Neither Speed nor Distance are Always Reliable Measures

Ultra-runners are an anal retentive lot, caught up in times, distances, and the perfection of the repetitive known and boring.  I often get involved in it  as timed routes can be a nice challenge.

However, speed can substitute for most everything else in Ultra running, and people forget that there are many ways to the finish line. It is unfortunate that a lot of people sacrifice themselves at speeds altar, forgetting why they are out there, and becoming invalid at very early ages. I often watch runners whip by me and think that I'll be seeing them again at a farther distance, or in some cases, understand that they are torches and will be burned out and gone from the sport in a race or two.  Speed is a form of arrogance very few are capable of handling.

The obsession with speed, and the arrogance of those who can not handle it seems to be getting worse as the sport is infiltrated by the younger set of tri-athletes- an even more boring and anal group than the old style ultra runner, an they manage to exacerbate their abrasiveness with high cost, often ridiculous fetishes, creating  duck-like walkers tied to ponderously expensive equipment.  I generally find them lacking imaginations, possessing little humor, and with a complete lack of an ability to understand the abnormal or quixotic view; the perfect modern day fascist athlete; and the new brown shirt the silly body stocking with the padded ass-codspiece inserts and with corporate logos splashed across the torso as if they were a soda can. Not to mention that most triers are small bodied, annoying kinds of people with scratchy voices uttering a plethora of irritating opinions, gigantic inferiority complexes, and an insatiable appetite for brand names, fashion, numbers, rules and regulations. Lacking a willingness to alter perception, as they move off the roads they generally opt for speed as a substitute for understanding and finesse on the trails.

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Haleiwa East, and West

This weeks direves were from Haleiwa to Kahuku return (28 miles),  on Friday March 15, and then, on Saturday march 16, we intended to go out toward the end of Farrington highway near Kaena point, (22 miles).

Friday was an incredibly beautiful morning and the run along the beaches of the North shore was stunningly nice. Both Rex and I kept telling each other how nice the day was.  The traffic was pretty heavy at times but not as bad as the Kaneohe run.  Nothing like a big truck  or a tourist bus a small road to keep you awake.

Pictures of the Friday direve

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All the signs were warnings or were all the warnings signs?

Rex and I scheduled the Kailua to Kualoa section of the Island as our weekly derive.  On the times I have run this before it has been early morning and the traffic has been fast but not heavy.   Morning rush hour kind of fliers, people who are intent on getting to work, which means they are also used to driving the road and keyed on avoiding problems.  By late morning this crowd has disappeared and been replaced by tourists who wonder if people on the island speak 'englash' and gigantic tour buses that push down the road like wild bugs, their rear view mirrors hanging to the sides like errant feelers.

The sound of the tires quickly becomes over powering and penetrates the body down to the core.   Even earplugs have their limitations.

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