Our second day in Waikiki started off at 4am. This did not phase us one bit however, because it was 9am my time. I felt refreshed and ready to go. I had ~2 liter sized bottle of water and drank the entire thing before the race. We ate our pre-race breakfast (mine being a peanut butter energy bar). We of course took pictures before the race. See Brittany and Reba in Reba’s “transvestite pink” lipgloss. WOW. Lol.
Race jitters set in and so I drank more water and more water. Anyone see a trend here? I did make a pit stop at the restroom 30 min before gumtime. We lined up in the corral and it seemed like forever before we heard the foghorn? Usually a gunshot, but I don’t think they used one there. And then we were off. Brittany took off, leaving Reba and I behind trying to maintain a 10:00 min/mile pace.
Boy, was it hot. Boy, was it humid. I was feeling good until about mile five and then it just wasn’t fun anymore. We had made a loop twice in the shaded park and were out on the streets by mile four. The sun was suddenly glaring off the black pavement. We finally ran along the beach between miles four and five; ahhh, there was a nice breeze and something to look at. It was about that point where I thought “I would much rather be in that water than running beside it.” LOL. Never a good sign. After mile five it was hell. No holding back here. I started to need to use the restroom and the heat was taking all my energy out of me. Not to mention that my Garmin was telling me we were much further than their mile markers (in the end it ended up being .35 miles off). Not sure who was off, but it was frustrating nonetheless!
The turnaround was the halfway point. I should have stopped to use the restroom, but the line was SO long!! I did not want to give up precious time as I was already losing steam halfway through! So I ate my mini-luna bar for a pick me up and drank MORE water. :D After the stop for water, I began walking about every 20 min. This is not good. Then I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom. When we were almost to mile nine, I ran off the course and shamelessly peed behind a tree. I felt so much better! LOL. Sorry if that’s TMI for anyone, but that’s a runner for you.
The rest of the race was not much fun as it was an out and back, but we did get to run past the same stretch of beach. More water, more breeze. I really wanted to jump in the second time by!
After much coaching from Reba (“Look how far you’ve come as runner since last year! You’re pace is so much faster! You’re doing great!”), we caught up to Brittany. We all three finished mile 10-12 together, received our boas, and walked/jogged/waddled to the finish line. Finishing never felt so good. Reba sent up a big cheer for me yelling “Give it up for my friend Kim who just set a PR!” and we crossed the finish line and received our kick-ass medals.
Downing water, voraciously eating a bagel, and taking photos ensued after the race. We hailed a cab and went back to the hotel.
Notes about the race:
-I was unprepared for the heat. I had not trained in that kind of weather, and the weeks leading up to the race I should have run more outside.
-I do not recommend out and backs for race courses.
-Watch how much water you drink before!!
-Most importantly, I would not have made it through without Reba’s constant cheering me on. She never once left my side (except when I ran off to pee, lol) and I was extremely appreciative of her positive attitude.
-Even though, the race was a bust (in my mind), I did set a PR. I finished in 2:20:01, taking 3 min off my old time.
-It was in Hawaii! What could be better than that?!
Sorry, this was such a great picture of Reba and me crossing the finish line - I had to take a photo of a photo to show y'all!
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