The run start in Kona is truly evil. You waddle out of the tent, grab a few glasses of water and then stagger down a ramp onto the road. On the road you have about 50 meters of flat running before you turn up a hill and start climbing. There were a few people walking the hill but my personal promise meant that I jogged the hill, slow and steady. At the top of the hill, you turn right and head away from town into the Pit. The Pit was kind and a light breeze was even blowing. I was taking it easy and was happy that my feet and legs were relaxing.

I was going slowly and was very happy to notice that I hit the first mile in eight minutes. There was a lot of downhill on that one and the second mile took me nine minutes. Still this was a big boost from IMC where my first two miles were around the 10 minute mark. I headed back along Alii Drive and saw Ian and Dad just before the road descends to the shore. I was feeling good and enjoyed seeing them.

The scene was typical race running with some people streaking away at fantastic paces and others dying. I knew that I was in good shape with my legs and heart responding well. The run leg along Alii Drive is great, there are plenty of people on the streets and lots of visual stimulation. I was feeling strong and slowly putting little bits of time into the bank. Once I realised that I was able to hold eight minute miles, I set myself a marathon goal of 3:40 with a back of the mind goal of 3:30 (for a sub-10:45). However, I wasn't able to run this fast in Canada so I had serious doubts that I would swing it in the heat of Hawaii.

Tech Zone: My running AT is around 170 bpm. I was holding eight-minute miles at a HR of 140 bpm. I started feeling fantastic and clicked out two 7.5 minute miles but my HR was running in the high 140s so I decided to ease off. My first 10K was 47.5 minutes.

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