The Hapalua Half Marathon Recap

I've never posted a recap before, so bear with me.  It may be all over the place as I get my thoughts down.

My husband and I decided to spend the night in Waikiki, rather than trying to deal with traffic and parking early Sunday morning.  This was the best decision ever!  We stayed right in the heart of Waikiki.  We walked to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, and got way too much food!  And cheesecake to take back to the hotel room!

I went to bed early, around 8pm, but I was waking up all over the place, at least every 30 minutes.  I was so nervous coming into this race.  I think it was my first half marathon outside of RunDisney, and I find those runs so safe and comforting!  And if you do badly you can just pretend you were looking at the entertainment!   I also didn't have my normal crew of runners with me that I am accustomed to, I really missed them!  Just to see a friendly face before the run. I did have my husband and my dog though, so that made it a lot better!

I woke up at 4:30am, for the last time, and got out of bed soon after.  I got ready and decided to head out of the hotel and walk to the start line at 5:00am. I didn't have anything pre-run, except a few sips of a Dr Pepper (I thought the caffeine might do me good!).  My husband and the dog joined me for the walk to the start line, and it was pretty quick, only about 15 minutes away.

As I saw other runners heading to the start I ended up feeling a lot less nervous.  I still didn't feel like a PR was on the cards, but I was feeling better.  

With half of my support crew! (The other half was taking the picture)

The Hapalua has a really fun element, The Chase.  They have a Team Hawaii, that are all local, fast runners.  They get a head start, depending on their PR, then there are a few elite runners that start with the rest of us, at 6am.  Team Hawaii tries to hold onto the lead, and stay ahead.  My husband and I got to see them take off before the race, then I said my goodbyes, and used a porta-potty - last minute nerves!  Then headed in amongst the runners.  It was crazy compared with Disney, a lot smaller of a race, but still a lot of people - and no corals or waves for everyone!  

We started walking and soon I was at the start line and got off to a slow jog.  The first mile was just trying to get around people - there were a lot in front of me and I was just trying to keep it cruisey while finding my way through all of them.

Ready for the race!

I tried to keep my pace easy for the first three miles, and felt really good.  I did think that I may not be able to hold the pace for the whole time.  I averaged about a 9:48 pace for the first 4 miles.

Mile 8 was where my hotel was, and I was hoping to see my husband, but I think he decided to head back and sleep a little more - he was up past midnight studying, so I don't blame him for not being there!  This part of the run got a little tough, and I got a little slower.  At mile 8 I kept thinking just keep going, mile 9 is where the hill is, just get there.

Mile 9 came, and just after that was the hill climb at Diamond Head.  Wow - it was brutal.  I had done it before on a training run, and I am so glad I did.  I knew that after a little while, less than half a mile, that it gets flat for a while.  I really wanted to stop and walk, but I kept pushing on.  When I got close to slowing and walking, I thought of all the women that I follow on Instagram working on their hills, and that they will be conquering Heartbreak Hill at Boston in a few weeks.  If I want to be there one day, I needed to be able to run up this hill and not take a break.  I saw the mile 10 marker and told myself if I needed to I could take a break then (However, I did know from running it before this was where the hill stopped and flattened out).  That mile was my slowest, at 9:34min/mile.

It hurt me a lot, I kept trying to push on.  But I just couldn't will myself to really kick it up another notch.  At about mile 11 it was downhill, so I just tried to keep moving and really let gravity help me out.  I was hoping for a water station, but one never appeared!  But I only had about 2 miles to go.

Right before the finish line I kicked into another gear.  I actually felt good running faster, and think maybe I could have pushed myself a bit earlier.  Who knows?  I don't know if I could have gone faster for a very long time.

I got to meet a fellow Instagramer, which was really neat.  It's great to meet new people!

At the finish I got my first Malasada - an awesome donut type thing, and shave ice - which was perfect after the run.  The Malasada was delicious, but I just couldn't eat that after the run - I stuck with the usual banana.

Shave Ice and a medal!!!

A new PR!

Yes, I didn't mention.  My official time was 1:55:54 - over a minute PR.  I am really happy with this result, especially because of that pesky hill!

My splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:55:54.7	13.15	8:49
1	9:09.2	1.00	9:09
2	8:37.7	1.00	8:38
3	8:41.3	1.00	8:41
4	8:35.6	1.00	8:36
5	8:48.4	1.00	8:49
6	8:45.4	1.00	8:45
7	8:48.4	1.00	8:49
8	8:56.8	1.00	8:57
9	8:55.0	1.00	8:55
10	9:36.1	1.00	9:36
11	8:34.6	1.00	8:35
12	8:45.5	1.00	8:46
13	8:34.8	1.00	8:35
14	1:05.8	0.15	7:27

races and events 2015

I think not running for a while has made me a little crazy.  I am looking at a lot of running events, and I want to do them all.  So far for 2015 I have a few lined up:

• Hapalua Half Marathon - April 13, 2015
• Hibiscus Half Marathon - May 24, 2015
• Honolulu Marathon - December 13, 2015

I am excited for these, even the Hapalua Half that I may not be as prepared for as I would like - stupid injuries!

I have also decided on entering the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon, which opens sometime early March for the race in October.  This of course, isn't a definite - as it is a lottery to get in.

So, because I am not doing anything at the moment except for googling, I have looked up more events.  In Hawaii they have a series of events to get you prepared for the Honolulu Marathon, these are:

• Boca Hawaii - Norman Tamanaha 15k - August 9, 2015
• Runners HI 20k - September 6, 2015
• Hokulani Bake Shop 25k - October 4, 2015
• HMSA 30k - October 25, 2015
• Mizuno Val Nolasco Half Marathon - November 15, 2015

Now, you can sign up for these events individually, or all at once for about $130 (before a certain date).  I am thinking this will be a great idea.  It will keep me motivated for the Honolulu Marathon, as well acting like great training runs.  The 30k is apparently the last 18 miles of the marathon course, so that would be fantastic to do.  The only problem is that would be the only race I would miss if I were to get into the Marine Corps Marathon.

I printed out a calendar from my computer last night, and put in all the dates of the races, as well as the MCM, and it looks possible!  I have a little bit of time to decide, but it will give me some great events to run for the second half of the year.

Training

I have been looking quite a bit into marathon training.  I am using Hal Higdon's plans for the half marathon coming up, but have also been reading about Hanson's Marathon Method.  This sounds great, but quite intense.

I definitely would stay motivated with my training using the Readiness Series above, and it will be like stepping stones to get ready for each race.  If I do this series, I will probably stick with Hal Higdon's guides.  

There is a North Shore Marathon planned for the start of 2016 (I think April?) so, if all goes well and I finish all my events for this year, but find that I want to try something different, I may try using the Hanson's plan for that marathon.  At the moment this is the marathon I could really hope to see some improvement in my times - it is a year away, it is where I live - so I can run the course, and it isn't hilly. 

I'm excited!  Now for my ankle to heal!