:41:27 (don't ask me how I chose the 27). The Honolulu Marathon Clinic puts on a great race complete with a fabulous a capella group who sings an original wonderful Honolulu Marathon Turkey Trot, and a bag piper player. We lined up at Paki Restrooms, did 1.5 loops around Diamond Head Park then set off for miles 6-11 and 11-26.2 of the Marathon Course. The plan was to "just run" and that's what we did. The course is one that we have run on a lot and it felt good to just get out there and do my thing. I've been running "naked" (no Garmin) a lot lately so that listening to my body as opposed to running for time has gotten more comfortable. With only 10 days til the marathon I am being as conservative as I can but I do admit that the instinct to race is strong inside of me and any chance that I had I passed whatever runner I could.
It was nice to see runners on the course, especially members of the HMC "Grey Group" that we used to run with when we had time to train. I knew that I must be pretty much on pace since I saw them on the route. When we turned on to Kahala Ave I vowed to run strong and simulate how I want to be running come Marathon day. I kept telling Mike, "this is the 2nd to the last time we'll be running this hill this year!" and also practice my Hill Mantras. The result was a very strong and solid last three miles of the course and that's the way I want to remember these last 3 miles heading into the 26.2.
As we turned in to Kapiolani Park and the Marathon Finish Mike began to pick up and I tried to keep as close to him as we could. As we passed the Tennis Courts I felt stronger and started to kick. The more I kicked the more he kicked. That's when we started to race. We can't help it, that's just the way we are. I was not going to lose and went full throttle. We crossed the line within a few seconds of one another and a volunteer wrote down my time. 1:41.03. I was 24 seconds too fast. And had I not raced I probably would have been in the running. DAMN. Damn, damn, damn.
Losing aside, today was a great run. My legs felt good, I felt happy, serene, and at the end much more confident. I am hoping that I am peaking at the right time this year and am just ready to run my race.
Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!
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