Maunawili Duck and Run

I was up early, and got to the parking loo late, as usual. The crowd, perhaps 15 people were milling around as I sorted stuff from my camel trying to lighten the load for the trip. Then Don yells "Lets get goin guys." and I stumbled off in pursuit of the crowd. I'm always last nowadays. Nobody takes as much time as I do to warm up. I don't like feeling my tendons swear and curse like an seventy year old man gettin up on an icy morning so a appease them with the wind and ran of the Pali look-out. Hanging onto my hat I watched everybody disappear in front of me, and by the time I made the first turn on the old Pali road I was alone.



I tried to jog, but it was stupid, and my body let me know how so in a matter of seconds, so I just kept the fast pace down the hill as I swore back at my muscles and tendons, gut and whatever else I could think of. Bastids always play me for a fool in the early stages of any race. "Other guys got early speed, you lazy set of components!" I screamed into the wind. I was forced to fart, and belch, and suddenly had an urgent need to piss. I passed water, and then found I'd knotted the draw string......I belched again, and I swear I heard laughter far down in my gut. Like I said I don't always get along with myself in the first miles of early morning runs.

I just wanted to say 'fuck this' and turn around and go home. But my body was playing me for a dunce and I was determined to make it pay. "You think you feel bad now? Well wait for a ten miles and the turn around," I said planning my revenge.



So that's the way it started. Everyone way ahead of me as I hit the bottom of the Pali trail at just about 20. I started pacing, coming to a bit of a stand-off with my reluctant body, and moved ahead at what I felt was a reasonable pace. A few turns and ridges and I could hear people up ahead of me. It was like an elixir, a shot of booze, a....well you get the picture. So that was how I found myself jogging.



I jogged for about 10 minutes and the voices got closer. Always just around the turn, or on the next ridge. Finally I saw a flash of color and moved just a bit faster. It was a group of two guys and girls. Johnny and some friends who were pretty much trail newbies. On a less wet and muddy day they would have left me far behind, but today I was catching them.



It was raining hard, had been from the top of the Pali, and the wind was blowing, and the mud was muddy, and the rocks were slippery. The vegetation was hanging down on the trails heavy with water, soaking me even more than the constant dripping in the trees or the waves of rain on the exposed ridges. I had on a set of safety glasses to protect my eyes but they were fogging up and covered in water.



After passing Johnny and his friends I ran alone for a while, pushing myself on the flats and trying to keep myself upright on the sloppy ground and over the flushes at the backs of the valleys and ravines. I was starting to feel OK, my body seemed to be joining in with the run and in many places I actually felt like I was doing good.



Voices, I heard them up ahead and pushed to catch them. The same game repeated but at a faster pace. Finally I saw a flash of white and came up on Earnest, Don, and Cheryl. I talked with them briefly, but was not in the mood for chatter as my body had joined in the run and I didn't want to pass up the chance to do something out on Maunawili. I took off again, leaving them behind.



I'd make a turn and hear foot falls behind me. I couldn't tell if it was real or my imagination. Then Earnest was up with me. We ran together for some time. A bit of chatter, some talk about his healing from Western States, but mostly running. Same tempo. Faster on the flats, and down, quick striding on the ups. Always thinking about coming back, so as not to get to drained.

We ran on until we hear voices again. Same routine. Push hard after the elusive echos, and then a flash of color, and then the chase to catch the quarry. This time it was Kat, Fish, and some one else. It could have been Brian. Anyway we joined in the back and followed Kat down the trails for a mile or two. Finally Kat seemed to tire of having four panting guys behind her and she pulled off to the side and I blew by with Fish and Earnest right behind.



We pushed on, perhaps an hour in, at the up near the Trop Ag no trespassing sign. Now it was running and pushing. It was raining and the water was collecting on the trail, the fern was soaking and dripping and hanging low. I needed to .....you know I forget what I needed to.

It was one of three long training runs over the Maunawili out and back. I logged a 5:45, a 5:12, and a 5:20. Each one just as hard as the other. I can not tell you anything more than each one was a lot of muddy trail, a lot of rain, heat, overgrown fern smacking me in the face and the constant knowledge that I had to push if I was going to get anywhere close to five hours.

My five-twelve was strong, but I lost the guys up ahead of me on the way back. Voices fading into nothing at the turn of trail along a ridge--never to pick back up again as I made the same ridge. A constant menagerie of sounds--some I thought were human chasing me along the trail. And always the constant heat, the wet, and the voice in the back of my mind telling me I needed to jog every foot of trail that looked runnable. There was enough bad trail to allow some walking-albeit hard, slippery and upward, or over bad rocks and ravines.

I love this trail. In better times, both for myself and the trail, I have done a 4:28. It sits out there like a beacon. I can not even comprehend how I did it. But the trails are meaner now, and I am twenty pounds heavier. It is a battle of life. You get out there and it just you and the trail and it doesn't matter how much it hurts, time is ticking by.

Slowly cranking it up

Last Saturday I ran a complete Maunawili Out and Back. It wasn't fast, perhaps a 5:30 something, but it was the longest run I have managed to do since the Run to the Sun in March. It felt good, but I was surprised by how slow I was in comparison to some of the other runners in my class. Dr. Bill was out in front of me by a few minutes at the turnaround and then widened that lead despite my attempt to run a lot of trip back. I didn't catch him until we were just a mile or so from the turn up the Pali. And then I had to play the hundred questions game in order to slow him down long enough for me to catch my breath. When I ran out of questions I watched him jog off ahead of me. It wasn't until we hit the old Pali Highway road that I could drop into first gear and grind past him.

Today, Wednesday July 15, Don and I met at the Makapu'u Lighthouse parking lot and did four ups and returns. I put on a set of weights for the first two, and then, when I expected to fly up the hill on the third, found I had put some serious work in already and my legs just wouldn't go. I was still fighting a bit to keep up with Don. The Makapu'u light is a good walk/run because for much of it we can walk side-by-side and talk. You get to know what somebody is doing in their life if you walk with them for three hours.

Don was happy about the four loops, and so was I. It felt good to be out on a Wednesday morning once again.

This afternoon Fish and I are supposed to try a Trek Loop.

New Shoes: First Look Adidas J S5 M

I received a few pairs of shoes in today. Running season is about to kick off and there is nothing like running an old pair of trail shoes to ruin the feet and legs. I've still got a few miles in my present Adidas Supernova Trails, and I have an Asics pair that I use for hard or dry conditions right now, but I got a bit yancy and went looking for bargains on the web.

I found a pair of Adidas J S5 M trail shoes. This appears to be one of their models that they sell primarily outside the US. Its not listed on the US site. Much like the pair of Hellbenders I purchased a year ago. I got a good deal on a pair of 14s and decided to go for it. I'm having a problem springing for the new Riot, the Supernova Trail replacement, which is in the 80-90 dollar range on web discount sites.

Adidas J S5 M

The J S5 M's are an Orange shoe, or Pumpkin, or some kind of Safety Color. For a multi-view look try http://www.tajakoo.com/adidas/adidas78607.htm (Officially Gold, Dark Gray and Slate) They look neat, but how well they will do on the trails is another question. The toe box is fairly roomy for an Adidas shoe. However the shoe pocket is raised to the main body of the shoe with space underneath the pocket to provide cushioning. There is a pretty heavy plastic outer wrap to keep the foot firm inside the pocket, and Adidas is fairly good at engineering a stable foot.

The toe is the same type as the Response Trail and some of the old Supernova Trails. A small tongue comes off the soul and there is a thin layer of outer soft plastic around the toes. I will shoe goo to whole front end before I wear them. This will provide the impact resistance I need on Hawaii trails. I do this regularly with Adidas, and have saved a number of toes and toe nails. It doesn't look particularly elegant but when you are doing a Ultra elegant is something that keeps you going. One of these days Adidas will listen to the real runners and offer toe protection on par with the Solomon or Montrail.

I'm a bit concerned with the channels along the sole of the shoe. these pass through from side to side, so water and runny mud shouldn't be a problem, but constant exposure to wet terrain or small gravel may lead to debris getting lodged under the toe box.

Finally the heel of the shoe is harder than the Supernova. But there is some good traction on the bottom sole so time will tell.

To the Bench in sub-30

I ran into Gordon on the way to the Nature Center. We had different work-outs planned but we started the run together spending some time talking a bit. It's like oil and water really. Gordon has a seemingly slow, never wavering gait that is a match for all but the best runners in the ultra distance. I can move up a hill pretty well, but lose it on the flats, and am useless on the downs.

I hit my stop watch at the bridge and we walked the first few hundred yards, over the two bridges, and up toward where the green curtain used to hang. We hit the real trail and started to move a bit. At the top of water pipes I looked at my watch and was surprised to see it saying 7 something. I dropped into gear and started to attack the hill. My goal was to go to the top of Manoa Cliffs, but I could feel the late meal churning in my gut, so I just decided to go-for-it until I lost energy. I had Gordon pushing to keep up a bit, but I knew it was an illusion.

We hit the big bend at about 17 something, and I felt we had made up some time for the walking, but I could hear Gordon moving along behind me just fine, so I kept pushing up foot prints, the washboard and toward rooty-run. At the top at Smokies my watch said something in the low twenties. We moved fast down Easies, and made the turn up shorts. Twisters was dark and muddy, the roots and rocks glistening in the reflected light of late afternoon. I attacked the staircases and pushed up them hitting most of the plastic risers. We came up to the bench at about 28:50. A good run.

I was not in good shape; bent over wheezing and gagging. Gordon was fine. "I'm just going to do my pace." he said as kind of an apology for leaving me there, and off he went toward Moleka. I pushed to keep up with him but he was gone before I could figure out what had happened. I'd done what I came out to do, perhaps not getting as high up as I'd liked but it was OK. I'd pushed my heart-rate to the max, and had cleared out my lungs a bit. It was a good effort.

Jogging after Gordon for a while, my heart finally went out of the run. I had an appointment at 6:30, so I headed back down. I spent some time on Hogback trying to find a better downward line. Not a bad day.

Triple Trek Training goes Live

I've been out on the Triple Trek loop the last couple of weeks getting a handle on the challenge. It has been difficult getting back on the trails, and getting my body back to a point where I can actually train. Yesterday I went out and did a 'weight' run, with about five pounds on each ankle, and today I decided to do my first time trial. The early going was good with a 16 to the Big Bend at the top of Center trail, and a 31 to the bench at the top of Hogsback. I slowed a bit and my concentration faded a couple of times coming up Moleka, and I hit the top at about 48. It was hard going along the upper part of Manoa Cliffs, and I was breathing hard and losing my center, and I hit the Map Case at 71--ten minutes behind pace. Flew down the switch backs of Manoa Cliffs trail to Kalawahine, and was on pace until near the end, where I again began to lag. Hit Tantalus road at 1:23, dropped down Nahuina, to Mangos, and back to Center. Was at the top of Hogsback by 1:49. Hogsback is always slow going, even on the drop, and I hit the bridge at 2:14.

I was disappointed in my inability to maintain pace, but expectations are sometimes higher than ability. A 2:14 on the first timed run of the year is OK by me. Now to figure out where to cut 20 minutes of that pace.

Last year I did the triple trek in 5:58, and the year before in 5:55. I'm still hoping to break 6:00.

More Shorts

The last few weeks have seen an assortment of short runs and walks. I'm trying to build up some stamina and get my tendons back into shape.

I've done the Maunawili Trail with Pete Martinez a half dozen times. We usually walk out for a while together, and then I run ahead or back. I did about five miles of running on one of them. Some pretty hard pacing considering where I am. It felt good.

Today, July6th, I went out and did a Trek Loop, but went up Hogsback and down Center trail, cutting out crossover, so doing only eight miles perhaps. I put on some ankle weights and just trudged along. Again, it is an attempt to get my tendons back and reacting.

Maunawili out and back is three weeks away. Got to get in shape to run that one!