On December 17, I ran the Hawaii Bird Conservation Marathon on the Big Island. This was the third island Deb and I visited on our Hawaii vacation. This post picks up where my Maui post left off.
Thursday, December 14
Deb and I flew from Kahului
to Hilo in the late afternoon. Our
flight was a little bit late, so we didn’t arrive until 6:00 PM. By the time we picked up our bags and rental
car and drove to our hotel, it was well after dark. We had a light dinner in the hotel restaurant,
and stayed in for the night.
Friday, December 15
Our hotel was on the
waterfront, and our room had a balcony with an ocean view. We didn’t have many activities planned, so we
took our time with everything.
It was drizzly while we
were eating breakfast. I waited for the
rain to stop before going for a run.
After my run, we went to
Rainbow Falls. Rainbow Falls is the top
tourist attraction in the Hilo area. It’s
only 10 minutes away, and it’s wheelchair accessible, so this was an obvious place
to start our day.
In lieu of lunch, we
stopped in downtown Hilo to get gelato.
As we were driving through downtown Hilo, we happened upon the Hilo farmers’
market. On one side of the street, there
were food stalls. On the other side,
there were craft stalls. This is Deb’s
favorite type of shopping. Since we
already had a parking space, we also visited several of the downtown shops
while we were there.
This was already the 8th
day of our trip, and Deb had some clothes she wanted to wash, so we went back
to the hotel in the afternoon to do laundry.
After that, we decided to just relax at the hotel for the rest of the
day.
Saturday, December 16
Saturday morning, we had
clear skies. From our balcony, we had a
clear view of Mauna Kea. If you look closely,
you can see snow on the summit. You don’t
often see snow in Hawaii.
After breakfast, we went
back to the Hilo farmers’ market. It’s there
every day, but it’s much larger on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There were probably three times as many craft
vendors and twice as many food vendors.
We spent the whole morning there.
Our lunch consisted of coconut milk and food samples.
In the afternoon, I
picked up two friends, Stefanie and Julie, from the airport. It was too early for packet pickup, and it
was also too early for them to check into their hotel, so I brought them to
Rainbow Falls. There wasn’t a rainbow on
Friday, but there was on Saturday, visible from the overlook above the falls.
Next, we went to pick up
our race packets. Then we picked up Deb
at the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Liliʻuokalani
Gardens and Coconut Island.
For dinner, we went to Café
Pesto. This is my favorite restaurant in
Hilo. Every time I’ve been to Hilo, I’ve
had lunch or dinner there. For my
pre-race dinner, I had their luau pizza, which has pineapple and kalua pork.
I was able to get to bed
early that night, but I only slept for four hours. Then I woke up and couldn’t get back to
sleep.
Sunday, December 17
Sunday was race day. The race started at 6:00 AM, but I had to
catch a bus to the start by 4:15. The
pickup point for the bus was a short walk from my hotel. I didn’t need to leave the hotel until 4:00,
but I was in the lobby 10 minutes early.
I was too restless to sit down, so I started walking to the bus loading
point. The buses were there by the time
I arrived, so I got on the first bus.
The start was next to the
golf course in Volcano Village. The
elevation there is about 4,000 feet, so it’s much cooler there than it is in
Hilo. The temperature while we were
waiting to start was in the low 50s. By
contrast, I expected it to be at least 70 degrees in Hilo by the time I
finished.
This course is one of the
fastest I’ve ever run. It descends
roughly 3,700 feet. I’ve run marathons
that had a greater net descent, but those races had sections that were
uncomfortably steep. This race has a gentle
descent, so you can run fast without beating up your legs. The only tough part comes in the last few
miles, where there are a couple of uphill sections.
Although it was somewhat
chilly at the start, I dressed for the warmer weather I would encounter later
in the race. To stay warm in the start
area, I brought warm-up layers. They had
a gear check at the start.
We started before dawn,
and we were running on roads that are sparsely lit. Everyone was required to carry a light in the
early miles. We were also strongly encouraged
to wear brightly colored clothes.
The race starts next to
the Volcano Golf Course on Plimauna Drive, but we quickly turned onto the
shoulder of Highway 11, which is the highway that connects Hilo to the southern
end of the island. Plimauna Drive is
downhill, but we briefly ran uphill on the highway.
After about a quarter
mile on the highway, I saw the sign on the other side of the road indicating we
had reached the highest point on the highway (4,024 feet about sea level). From that point on, we ran downhill.
In the first two miles,
there wasn’t much room for runners to pass each other. I made an effort to establish a fast pace
before we got onto the highway. I was
right behind runners who I know are faster than me, but I challenged myself to
keep up with them. In that first mile, I
was already breathing hard.
My split for the first
mile was 8:10. My goal for this race was
to break 3:30. To do that, I needed an
average pace of 8:00, so I needed to be a little bit faster. The first mile isn’t all downhill, so I wasn’t
too concerned, but I picked up my effort in the second mile.
In downhill races, I
always run with a short stride and a rapid cadence. I do that to guard against overstriding. I’ve also found that running downhill this
way lessens the impact on my quads.
Instead, I’m working my glutes pretty hard. Ideally, I’m putting all my effort into “spinning
the wheels,” and I’m letting gravity take care of my forward progress.
In the second mile, there
were places where the shoulder was only two feet wide, and vegetation sometimes
extended all the way to the white line.
I never crossed the white line, but I sometimes ran right on it.
My pace for the second
mile was 7:57. That was better, but I
felt like I was working harder than I should to run a pace that was just barely
fast enough for my goal. That mile was
all downhill, so I expected it to be faster.
Early in the third mile,
we left the highway to run through Volcano Village on Volcano Road. Here, we were allowed to use the whole road,
but we generally stayed on the left. Volcano
Road isn’t too busy, but it was still open to traffic.
Where we turned onto Volcano
Road, there was room for an aid station.
This was the first of 10 aid stations.
This one only had water, but several of the aid stations had both water
and Gatorade. I drank the Gatorade
whenever it was available.
This aid station had a
box where we could drop off a flashlight or headlamp. I turned off my flashlight as I approached,
and I slowed down enough to carefully place it in the box as I ran by.
Volcano Road started out
level, but gradually turned downhill. We
were on that road for more than two miles before returning to the highway. When I got my split for mile three, I was disappointed. I slowed to 8:21 in that mile. That pace wasn’t going to cut it, so I picked
up my effort.
I wasn’t just putting
effort into “spinning the wheels.” I was
also putting extra effort into picking up my pace. I’ve run this race three times before, and I
haven’t needed to do that at this point in the race. I was working harder this year, and I
wondered if my effort was going to be sustainable.
My best recent time on a
flat course was 3:42 and change. I’ve
always been at least 13 minutes faster on this course than I am on a flat
course, so breaking 3:30 seemed like a very reasonable goal. I didn’t know why I needed to work so hard to
run at that pace.
In mile four, I was able
to bring my pace back down below eight minutes.
I knew from experience that I was just getting to the fastest part of
the course. I’ve always run fastest in
miles five through seven.
During the fifth mile, I left
Volcano Road to turn back onto the shoulder of the highway. The shoulder was wider here. For the rest of the race, I always felt I had
plenty of room to run.
My pace in the next few
miles was faster and took less effort.
In miles five through seven, I averaged 7:23. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I was already starting
to notice some soreness in my glutes. The
other times I ran this race, my training had emphasized race-walking over
running. Race-walking builds the muscles
that I was using in this race. In recent
months, I’ve been building my running mileage, but I’ve been neglecting my race-walk
training. As a result, my glutes were
already showing signs of fatigue.
When you’re running
downhill and the road ahead levels off, it can look like you’re about to go
uphill. This is an optical
illusion. There were a few sections like
this and one of them came in mile eight.
As I reached this section, it felt like I was running uphill, even
though I was pretty sure it was merely flat.
I understood why when I got my next split. Even though that mile was much flatter, I was
still running almost as fast. I ran than
mile and the next one in 7:34 each.
Now that I had finished
nine miles, I could tell myself I was already one third done. I had yet to notice much difference in
temperature. It’s possible that the
temperature had risen a few degrees, but there was a cool breeze that felt chilly
on my arms.
By the 10th mile, I was
starting to moderate my pace. For the
next few miles, I averaged about 7:50.
About halfway through
mile 12, I reached a section of the course that started out level, but would
eventually turn slightly uphill. This
was no optical illusion. This section
actually is uphill, and it was fairly long.
The uphill section continued well into the 13th mile.
I was able to maintain
the same pace in mile 12, but in mile 13, I slowed to 8:18. I knew that was a tougher mile, so I wasn’t
too concerned. As long as I brought my
pace back under eight minutes when the road turned downhill again, I would be
fine.
During that long flat to
uphill section, I adjusted my gait. I
slowed my cadence and took a longer stride.
That gave my glutes a much-needed rest.
At the halfway mark, I was
on pace to break 3:25. I didn’t expect
to keep up that pace for the whole race.
I had several reasons to expect the second half to be slower. The three easiest miles were already behind
me. The toughest miles were at the end
of the race, so those were still ahead of me.
Up until now, the weather felt comfortable, but I knew it would get
warmer and more humid as I got closer to the coast. Finally, my effort didn’t feel
sustainable. I felt like I had been
working harder than I usually do in the first half of this race.
My goal was still breaking
3:30. I didn’t need to keep up the same
pace I ran in the first half. All I
needed to do was maintain an average pace of 8:00 per mile until the last few
miles. With about two and a half miles
to go, I would reach a tough hill. I
wanted to be in a position where I had enough of a cushion that I could afford
to slow down in the last three miles.
Just past the halfway mark,
the road turned noticeably downhill again.
Without even trying, I sped up.
As I realized I was speeding up, I went back to running with a short
stride and a rapid cadence. For the next
two miles, I averaged 7:30. I didn’t
need to run that fast, but I was happy to add to my cushion, as long as I wasn’t
working too hard to do it.
I usually slow down or
walk briefly while drinking at aid stations.
On this section of the course, I reached an aid station and tried to
grab a cup of Gatorade without slowing down.
The Gatorade all spilled on the front of my shirt. I had to stop and reach back for another cup
of Gatorade. The volunteer apologized for
the bad handoff, but it wasn’t his fault.
I said, “My bad. I usually slow
down.”
With about 10 miles to
go, I entered a town. This was the first
town since Volcano Village. I briefly
felt some light drizzle. Then it stopped. Then the sun came out. Then it got cloudy again. The weather can change quickly in
Hawaii. All of these changes came within
a span of just a few minutes.
Going through this town,
we needed to cross another busy street.
There were course marshals to hold up the traffic for us.
Over the next several
miles, I settled into a pace in the 7:40s.
I was happy with anything under eight minutes.
There were mileposts on the
side of the road, which were gradually counting down. I knew from experience that if I subtracted
four from the milepost number, it would give me a pretty good estimate of the
number of miles remaining. When I saw milepost
12, I knew I had just eight miles to go.
That was the good news. The bad
news came on a sign on the opposite side of the highway.
There were signs marking
every 500 feet of elevation change.
Because they were on the opposite side of the road, I didn’t always
notice them. With eight miles to go, I
saw the sign for 1,000 feet. The elevation
at the finish is about 300 feet. I had
already descended more than 3,000 feet, but there would only be 700 feet of net
descent over the last eight miles. That’s
still almost 100 feet per mile, but it would take a lot more effort to maintain
the same fast pace.
By now, I was running
with another runner who was in the same age group. I didn’t recognize him, but he remembered
running with me last year too. As the
road leveled off in the late miles, I challenged myself to keep up with him.
I was dividing the
remaining miles into two segments. I had
five more miles that would be somewhere between level and downhill. In these miles, I needed to average 8:00 per
mile. In the last three miles, the
course is somewhat rolling. I knew these
miles would be slower, but I was hoping to have enough of a cushion that I
could slow down and still finish comfortably under 3:30.
Over the next five miles,
my pace ranged from 7:39 to 8:00. The
guy I had been running with started to pull away from me with about five miles
to go. I wasn’t slowing down. He was speeding up. He was on his way to a strong finish. I was on my own now.
By now, the sun was out,
and I was also starting to notice the humidity.
I felt hot at times, but only when the sun was on me. With so few miles to go, I didn’t feel like I
was in any danger of blowing up from the heat.
If I blew up, it would be from the cumulative toll of pushing myself
hard since the beginning of the race.
With about three miles to
go, I recognized a major intersection. I
knew the only tough hill on the course would be starting soon.
I felt the road turning
uphill with about 2.7 miles to go. It’s
not a steep hill, but after 23 miles of downhill running, anything uphill feels
like a mountain. I didn’t try to
maintain the same pace. I just kept up
the same effort. I expected to give back
some time on this hill, but I didn’t want to wear myself out. More than once, this hill has broken me, and
I’ve been slow all the way to the finish.
The top of the hill was
just before the 24 mile mark. When I got
my split, I was pleased to see that I ran that mile in 8:36. I only gave back 36 seconds in the toughest
mile of the race.
As I reached the top of
the hill, it started sprinkling. Twice
before, I had felt some light drizzle, but only for about 30 seconds. This time, the rain lasted for several minutes. I had been noticing the increase in
temperature, and the rain ensured I wouldn’t get too hot in the last two miles.
The road turned downhill
again, but then I saw what looked like another hill. In all likelihood, the road merely leveled
off, but it still took more effort.
I don’t know if I was
running out of gas or if I just got complacent, but I was disappointed to see that
I ran mile 25 in 8:40. That
was slower than the previous mile, even though this mile was downhill. I didn’t feel like the hill in the previous
mile broke me, so I worked harder to pick up my pace in the next mile.
Mile 26 wasn’t as slow as
mile 25. I ran it in 8:20. Over the last three full miles, I averaged
8:32. I had budgeted nine minutes for
each of those miles, so I knew I was still going to break 3:30 by a wide margin.
I turned off the highway onto
the road where we would finish. The
approach to the finish is slightly uphill, and there’s a bend. You can’t see the finish line until you get
around the bend. I did my best to finish
strong, but another runner raced by me.
I finished in 3:25:56. That’s the fastest I’ve ever run on this
course. It was my fastest marathon this
year by more than 16 minutes.
The finisher medals for this
race look like small dog tags. They’re
made of silver.
When I picked up my gear bag,
the volunteers had already tucked my flashlight into a separate zippered
compartment. They did that last year
too.
The guy I had been running
with took second in our age group, and I was third. Age group awards only go to the top two in
each 5-year age group, but I wasn’t disappointed. He finished strong and clearly deserved his
award. I was happy just to have run as
fast as I did. It was my fastest
marathon in four years.
I already had a
qualifying time for the 2025 Boston Marathon, but this race will give me a
better corral seeding. It’s also fast
enough to get me into the New York City Marathon.
My friend Stefanie finished
about 30 seconds after I did. We
lingered in the finish area long enough to grab some post-race snacks, but then
we got on the bus that would take us back to our hotels. There was a bus already waiting when we finished,
and we didn’t want to risk missing it and having to wait for the next one.
While we were on our way
back, another runner was looking up results on her phone. That’s when we discovered that Stefanie won
an age group award.
We each needed time to
get cleaned up, but then Deb and I picked up Stefanie and Julie and brought
them back to the finish area, so Stef could get her award. We had some time before they needed to be at
the airport, so we stopped downtown to get smoothies. Then we drove to several beach parks that are
close to the airport. There aren’t many
beaches in Hilo that are suitable for swimming.
These are parks where you can have a picnic lunch while watching the
waves crashing on a rocky coastline.
After dropping off Stefanie
and Julie at the airport, Deb and I went to a park next to Waiakea Pond.
Deb and I spent the rest
of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel.
We didn’t feel like going out again, so we had dinner in the hotel
restaurant.
Monday, December 18
The next morning, my left
Achilles tendon felt a little tight.
After a hot bath and some stretching, it felt better. I also had some sore muscles, mostly in my
glutes. Before breakfast, I went to the
fitness center to do some strength training.
Getting some blood flow to all the right muscles helped jumpstart my
recovery.
It was raining while we
ate breakfast, but as soon as the rain stopped, I went for a short recovery
run. I kept the pace nice and
relaxed. This was more about stimulating
blood flow than doing quality training.
To relieve tension on my Achille tendon, I put some padding under my
left heel.
We spent the rest of the
morning packing and left for the airport around noon. We had a short flight to Honolulu and then
had a three hour layover before the overnight flight to Minneapolis.
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