Fish Pushes Me Through a Tuff Night Loop

....I've tried to present only finished pieces on this blog and I find it is not working. From now on its just the rough cut.

Wednesday, November 26th.

We met at 5:45 and were on the trail by 6:10 or so, heading out of the nature center just as the last of the day hikers stumbled toward the trail head. It was a slow go at first as my body was tight and sore from a day's yard work. But after we hit the top of Hogsback, I felt better and pushed harder making it a goal to hit Tantalus road by 60 minutes. It was dark by then and we were using our lights, but the trails were in good shape; soft and muddy in places but few slick points and very little standing water. I just pushed into the mud and fast walked the cross-over and then up Mango's. Nahuina was good with only the Banana patch really having any muddy and slippery sections. We made the 800 foot climb quickly and were at the road in under an hour. We pushed down Kalawhine in the dark, taking much of the trail from memory as the overgrowth blocked the path. We made the bottom of the Manoa Cliffs trail in about 1:15 and pushed up the switchbacks through the muddy ginger groves. At times The lights of the harbor cast an Orange light in the sky and reflected of the heavy growth, then the trail would wind around the back of Pu'u Ohia and the sky would darken. All the while two planets stood out one above the other in the southwestern sky. On this moonless night they were the brightest objects in the sky, and remarkably beautiful. We hit the Map room at the Threeway at about 1:30, and dropped down the cut-off heading for Paoa flats. The trail was a bit slippery, but the fast-walk pace I was maintaining allowed us to move quickly through these points.

My goal was to drop into Manoa and hit Paradise by 2:30, which was a 6.50 hour pace. The night was beautiful, and there was little dew. The rocks and treacherous passages of the Ahuilama were easy to move through. We hit the bottom section and pushed hard, making the falls trail somewhere before 2:00. The falls trail was slick, and the big drops of the man made steps took a heavy toll on my knees, slowing us down a bit. We hit the gates and jogged toward Paradise, making the turn at 2:15.

I was worried that I had drained myself pushing so hard after a slow start. Rightly so and I bonked a bit as we headed back up the trail. I sucked gel, and ate two bars, dropped an electrolyte and sucked a lot of water. It slowed me down, sapped my energy momentarily, but I needed the fuel. The Manoa falls trail was hard. At the turn onto Ahuilama I felt the energy surge and we pushed hard making the top by 3:00, I was setting the pace, as Fish could leave me anytime. I drew a bit of courage every time I broke away from him, but it was a sham. We had played the game dozens of times, and I knew he'd be at my heels just as soon as I flagged a bit. We ran into 'The Joker' and 'Robin' near the top of the Ahuilama. They were finishing a loop and were going to head out for at least another ten. I knew by then that 20 was my goal and any hope of a thirty was out of the question.

We made the grassy knoll by 3:15 or so and took the down fast for a night run, making the turn around the bamboo at 4:00 or so. We checked our water and figured we had enough to make it back to the Nature Center. I figured the 40 oz I had could be babied. We pushed back up, the trail seeming a bit slippery in places and I had to adjust my stride to hit more flat footed to compensate for the many slides. At the Judd trail as stopped and Fish headed up. I chased him pushing to catch his light, but it was gone from site by the time we hit the break-out on the ridge that divides the upper and lower sections.

The trial was less friendly on my own. Maybe its Fish's bell that chases the darker spirits away, or just the solitude of moving through the dark forest. But it is always tougher to do these sections on your own in the night. I pushed hard but my energy was flagging. I hit five minute hill and despite my attempt to push did not hit the top well into six minutes. Fish's silhouette was a welcome site as I came up onto the grassy knoll. Time showed 4:40. I was satisfied. A few gear adjustments and we headed out. The major climbs were over. Now it was just to the top of Manoa Cliffs and the charge back to the Nature Center.

As we made the turn at Pauoa Flats we ran into the guys, who were heading into Nu'uanu on a final 10 mile repeat. We pushed on making the Map room by 5:00 or a bit after. It was all downhill. The cliffs was in good shape and we did some very fast paced walking and were up and out through the strawberry guava and heading down to the road. I looked at my watch and realized we would need to do a fast day pace to get down before 6:00. It was out of the question. But my hope was to get in before 6:15. I pushed at every piece of ground I could find. But six hours was creeping up on the clock and my body and I began to slip and trip at regular intervals. My water was holding out, but my feet were loosing their daring. I had to slow a bit to avoid a fall. We came out of trail head at at about 6:12. I was satisfied with that for a night loop. I may have done better, but I don't remember it. I only have a few sub-sixes to my credit. and my first loop two years ago was a 6:15.

To give you an idea of the difference, and patience of Fish, his comment was that he "always liked to walk at least one night loop before the race to get an idea of the pace." There is no doubt that we did a fast walk loop. For me it was about as fast as I could negotiate; for fish is was a good workout but nothing he couldn't walk 30 minutes or more faster.