Sub 4 Hours. This time, I did it.

But it was close. Closer than I wished ;)

Not bad.

128th in my category, in the top 10%.
1033th overall, for 21544 runners, in the top 5% overall.

There was tons of people. And fireworks. And even more people.

As for the race... It started a little slow because of so many people did not pick their right place on the starting line, and that makes quite a congestion. The first 15 minutes are spent doubling people and slaloming. The was simple : stick to 9 min pace all along. Nothing crazy. 

That means 4 hours pace.

A long long run..

Based on my stamina and Daniel's tables, I should be handle 3:30 and below 8 min pace.. Well, Those numbers are just b***.. wrong ;)

I was hoping to not have to push myself too hard. Steady pace all along.

After two hours, all was going perfect. It was still dark and relatively cold (in Hawaii's terms). I was holding the pace like breeze, in Zone 3. I was cruising. Legs were becoming a little "heavy" but nothing to be really worried about.

Then I realized I was one minute short at 20 miles. 20 Miles should have been 3:00. 

I was at 3:01. No way I was gonna miss my first sub-4 by one minute.

I decided to accelerate to 8:30 pace.

Thing is, usually, the last hour is hard. pretty hard.
Now I made it worst. Far worst.
The sun rises. The heat comes. Your legs are actually really heavy now. Then you have to make THE effort. That's fine, I signed for it.

The story as an Hear Rate log

At 3:05, my heart rate went over 165, my lactate threshold.
That's a problem. You can suffer. But there is so much you can really take on. When you go over your threshold, your time is counted. The effort is not sustainable. This is a bio-mechanical thing. Next time... Train harder, you will sustain better pace with less effort.

On my last marathon, I started to suffer way too early, around 2:30. I hit the wall at 3:30. And went into my darkest hours for the last 34 minutes. Good to know, I have usually one hour left at threshold effort on a marathon pace.

Well, of course I realized pretty fast that this last hour will be hard. 

Plenty of hard.

Here comes 24 miles. Pace falls down to 10:00. I am running in place. For the first time, lots of runner are doubling me. 2 Miles to go. I am hitting the wall ? Again ?

Wake up call. 2 Miles. 16 Minutes. In training I do that without even sweating. In my sleep.

Grind the teeh, Jump the heart to explosion (180 bpm), move those arms, move those knees. (Later on, Molly told me I looked like a Robot - or a human stick - 100% rigid), force my way through.

Don't trust the clock.
I was not first on the starting line ;)

Well, this time it worked.

Overall my preparation was way better than last time. A little short, 12 weeks instead of 16, but no injuries or sickness. Less running,  3-4x a week (only !). Looks like the speed and hills work did pay at the end. Legs ended up really stiff - and the calves are still locked one day after, but no cramps and no meltdown, which is a huge improvement over last time.

Worth the suffering ?
Ain't I pretty with my medal ?

Now it is time to enjoy a bit of non running.

Good news, Winter is here and usually the surf is good.

On Maui, there is really no bad season anyway.

Surf's up, PR's down.

Isn't it Christmas ?