2016 Year In Review

Life can't always go your way... 2015 was THE YEAR for me!!! So many new and great things happened in my life that changed my life for the better. I couldn't have asked for more, but somehow I had hoped for it. I hoped for PRs, as many race finishes (if not more) and all kinds of milestones! Instead, life hit me with challenges, tribulations and a journey to remind me that it ain't easy...

The year started off with injury coinciding with the first Ironman finish hangover. Then pre-maturely racing a handful of races with the minor injury only perpetuated the problem (in addition to not being ready for some of the races). As the year went on, work only got more time consuming while training was supposed to pick up. By the time I completed IM 70.3 Hawaii, it was a steady downward trend from there. The China travel picked up and I reached my 90 day limit by August. 12 hour days turned into 16 hour days and many sleepless nights. I somehow went on to do IM 70.3 Vineman and the SF 1st half marathon. Work really hit hard in the next few months just barely easing up after Halloween. By then the Honolulu Marathon was basically upon me, with the holidays just around the corner. The whole combination meant I wasn't ready for a race I was determined to do... And I paid the price...

I sit here writing with pains in both feet, pain above my right knee and reviewing race results from a failed 2016 year. This was supposed to be the year I realized my potential... The year I hoped to podium at least once... The year I would leverage my recent Ironman finish and catapult to better triathlon performance! Instead, I sit reflecting on pain, failure and what went wrong. So to that, I say:

(Photo credit: http://diycandy.com/2016/12/new-years-printables-bye-felicia/)

In fact, 2016 was so devastating that I have all of 2 races lined up: Redondo Beach Sprint Triathlon and IM 70.3 NOLA. The former is my annual race which is a tribute and reminder of my very first entry into this sport. The latter is my destination race for 2017! But otherwise, there's nothing on the calendar... at all. I think I will use the beginning of the year to shore up my base fitness and reflect on where I am and where I want to go. That's just how devastating 2016 has been to me...

If there's any good advice for 2017, it might just be:

(Photo credit: http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com)

Back With The Hive!

STING OR BEE STUNG!!!

So glad to get another year with The Hive! Being part of the Honey Stinger Ambassador program has been a wonderful experience! The premium benefit for any athlete is the very generous discount that you receive on all Honey Stinger products! I use the chews, gels and waffles so much that it's a huge benefit. Additionally, they have gear that supports a lot of endurance sports (triathlons, running, cycling) that receives the same discount. So gear shopping typically happens on the Logo Store rather than at my local sporting good store.

But the real benefit is the HS Hive community. You can connect with other Hive members who are all very passionate about the product AND their sport(s). Honey Stinger reps and ambassadors are at many races and you can likely catch them at the expo booth for your local race too. And everyone is great and friendly and it's such a good community.

And I've been lucky enough to have multiple friends apply and get accepted. So we get to continue to dub ourselves as the Honey Stinger Picnic Family! We got the name due to our love of Honey Stingers and our early foray into triathlons which often resulted in seated consumption of the waffles in a nervous wreck to get calories down! lol Oh the knowledge we have gained since those early days! These people are my pulse, my heart and soul to keep going in the darkest of times during the many stages of training and racing endurance sports. I definitely would not be here or have been going this long without them!

Race Report: Honolulu Marathon

Returned to my birthplace to run Oahu's great race! Growing up we never watched the marathon, we always avoided Wakiki and Hawaii Kai on this weekend and we definitely thought everyone there was insane! Well what a turn of events we have as I'm now one of those crazy finishers...

Race details:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Run: 26.2 miles

Course Reported Finish:

Garmin Splits:

Heart Rate Zones:

Race Summary:

Well what a day this one was. I guess the only way to start is from the beginning...

The Honolulu Marathon is an early start, one of the earliest. The race starts at 5am sharp and that's painful for me because I'm not a morning person. I will say that by the end of the marathon I was glad this was the case because my time spent running in the hot, blazing sun was only a little more than an hour. But still, early start times are painful.

What amazed me is the number of people doing the race (about 30,000) and the many shapes, sizes, ages and costumes of runners. I didn't see any of the same costumed folk from the Merrie Mile, but there were many interesting ones here as well. There was a 5 pc band with a tuba, trombone, trumpet, drum and flute. There were futuristic, metallic outfits. I saw many puffy skirts and wigs. People were sporting their country shirts or jerseys from Denmark to Italy to Argentina and of course all over Japan. There was a diabetes group. There were several different "Aloha Runner" groups. Many Japanese tourist groups. I mean the sights of the runners reminded you that the finishing times will range from 2.5 hours all the way to last year's last finisher time of 14 hours, 11 minutes. Just ridiculous...

Speaking of that. The race is open to everyone, there's no signup limit and there's no finishing time limit. You could literally walk all 26.2 miles and there are many who do. The race director says it sticks to Hawaii's island vibe and that everyone will be allowed to finish as long as medically capable (I did see several folks get put onto ambulances). It's a pretty cool concept of inclusion but definitely makes for a crowded event. Thankfully, I ran at an above average time (despite being out of shape) so I never had to endure too big of a crowd or a lack of water or other racing resources.

One great thing about this race is the presentation. And nothing highlights this better than the starting gun being a huge fireworks show that wakes up all of Honolulu and Waikiki. And if you happen to be awake like my aunty and uncle who dropped me off, you can hear it in Pearl City too! Since it was a rolling start race, I was able to get a short video of it before I put my phone away and got to it. But it was pretty cool to get going with that!

The race itself is pretty iconic and familiar for a local (or former local). You start on Ala Moana Blvd in between the mall and the beach park. You thru Town and back before crossing the little bridge to Waikiki. You then continue along Kalakaua past the high end stores, The Duke and the Zoo. You climb the ocean side of Diamond Head before running towards, and on, the Kalanianaole Highway. The loop around Hawaii Kai gets you back onto the Highway, around Diamond Head again and finishing downhill into Kapiolani Park.

As evidenced by the data, this race generally went well and according to plan. While I didn't get the light rain that I wanted, the weather was generally cooler and lower humidity for most of the morning while the sun stayed hidden. I was able to keep my relaxed pace target of 10 to 10:30 miles for a lot of the race. And I was even able to keep a relatively good pace and cadence going up Diamond Head the first time. But as the sun came out around the 3 hour mark, the marathon started to get a bit grueling...

My legs felt heavier. I feared cramping and started taking salt pills every 20 min instead of every 30. The sun also beamed down and I could feel the heat. My back and neck started feeling tight and tense. My foot and ankle pain started to throb just a little bit more. And I generally felt hot. But the crowd energized me, the sights were beautiful and I kept pounding away. And while I didn't succumb to any major issues, the last ascent at Diamond Head got me...

I knew what was coming. I knew it was only a little more than 100ft of elevation gain. I knew that if I could just crest that gain, I'd have a 1.5 mile finish downhill towards the park. But despite all of that, my heavy legs and weak mind prevented me from going up hard. I succumbed to walking a decent amount of it. My fitness level just wasn't there and it mentally defeated me to walk it.

Alas, I started jogging to crest the final part. I made it to the top, breathed a sigh of relief and began my run downhill chasing helplessly at my goal time of 4.5 hours. By the end, I crossed the finish line happy to have it over, but staring at my failure time of 4:32... Missed it by 2 minutes... I just couldn't run hard enough early on to bank the right amount of time. My fitness level had fallen to a personal worst. And really just everything that I've been the last 2 years was gone. I really wanted to just go and have a mental breakdown in the finisher area as I tried to get my phone working for a finish line picture.

But after faking some smiles and walking out the physical pain, I got a call from my aunty and uncle. They made me laugh when they said they were at the finish line but somehow missed me coming down the final chute. The raised my spirits saying the time was "good" and that I crushed my oldest cousins time of 7 hours. Their happiness for me and their support of me just raised my spirits to where they should be. I didn't finish where I wanted. I almost finished an hour more than my marathon PR set just over a year ago. But I still did something most don't even think of doing and I still gave it my best shot.

With raised spirits I enjoyed the spoils of this race. You get a free picture printed right there in the finish festival area. You got a free malasada too and even asked for two instead of getting a banana! We slowly walked to my favorite drive-in spot (Rainbows) and I got the best plate lunch (Loco Moco, all rice with the over easy egg). And we even got my other cousins and their spouses out later that night for lunch at a local spot (the Aiea Bowl) for some Korean Fried Chicken and Kalbi and tons of dessert. It was great. Family is the best and I def miss them! My 92-year-old gramps even came to check up on me to make sure I finished and was still alive. Then he gave me a laugh, a congratulatory hug and asked if I was gonna run it again. This guy... This crazy, awesome, lovable guy. If only I could see him everyday, maybe I'd be this happy and fulfilled EVERY day of the year LOL.

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Race Report: Kalakaua Merrie Mile

It just so happens that the first year I decide to do the marathon is the first year that they offer a Pre-Race-Day run/walk event. Notice I didn't say race, as that's definitely not what it is for most of the participants...

Race details:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Run: 1 mile

Course Reported Finish:

Garmin Splits:

Garmin 920XT New Feature - Heart Rate Zones:

Quick note which I'll write another article on, but the Forerunner 920XT has several new features. Two of the running ones which are interesting is the Recovery Time and Heart Rate Zones. They also have a Cadence chart but I think that might not be accurate unless you have a foot pod. But I'm not sure. More review of that in the future. Recovery Time isn't shown because they don't currently record that. It's just displayed immediately after you finish a saved event.

Heart Rate Zones, on the other hand, is plotted and I think this is a sweet new feature. The plotted Heart Rate and Avg Heart Rate metric are helpful, but I think the Zone chart really captures what most data nerds want to see when analyzing post run or race. In my opinion, it's one of the best barometers of whether your training or racing was according to plan or not. And then if it's not what you expected, you can use the plots to better plan your next run. I hope to take advantage of this in the future!

Race Summary:

It was pretty cool to be apart of the Inaugural event. The Merrie Mile is yet another example of Hawaii's theme of aloha. The race invites competitors of all ages and paces and nobody is left behind. In fact, in checking the results, there were 4 finishers who completed the 1 mile run in 52 minutes. 52 MINUTES!!! Like holy crap! That's a long time to go 1 mile. But that's just aloha. It's Hawaii. And while I'd never do it if that's how long it took me, power to the folks who choose to do it and props to the race organizers who empower them to do so.

What also makes an event like this interesting is that it brings out many people just looking to have a good time. There was a pair of Japanese women dressed in full Yomiyuri Giants baseball uniforms. There was an inflatable dinosaur guy. There was a 100% vegan guy carrying a 100lb log. There was several santa outfits. Many neon colored groups. A group of runners with JAL airline shirts and a small inflatable airplane on their backs. And of course just all shapes, sizes and ages!

Anyway, my race went really well. I pushed hard, but didn't overdo it. I started out slow as I was getting around some slow people who decided to line up at the very front. After clearing those eager joggers, I sprinted out ahead of my wave as one of the top 3 runners. To be fair, I sand bagged my time (as per usual) and submitted an 8 min finish time. The first group was 6-8 min and mine was 8-10 min. I also had a great, wide turn at the 180° turnaround so to keep most of my speed. I finished the last quarter mile sprinting down Kalakaua and waking up to a 6:17 finish time! What a run!

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