Almost a Loop

Cheryl, Rex, Judy Carlucci, and I met at Paradise at around 2:15 and headed out for a loop on Wednesday, December 8. I have a great many pictures of the first sections but finally stopped because of the dark. It was a slow and relaxed loop, with a lot of trail chatter and just the kind of thing my knees were looking for. Since we were heading out of Paradise and going to Nu'uanu my timing was a bit off. I just let the clock run and didn't bother to check it much. It was a beautiful day and we were having a good time.

Rex left us at the bench, and Judy and Cheryl soon were off ahead of me as I stopped to take a few pictures. At the bottom Cheryl took the short cut and I doggedly stuck to the hurt loop trail. I was hoping to catch them on the up, but that didn't happen and I fast walked my way to the top and back toward the maproom. It was looking like it might be a decent loop, or at least a sub-seven, and I pushed a bit on the Manoa Cliffs section. By then it was getting dark but the reflected light in the sky kept the trails in dim light. I didn't have to put on my light until somewhere along the cross-over. It was interesting to walk through the darkening forest, the birds were singing in almost every tree it seemed, and then suddenly as I rounded the top at Smokies, it was dead quiet. Then the night noises started. I pushed on trying not to use my light and only turned it on going down washboards and into footprints. I stopped up at the top of center trail and got out my headlamp.

Half way down Center trail I ran into Cheryl and Judy. They had gone down Hogback with the intent of meeting me on Center. Then we turned around and headed toward Mangos. We hadn't gone 100 yards on Nahuina before we met Mariann. We went on toward Kalawahine, along Kalawahine, stayed on it and cut off the switchbacks to the Map room and the Cut-off trail to Pauoa. At the Kalawahine trail head we headed back toward Manoa, and moved down Ahuilama. We finished at about 8:30. Which would make it a sub seven hour pace. That was my goal.

Its hard to put much into these diary like entries. However I do want to record them, as a means of logging the work that I'm doing toward HURT.

Devon has done in his knees. It is a sad thing. He tries too hard. I don't know why people can not listen to their bodies. The idea that you can power through pain is just bull shit. Fast people think this is some kind of wisdom. For the average man it is just great destruction.

Fast people may be physically superior and faster, but they are really quite stupid as a group when it comes to simple common sense. I think they often give bad advise because they are afraid slow people will catch them some day. Which they do, because slower runners last longer on the trails. We all face injury and pain. The critical point is to distinguish the two. Often they are synonymous. I've been running for years and my body continues to adapt to the stresses and strains. It is not an overnight process.