Maui Half Marathon

The Valley to Sea Half Marathon in Maui was the last race I did as a twenty-something. And it was a good one! Thanks to a downhill course, I shaved 4 minutes off my PR and got to spend the rest of the day lounging on the beach. Here's the official report:

5:17: My alarm goes off and I hop out of bed, wide awake. I'd woken up at 3 and 4, worried that my alarm wouldn't go off. I heated up some of yesterday's coffee, tried to choke down a luna bar, some milk and some orange juice (I do better with liquids early in the morning). I tiptoed out in the dark and drove 4 miles to the shuttle. I'd missed the 5:45 shuttle, so I waited for half an hour for the second shuttle, carrying only me, to leave. I had no extra clothes and it was raining at the start, so I was happy to have only 15 minutes to warm up and hit the Honey Bucket before the Hawaiian fire dancer did his thing and the gun went off.

7:00 a.m: Just before the start, a woman, now known as Marie, started talking to me. I asked her about the course and made some small talk. I had no idea I would end up running most of the race or that she'd win the race. We both took off fast and formed a pack in the front with two other women. The first three miles were downhill and when I checked my splits for the first time at the three mile mark, my watch read 18:52. Woops! Lindsey, one of the other women in the pack commented about breaking her 5k PR. I found out that Lindsey and Marie both ran at Division 1 schools and realized that I might be a bit out of my league, but I felt good and was having fun chatting with Marie, so I kept going. Marie just moved to Maui for a wildlife preservation job from Seattle and used to run with Club Northwest. Small world!

7:30-ish: About 5 miles in, I still felt great, but was really really hot. After we came out of a lush rainy jungle, we were running along the highway and even early in the morning, the pavement was radiating heat. At the second aid station, I grabbed a Gatorade and a water and splashed the Gatorade in my eye as I attempted to drink and poured the water over my head. I had taken off my sunglasses in the rain and as I tried to wipe them off and put them on, one of the lenses popped out. I stuck the lens down my shirt and put my glasses back on my head. So much for sunglasses.

Mile 8: Marie's roommate Jeff was taking pictures along the course and around mile 8, she pulled off to get some water from him and go to the bathroom. I ate my vanilla gu and ran alone for 3 or 4 miles. I could see the two front runners about 50 meters ahead and I tried to close the gap as the caffeine kicked in.

Mile 11: I started HURTING. I missed the 10 mile marker so mile 11 felt really long, especially running alone. My hip/hamstring started to ache and I started having a debate with myself. Should I slow down and treat this as a training run or should I keep racing and risk hurting myself? My pride won and I kept pushing. The last 1.5 miles were on the beach and I had the same debate, knowing that the sand is rough on my achilles. Marie caught up to me and took off for the two first place women, who seemed to be slowing. When Marie passed me, I felt like I wasn't even moving. I tried to hang on, but I couldn't. There was a turnaround at the half mile mark, so I got to cheer on Lindsey and Marie a few seconds before rounded the corner. I tried to catch up, but my legs had nothing. I was 4 seconds behind 3rd place and as I crossed the finish line, I saw the time: 1:30:48!!!

That night we ate the world's worst cheeseburgers, some delicious fruity drinks and went out dancing in Lahaina. The DJ was playing nothing but cuts (Imma be Imma be!) and before I knew it, the bartender was making last call. I could hardly walk the next two days because my quads hurt so bad. Luckily, all I had to do was walk to the beach, where I could plant my butt and stare at the impossibly blue ocean.