Running Everyday

I've been out on the trails everyday now for the past two weeks. I'm getting in about 5 to 9 miles per day. Mostly HURT trails, the first section of up Hogsback, Crossover, up Makiki Valley to Nahuina, and then up Concretes. I come back which ever way seems to suit me at the time. That includes a retrace, down the back and east or west along Manoa Cliffs, and up and down the Makai slice of Pu'uohia trail back to the road. Today I went out and did a midday Round Top, cross-over and home. Good Psudo-Peacock training.

I was out of commission for a while, and this daily two hours seems to be helping me get back into it. But I got to admit that it is a slow recovery, and it does not look like I am going to be able to do the '61 days of HURT' for my 61st birthday. I don't know if that will ever be a reality. But in its stead I am working doing a highly scaled back 61st observance. It will be a bit of Whimp I must admit, but it is something. I'm going to do a 100K run each month (61+miles) over the course of the year. This will be a bit more manageable. In conjunction with this I plan to volunteer at the hospice either 6 hours a week or perhaps as much as 61 hours a month. I have to think about the logistics on that one. But I will be volunteering considerably more than I have been over the past years. I'm more effective as a volunteer than a contribution magnet.

Finally I want to get at least one novel completed this year. The first book in my study of the Life and Times of Kaiana Ahu'ula, the so called Hawaiian Benedict Arnold. I like Kaiana, though he was a self serving sob he was a great warrior and a pretty typical man of his times. You would be surprised how they were all SOB's. Hawaiians, English, Americans, Priests, Pastors, Pundits, and Pukes.

But back to the running. It's been hard on my knees lately. I did some floor exercises a few months ago and they involved putting a lot of weight on my knees. (OK for these whimpy little yoga freaks, but you take a six foot 200+ pound body and put weight on the knees and you get instant negative feedback.) So my running has been ragged and a lot of fast walking. But I'm getting up the Hogback in 17, down to the three way at center by 30, and fighting to get to Tantalus Road by 47 or so. That's mostly uphill stuff so it is my forte. I'm gunning for a 45, which I have done during a first loop HURT race. But the adrenoline rush is not as strong when you are out there alone racing the digital clock.

The runs are split light/dark and that has been good as I'm getting back into doing trails at night, which is always a mind game around here as the spirits of the hills like to come out and play after dark.

Closing out the month with a HURT loop with Fishy on Monday. That should be a good test of my training.

So that has been my September. Not what I had hoped, but better than I had feared it might turn out. Aloha!