The Power of Positive Thinking

Well, I have to say that was more successful than I thought it would be. I missed by lofty goal of breaking 12 hours by 64 seconds but did set PRs for overall time, bike split, and run split. And considering my last long run was way back on July 29th and that was only 18 miles, yet I still ran my fastest marathon to date, it can't be that terrible.

Leading up to the race I visited the SpiderTech booth almost daily to get treatment and tape from Dr. Jardine, founder and head doctor of the company. I have to say, I really think this was monumental in my success. The knee pain wasn't any worse than the pain in the rest of my body. So thanks so much to Kevin and the rest of the therapists and Chris and Susie, the PR folks, for all their help and support this week! It was great to meet everyone and the group ride on Wednesday and get-together later in the afternoon were fun.

SpiderTech

Race morning came. I surprisingly wasn't too nervous and didn't sleep any worse than normal. Had my usual breakfast of gluten-free flavored oatmeal (more on gluten-free later), a Larabar, and a banana. Got my initial bottle ready for the bike (EFS with Pre-Race) and added Nuun and Pre-Race to another bottle to sip on before the race. Headed to the start with my family. Parted ways at the body marking station and went in to start getting into race mode. Body marking and pumping my tires was simply. Thanks to the volunteer who pumped my tires and helped me check there was no stray glass in my tires.

I was sitting on the side of the bike transition area listening to my iPod when Herbert from Slowtwitch came up. He took a photo, not sure if that will end up anywhere. I was eating Clif Bloks before the start. Stopped at the blue rooms and then went to drop off the pre-swim bags and get my swimsuit on. Thanks to Jocelyn for sending me an extra onesie that I was able to use as a swim skin! It fit perfectly.

Per usual, I was one of the last people into the water, which was perfectly okay with me. I swam up closer to the front this time though, but still not right in the front. Cannon went off and there was like an initial second where it had to register that the cannon had gone off before anyone started swimming. Swim was relatively uneventful. No bad kicking or grabbing or anything. Goggles were leaking a bit on the way out, and then I realized not body gliding around my neck had been a bad idea as I started to feel the chafe. Hit the turnaround and I thought I started swimming faster but apparently not. Slowest IM swim to date at over 1:20. Whoops.

T1 was also uneventful. Was able to run into transition, got my stuff on, got sunscreen-ed, and was out. Onto the bike.

Spun the first 10 miles that took us out and back on Kuakini before we headed out of town onto the Queen K. Somewhere in the first 30 miles I could feel my hip flexors twitching on both sides and worried they were going to cramp. I hit the 30 mile mark at 1:29, faster than expected. My physical therapist/cycling coach had recommended that I up my calorie intake so I was going for 300+ calories per hour, which is 50-100 calories more than I had been taking last year. Calories consisted of one bottle of EFS at the beginning, then Powerbar Perform for the rest of the course, EFS Liquid Shot, and 1 packet of Clif Bloks. I didn't quite put myself on a timer but did a pretty good job of hydrating/eating on the course aside from going up and down from Hawi.

The first 50 miles were pretty easy. Aside from a few twitches in my hip flexors and knees I felt good. Lots of positive self-talk and I was clipping along pretty well. At mile 50 we were on the way to Hawi, and that's when the crosswinds picked up. Like, really picked up. I don't remember what it was like last year, but I was having trouble riding to the right side of the road because I kept getting blown into the center of the lane. My PT had also advised that in a crosswind, lean the bike into the wind but keep your body over the center. Basically, bumping (for those in cycling racing). So I practiced that for miles 50-55. Mile 55 came at 2:59, and then I slowed down from there. Miles 55-60 were a headwind, with some crosswind gusts mixed in for fun so it was like a swirly wind.

Hawi came at mile 60, at 3:21 according to my Garmin. Stopped briefly to get my special needs bag and pour the Pre-Race into my Powerbar drink. Had a chat with the 3 guys who were standing around the bag area and told them about the wind. I was in a pretty good mood. Right out of Hawi there was no wind so I took advantage of it and booked it out of town pedaling 28-29 mph. At mile 65 or thereabouts the crosswinds picked up again. Mile 75 my chain fell off for the first of two times so I stopped briefly to fix it.

Back onto the Queen K at mile 85 or so. The headwind I remembered from last year was still there, stretching from Waikoloa Village to the scenic point. This year though, I was prepared, and cruised my way through it. I figured, hey this is way better than crosswinds. At least I can sit in aero! Around mile 95 the chain fell off again (not sure if this was user error or bike adjustment error) so stopped to fix that again. Continued eating, drinking, and battling the wind back to town. Butt was starting to hurt at this point and hip flexors too. I was actually wishing that I could bike some more and not have to run - which is when I knew I was becoming a cyclist.

Visited the blue room on the way into T2. Stuff on and out. Initially clipped out of T2 at 8:18 pace for the first mile and told myself to slow it down otherwise I was gonna die later. Maybe I should have tried to hold this for longer as I continued to slow down throughout the race even though my mind was ready to go faster. Headed down Ali'i Drive for 5 miles and then back up to Palani and the Queen K. Saw the SpiderTech guys in front of their house just before the 5 mile turnaround and Kevin yelled "You're going to have a great run!"

Miles 5-10 were probably actually the worst mentally, as I was just waiting to get out onto the Queen K to the Energy Lab. Stomach wasn't happy the first 9 or so miles until I switched to cola for calorie/liquid. I thought of the blog I had read about Potential, and one of the quotes on the page is "If you're not on the edge, you're just taking up space." So I spent a lot of time reminding myself of that.

Heading towards the Queen K hips were tight but other than that knee was holding up. I walked up the hill on Palani by the aid station (I don't understand why there are aid stations on uphills!) to make sure I took in enough Coke and liquid. Reached mile 13 marker and realized this was unchartered territory for my knee. Got into the Energy Lab feeling good. Kept checking my Garmin to see if I could break 4 hours for the marathon.

Back onto the Queen K for the 7 mile run home. At mile 21 I thought of Jocelyn and her run at Louisville, and tried to pick it up. Again, mind was ready, legs weren't cooperating. Pushed the pace as much as I could but it was still a struggle. I think this is where my lack of base and speed lately really hurt me. Ran back through town and still only clocked an 8:47 mile.

Crossed the finish line just as the clock clicked to 12:01. Well, I'll take it. I focused well, I executed my nutrition properly, and I did as much as I could with an injury that required decrease training load for the two months prior to yesterday.

For the first time ever, I later went back to the midnight finish to witness the last finishers. That was pretty cool.

And on a side note, I really think the going gluten/grain-free for the past two months really helped. I didn't have the stomach bloat I normally have in the morning before the race, and I didn't need to use the blue room on the run. Success!