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

what to wear and pack for a half marathon

I was going through all my outfits yesterday, trying to figure out what I was going to wear for The Hapalua Half Marathon.

Some of my favourites!

With all my clothes, I have completed my long runs in them.  I know they are comfortable. It was kind of a joke - I know what I am going to wear!  I have my favourite running shorts.  My favourite running bra.  And I probably won't wear a t-shirt, it makes it easier that way!

What I plan on running in.

I am not totally convinced on my shoes.  I have another pair, exactly the same Saucony Kinvara 5 - but half a size larger than this pair.  I will probably take those too, just incase I change my mind.


The final packing list:

• Socks
• Lululemon Pink Shorts
• Lululemon Sports Bra
• Feetures Socks
• Saucony Kinvara 5 shoes (x2)
• Garmin Forerunner 210 GPS Watch
• Brooks Running Hat (I may only probably wear this if it decided to rain.. I haven't decided)
• Bib & Safety Pins (plus extra safety pins)
• Clif Gel -  Vanilla Flavour

That is it for the race.  Everything I have here I have tested in a long run or race before.  I am not making the same mistake as last time, accidentally buying the wrong brand of gel that was disgusting and I couldn't get it down during the race.  On the side note of gels, I will plan on having it at around mile 6, and have an extra gel that I may take with to have if needed at around mile 10-11 for that extra zing.

Now, I am always nervous that something will be wrong with one of the items I have.  So I am probably going to pack an extra whole outfit, just incase!  You can never be too sure!!

I am getting quite nervous.  It is strange, to be nervous.  I am not going out to 'win' (obviously!) but I am trying to do my best.  I have actually put in a decent amount of training for this race, a lot more than usual.  Hopefully it pays off!

My tried and approved outfit!

trying to think of a game plan

This morning I ran my last hard workout.  6 x 400 meters.  It was tough.  I wanted to try to go at a little faster than 5k pace, so average around 7:30min/miles.  Yep.  That didn't happen.  I went too fast.  This is a real problem of mine.  Though, I am thinking I am doing ok - each repeat time was fairly consistent, and my last was faster than every other repeat.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	40:21.6	4.71	8:34
1	9:25.8	1.00	9:23
2	1:46.5	0.25	7:06
3	1:53.9	0.20	9:30
4	1:45.5	0.25	7:02
5	1:54.5	0.20	9:30
6	1:46.0	0.25	7:04
7	1:56.4	0.20	9:40
8	1:45.3	0.25	7:01
9	1:54.2	0.20	9:31
10	1:45.1	0.25	7:00
11	1:53.4	0.20	9:25
12	1:43.6	0.25	6:55
13	1:49.9	0.20	9:05
14	9:01.7	1.00	9:00

Race Plan:

I am now trying to work out with a game plan for the half marathon.  I was thinking of something like this:

• Miles 1 - 4 at a 9:00 - 9:10 min/mile
• Miles 4 - 10 at a 8:50 - 9:00 min/mile
• Miles 10 - 13.1 - keep pushing the pace

But then I think that seems so fast and crazy.  Can I do that?  It seems a little fast, but let's look at what I have done through this training cycle:

• Long runs averaging around 9:20 - 9:30min/mile.
• Pushing the last few miles of the long runs to around an 8:30min/mile
• Tempo runs around an 8:30 min/mile

But looking back through my training, I wish I had done a few more tempo runs.  I have one more coming up - a 30 minute run.  I may try and simulate the race.  Start at 9:00min/mile then push to an 8:50 and finish at around 8:30min/mile.  

Goals for this race:

1. I would love to PR - that means breaking 1:57:26.   I have trained a lot more intensely for this half than any other half I have completed.  However, I am expecting it to be humid and there is a hill.  I am ok if I don't break my PR, but I really want to!
2. Breaking 2 hours. I won't lie - I don't want to go back and be in the 2 hour range.  I have felt the feeling of being under, and I want to keep it alive!
3. Just finish without injury! This probably won't make me happy - but I guess I will have bling and will be able to learn from it for my next half.