Edge of desire

“If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.”  - Stephen Hunt


Here I am again, standing at the very edge of a tall cliff, staring down into the unknown. I've been here many times before, and never alone. Fear and doubt have always stood beside me, holding me hostage from my very desires....but no more! This time around, I'm trading in fear and doubt for hard work and confidence before I take the plunge come December 11.


22 miles in 2:33:22 @ 6:56/mi. average pace. This past Saturday's test run was a huge success for several reasons. 1) I nailed down my carbo load routine, 2) timing on nutrition during the run was spot on, 3) cooling method using a wet sponge kept my core temperature from rising, and lastly 4) I was able to stick to my target pace while keeping my heart rate relatively stable without any major spikes. About the only thing that didn't go as planned was the route. Instead of following the marathon course from mile 3 on, I had to go with plan B because of APEC in Waikiki. Although this wasn't an official race, I sure treated it like one. And while I'm not gonna go on with a race report, I do have some things to note down which was the big goal for this run. So here we go...


Debt management. Now when I say that my target average pace is 7:00/mi. to achieve a 3:03 finish time, you and I both know that it would be disastrous for me to start off with a seven-minute mile and continue on this way until the very end. From experience I know that it takes me about 2 miles to warm up and hit my stride so the first couple of miles will automatically put me in "debt". The analogy I thought of while I was out there running was that of banking. For every mile that I completed, I either tacked on time to my debt or chipped away at it. And with a 7:00/mi. average pace goal, it was easy to do the calculations. Now here's where restraint and patience come into play. For much of that 22-mile run, I was pretty much in debt, or in the red. At most, I was facing about a one minute deficit that accumulated through miles 1-10 and it wasn't until mile 14 until I finally broke even. From mile 14 on I was in the black and that's when my confidence began to soar. The lesson here is to invest in the early miles and trust that the payoff will be there when you need it most.


Timing is everything. Here's where transfer of knowledge from one sport to another has proved to be beneficial for me. Earlier this year, I started experimenting with wearing two different watches during my triathlon races to dedicate one watch specifically for nutrition timing purposes. During the bike leg, I set my Garmin to go off every 5 minutes to remind me to take in fluids. This worked out very well for me especially during Honu so I thought, why can't it work during a marathon? And so this past weekend, I strapped on two watches and set one to go off every 22 and a half minutes. Why 22:30? My nutrition plan calls for a GU Roctane every 45 mins. and an Endurolyte pill in between each gel so the alarm going off reminds me that I need to take one or the other. As for liquids, I take two sips of EFS every 2 miles and only water with gels and electrolyte pills– at least for the first two-thirds of the distance and when it's still relatively cool. When things really start to heat up whether due to heat or exertion, I increase my intake to sipping EFS or water every mile and make sure to keep my sponges soaked over my chest.


Ebb and flow. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot, literally. In the first couple miles, I had some tightness going on under my left arch which fortunately, was just a nagging pain more than anything. Sure enough once I warmed up, the pain went away and I finally settled into a rhythm. But then just a few minutes later, I felt my chest area radiate a lot of heat, not even 3 miles into the run. So there I was, with the sun barely out and already I had my tri top zipped down to allow the heat to escape. Not a good start, I thought. But soon enough, I felt the heat subside and I was back into my groove. There were times when I felt like I could run for days at that pace and there were also times when I felt depleted and started counting down the miles when it would all be over. It's no big secret, the marathon is going to hurt...a lot. I've come to know and accept this. But I also know that difficult sections are temporary and the only way to get through it is to embrace it and ride it out.