Sonya and I ran the Honolulu Marathon last Sunday. Earlier in the week, I was feeling good about how well I'd perform at the marathon...thought for sure that I'd finish under 4 hours. Despite all the hardwork and preparation, it all does come down to how well you perform on that one day. Things weren't looking good Saturday morning when I woke up with a sore throat. Did all I could to combat it throughout the day but didn't have any success...felt a little bit of a fever when I went to bed. Still, I felt decent enough prior to the race start. The weather sucked, and there were some massive downpours right before the start...the road was wet and it was still humid. Standing at the start in the middle of 27,000 people didn't help cool things down. I started off at my planned pace...probably wasted a bunch of energy weaving around all the Japanese tourists running with their video cameras and Hello Kitty backpacks. Things were going OK the first 3 miles, but I did notice that I was drinking a lot more GU20 than normal...then there was a downpour...then my ipod broke...then i had to stop to pee...fast forward to mile 13...I was on track for my 4-hour marathon. I'd planned to do the first half in 2:05 and the last half in 1:55 or better. When I tried to pick up the pace, got the first indication that my quads were stiff...not good as I knew full blown cramps weren't that far away. Time to reassess goals...I was able to keep up my pace until about mile 18, then it all fell apart...walking through water stations, 11 minute, 12 minute miles...then Sonya passed me looking super strong. I finally crossed the line at 4:26...17 minutes after Sonya. Oh well. I still beat Oprah's time, and was 9 minutes faster than my first marathon. This one hurt a lot more though...I could barely walk afterwards...lots of pain.
Luckily we stayed nearby at the Hale Koa hotel the night prior and of the marathon. Here I am about 2 hours after the race.
Here are my toes.
Best part of these races is that you burn a lot of calories...you've got to replenish. So, we went out for a few beers at the Yardhouse. We were crazy...barhopping like the old days. Had a whopping 6 beers at 4 Waikiki bars. We were wild!
3 comments:
Good going! Though I'm not sure I would consider it inspiring -- well in making one want to do it that is. Congrats to Sonya, she sounds like the marathon champion.
And still enough energy for six beers afterwards, now that's impressive!
probably not that inspirational...this one was especially rough.
the thought of 6 beers is what kept me going through the finish line.
Ha ha ha!!!!
Sonya kicked your butt again!!!
Post a Comment