Did it HURT? Part I

Where to start?
Since it’s been awhile since we last talked, here’s a little back story.

Running in 2022. The first half the year was littered with injury after injury it seemed like which cut into my training big time. But I was still able to meet and even exceed my expectations for myself at most of the races!

Lets start off with some feet pics. Lol One of the three injuries that I encountered in the first half of 2022. This one left me down and out for a few weeks.

The Aiea Loop Express was ran with a friend for her first trail race and I was honored to be there.

Aiea Loop Express with friends!

Vi’s Top of Tantalus, I PR’d every strava segment besides 1 which was my second best effort at the time. It was the first race that I know that I gave it everything I had in a very controlled manner. My average heartrate was 185 but I’ll be surprised if I can beat my last years time, this year. Time: 1:12:42. Distance: 6.10 Miles. Elevation: 1627ft.

Coming down towards the finish to the Vi’s Top of Tantalus Race!

I missed the next few races due to travel, dad duties, and other things but I came back by doing the Tantalizing Tantalus Half Marathon which was another blast of a race! It was another strong race but I think I’ll be able to improve my time for the course this year. Especially if I do some test runs before hand. Plus this is where my special pose was born in the race series. Lol I had done it before but never during a race until Tantalizing Tantalus. Time: 2:44:11. Distance: Half Marathon. Elevation: 3268ft.

The Race Pose was born at the turnaround point of the Tantalizing Tantalus Race.

The Maunawili Out and Back was my first ever DNF in 2021 so I had a little bit of redemption on my mind. Despite the distance not being crazy and the elevation gain being pretty minimal, I knew this race was still going to give me issues so I was nervous. Performance wise, there’s a bunch to improve on. But I got it done and that’s honestly all I cared about in that race. Time: 4:30:41. Distance: 22 Miles. Elevation: 3530ft.

Coming into the finishline of the Maunawili Out and Back Race. And yes, I did a photo of my pose 15ft before reaching the finishline. Lol

Next up was Triple Trek. I had never done a Triple Trek Loop until race day which made me a little nervous but I had run a different combo of all the trails so I knew I was just out there to have fun and see what happens. I didn’t have a goal time until I finished the first loop and then I knew I could finish the race in under 6 hours so that became my lone goal for the race. Well, I finished in JUST under 6 hours which I was really happy with! Time: 5:57:17. Distance: 25 Miles. Elevation: 7572ft.

The rainiest race I have ran to date. Triple Trek.

Last up on the race agenda for race season was the Peacock 55 Miler. I contemplated signing up for the full or the half for awhile. But I knew if I was going to get off the HURT 100 waitlist, the 55 miler would be a good training run. It would either put me mentally in a deeper rut or it would put me on a high and into an awesome place to finish my training for the year. After deciding on the 55 Miler, I tried training out there a few times to get an idea of the heat I would be experiencing around high noon and that made me nervous after doing so. I knew hydration was going to be key in this race. Some awesome friends offered to crew and pace me leading up to the race. Emily was flying in from a vacay the same day so she was going to just be there for moral support and Angie took on the challenge of pacing me from the Long Road Aid Station to the finish which was about 11 miles. But I didn’t have a pacer to start the 2nd lap with which I was definitely nervous about. That was until Nimai called me to see if he could get some OSAR gear from Uloha and I was like, “Yeah yeah yeah, whatever you want but heyyyyy…. what are you doing tomorrow?” Lol At that point, I was able to convince him to pace me for the first 17 miles of the 2nd lap so now, I was feeling really good going into race day. The only other thing I was nervous about were the cut off times which I thought were a little rough. The first lap was 7.5 hours and then there were 2 other cut offs along the course after that. My goal for the first lap was to finish as close to 6 hours as possible so that I had time to eat at the half way point. Luckily, I finished the first lap in 6 hours and 14 minutes. But I was hot and tired. So I stayed back for 20-30 minutes to cool off with ice in my shorts and to get food in my belly and I’m glad I did. Starting the 2nd lap with Nimai was a struggle. I kept comparing my pace going up Kealia from the 1st and 2nd lap because they were night and day different. Lol I remember telling Nimai many times that I didn’t think I would be able to make the next cut off time.

About 32 miles in the Peacock 55 Miler Race.

It wasn’t until we arrived at the Satelite Aid Station that I knew I was going to make it. I just didn’t know by how much. Along the way though, I had to roll out knots and cramping in my quads quite a bit. I would spend a few minutes at each aid station taking in as much as I could as my vest was being filled back up with water. We arrived at the 3 Way Aid Station about an hour before the cutoff. That was the first time I KNEW I was going to finish the race. And holy shit, I was stoked. Once we hit the Long Road downhill from Peacock Flats, I was starting to map out my plan when I entered the Aid Station. I was able to get out of that one pretty quickly I think even though some of the HURT Volunteers would probably say different. Lol However, this is where I picked up my new pacer, Angie! After getting about 100ft away from the aid station with Angie, I remembered that I forgot to reapply chafing cream and I didn’t want to do it right there because I didn’t want to get yelled at for stopping again so close by. Lol So we kept going until the Aid Station was out of sight and that’s where the Chafin’ Station was born. And that’s also where I knew that having Angie with me was going to be exactly what I needed. We powered hiked back up to the Flats and I was pretty stoked about our average pace going up. It was definitely not a run but for the mileage in the event and for how I had been feeling for so long, I was happy. We walked many of the downhills on the way to the finish since that last Long Road downhill killed my knees but I knew I was still on pace to finish and that’s all I cared about. Within those 11 miles, Angie kept my spirits high and kept me distracted from how I was feeling 95% of the time. We got to the final Aid Station and I ate a little bit but didn’t take much else with me since we just had two huge downhills left to the finish. Hitting the switchbacks on the Kealia Trail was super uplifting seeing the lights down below where the finish line sat. We took it easy for the most part going down but once we hit the gravel, the final stretch of energy kicked in and my sights were set in. After watching a video that Angie took of me running to the finish later on, I honestly had no idea she was cheering so loud along with everyone else. I was truly zoned out. But so fucking happy. Time: 15:41:17. Distance 57.11 Miles. Elevation Gain: 13,615ft.

My cheerleader for the last 11 miles, Angie.

After I finished, one of the first people to approach me was Freddy. He came up to me and said, “Don’t overtrain but keep training for HURT. Because you’re ready. And you will be getting off that waitlist.”

I definitely didn’t set in right away on how excited I was. But this was my first ever Official Ultra Finish. And I was so proud of myself.

And that very next day, I received my golden ticket to the HURT100 from the waitlist.

Find Did it Hurt? Part II HERE.