Surf City Marathon 2011

Leading up to the race
So I felt a weird sensation in my left shin and calf during the Carlsbad Marathon. I was able to run through that race without any abnormal pain so I thought nothing about it. I took my usual one week off after the marathon and even had a good first training run post-Carlsbad. But the very next day, the training run went really bad. There was a weird pain in my left shin and calf that grew into a throbbing pain. I thought it was a calf strain. I took the next week off and everything was feeling much better by the time Surf City rolled around. I felt good enough to give it a start, but I had no idea how the leg would feel for an entire marathon.

Expo Entrance

Pre-Race Expo and Stuff
I got to the expo a little after 2pm on Friday. The expo didn't open until 3pm, so I waited in my car a bit. I walked towards the entrance around 2:30 and there was already a pretty good size line. Once it opened, they started letting us into the expo tent in waves. It was a tiring work week for me so I pretty much sleepwalked my way through the expo. I picked up my bib and my race shirt. I then stopped by the legacy booth for a badge to affix to my finisher's medal and a long sleeve shirt. As I was about to peruse through the rest of the expo, I bumped into maniac Ed. Since my left leg was gimpy, I had no intention of signing up for any race. My only purchase was two race shirts from the Ink N' Burn booth.

I said hi to my usual expo friends... Chicrunner at RunRacing, RnR booth, and Dane Rauschenberg. I also said hi to Kathy, who was the volunteer coordinator, on my way out.

Maniac Ed

My new Ink n' Burn race shirt

Race Day
This year I decided to park for free on Beach Blvd. I got to the corner of Beach and Atlanta a little before 5am. After gathering my gear for the race, I walked over to the Hyatt Regency and hung out inside.

At about 6am, I headed to the starting line. I saw some of my RWOL friends. Most of them were pacers. As I got into wave 2, I bumped into PasadenaRunner and Maniac Noel. They both wanted to finish around 4 hours. Me, I just wanted to finish the race. Shortly thereafter, the national anthem was sung and the race was set to go.

Me with some fast RWOL runners

First Half
I took the first mile relatively slow. It felt like a crawl, but I felt discomfort in my left leg from the very first step. The discomfort wasn't too bad. I figured that I could tolerate that for a marathon. I took my usual walk break after 30 minutes of running. Then it was the first gentle climb as we headed towards the Huntington Beach Central Park. As we got closer to mile 5, my left leg was hurting more than I'd like. It was here that I first thought about dropping out. But it was not a convenient place to drop, so I kept walking and jogging. I moved to the side to let the 3:50 and 4:00 pace groups go by me as the paths were mostly narrow inside the park. My plan at this point was to get myself back to PCH and drop out. The left leg was burning with pain especially on the downhill portions. There was no way I'd survive another 20+ miles. At the corner of PCH, I went into a portapotty. When I got out, for some reason I decided to turn right and continue on the course. I thought, "well, I'm almost to mile 10, might as well go another 3.1 and make it a half marathon." My plan changed to finishing a half and just walk to my car. Maniac Casey passes me shortly after mile 10. Then Maniac Don passes me. One of the silly volunteers asked Don if that was a real arrow through his head. LOL.

Second Half
Then I somehow talked myself into completing the entire thing. Since I was going to torture and wreck myself, I might as well get a medal to show for it. So instead of heading straight near mile 16, I made the u-turn onto the beach bike path to complete the second half. I was able to see my friend Howard running towards the finish line finishing his marathon in 3:11:xx. He is such an inspiration to me. He put so much hard work into his training and the race for him was definitely a victory lap. Then my friend who was pacing the 5hr group caught me around mile 19. I ran with them until around mile 20. My leg was hurting so I had to let them go. I saw a runner dressed up as Forrest Gump a little past mile 21. Stupid is as stupid does. I ate some Fig Newtons and Clif Crunch bar. They sure pass out a lot of snacks at this race. It got rather sunny for the last couple of miles. As I was ready to make my final run to the final line, I heard my friends Steve and Jess shouting out to me. Always good to see them.
1: 8:46
2: 8:36
3: 8:39
4: 8:59
5: 9:13
6-7: 20:30 (10:15)
8: 10:44
9: 10:36
10: 13:06
11: 11:48
12: 12:27
13: 12:18
14: 14:17
15: 14:58
16: 15:19
17: 12:46
18: 14:00
19: 14:31
20: 12:16
21: 15:16
22: 12:58
23: 14:41
24: 13:00
25: 14:21
26.2: 16:40
Finish: 5:20:44

Post Race
I took a few steps after crossing the finish line and just stood there. I got my medal and did not feel like moving. One of the spotters came and asked me if I was okay. I said no and he offered me a ride to the medical tent. I told him I could walk and asked if they had ice. They had ice in the tent on the left at the very end of the finishing chute. I grabbed a water bottle and a bag of food. I used the water to mix my Nuun drink in my handheld. As I got to the tent with ice, all of the seats were filled with people icing their knees. So I kept walking and headed for the beer tent.

On my way to the beer tent, I bumped into Maniac Sally and her dad. They were headed out as I was headed in. I congratulated both of them and Sally for getting 5th in her age group. I got two beers this time. Last year they ran out of beer when I got there. As I was going to find a spot to drink my beers, I bumped in Maniac Jean. I drank with her and her friends, Janet and Dee. Then I got a text from my friend Shacky to meet them at BJ's. I then gimped my way to BJ's on Main. On my way there, I spot Maniac James sprinting towards the finish. I shouted to him, but he didn't hear me.

Beer Tent

I hung out with my RWOL friends (Travelmama, CharliePro, HikerGirl, RiP, Spandex, LAB, GrapevineRunner, Shacky) at BJ's. I looked at the menu, but nothing looked good. So I decided that I would just eat at the Korea House BBQ Buffet in Garden Grove on my way home. We even spotted James as he was walking back to his parents' house. Shacky gave me a ride back to my car and I started heading towards Korea House. There was a lot of traffic on surface streets so it felt like it took forever to get there.

Korea House BBQ

Throwing some shrimp on the barbie

I ate 1 grill of ribeye, 1 grill of bulgogi, 1 grill of brisket, and some shrimp. I thought about eating more but I didn't want to eat myself sick. Also, my left leg was starting to hurt pretty bad trying to walk around.

As of right now, I am on the shelf. I'll be taking at least a month off of any running. I have an appointment with my PCP soon. Hopefully I didn't do any serious damage. Four days after the race, I'm almost able to walk normally but still with noticeable discomfort. I will for certain not be ready for the Red Rock Marathon, but I'm still looking forward to visiting Vegas even if it is just to eat good food.

Carlsbad Marathon 2011

Expo and packet pickup
I drove down to the expo on Friday afternoon. Got to the mall parking lot about 20 minutes before the expo opened. But wouldn't you know, there was already a line formed to get inside. We waited about 15 minutes before they let us in. During that time I shot the breeze with a few runners. Most of them were older runners and thought I was crazy for running another marathon so soon after completing the Goofy's Challenge. Pony happens.

This year they had the bib pickup right at the entrance. Not sure if this was really a good idea as it got a little congested. After picking up my bib, I went straight to the back to pick up my race shirt. This year's race shirt felt a little cheap. I liked the race shirts from a couple years back. That was when they gave out a really nice Nike drawstring bag. This year was a cheap-o kind. If anyone wants a drawstring bag, I have a lot at home. Just say the word and I'll give you one or two. They also gave us a cap. I don't wear caps, so if anyone wants it... let me know.

Front design on the left chest

Back design

Cap

I then walked through the expo which seemed to have shrunk from last year. That's good for me. Less chance of me buying anything or signing up for new races. I stopped by the usual RunRacing and Rock n' Roll booths to say hi to my friends. I did not sign up for any races. But I did get my questions answered for the San Diego RnR Marathon. They have heard the issues and are addressing every one of them in this year's race. There will be no annoying trolley ride to the Murph after the race. They will be using the Airport Authority parking lot again.

RunRacing booth

Pre-race stuff
I drove back up to work and later "carbo-loaded" with my co-worker at Agora Churrascaria. I think the only thing I ate that was green were the capers. I forgot to get some salad.

For Sunday's race, it was the debut of my new Train4Autism shirt. It's much more colorful than my previous one. I'm going to have to start covering up the shoulders again since they're getting quite freckled. I'll save the singlets for shorter races.

My new Train4Autism race shirt

Race day
I woke up before 2am to get ready for my drive down to Carlsbad. I got there at about 4:15am. I was the first car in the parking lot. I always park at the same spot each year. I got there early enough to the see the trucks and vans drive off to the aid stations. Volunteers are a special group of people for waking up so early! They also hadn't erected the starting line yet. Many people don't realize just how much goes into putting a race together. I took a nap before getting out into the cold to use the portapotties. This is one race where there's not a issue with portapotties. I like my final pee to be around 30 mins before the start and even then there was no line for a portapotty.

It turned out my RWOL friend NYCJoe was parked next to me. As I headed out to the starting area my TNT friend spotted me. We took a picture and I wished him a good race in the half. Right before the race started Shacky spots me. It looked like we were both going to use the 3:40 pace group at the beginning. He was going to speed up after an hour with them. I was just going to hold on for as long as possible to gauge the "health" of my right foot. The race started promptly at 6am after the national anthem. It was nice and dark.

Goal A: sub 4:15
Goal B: sub 4:30
Goal C: sub 4:45 (bad day)

I was running at a comfortable pace. I made it a point not to pass anybody in the first couple of miles. There was a very chatty group of girls behind me. I let them pass me since they sounded like they were right on my heels. Another girl in front of us drops a bottle. One of the chatty girls comes to a dead stop to pick it up. I almost plowed into her. Good thing I was paying attention. I wasn't pushing hard so I had no idea at this point that I was running way too fast. It was also too dark to read the pacer's sign and I missed mile marker 1. When I looked at my watch at mile 2, I knew I had goofed. It got bright enough for me to read his pace sign and it was the 3:30 group. He had ran the first 2 miles fast and I followed him instead of the 3:40 group. I gradually slowed down. One of my friend that runs her marathons in the 3:20s passes me. I knew I was in way over my head. I took my first walk break at about 30 mins. My kilt-wearing friend Shacky passes me and I told him I followed the wrong group! I did not see the 3:40 group until mile 8. I followed them to the hill at mile 9 and decided to fall back a little and catch them on the downhill. I was catching up to them but by mile 12, I felt like I was out of gas. Everything was headed south in a hurry. Who knows. Maybe my body is so used to shutting things down at the half. The right foot was starting to bother me. I got to the half in about 1:50. I took a walk break around mile 14 to rest the foot a little. But it was getting worse and the weather wasn't helping. I was sweating a lot more and the cramps were setting in. I started popping the Endurolytes more frequently. It was quite annoying being passed by the half marathoners when you're already at mile 16. I prefer races where marathons are never in contact with people running other distances. But having said that, it was great that my friends Dr Spandex and Hikergirl comes up to me as they're running the half marathon. I ran with them for a little bit before their turnaround. I guess I just wanted some friends to commiserate with me in my race gone bad. Maniac Joel passed me before mile 18 and maniac Raj passed me somewhere before mile 20.

I'll let you guess which mile I sat down at a bus bench for a much needed break. I was pooped, barely able to walk up a hill. After sitting down, I started eating my Clif Shot Bloks. They always seem to work better for me than gels.

The rest of the race was just a run-walk nonsense to the finish. I kept leapfrogging with some power-walkers. Boy can they walk fast! They would overtake me every time during my "walk" breaks. My walking pace was more like strolling. Around mile 25 my arms started to cramp. As I finally got to the mile 26 marker, I could not run. The legs were cramped up and I had nothing left on me to loosen them up. To add insult to injury, a girl that was leapfrogging with me sprints passed me about 100 meters from the finish line. She also slows down as if she was taunting me. I could barely jog at that point, but I would say that that was a fitting end to my busted race.

1-2: 14:38 (7:19)
3: 8:07
4: 8:22
5: 8:19
6: 8:26
7: 8:39
8: 9:09
9: 9:04
10: 8:21
11: 8:56
12: 8:20
13: 9:01
14: 10:05
15: 10:54
16: 11:17
17: 11:47
18: 13:01
19: 13:35
20: 15:14
21: 18:14
22: 13:14
23: 13:10
24: 13:13
25: 12:34
26: 12:52
26.2: 2:27
Finish: 4:40:56

Post-race
After the race, I drove a few miles south to Casa de Bandini for the RWOL lunch. From what I can recall those in attendance from the forum were RiP, HikerGirl, BarbBQ, Mr. BarbBQ, Shacky, Lifesabeach, Amuse, Mrs. Muse, GrapevineRunner, GIM, CharliePro, Wayne, IrungirlSD, Mr.IrungirlSD, ShelbytheHottie, Spandex is Fun, Sam, and I'm sure I left out somebody.

I had 2 stone IPAs and the ceviche. Again it saddens me to say that I don't eat as much post race steaks as I used to in the past. Stuff like colon cancer is no fun. So I love steaks... but in moderation.

2 Stone IPAs... 1 empty, 1 about to be emptied

Ceviche

Well... while I could've easily made it under 4:40, but my race was a bust after a couple of miles of going too fast. Also I just had to sit down at that bench. It's only the 3rd time it has happened during a race. 5 if you count boulders and a random picnic bench up in the mountains. But I'm definitely making improvements since changing the way I land my right foot. The hip no longer bothers me. I just need to be patient to let the tendons in my foot catch up. The right calf seemed to have adapted. After getting off of that bench, I did try to rally as best as I could to get my finish time as low as possible instead of letting it creep into the 5 hour range.

This race has a very scenic but tough course. If it's not going up, it's going down. Even the downhills felt hard. But I still prefer a rolling course over a flat and fast course. I keep hearing that the race will be revamped to be entirely along the coast. So the race can only get better!

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2011

Travel
On Thursday night I took a red-eye flight out of LAX to Orlando on AirTran. It was my first time flying with this airline. I've heard horror stories about AirTran, but it was a good flight with a layover in Atlanta. Once I reached Orlando, taking the Disney's Magical Express was painless. Disney is indeed a very well-oiled machine. Everything was very well organized for the entire race weekend. It was really easy to get around without having to rent a car.

Disney's Magical Express

I stayed at the Pop Century resort, one of the cheapest Disney resorts. I've read some bad reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got to my room. Everything was new and I was definitely pleased with the room.

Pop Century Resort

1950's Jukebox

1950's Hotel Rooms

My Room

Packet pickup & Expo
After I dropped my stuff off in my room, I took the bus over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to attend the expo. I picked up my race packet in the HP Field House. Goofy runners had their pickup separately upstairs. I then headed over to the Jostens Center to pick up my shirts and peruse the expo. I did pretty good. I only bought a Goofy's Race and a half Challenge polo shirt and signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon to avoid paying the Active.com fee.

ESPN Wide World of Sports

Expo

Pre-race#1
For dinner, I met up with my friends and their family to eat a pre-race meal at the House of Blues. I ordered a Smokehouse BBQ Burger and a Guinness. We stopped by Ridemakerz which was pretty cool... like a Build-a-bear for little boys.

Downtown Disney

I woke up a little after 2am to get ready for the race. I got on the shuttle around 3:30am. It was a nice walk to the gear check area. I checked my bag around 4:30am and headed over to the starting area. I got into my corral A at around 5am and jogged around to warm up. Then I lined up near the front. I was able to spot my friends. They showed on the screens the race that was simultaneously taking place in Baghdad. After the usual Disney pre-race show and the national anthem, the race was ready to begin.

Saturday Donald Duck Half Marathon
The pyrotechnics was nice and warm. I started off at a comfortable pace and tried very hard not to follow my two fast friends. It was a gradual incline for most of the beginning two miles. I took walk breaks at every 5k. I took a salt cap at 10k and a Clifshot gel at mile 10. I struggled on a heavily cambered off ramp around mile 11. It really exposed my weak right ankle. Snow White passed me here. Somehow I broke through the struggle in trying to stay in front of her. But I didn't let it get out of hand and paced myself since there was a very noticeable discomfort in the ankle. Snow White passed me again briefly after we crossed the mile 13 marker. I overtook her when I kicked it in for the finish line. I turned around at the finish and thanked her for pushing me from mile 11 to finish sub 1:50.
1: 7:40
2: 7:45
3: 7:50
4: 8:21
5: 7:54
6: 8:17
7: 8:33
8: 8:21
9: 8:45
10: 8:46
11: 9:15
12: 8:40
13: 8:31
.1: 0:44
Finish: 1:49:29 (according to the official results I finished in 1:48:59)

Shortly after getting my Donald Duck medal, I headed over to the refreshment tent. I grabbed a bottle of water, a blueberry muffin, banana, can of Coke, and a Powerade. Then I headed over to the gear check tent to get my bag. I put on my jacket and threw all of the treats into my bag. I walked over to the bus stop and headed back to my hotel.

Postrace#1 and Pre-race#2
I cleaned up and headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch. I got a chicken Caesar salad, potato chips, and a juice drink. I went back out to expo and bought a pair of shorts.

For dinner, I went back to the cafeteria to eat a bacon cheeseburger, potato chips, and juice. I watched the football game on TV before falling asleep.

Pre-Marathon Carboload meal

Again I woke up a little after 2am to get ready for the race. I got on the shuttle around 3:45am this time. As we got off the bus for the walk to the gear check area, I was mistaken for a Japanese by two Japanese girls. I kind of wished I had kept up with my Japanese since this happens quite often. I checked my bag around 4:30am and headed over to the starting area. I got into my corral C a little after 5am. Then I lined up near the front with the 4 hour pace group. After the same Disney pre-race show and the national anthem, the race was ready to begin.

Sunday Mickey Mouse Marathon
Not much going on here. It was just a survival race so I used my usual strategy. Run the first half in under 2 hours and take walk breaks every 5k until the halfway point. For this race, I started out of corral C. Things felt okay and a bunch of us in the 4 hour pace group ran into the back of the corral B walkers within the first mile. They had a 5 minute head start and it boggles my mind why they started in corral B. Then by about mile 7 there was discomfort in the right foot. The 2nd half was just pain management. Whenever my right foot hurt too much, I took an extended walk break of about 2 minutes. Since I wasn't running much, I stopped a few times to take pictures with characters. I took pictures with Russell from Up and Frozone & Elastigirl from the Incredibles.
1: 8:41
2: 8:47
3: 8:34
4: 9:13
5: 8:37
6: 8:46
7: 9:17
8: 8:59
9: 9:17
10: 9:37
11: 9:23
12: 9:05
13: 9:47
14: 11:06
15: 10:59
16: 12:58
17: 12:27
18: 13:29
19: 12:02
20: 12:06
21: 13:23
22: 11:58
23: 12:22
24: 14:37
25: 12:47
26: 13:08
.2: 2:04
Finish: 4:43:27

I picked up my Mickey Mouse medal and the Goofy medal. Took a picture. Then headed to the refreshment tent. I picked up water, Clif Builder's protein bar, a blueberry muffin, banana, and Powerade.

The 3 medals

Post-race#2
I took the bus back to my hotel. After getting cleaned up, I stopped by the cafeteria and ate a Beef & Bleu sandwich and chips. Then I fell asleep watching TV again. I woke up to eat dinner at the Fulton's Crab House at Downtown Disney. I had 2 Black & Blossom beers, the scallops for appetizer, and the New York strip steak medium rare & crab claws. The waiter said that they were known for the crab claws and yes, they were good.

Beef & Bleu sandwich

Black & Blossom

Scallops appetizer

New York strip steak and crab claws

My return flight went through Atlanta. I received an email telling me that my flight was canceled due to a severe snow storm. I called the airline and booked a new flight 1 day later. Which in hindsight turned out for the best. Originally I was going to spend just a few hours at Epcot before heading to the airport. Instead I extended my stay 1 extra night and spent all of Monday at Epcot. It was a pretty good experience for my first trip to Disney World.

Free Marathon Monday at the Epcot center

I took the shuttle over to Epcot. I activated my free pass for completing the marathon and entered the park. I saw Stitch and took a picture with him. He's one of my favorite Disney characters of all time. I then went on the Spaceship Earth ride which was pretty neat. Then I stood in line at the Character Spot to take pictures with the usual Disney characters: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Then I met up with my friends and their families. We took the tour around the world sampling the different foods and drinks of each country. Halfway through it there was a nice downpour of rain. We took shelter underneath some roof awning. It let up after a while. When we were done with all of the countries, we headed over to Teppan Edo in Japan for dinner. Good stuff.

As long as I can afford it, I will try to run Disney World every year! If you call yourself a Disney fan and run marathons, this is a must-do race!

Operation Jack Marathon

This marathon for me was an unscheduled race. I had planned for Honolulu to be my last marathon for the year, but I couldn't resist supporting my friend Sam (Operation Jack) and Train4Autism. I got to Manhattan Beach a little after 6am. As I was walking over to the registration area to pick up my bib, I bumped into Kathy. I should aspire to be a super volunteer like her. After saying hi to a few of my friends, I jogged back to my car to change.

People who know me would know that I hate the beach. In particularly the sand. But I'd do just about anything for charity.

Manhattan Beach

My right leg has a lot of issues, so I knew it would take me a while to cover 26.2 miles. I kind of already had in the back of my mind that I would just drop at the half so I would be able to see Sam finish his epic quest.

The race started promptly at 7:30am. I started off at a low 8 min pace. There were no mile markers and I don't wear a GPS watch, so I have no idea what was my exact pace. I made sure I did not accelerate as I had just strained my hamstring 2 days prior. Things were going ok up to the first turnaround. But shortly thereafter things started to go wrong. GI issues and right hamstring tightness were the first things to hit. You go to the well too many times and eventually you'll come up empty. The legs just did not want to go. The right hip got very tight so I just started walking a lot. When I ran, it felt like the right leg was going to fall off. I tried to rally for a sub 2 finish, but there was nothing there. I was kind of upset having to drop out at the half.

DNF 13.1 miles - 2:03:07

It was cool to see the race getting some media attention from channel 4! I usually watch channel 7 so I kept thinking the reporter was Gordon Tokumatsu when in fact he was Ted Chen. Opps, my bad. All Asians look a like, right? :)

Ted Chen from Ch4 interviewing Tiffany

While waiting for Sam to finish, I took a few pictures of my maniac friends. Ed is a running machine. Nothing can stop this guy. Danica jumped for my camera, but I was unable to capture it in time.

Ed finishing the 1st half of his marathon

Danica finishing the half marathon

The first place marathoner came in at about 3:07. It turns out he was the guy that set the world record for the most miles ran on sand in a 24 hour period.

Christian Burke coming in 1st for the marathon

I snapped a photo of Sam heading for the finish line with Jack. I'm glad I was able to catch this moment. If I had gone back out to slug through the 2nd half, I would've missed it. There's always a silver lining. After a brief interview with Ted Chen, his wife Tiffany hands him a nice trophy for completing his epic quest.

Sam finishing No 61 with Jack

Ted Chen interviews Sam

The rest of the Felsenfeld family

61. Done.

Congratulations graffiti sign

The post race celebration meal was held at the nearby Four Daughters Kitchen. I tried to wait for everyone to show up, but I got too hungry. I ordered the Leila's famous burger and a root beer. I ate it all while waiting for everyone else. It was a good delicious burger and the fries were good as well. I hung out for a little bit before making the drive home.

Leila's famous burger at Daughters Kitchen

Shirt and medal

It was pretty cool to see this little piece during a news segment after my morning run. Even though I could not complete my own race, it was really cool to see Sam complete his quest and to be part of his mission to bring more awareness to Autism. I really hope that this is just the beginning of something big.

Here's the full piece: link

2010 Honolulu Food-a-thon

Travel and stuff
This year I flew on Hawaiian Airlines out of LAX on Thursday night. On the flight I watched a documentary on the Brothers Cazimero. Cool stuff. The girl sitting next to me had her music on pretty loud. I could hear her music even though she was wearing earphones. Once we landed in Honolulu, I took the shuttle over to my hotel.

The plane

I checked into my room at the Aqua Aloha Surf Hotel. The room was pretty dang tiny. There was no room for a desk. I kind of had to use the dresser as a desk. But there was a microwave oven and a fridge in the room. After getting settled, I went to sleep. It rained pretty much throughout the night.

Aqua Aloha Surf Hotel

Tiny little room... no space for a desk

Expo, packet pick-up, and food
The next day it was raining a little bit. I tried to walk to the expo in the rain but I started to get soaked since my shorts was not water resistant. So I went into an ABC store and bought an umbrella. If my right calf wasn't jacked up, I would've just ran to the Convention Center. I picked up my race packet and walked through the expo. The race lost Nike as one of their sponsors. You could tell because the expo was much smaller and the official race merchandise was not as good. It wasn't too bad, but not Nike quality. Before leaving the expo, I ate a sample of Zippy's chili. Good stuff.

Honolulu Marathon expo

I met up with my friend Ryan and we went to eat ramen at Gomaichi. I ordered the zasai tan tan men. It was good! I would love to come back here and try the other items on the menu. We stopped by Wal-Mart to buy stuff. I somehow decided to buy an Ironman mask and repulsor to wear during the race. It turns out that the repulsor was a bit too clunky to wear while running.

zasai tan tan men at Gomaichi

For dinner I walked over to Tenkaippin for some ramen. Good thing the rain had let up because I had left my new umbrella in Ryan's car. I ordered the kotteri ramen. The flavor was good, but the broth was way too thick for my liking. It had the consistency of gravy. But it's good enough that I'd eat it every day.

kotteri ramen at Tenkaippin

The next day I went back to the expo. Even though the rain had stopped and the weather was perfect, I decided to take the trolley to the expo instead of walking. I caught the trolley in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue right next to the beach.

Duke Kahanamoku statue

Waikiki trolley

As I got off of the trolley, someone called out to me. It was a fellow maniac. She noticed my Las Vegas marathon shirt and said she remembers seeing me in the Vegas marathon when I was walking. I ate another sample of Zippy's chili. Then I walked over to the Ala Moana Center food court to eat lunch. I thought about eating at Curry House, but instead I tried out Sobaya. I ordered the ten don with soba. It was at best fast food quality, edible and got the job done... hunger gone. I think next time I will have fish and poi at a different stand.

ten don with soba at Sobaya inside the Ala Moana Center food court

Ryan and I went to carbo-load at Genki Sushi. I thought the face wasn't too genki. Nowhere near good sushi but some of it wasn't bad. The spicy tuna, natto, and ikageso sushi was pretty good. They kept filling up my cup with hot tea, so the service was good. I tried to ask if they had mirugai or amaebi, but they didn't know what I was talking about. I tried the hot dog sushi which was kind of like eating spam musubi.

Genki Sushi - kaiten style

hot dog sushi

After dinner we went to Bubbies for some mochi ice cream. I got vanilla, lychee, and green tea. After I got dropped off at my hotel. I got all of my race stuff ready for the next day.

mochi at Bubbies

Pre race stuff
I ate 3 Larabars and drank my usual orange juice. I got ready and walked over to Kapiolani park to ride the bus over to the start. I hit the portapotties a few times and waited near the start line.

gender specific portapotties

"Nothing new on race day" is pretty much the golden rule to running a marathon.
New things for me on race day:

1. iFitness belt to carry my camera (first time)
2. Ironman mask
3. Cytomax in my handheld

Goals A, B, and C: have a fun race and finish

1st half
I lined up near the front to get a clean start. I took off the mask at the first aid station. It was hard to breathe, I couldn't drink anything, and had no peripheral vision with the mask on. I tried tying it to the iFitness belt, but it kept bouncing up and down. So I held the mask as I ran and I was very tempted to give it to some kid. The right calf was already bothering me before I got to the 5k mark. I had a hard time climbing up Diamond Head with the bad leg. I had to walk a few times before the half which prevented me from arriving there under 2 hours.
5k: 0:25:44
10k: 0:54:07
21.1k: 2:03:35

2nd half
I got tired of carrying the mask so I ended up wearing it on the back of my head for the rest of the way. There was a lot of walking since the calf was hurting. As usual it led to ankle and hip discomfort as I compensated for the calf strain. Near the top of Diamond Head, I finally took out my camera to snap a picture of the ocean view. I forgot to take a picture of the pink Hello Kitty house. Near the finish line, I slowed down to put on the Ironman mask. As I ran in, the spectators were getting a kick out of the mask. The announcer gave me a shout-out saying it must have been hot running in the mask.
30k: 3:13:42
40k: 4:45:00
Finish: 5:00:33

A view from the top of Diamond Head

Ironman running the final stretch

Post race
After finishing I walked over to take a picture with the hula girl. She really liked the Ironman mask. Then I went over to pick up my finisher's keychain and finisher's shirt. I returned to my room and got cleaned up. I then recovered by drinking my beers. After watching some tv and taking a nap, I went back to Genki Sushi to continue my recovery.

Ironman loves hula girls

Finisher's shirt

2 of my buddies waiting for me in my hotel room fridge

The next morning, I went back to Kapiolani Park to pick up my finisher's certificate and to meet the champions of the race. The line was long to pick up the certificate. They also gave out a newspaper with the official results. I then got in line to meet the champs. I was able to get autographs from both of them.

Women's champ - Belainesh Gebre 2:32:13

Men's champ - Nicholas Chelimo 2:15:18

Before leaving for the airport, I stopped by Running Room where my friend works. After saying my goodbyes, I headed over to Zippy's to eat some chili. I ordered some with a large Orange Bang. Good stuff. I walked back to my hotel, checked out, and got picked up by the shuttle bus for the airport. It was kind of sad going to the airport. I wish I could've stayed longer.

Zippy's chili

Post race thoughts
The iFitness belt worked great. It works much better than my SPIbelt. Anyone want a slightly used SPIbelt is welcomed to have it. Just drop me a line or an email edit - SPIbelt already spoken for. The Ironman mask was obviously a bad idea. It's great if you want to get a taste of what it's like to run with asthma. I have no idea how Darth Vader does it every year. But it did make for good photos. The Cytomax worked pretty well. I mixed it a little thick since I decided to run the race without sucking down gels.

Can't wait to run it again next year!