Tens again and again

Fish and I did a ten on Friday evening, getting out of the hills as dusk settled in, and then I got up early and did another ten at five in the morning. Reverse trek loops. And this evening, Saturday, we are headed out again for a twenty, a trek loop. Hoping to finish up by about 2:00 am so we can get some sleep. Lots of reasons for this; a major power outage screwed up Fish, and I was supposed to work and then didn't. I would have done a....yeah right...I was glad to get out last night and even more glad to get out this morning.



Rains from a strange easterly have made the rails a mucky mess. Everything is slick, wet, deep in mud, or just puddles. It is cold up there, and we have to keep moving or we chill quickly. I didn't take any Ibu on these two marches and it could be felt. Lots of pains in the legs, and arms. Very instructive. This morning I felt so sore it took me three hours to do what I normally do in two. And I was ranting as I went down the trail, pursued by off trail, or demons of illusion. Bad scene to be out there like that. But I got through the ten on my own, and revisited what a forth lap will feel like. Great place to be, wonder people to meet out there. Came home and had night mares and felt much safer and more at peace with myself than out there on the trails. It was a rough set.


Last night Fish took me on a side trail and we went hunting for a lost bottle. Interesting trail but very slick and slippery. We came down a steep hill and found ourselves looking out over the edge of a seventy foot waterfall. It was dry but the fall was still there. Then we be began a climb up a fifty foot wall of mud. About 30 feet into it I just said 'Enough'. My shoulder is still bothering me, it was raining and threatening much worse, I didn't mind going up but I dreaded coming down. I don't want to hurt my shoulder now with only three weeks till HURT. So we bailed and headed back up and out. Back on the trail we finished up the ten, or perhaps twelve.

l got home and had some sleep on Saturday and was ready to boogy by the evening. We ran into another heavy batch of squalls and it was very wet out there. Slick in places, and shedding layers of mud in others. But we push on and did a 6:29. But it was hard. We walked the entire 20 and I had gut cramps that creeped up on me as we headed out of Paradise. I think its the old goo that has been in the bottles in the car. Shit is literally gut wrenching. We did a 2:20 into Paradise, a 1:55 on the Paradise-Jackass, and a 2:20 or so on the Paradise to Nature Center. We were standing on the grassy knoll with 1:30 to make a 6.5 and just slipped in.

It was wet everywhere. Fish called it Crocodile water up on Pauoa Flats. The hillsides were flushing and everything was under water. Manoa was the same. It was the first time running the HURT loop that my feet got cold from the water. Cold clear water you could almost drink was flowing everywhere. The high ground was windy and chilly. Lower down the flats were muddy and slippery. We just kept pushing . I limited my thoughts to what I could see in the beam of the light. Didn't let myself think about getting in or out of the valleys. Just pushed each step as hard as I could go.

Gut is cramping.....got to run.