Hapalua Half Marathon Race Report

Results
Time- 2:42
avg. pace- 12:21

Yesterday the Super Awesome Wife and I participated in the First Annual Hapalua Half Marathon. It was the first time this event ever happened. First one! Want to know how I know? Because they mentioned it every five seconds. The race director was very proud.
I did not sign up for a half marathon because I wanted to run 13.1 miles. I don't like running that much. I signed up for it because I've never run that far before and I'm going to need to during the Honu Half Ironman in June. Figured I should get the distance checked off first. With that in mind, speed wasn't the goal here. Getting out and being on my feet for however long it took was the goal. I'm not really trained up for the distance. My longest run up until yesterday was nine miles, and that was two weeks ago before the Achilles tendonitis and a head cold knocked me down. So expectations were low. I decided to get out there and try to have some fun. Sported my Warrior Dash kilt, my INKnBURN 4arms, and threw my hair into twin pony tails. If I wasn't going to actually have fun, I was at least going to look like it. That being said, I'm still not thrilled with how I did. To put it simply- I was beaten by Fear and Suffering.

After the race I was a happy Dirtbag again

 [Photo by Brian Clarke]

I know running this far isn't fun for most people, and I know it hurts for everybody, but I wasn't really mentally set up for it I guess. Here's my Garmin data from the race.

Check out what happened to my pace after mile six. Fell apart. Know what that is? That's me walking. For around three miles on and off before getting back to regularly running. Why? I think there were two big contributing factors.
The first, and probably more major was that I dropped one of my GUs. I brought two and pinned them to my kilt with safety pins. I figured two would be good because I would take one at around 1:15, then the other at around 2:00 and that would get me through to the end. But somewhere very early in the race I lost one. Reached down to check them and I found an empty pin. This did not bode well for the future. To prevent it from happening twice I tucked the other into my sleeve. I'm good looking, not stupid.
I was in high spirits for the first couple of mile. Saw Kepa, the Tri-N-Hawaiian, pretty early in the run and ran with him for a few minutes so he could make fun of my skirt  kilt. Then I ran away from him. This would change later. Waved at tourists stuck at crosswalks. Mugged for the television crews zipping by on the back of motorcycles. Energy was there. Did I mention this would change?
I had a strong six mile start. Good pace, steady, everything working, no pain from the Achilles tendons (Yay Rock Tape!), and no stomach issues. But after six miles everything got a little sideways.
I should have, as I said, taken a GU around that time but decided to wait on it since I only had the one and I figured it would be more important later. This probably lead to the beginning of my problems, a low calorie bonk. And we passed the Port-a-Potties, which got me thinking about my stomach. Which got me worrying if it was going to be ok. Which, as you can imagine, doesn't help. So while I never had any GI issues, I spent the next seven miles wondering if I was going to. That is the Fear I mentioned earlier. I know I think entirely too much about this kind of thing and honestly, I think once I am able to get over that my runs will be so much better. Since my trip to the doctor a while ago I have been better. Little to no problems. But old habits are like John McClane.
So that was the start of the middle of the race, basically from the turn-around back to the starting point and up past the park. I walked most of it. I would trot for a while, then drop back down. There is a difference between walking for a few minutes to get some rest and walking for a while. The longer you walk the harder it is to get going again. That's what I felt like as I watched my pace slip away. And that is the Suffer too. I didn't push, didn't embrace the Suffer like I should have. I knew it was going to hurt going in, and I know the Suffer is going to be a big part of having a good Honu, but I didn't go for it. Training shall include more Sufferfests. Miles seven, eight, and nine where by far the hardest for me. I couldn't get it going. I'm almost positive it was because of the calorie debt I'd racked up. I finally allowed myself the GU I'd been saving and started to feel better. And wouldn't you know it, half a mile after I took that GU they were handing out Powerbar Gels. What the hell? I mean, that's really nice of them but I wish I would have known. Then I wouldn't have waited so long. I grabbed one as I passed the nice volunteer handing them out and stuck it in my sleeve for later. Had a little trepidation about eating a gel I'd never tried before during a race, I know better. But I also know better than to not consume any calories during a long workout so...who knows what I know. (Turns out Powerade gels are gross. GU is better.)
The journey up and around Diamond Head was a lot steeper than I expected, which is silly because I've been there a lot of times. Things look different on foot than in a car or even on a bike. That or they jacked up the grade for the race, which seems like a lot of work. Ran/walked uphill, getting it done, starting to feel the energy in my system. I love cresting the crater, its an amazing view out over the ocean from up there and completely worth the work.
By this point in a race you are probably near people that you've been near for a while and will be near until the end. Its not on purpose, but everyone's pace is so similar that there is a lot of leapfrogging. I really noticed a guy and his ten or eleven year old son. They would run for a while, then walk, and so on. So they would pass me, then my ego would pass the eleven year old, then they would pass me. Dad was carrying extra water and being very encouraging. I dug seeing that, even if my ego, which at this point was pretty beaten down and quiet, was still protesting from its corner, "You're being passed by a child again! Gaaaa! Get them!" I'm honestly not sure if I came in ahead of them, so let's go ahead and assume I did. Thanks. The other person I really noticed was a guy who seemed to be doing what I was doing, but on the opposite rhythm. He was running while I was walking and visa versa. So we leapfrogged a lot. I had a fantasy that the two of us would hit 12 miles at the same time then we would look at each other and there would be this bond and a fist bump, then music would start pounding and both of us would reach down deep and we would race full out the final mile to the finish. So why don't we pretend that happened too and I beat him in a lean.
Or I lost sight of him again somewhere and this happened.
I ran most of the final mile, played Pass Me Pass You with some older guy in a shit with a golf club on the back that I was damn sure wasn't going to beat me, and found enough to sprintish to the finish. It was unremarkable.
Doing the race in the kilt was great expect for how windy it was the whole time. I was never, ahem, exposed, but there was probably a good deal of Dirtbag thigh flashing. And the 4arms were nice when it was windy, because that meant it was cold, and kind of uncomfortable when it wasn't, because then it got warm. Not sure I'd make the same call with them again next time.
Super Awesome Wife finished with a time of 3:25, which is good especially because she walked the whole thing and she didn't train for it. So today she's hurting, but she still got it done. She's doing the Diva half marathon on April first and really looking forward to it. I have all kinds of stuff to say about that event, but later. Let's leave it at girls get the really cool looking events.

Here she comes!

Still smiling [Photo by Brain Clarke]

[Photo by Brian Clarke]

And across the line!

I have a half marathon now, that's been checked off the list of distances. I can be on my feet and moving for over two and a half hours. That's in my head. Training will continue and Sundays will get longer based on that knowledge. By the time June comes I'll feel stronger and more confident than ever.
Also, much thanks to my sponsor, Background Profiles. I couldn't be doing most of this stuff without their help.
And now to finish off the post with more pictures of some of my favorite people.

Dirtbag done did it

My "special souvenir timing chip"

Super Awesome Wife with a Super Awesome medal and a Super Awesome banana

Check

A Pre-Run Ride up Mount Wind

Ride
time- 2:09
distance- 30.3mi

Quick write-up since I didn't do it yesterday. The Grey and I met up for some laps down at Dillingham airfield, but not too many since I haven't been riding as hard as I'd like the last two weeks and I had the Hapalua half marathon today. It was pouring rain when we set off, which is why we decided to do Dillingham. At least its normally dry down there.
Know what makes up for the dry?
The Wind. (That's right, it gets to be a proper noun. That's how serious I am.)
Going out to the point there may have been a tailwind, but I'm not sure if the Grey and I noticed it. I mean, we normally cruise easily at around 24mph as far as anyone reading this knows. But the way back from the point was brutal. The headwind must have been 30-75mph, easy. Maybe more. Truth? The Grey and I missed Diesel and his letting-us-draft ways. So instead we had to share the pulling duties. Makes it so much easier when riding with a friend.
We only did two laps so that I could conserve my legs for today's run. Never got rained on, but it sure looked stormy on the horizon.

Rockin' Rock Tape and the 4arms

Run
time- 48:14
distance-4.9mi

I've been working through Achilles tendonitis for about two weeks now. A minor case, I think, but enough to cause my Dirtbag Injury Hypochondria to kick into 3rd gear. DIH- Third Gear, for those of you wondering, means high enough to fret and take a few days off, but not high enough to send me into a death spiral of self-doubt and frustration, cursing myself and the god Injurious until I feel better.
Sister Dirtbag, Official Trainer of Team Dirtbag, is very familiar with these gears and leapt to the rescue with the first text. She put in the mail a roll of Rock Tape and some Rock Sauce and emailed a link so that Super Awesome Wife could tape me up correctly. I also got a text that basically read, "The tape will stick better if you're not a Sasquatch." Good to know.
Which meant Wednesday night found me in the shower with electric trimmers trying to figure out how far above my knees my bike shorts stop. At the risk of TMI, there is no natural stopping place when it comes to shaving my legs. I either have to pick a spot or stop when I hit waist. No other options are available. So I trimmed to about an inch above my knees, which will work unless I'm wearing my shorter swim trunks or really short running shorts, in which case there will be an interesting 1.5 inch strip of fur showing.
Dirtbag Pro Tip: When shaving with electric trimmer, be sure the trimmers are completely charged before starting.

Damnit. Honey, where's the charger?

Jon Stewart is impressed with my legs

Thursday (thanks to Mass Effect 3) magically became a day off so Friday, normally my day off, became a run day. It's also the day I meet the Grey at 24 Hour Fitness for a swim lesson, so I choose to test out my tendon and the Rock Tape by running to the pool rather than drive. I'd ride, but I don't trust anyone, even with my bike locked up.
Super Awesome Wife consulted the RT website and played trainer, taping me up. First she had to wipe off my feet, since I'm barefoot 100% of the time I'm at home and the foots collect the dirts. Tape doesn't stick well to the dirts. As far as any of you know, this did not tickle and I did not squirm like a small child. Then she taped, and I think she did a good job.

Ready

Why pink, you ask? Sister Dirtbag claims she was going to get the black with skulls, but they were all out so my brother-in-law got to pick the color instead. Thanks, bro.

Rocked and ready to run. In pink.

The run went well. Very little to no pain for most of it, with some twinges at the steepest part of the downhill. Not really sure if I should attribute this to the tape, recovery, or a little of both. So we'll go with both. As you can see from the Garmin, the entire run is downhill. So I thought I was holding a strong pace, but really I was running downhill. Whatever. Stomach got a little crampy at the end, which is why the pace drops to a walk for a few minutes, and that kept up on and off for the rest of the evening. Strange because I haven't had that problem in a while. Hope is goes away before Sunday am. That'll make for a miserable 13.1, won't it?
I also received a new product in the mail which I ordered, my INKnBURN 4arms. Arm sleeves seem like a stupid idea at first blush, but they begin to make sense as the weather turns. You can wear them until you warm up, and then they are really easy to take off and store around your person. I'm going to use them on early morning rides too. And once I get used to wearing something on my arms they will probably work just as well in the sun to keep my delicate Dirtbag guns from burning. Its just that right now I train wearing as little as possible so having compressing sleeves on felts strange. I'll get used to it.

Fake tough.

The RT website claims it will stay on in water, and it did as far as the tape on my calves went, but it immediately came off the bottoms of my feet. Can't fault the product, there isn't much that sticks under water, especially at the speeds I swim at, amiright!?
Iced and rolled when I got home, felt pretty good. Wish the stupid rain would knock it off.

Blargy Blargy Blargy

Swim
1 x 200- Warm-up
6 x 100- 1, 2, 3, Swim
5 x 50- Sideline kick
1 x 500- alternate 50 easy/50 hard
4 x 200- 100 5, 7, 9/100 Swim
1 x 100- Cool down

Bike
60 minutes trainer

I'm going to keep this short so as to avoid spewing negativity all over the interwebs. We all know there's enough of that as it is. The swim was a stroke-focused, low motivation affair. I didn't really push anything, except for the alternating intensity 500 and the 200s set bored me to death for some reason. It's been that kind of week.
One thing that I didn't mention from Monday's swim that I should of was that it was pouring POURING when I went. My pool is outdoors. I shower before I swim because I need to get my flowing locks wet so they go easily into my cap. Also, that way the hair is full of water before I submerge in chlorine, so my hair sucks up less blonde-making poison. The pool shower is outside next to the pool. So what this means is I was standing in the pouring rain, under a running shower. And yes, one does feel like a bit of an ass at that moment.
I wasn't sure of the weather for my ride, it has still been really unpredictable. I don't mind getting caught in some rain, but what we have been getting hardly counts as some rain. It counts more as Pound-fulls of cats and dogs, big, fat, screaming felines and canines dropping from the sky, reducing visibility to almost the edge of your hood. And I didn't want to get caught in that, the sky was foreboding. So I set up the trainer, popped in a Henry Rollins spoken word DVD, and cranked out a pretty slow, grinding hour. I didn't do a set, even though I know I should have. There is something about the trainer that messes with my head.
As for my Achilles, it is feeling ok but not great. Pretty sure the right one was feeling left out because now it is starting to act up. I'm doing ice and ibuprofen and roller. I'm putting on the Rock Tape today before my run. I have the Hapalua half marathon Sunday and then Super Awesome Wife and I are flying to Big Island for our two year anniversary, so that will be a real recovery week (unlike last week's I'm Sick Leave Me Alone complainathon.)
I think my poor attitude right now is because Spring Break at school starts today and I've been feeling the grind, plus the injury is annoying, plus last week screwed up my rhythm, wah wah wah. A week away is just what Dirtbag needs.
Much thanks again to Sister Dirtbag, Official Trainer of Team Dirtbag, for sending supplies and for responding to Hypochondriac texts all day.

Dreadmill

Run
time- 40 minutes

The weather has been so unpredictable and brutally awful at my house that rather than risk going for a run and being drowned I decided to head to the gym and dreadmill it. After all, if my tendonitis started acting up I could call it and get on a stationary bike. I managed 40 minutes before I shot myself in the face and my now limp and lifeless body was whipped into and through the glass window behind me. Not bad. My heel got tight at the beginning but I wasn't sure if it was in my head or not so I slowed the pace a step and that helped a lot. So it should be ok as long as I don't push too hard. Works for me.
Expecting more? Too bad, Mass Effect 3 came out today. Gotta go retake Earth.

The Cult of the Foam Roller and Missing Workouts

Swim
1 x 200- Warm-up
2 x 500- 7:30
1 x 50- easy
5 x 200- 3:00
1 x 50- easy
1 x 500- Hard (7:11)
1 x 100- Cool down
total- 2900 yd

At this point last year I had maybe missed two workouts during my strictly regimented plan for the Honolulu Olympic Triathlon. I was nailing it and nothing was getting in the way.
This year couldn't be more different. For a variety of reasons I keep missing workouts. My alarm doesn't go off. I'm nursing a sickness or injury. Life pops up and says, "Hi, you're dealing with me today instead of getting two hours on your bike. Suck it." I haven't had more than two real solid nine workout weeks since the cycle started. It is really bothering me. I know I'll be prepared for the Honu, I'll be able to get through it, but I won't be as prepared as I could be, as I want to be. I guess that is an ideal though, and it doesn't do me any good to be unhappy about past missed opportunities. I sat out all of last week save Monday because of my Achilles, which I'll get to in a minute, and because I was head cold knocked down. And yesterday I didn't get to ride, even on the trainer, because my landlady insisted that the lawn get mowed and weed-whacked RIGHT NOW, after which other stuff needed to happen.
Grrr. Grumble. Grrrr.
Every Monday morning I think, This is the week where I put it all together. Everything is going to happen. I'm going to hurt all week and it's going to be awesome. Strong will happen. And so far I've failed more than I've  succeeded. The workouts I am getting are good. But they aren't consistent enough. (Also, I don't have a child yet and Super Awesome Wife is not gestating a Super Awesome Dirtbag Baby yet, but I would appreciate it if no one saves this post and waves it back in my face when I'm trying to teach, train, be husband, and be dad.)
As far as my little injury goes, I think I'm just about healed. I hope so, the Hapalua is Sunday and I want to have a halfway decent run. I don't expect anything significant, but I do want some distance confidence to be built without any injury aggravation. I've been massaging it with an ice-filled Dixie cup (Fill the Dixie Cup with water, throw it in the freezer, then you can peel and ice and you have something to hold on to.). And Friday I finally took another step towards runnerhood and bought a foam roller. Took it home, threw my calf up on it, and immediately became a convert to the Cult of the Foam Roller.

Rooooooll it out!

Hurt so good

Holy crap, Dirtbag friends. This thing is fantastic. Hurts so good. I prop my right leg up on it, cross my left over, hoist my butt off the ground, and roll back and forth from mid-calf to my heel and back. Four sets of 12. The next day I was feeling it. Such a big release of tension. I really like. I'm going to start using it on my hammys and back too. That, plus the ice and I think I'm ready to get back out on the road for some runs again. And Sister Dirtbag, Official Trainer of Team Dirtbag, sent me some Rock Tape to put on my leg. Which means there needs to be some sheering going on. The product information video makes some really big claims, but Sister Dirtbag assures me they, for once, actually know what they are talking about. So expect a picture of a naked Dirtbag leg adorned with a very special color tape in the near future. I know, you can barely stand the suspense. I'll give you a color clue. It's like red, but not quite.

Ironman New Zealand Cancelled Due to Weather

Ironman New Zealand has been cancelled due to severe weather.

From the link:

Due to an unprecedented and severe weather forecast by the New Zealand Meteorological Service (NZMS), Saturday's Ironman New Zealand has been postponed for safety reasons. The forecast calls for a "severe gale with gusts of 120km/h between 7 and 11 a.m. Saturday." The NZMS anticipates the weather to clear Saturday afternoon and an Ironman 70.3 race is scheduled for Ironman New Zealand athletes on Sunday starting at 8:00 a.m.

Diesel and some other Hawaii friends are there, prepared for IMNZ. This is brutal for them. I can't imagine having put in all that hard work, all that sweat and stress, and then to get slapped down by the weather. No blame to the IMNZ officials, I wouldn't want to race in those conditions, and you've gotta be impressed with their ability to reschedule the race into a 70.3 the next day, but still...oof. And this doesn't begin to take into account the cost of getting to New Zealand and boarding there. So much to be bummed about. I hope the 70.3 on Sunday goes well at least.