Makapu'u Repeats Redux Again

The last few times I've hit the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail I've driven out there and just run the hill.

It beats six hours of road work on the out and back.   It would be better to be running the road as it would toughen me up, but to be honest I just don't find it particularly fun at the moment.  The roadway is doable, but you are running over on the left where the bikers are in the picture above.  It is cantered and often littered with trash. Got to keep your eyes on the drivers as some are never where their car is.  Not much time to enjoy the hills.

Even the last section gets to me.  For all the beauty it is a pain in the ass moving along the narrow verge, or 18 inches of highway allotted to runners and bikers.   At least along the section above, second Waimanalo town or Waimanalo Beaches, there is a side wall over on the left.  It is a relief to do this section and into the main part of town.

And its a pain in the ass particularly when I got to dodge the ghost of Magnum as he flies out of his old haunt in that red Fararri   Above is an interesting view of what was once known as Pu'u Pueo,  now it is the Oceanic Institute.  Robbins Nest, below is in Kala Pueo. The verge is narrow and the traffic is fast. It doesn't help that there are a couple of roadside memorials along this section. But it keeps you on yer toes.

Anyway,  its just nicer to go up and down the Trail starting from the parking lot.

Parking lot and first section.  I generally allow for about five minutes to the top of this first section.

The First up looking back down toward the parking lot.

 Second section looking back toward Koko Crater.  Make this section and it is another five from the above picture to about were the picture below was taken.

Below: After the first Whale watch look-out and looking back down.  This is the best part of the upward push and can try your lungs if you have given the first half a decent effort.

 From the section above the road winds up along the steep cliff out toward the point and the lighthouse

View from the top. People leave locks on the fence.  I think it is come kind of cerimony that bespeaks of a desire to return. You come back and unlock the lock.   The DLNR just cuts them off every year or so.

 Get to the top lookout, touch the fence and head back down.  When you make the turn at the top you have a great view of the upper half of the run.  The first Whale watching lookout sits at the edge of the mauka notch of the small hill. The road cuts inside and the twists back to the cliffs and you are looking at Koko Crater again.

So I managed to stay out  doing repeats for three hours and did five of them.  2:55 or something like that.  It was about all my knees could take,   It is like running the ups in 17 or 18 and doing the downs in just a bit better than that.  I probably had a 15 up in the mix, and a 16 down. But all were a minute of two under the 20 minutes limit I set for myself.   Good training. My tendons feel it.

Before leaving the lot I spent 30 minutes picking up trash in the parking lot. A lot of people act like morons when you pass them on the trail, and some of them manage to verify it by leaving all kinds of crap behind.  It's pathetic, particularly when you look at how beautiful this trail is.  A complete lack of respect for and awareness of the world we live in means the world will slip on you sometime and screw you before you even know you're the pooch, and generally you will deserve it.  Unfortunately many thinking people will be carried along in the Tsunami of ignorant repercussions.

This week is full moon week and I'll be out there again.  Nothing like doing the Mak at night!

Aloha!