Today was a huge day for me. I finally ran a sub-2 Half Marathon!!!! This has been a goal of mine for awhile and up until this morning I wasn't sure if I would ever accomplish it. In November 2015 I set a new PR for halves running a 2:01 at the Val Nolasco. Since the Fall I have been consistently getting faster and setting new records for each race/distance that I had been running, but when doing the math for a sub 2 half, it always seemed impossible to me to run 13 miles at a sub-9 pace.
Nevertheless, huge PRs at all three of the races I ran this year indicated that the Hapalua (even with Diamond Head at mile 9-12) might be a good race for me to smash my goals. And so I trained like I never trained. I began taking a "RIPPED" class every Monday and added in some cycling to get stronger. I ate well and dropped a good amount of weight. I ran hills at least 4 times a week mixed in with tempo runs and ran my long runs up to 14 miles. I ran the Hapalua Half hills as much as I could.
Leading up to the race I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself and I didn't want to be over confident. As a self-trained runner I can only rely on my past experiences, tips from my friends, and my best instincts. The races I ran this year all told me loud and clear that I could run sub 9 miles for a long distance. I just wasn't sure if it was 10, 11, 12, or 13 miles. My gut instinct told me that I was the best shape in my life. I was running 30-40 mile weeks and feeling good. My speed workouts were getting faster, and hills were no problem. The only question mark was my mind, and whether all the weight I lost would be a good or a bad thing.
With all of this swirling in my head I decided to come up with a plan. I played a bit with pace calculators and decided that my plan would be this:
- Run the flat part of the course (mile 1-9) at an 8:45 pace. My recent 1:11 time at the Great Aloha Run proved that this shouldn't be a problem.
- Run the hills no slower than a 10:00 pace.
Adding up the miles and times I knew that if I could do this I would be able to squeak out a 1:59 Half Marathon. I had run the hills and timed myself so I knew that I could do it. What worried me was the weather, the vog, and the humidity. If mother nature decided to be mean it would hurt me.
The evening and morning of the race I had a few snags but my sole sisters Heather and Cathy kept me loose and laughing. I made the decision to go with my game plan and when the gun went off I went for it.
This year was the largest Hapalua crowd ever and the front was congested with too many runners, and too many people that were not staged correctly. I did a lot of weaving to try and break free of the pack so that I could get to my pace. I finally found an opening and settled in to an 8:30 pace. The sun was still low in the sky and the wind (although it was a head wind) kept me cool. I reminded myself to stay mentally engaged and ran taking in the sights around me. I stayed on pace for the first 3 miles with no problem. Running through Waikiki is always cool and running past Ala Moana into down town exciting because the Elite runners participating in the Chase are always super cool to watch. I cheered for the runners that I new and watched in amazement as the elite marathoners ran past at their 5 minute pace looking like they were running in slow motion. They inspired me to run hard and I continued to do so.
Miles 4 and 5 slowed me down a bit as the sun started creeping into the sky and also because I was getting distracted running back into Waikiki and looking for friends I knew on the route. That was a bad choice for me and I will remember not to do it again. I told myself to run faster and better and I was able to stay at an 8:49 pace going into mile 9. As I neared the Monserrat hill which is a killer I did the calculations and knew that I could ease up on the hill and still make a sub 2. I was at 1:22 with 3.1 miles left and even slow hill running could not stop me. I decided to take the hill cautiously as cramping or a fall would kill my dreams. Of course the competitive part took over and I tried to pass as many runners as I could up the hill. I was yelling at myself and doing everything that I could to get up the hill and I did the first one at a 9:30 pace. I was way ahead of schedule. I was going to run a sub 2, the only question was, by how much?
I ran down that first hill as fast as I could and got ready to ascend the second one. This hill was my home field advantage and I knew I would be able to run it fast. I ran up at a 9 minute pace and at the top I told myself to take it easy, no cramping. That's where my friend Satomi met up with me and ran with me, talking to me. I was excited that she would pace me in, I was sure to get a good time!
She ran with me a bit, stopped and cheered, ran, and then once I was at Kapiolani Park paced me in all the way to the Finish Line. When I turned into Kapiolani I could taste victory. It was so close, and yet I was so scared that some crazy freak thing would happen and smash my dreams. I eased up, I told myself to enjoy the moment. I reminded myself that this was it, this was what i had been training for forever and that all my hard work was about to pay off!
Satomi told me to run hard after the courts and as I looked at my watch I knew I was going to nail a 1:55 Half Marathon. I ran hard passing as many people as I could, smiling, and at the end line jumped in the air two times, raised my fists and yelled and kept yelling. I had accomplished what I set out to do, and I had exceeded my expectations!
My official time was a 1:55:39. I came in 12th place, and only needed to shave off 11 seconds to be in the top 10. I had smashed my course PR by 9 minutes and my Half PR set in November by 6. This was a huge, huge feat and I had did it through hard work and the support and love of my friends.
:)
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