As I wrap up training week 6 for the 2016 Boston Marathon, I am thinking back to the 2015 Honolulu Marathon which as already 11 weeks ago today. I was originally planning on racing the Chicago Marathon in October; however, a glute injury in late June derailed my marathon training for about 6 weeks last Summer leading to me taking a deferral out to October 2016 for Chicago and pushing out to the Honolulu Marathon this last December. I've wanted to run Honolulu in December for a couple of years now as it seemed like a fun way to wrap up a year of racing and finish strong before the holidays while tacking on some down time enjoying the surf and sand. The one issue I had with Honolulu is that it would be tougher to run any sort of a good race time given the temperatures and humidity would climb towards 80 by about the 3 hour mark of the race.
Race morning was my typical pre-race routine getting up a couple of hours before race time (3:00 am) and loading up on carbs and getting mentally ready. Since I wasn't going to have any support on the course from the family, I carried my own fluids (two 8-oz casks loaded each with about 25 grams of Enduromax and water) and took on about 150 grams of carbs in the hotel room before heading to the starting corrals (in comparison for the 2014 Portland Marathon I loaded about 125 grams race morning).
After a short cab ride to the starting area, I noticed right away just how warm and humid it was (about 4:30 am). There were probably already 15,000 people or so in the starting area (I believe the race had over 25,000 runners in total) creating a hot, sticky and soupy feel in the air. There was absolutely no wind on race morning adding to the humidity (normally there's strong trade winds this time of the year which keeps the humidity down).
The race started right at 5:00 am after the National Anthem which gave away to 3 minutes of fireworks going off directly over head as the race got underway which was spectacular. I started at the front of the 3:15 corral thinking I could get out in front and not have to do a lot of navigating around slower runners; however thousands slower runners right before the start of the race jammed in up front and completely clogged up the first mile of the race.
I trained to run a 3:30:00 for Honolulu but would need an A+ day to achieve that in the heat and humidity. In the minutes before the start of the race I re-set my expectations thinking anything in the 3:30's would be fantastic given how hot and humid it already was (as a side note, Fall marathon training in Seattle is fantastic as temperatures rarely rise above 60 degrees and are often in the 50's which is a perfect racing temperature; the only downside is it leaves you woefully unprepared to run in anything above 65 degrees -- which I knew would be a factor in Honolulu).
I knew right away 1/2 mile into the race that heat and humidity had me and were going to impact my race performance even more. I hit my first mile in 9:00 flat with my heart rate in the low 160's which was a tell-tale sign that anything even in the 3:50's would be good on this day (under normal conditions I would be running 7:30 - 7:40 in my first mile of a marathon with an HR in the low 160's). I continued to dodge and run-around slower runners which seemed incredible given how slow I was running and hit the 5K mark in something like 28:00 -- which is by far the slowest I've ever run an opening mile or opening 5K in any race ever.
From 5K through 21K I just settled in and relaxed to see if I could find anything groove-wise in the 8:20 range and lock in. I was at times able to settle in but the combination of hills, humidity and a somewhat unsettled stomach (remember I took in 150 grams of carbs which proved to be too much) kept me from finding any sort of comfortable groove. At about mile-12 I had to hit a porta-potty which added 2:45 of lost time leading to a half marathon split of about 1:55:18.
From miles 13 through 17 I was running 8:30 splits and just getting into a decent groove (the sun was also rising out of the east and I was trying to make the turn and head back to Diamond Head to get the sun on my back and out of my face) thinking maybe I could pull back down towards the mid 3:40's. I was feeling mentally strong although my body was taking a beating from the humidity, sun and hills. Right at mile 17 an older Japanese runner was a few steps in front of me when he took an awkward looking stride and then fell unconscious and directly onto his mouth on the asphalt knocking out 2 teeth and an instant pool of thick, dark red blood oozing from his mouth. It happened so quickly that my instant reaction was to stop and render aid. Fortunately several other runners stopped and helped move him to the curb and get him on his back. I direct someone to immediately call 911. He was completely unconscious. I wasn't sure for the first 30 seconds whether he was breathing but he slowly gained consciousness. I had a sponge I'd been using to cool myself and was able to clear his mouth and face of the blood and help revive him. After about 6 - 7 minutes cops arrived and an ambulance siren could be heard. The cops had the situation under control and all of us took back of running. After mile 17 I decided to just slow down and jog in the rest of the race given I'd now lost about 10 total minutes between a bathroom break and the aid break -- coupled with being a little freaked out about what I'd just witnessed. The last 8 miles were uneventful including the hill climb back and over Diamond Head starting at mile-24 which was fairly easy.
Mile 25 caught me a bit off guard as I wanted to run a good final 1.2 but actually started to cramp up in my stomach with about 1/2 mile left and the finishing chute in sight. I've never cramped before in a race and realized that at about the 4:00:00 mark I was probably just at my overall limit based on my carb and fluid intake. I jogged the last 1000 yards in about 10 minute pace looking for my wife and daughter Jayden who I found about 50 yards before the finish line. I stopped and grabbed my daughter giving her a hug and kiss before trotting across the line in about 4:01:34.
It was my second slowest Marathon behind the 90-degree 2012 Boston Marathon; however, I was happy with just getting across the line on what proved to be a more challenging race than I had anticipated.
Overall I enjoyed the Honolulu Marathon and would race it again. The heat and humidity (especially if there are no trade winds) can be more of a challenge than one might think; and the course is far hillier than what the official marathon elevation guide indicates. The climb over Diamond Head at mile 5 and then back at Mile 24 is also not as hard as the elevation guide indicates. My recommendation to anyone considering Honolulu is to not make it your "A" race in the Fall but run it as a second Marathon 4-8 weeks after your A race and just have fun.
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| 4:15 am selfie after about 150 grams of carbs |
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| I am quite sure I've never had a race bib number that's a palindrome (same number forward and backward) |
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| Sunday race time 5:00 AM and 75 degrees with good humidity. It rained about an hour before the start of the race and there were no trade winds making it warm and sticky. |
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| Finish line on Saturday less then 24 hours before race time. |
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| The finisher's medal really captured the "ohana" of the whole event |
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| And the best part of every marathon training cycle are the drinks after the Marathon. Enjoying a very strong Mai-Tai at Buzz's in Lanakai. |
