Thirty is better than Twenty

I met fish at the Water Tank and we headed up toward the Nature Center around 10:00pm or so with the intention of doing forty miles, or fifty, or sixty---it was that prerun optimism that lets you look out at the trail ahead of you and laugh and be optimistic about the grind that surely awaits. At the nature center we ran into Joel and Steff as they unloaded the car and set up their stash. We talked a bit and then wished them well, knowing we'd seem them on the trails.

I told Fish that I was doing six and a half's. I was specific about it, and had decided that I would not be pushed. Let fish loose and he can do a five or better. I was not going to let myself get into running into the dirt. We moved up Hogsback and it was hard, I was sweating and carrying an extra load with a bottle to stash at the Map Room. That and all the other odds and ends I had on me made the pack heavy, and the climb hard. We hit the top at 2o, which is OK. But my knees felt the extra weight and I had to go slow down the staircases and up twisters. It was slow but steady going. I had decided to do the entire distance at a walk.

The times unfolded about as planned. We were to the top of Tantalus road at 55 and to the three-way at Manoa Cliffs Trail at 1:15, to the Map Room at 1:30, and over to the Pie Stand at 1:4o. We pushed down into Manoa, my knees hurting a bit, and not taking the strain well despite the reduced weight of my pack. The darkness was less a problem than the general nature of the run. I had worked until 8:00, and eaten a meal at Hospice. The Pork Adobo was not going down well.....or perhaps you could say it was going down too well. I made a mental note not to eat Pork Adobo, particularly pureed Pork Adobo before runs. My gut knotted a bit voicing its approval of that decision, but not liking the burden of dealing with the night's mistake.

We made the bottom by 2:25. A bit slow. We did the turn and headed back out from Paradise and up the grind. Manoa Falls trail was coming at me hard. We passed Steff, Bozo, and Joel at about 11:00 minutes in. They were making time on us. I lowered my head and just tried to chug up the trail. I pushed hard up the Ahuilama, taking it as fast on the up as we had on the down, and made the top by around 3:15, better than 50 considering our brief break at the bottom. We were at the bench by 3:28 or so, which was roughly an hour out from the Paradise turnaround.

The trails were in good condition. Some mud, but the rains of the last week had washed the slime away and it was a fairly easy climb, with only the mud holes and the upper flats to offer much mud. We pushed through that stuff accepting the coating on our legs and the dampness on our feet. We were moving at roughly a six and a half our pace, and we had not once broken into a jog. Even Fish remarked that it was extraordinary, considering we were walking. But then there are not many people who could walk that pace. It takes constant concentration, and one has to push at every opportunity. There is no rest, there are no breaks, and the grind is constant. Speed is constant. We make up for a slower pace by just pushing by the rabbits as they munch their bars at the standard break points.

Anyway we moved down into Nu'uanu and my knees were hurting. I mentioned to Fish that I was going to take it easy and not push. Overall it cost us about five minutes and we were down in closer to fifty than forty-five. We were back out in about the same. My gut was not happy with me. I stopped to take an antidiarehials at the bench. But I was not feeling good. We kept pushing. We made the Map Room at 5:15. We pushed down Manoa Cliffs and I could feel myself slowing down. We were at the bench at the top of Hogsback at 5:55 or so, giving us 35 minutes to get down. In daylight and running parts of it this is possible. Walking at night and with a few problems, it is not so possible. It is an issue I needed to face. If one is to do a 6:30 at a walk then my times are a bit off. I need to come up with about 15 minutes from other sections of the trail if I am going to walk the loop in six-thirty. It bears consideration.

I didn't have time for consideration and we pushed down crossover and then down center trial. We arrived at the Nature Center at about 6:35 or so. I had failed my test, but not by much.

We sat there getting ourselves together. rewatering and contemplating the next move. I told Fish I was hurting. I asked him if he was going out if I bailed. He shook his head. He needed the distance, I needed to run in bad shape. I told him I'd do a reverse trek, a 10 miler. That would make thirty. I downed a couple more pills to ward off the impending explosions from my gut. We headed out and the Hogs Back whacked me across the head like it often does at times like this. Slow, but you got to understand what going up that climb is like when you really feel bad. It brings new meaning to the word grind. I sent Fish ahead hoping he could pull me up, but he just left me in the dust. Gone in a flash of light. I trudged on alone. We made it to the top by 25. We pushed on. I kept hoping for a surge in my energy. It didn't come. We made it to the top of Tantalus in just over an hour. Then things began to come right and we pushed into the three-way at 1:18 and hit the top at the map room at 1:30. Once again I had an hour to get down. We pushed. It was getting light, and I don't remember where we could see. It was funny because the quarter moon was shining in the morning sky and it gave the impression of a dawn. We were making time and I began to jog and at some points do a long lopping trail run. At the switches into the strawberry quava at the end of Manoa Cliffs I got a bit of a lead on Fish and tried to ditch him. I pushed on hard and kept leaving him. We ran into a bunch of boy scouts cutting bambo in on Moleka. I just excused my way through hoping Fish would be more polite. I ran hard through the bamboo, around the corner, and to the bottom of the switch back. I was hoping to be to the top by the time he made the bottom. He was coming at me before I was up the first switch, and caught me twenty yards down the top of the trail. we pushed on hard. Dancing the roots of upper Moleka, and then onthe the Makiki Valley trail. Pushing hard and getting down to the Bench at 2:00. Once again I was hit with the problem of making the bottom in thirty from the bench. It can be done, but not when I am doing twenties. I have to have 40 minutes at that point, at least. So I need to go back and figure out where I can get 15 extra minutes. It will be interesting, considering how fast I had been running to catch up on the lost time from the first sections.

Time lost is gone. It is almost impossible to run it down. It can be done. I can do a 50+ on the last section but I can not do it regularly. If I needed to do it to finish the race I think I could, but it would be dangerous. I believe I did a 60 in 2007. Finishing the last loop in about 6:30. I need to budget 1:15 or more from the Maproom, to make it a good 6:30 at a walk.