W and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon. It was just as spectacular as advertised! We climbed to the top of Diamond Head, took submarine and helicopter tours, went to the beach, and ate some great food. Being the sick runner that I am, I found this race only two miles from our hotel. I considered running the half marathon but I simply cannot handle heat and humidity. I opted for the 10k, a rare distance for me, instead.
I figured this would be a low-key race but, who cares, it's Hawaii! There were a few little oddities but nothing major. The views were good but my performance was lackluster. I haven't had that one CRAP race yet this year. This one qualifies. Certainly the travel, heat and humidity affected me in this one. But the worst part is that I abandoned my race plan and stunk up the joint.
Miles 1-3: We started out on a side road near some beach resorts. This was the typical road race type of thing to settle in prior to the nice views. We ran down several straightaways only to double back and head the other way. You could tell this was just to build up mileage but it was fine. I started out WAY TOO FAST. My goal was to place in my age group but I started out in third place for the first mile. I could tell the humidity was going to be killer but ignored it at first. We hit the only hill on the course and made our way out to the main highway. We were then treated to ocean views about three miles in to the race. Here are the first three splits: 6:52, 7:10, 7:51. Yeah, it got bad in a hurry.
Miles 4-6.2: Things really fell apart and I just focused on having fun and enjoying the views. I was running really slow for a 10k and, honestly, pretty slow for a half marathon. I tried to keep in position for an age group award but had a feeling it wouldn't happen. The course was very cool with views of the water. But it changed with about 1 to 1.5 miles left in the race. We moved off the waterfront trail into hotel parking areas. That's not exactly what I envisioned when signing up for this one! It was odd and actually kind of difficult to figure out where you were to go. I wound up on the wrong side of the straightaway at the finish, though that only cost me a few seconds. I did finish pretty hard. Here are the last three splits: 8:04, 8:28, 7:30. My final time was 47:07 which was good enough for 12/173 overall and 4/22 in my age group. I missed placing by a mere nine seconds which just drives me nuts.
My next race is a new distance for me and one that sounds fun!
Next race: Wooster Brick Run 25K- Wooster, OH
