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  By late morning this crowd has disappeared and been replaced by tourists who wonder if people on the island speak 'englash' and gigantic tour buses that push down the road like wild bugs, their rear view mirrors hanging to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.



Traffic in the Kaneohe gears up in those hours after dawn and by the time we hit Kam Highway it was heavy, and each intersection a call to awareness as traffic turned left and right across our paths.

We pushed through Kaneohe, out across the bridge that leads across the Mangroves, past Heia, and wound around the bay past Don's to the Hygenic Store.   It was hot and we were feeling the strain of the hike after 4 hours.

Somewhere along this stretch, as traffic thickened, I realized that I did not want to be out on these roads in the dark.  Too many windy curves, narrow sidewalks or verges, and not enough light.  Just beyond the  Waihole Taro Factory I said something to Rex.   If we were going to go to Kualoa we'd be pushing through some hard stuff in the dark. I didn't want to do that.  And I wanted to get home.  We'd agreed on a long training cycle, but it wasn't working out, and things not working out seemed to be a theme in my life at that moment.

I let Rex make the decision, and he threw it back  at me--always the gentleman.  It's his set of artwork, but I just said lets go back.   I turned and started moving hard toward the cars.   I didn't realize how much the traffic and the urge to get home were effecting me because I started to push hard, getting that smooth walkers pace going that can challenge a lot of joggers.   We started eating up distance and pulling back the time.

We made it to Kaneohe, where we got some water, and pushed on at a hard steady pace.   We flew around the corner onto Kaneohe Bay Drive and pushed toward the turn to Aikaki.   When we got to the light, Rex commented that since our pace was a bit demonic we might just as well take the short cut up the hill and under H3.  It was great cardio, and I pushed it at a fast clip.

We pushed down the hill and made it back to the car by 4:45.  Quit amazing considering how long it had taken on the way out.   I'm not sure where my energy came from to push so hard,  I really didn't want to be out there at night.  It was just shaping up to be ugly in the rush hour traffic.



I took some pictures, but I don't know if they really represented much.  Lots of Rex pushing ahead of me, signs warning of pedestrians, warning signs, other warnings,  Should have taken more of the traffic as that is what had me on edge the whole time.  Big buses, wide hang out mirrors, narrow verges,  deep rumbling tire noise.

It added up to about 27 miles.  Seemed longer.  Doing it at just before dawn is much easier, though the body is really strung out after the first 12 hours of walking.

Aloha