Down the gullet of Ku; But He Demands More Suffering.

Triptic-- Four times onto the Ewa Plains, Once down the Gullet of Ku and on to the dark plains of Milu where I wandered for a year obsessing over whether I still had it in me. And three 'escapes' as Ku himself gagged and spat me up, demanding I continue with the long suffering task and goaded me on, his breath reeking around me every step I took. Endless dark miles of the Oahu Solos almost every spring for four years now. This time 4/18-4/20 in 50 hours. I don’t know if it makes me stronger, but it certainly makes me more reflective.

I don’t know if it gets easier either. I've gotten slower each time. Some of the pictures of me don’t seem to capture a fellow particularly enjoying himself; and this time I had a distinctive forward lean, kind of a stoop that lasts for seventy miles or more. My back had been acting up for a few weeks, and I guess it decided to present itself a bit. But generally I had a heavy pack on my back, and had been pushing down some ungodly stretch of road before the picture was taken. Anyway when I’m in pain my smiles look like terrible groans of a man in deep despair, which aptly describes some of the moments I endured. We had a section in there where we moved down the railroad tracks and it beat up my feet pretty well. My old shoes were good for the roads but could not protect me from the coarse gravel and uneven railroad ties. My feet suddenly hurt like hell after about 115 miles.

How the hell do you think I'm doing?

This was Rex’s run, I was along for the ride, or the walk in this case. We had practiced together, we knew each other’s ups and downs, we knew how to incite each other into further action. We are a good team. He rallied the HURT team, as I have overdrawn my support quota a bit. It was a well supported race, largely because Rex made the commitmant to it,  and we did much of it with just bottle packs between frequent aid stops. It made a great difference.
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The Gardens; A last few go rounds

It was back to the gardens this Saturday morning.  Rex and I doing a well paced 20 miles our last long outing before next
friday's 'Round the Island start.
It was a strong two loops up to Pali and back.  Enough cardio on the last Old Pali Road section to get me gasping a bit.

I'm ready to get this long one over with.  I dread it, and I'm tired of dreading it.  Its just time to start walking.  Time to see what I have in the tank.

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Record Keeping just to keep track

Hit the inner loop again today.  Did a 15:30 to the top of Hogsback, 22:30 to the top of Smokies, and a 26:00 to the three way.   Pushed up Mangos and saw a couple heading down Nahuina. Made the turn @ 30 and  Chased.  Caught them at the banana patch.  Pushed on and hit the top of Tantalus at 42.  One of my better times.  I think I've gotten in a 38 once.

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Old Routines

The long walking with Rex has been helping me quite a bit and I'm finding that I can get back out on the trails and do a little pacing along the old mauka trails.  I headed out with a bottle pack from the Nature Center and found myself doing an easy pace up the Hogsback hitting the top in just under 17.   Not bad.   I found the down along staircases to be an easy jog, and the ups at twisters and easy's good challenges, though I didn't push hard up easy's.  I turned the corner at Smokey's in under 24 and was to the three way before 30.  I could have done better but backed off on the pace.  I pulled a few of the last remaining ribbons from the race along the way.

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Ho'omaluhia Gardens: An Old but Not Always Easy Friend

Rex and I chose the gardens for the Friday direeve.  We agreed to meet Don, Cheryl, Heather, and Vernon at about 12 noon, so we headed out at 6:00 AM to do a few loops up to the Pali before they arrived.   It is perfect for the round the island as it is largely hard road, with almost no trail, it has a lot of elevation change, and there are not a lot of cars.  The last item being the best part of the deal.  We did the ten mile loops in about three hours each, 1K+ ups and downs for about 4k+ elevation change in 20 miles.  The Garden is a lot of ups and downs along the ridge lines so it is likely we did about 5K in the 25 miles we did all toll.

Direeves are not about taking measurements but when you start out at the  gate and come around the first turn you can look far off into the distance, and there, high up on the cliff side is your goal.  Its like getting slapped in the face, and the sting just never quite goes away.  Getting up and back just feels good when you look back and can say, 'Yeah, I did that pretty well."

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Just pushing easy through the evening

Sometimes there is that day that comes about, for no apparent reason, when everything falls into place, when the sun is just right in the sky, and the clouds sit light against the Ko'olau, the trails are covered in that early spring layer of leafy debris, and the air smells alternatively of night jasmine and wild garlic.   Every creature seems to sense it, the Sharma sit ever so alert on their perches beside the trail wait to greet you, answering you tweets, with bursts of splendid song, and wishing you on your way.  Even the mongoose move languidly across the trails, stopping to glance at the lone runner/walker.  Everyone you pass is lost in a private state of bliss.  

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When Down Was a Circle of Hell More Feared than Up.

I got up late on Saturday and had little time to prepare for the Peacock loop.  My back has been bothering me, I was busy dropping off and picking up Yumiko.  I was not particularly together when I walked out the door after 5:00 AM for a 6:00 at Dillingham.

I got there and was in slow motion as I finished getting ready, and when Rex came back from doing a drop at the bottom of Long Road I was still trying to get ready.   Sarah was there, Rosie, a couple of guys whose names I should know.  They headed out and I was behind from the start. I stopped to take a leak and I was behind farther.   My back was bothering me, I couldn't chase, I was grumpy, I was stiff... so go screw yourself.

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