In Praise of Youth

Note:  I've been letting this site drag a bit.  I have never been good at journals, though I have been writing.  I'll try and post most of the stuff here, if only so that I can see it all collected in one place.

This is a piece that I did for the weekly HURT training post.

In Praise of Youth

I slogged the western hills this past week-end for the first time in weeks. Injury has had a hold on me, and I have been plagued by aches and pains and was reluctant to go out because there is nowhere on this island where a runner can meet with weakness more directly than on the edgy cliffs and slopes of the northern Waianae range. Unfortunately for us all, Gordon has developed a penchant for the edge, and much of his selected route for the up coming 100K is steeply up, or, for me at least, ever more steeply down.

I found myself running with old friends; Bob McAlester and Rex Vlcek, and it struck me somewhere along the cross-over while pushing to keep up, that I was the newbie. Both Bob and Rex have been around HURT for very long times, and have scores of races and unnumbered volunteer venues to their credit. I've been running with, against, and with the assistance of each of them for as long as I have been on HURT trails.

When running with old buddies it is not uncommon that the chatter will dwell for a time on injuries, healing, rehab, and hopes for the future. We have all been injured, missed months of training, and come back after hard fought mending of our bodies. It's a constant effort. This Ultra stuff is physically demanding and takes a toll on older bodies, but the hard fact is that the mental toughness so necessary for ultra running is not something that is learned well among the younger crowd. Ultra running poses the conundrum of benefiting from age's mental toughness, while punishing age's physical weaknesses; a destructive and somewhat masochistic brew.

Proof of such is easily verified, for if you have been an ultra runner for any length of time you can count at least a few faces that are no longer with you when you hit the trails. And as you get farther along you are bound to miss a few good friends. Of course, some, Rex, Bob, and I among them, have been fortunate to reappear on the trails and push on for a while longer. But there are those who never come back out, or who never seem to make it back onto the trails for any length of time, and who fade from the pantheon of Regulars.

Runners often rue these departures with 'group-hug' levels of sadness, and though individually one may honestly rue the loss of a good running buddy, on the group emotional level the feelings often seem a bit more coarse, and often have a perverse attitudinal inflection that attributes someone's lasting injury to weakness, or worse, failure of will. Perhaps it makes it easier on the tribal mind if fallen breatheren leave us through the subtle accusation of a lack of determination to strive, rather than the more truthful facts of their physical breakdown.

The deception not only allows surviving runners to avoid the truth of injury but also permits survivors to assume the unmerited mantle of toughness, while at the same time humbly laying claim to having more of 'what it takes', all the while avoiding the cruel fact that little more than fortune and blind luck are the primary factors deciding runner's futures. Such myth is a product of the cultural organism and is fabricated to promote its survival as it comes to understand that truth, the antitheses of myth, is no friend of cultural existence. We communally delude ourselves because it is the only way we can continue to rationalize our own self destructiveness.

The weakness that causes us to demonize injury and mythologize simple luck, also runs amok in our attitudes toward aging. The mantra is that we are as perpetually young as we choose to be, that we reach our goals through good training and mental strength, and that given enough training and will power we will continue to be high achievers far out toward the event horizon. Good training is the salve that cures all ills. If one falters, applying more good training will mend the problem.

The fact that we are all navigating sinking ships is rarely honestly addressed. Instead we aggrandize the most foolish or physically adept, or both, and heap praises on those who possesses the most fleeting of qualities; speed. True, on any given day, speed is the easiest identifier of success. But a static measure makes little sense from the point of view of the individual human body since speed is destined to decline quickly over time. None-the-less as a group we are fixated on time, on bettering our own times, and on always using time as the intrinsic marker of success. Unfortunately time has a back side, and all of us are constantly facing that too, as blind to it as we may choose to be. In our unwillingness or inability to face one problem, declining times caused by aging, we create another problem, severe injury caused by the self deluded belief that we are just as fast and capable as we once were. We are not, and failure to realize you are getting older will ultimately ruin your running day.

As you may have guessed by this point, I have little to say in praise of youth. Quite frankly I'm ambivalent with regard to those who may lay claim to experiencing that period in their present lives. I neither praise nor disparage them. But the idea that older men and women can reclaim or hold on to youth is an absurdity that is, in my opinion, very destructive. That it is an entrenched aspect of our running culture makes it even more so.

So the next time you hit a section that you used to romp up or down, take heed. Things have changed since the last time you ventured out and it may pay to listen to your body just a bit more and a little less to the joyful 'I am always young!' voice of your soul. The truth is that your soul is a self deluding butterfly, while your body is fixed in the reality of this world; the very place where the trails run toward the horizon. If you wish that story book run into the sunset then you best listen to what will get you there.

Run Long, Run Hard, but not necessarily fast........ Aloha, Mikem ;)

HURT 2010 Personal Stats

HURT 100

Statistics for Mike M.

...................N-P..P-J...J-N.......Total
Loop 1 2:03 1:38 2:21 6:02
Loop 2 2:39 1:30 2:22 6:31
Loop 3 2:35 1:59 2:23 6:57
Loop 4 3:21 2:05 2:30 7:56
Loop 5 2:47 1:53 2:16 6:56


Averages 2:41 1:49 2:22 6:52 34:22

(The formatting is difficult and I have given up.)

Well there is the raw data. Looking at it I have the following comments. If you keep in mind that the aid station stops are included in the NEXT loop then it obvious that my stops are difficult. Secondly the Nature Center is the worst.

I think what I need is one bag with just the essentials. Electrolytes, Muscle Milk, Lube, Lights. I started getting the staff to do my water, but even that can be a hassle if they don't know what they are doing.

I have to admit that I am often confused when coming in, but unlike a raw stash the aid stations are filled with very well meaning people who won't stop asking you stupid questions. I forgot to lube up at least twice, and that after I was busy trying to answer somebody's questions and forgot my emergency jar I always carry.

I am not complaining. I think the trick is to get the routine down better so I can get in and get out. I could have saved an hour of total race time with easy five minute short cuts in the aid station.

The short comings aside I believe I did much better than I ever expected to do. My new routines such as Muscle Milk on the heights, Blocks, low sugar, ice water, all seemed to aid me in maintaining my mental and physical acuity much longer than I have done in the past. Another factor was the Beano which I took to avoid gastric problems. It worked. I have run too many races with a gut full of gas and pain, or forced off the trail. There is an hour right there.

Of course having been out on those trails for 60 hours in much worse conditions just gives me a much better understanding of the problems I have to deal with while out on the trail.

The training, Many hundreds of miles of long slow jogging and walking, followed by faster 20 mile pacing loops, followed by even faster sectional pacing loops, gave me an understanding of the trail and the tasks I had to accomplish. Going up the first hill was often either a red flag or a caution just because I knew where I had to be at that moment to get where I wanted to go at the required time. If you know the terrain you can push the flats and light slopes and gain time if necessary.

100 mile running is a moving meditation. You need to be aware of every moment. Lose that awareness and you will either slow down, fall, or go too fast and injure yourself. You must always be in the moment. It is as hard as a long vippassana sit. The best thing you can do is put your head down and work on making the next step the best one you have ever taken. Don't look up at the heights, or whine, just head down and take your best step.

As I have said in the previous post, the weather was stunning. Dry, cool, and sunny. There was almost no mud on the trails. A few of the seeps were moist, but everything else was hard ground. I went down a few times, once quite hard, but it was inattention, not a slip.

I ended up with some knee soreness, I won't call it pain. I have blisters on my feet and some raw spots on my ankles from an old pair of socks that seemed to have shrunk a bit. I have some blisters, but nothing I wouldn't expect after the last loop where I ran too fast too far. On the trails I kept it together. I didn't bonk, didn't tighten-up, didn't hallucinate much, kept my electrolytes under control and maintained.

The journey for these races is in the preparation. I will remember this year for all the Runs that Rex, I, and a lot of good friends did over the past months. Getting out into the hills above Honolulu is always a treat, but to be able to visit many wonder places again and again was a wonderful gift from the spirits of the trails.

Like Rex said. It is just a foot race. I agree completely. But I also feel a good deal of satisfaction about the time, and the fact that I kicked some ass on the last loop. No body else over sixty finished the race, though Gary Marr at 58 tore up the course and came in almost an hour in front of me.

The End of HURT Training is on the Horiizon

At the 'Bench' on the Grassy Knoll above Nu'uanu.

I've been training so much I've been too tired to care about posting to a blog that very few people read, even if it is my diary of the trails. As you can see on the running log to the right of the text I have been out on the trails a few times a week for the last few months. After the 60 hour birthday run Rex and I have done a 60 miler, a 12 hours of Hogsback, another 60 miler, and numerous 20 milers for speed, mixed in with some shorter 10 to 15 miles runs for speed and timing. It has been a long hard process. A process that basically comes to an end about a week from now and a few days before the HURT 100.

Rex, Jan, and Ernst on Last 20 of Training Season at Paradise Stash

Today's run was not for speed, we are both kind of beat up and it seemed to make no sense in pushing too hard. But even with our relaxed pace we were putting down times that are very good and well within the realm of the times we want to be clocking during the HURT. We managed to make it to the three-way at Pauoa Flats in under 60, the bench in about 75, and then did an down and out of Nu'uanu in under 90 minutes. Even in its disjointed order the times speak of a 6:30 or so. Its about what we want to be doing, and if we can do it at a hard pace, rather than a run, then we have achieved our goals. (The opportunity to run, or need to, if the case may be, is there but it takes about 40 percent greater effort and produces only minutes of time savings on each section. Yes it adds up, but the toll on the body is just too great. Better to be smart and go slower at a good hard race walk.

People thought I was nuts when I decided to do the 60 hours of HURT for my birthday run, and Don got down right nasty with me when I decided to do another 60 two weeks later. By the time we did the Hogsback 12 hour night run he had quieted down, and after the last sixty he just gave me a pat on the back and told me I was a lot more crazy and capable than he had thought. Of course the proof will be in the 100 miles we run on the 16 and 17 of January.

The trails are in great shape, so I am expecting a hell of a storm in the week before the run. That's OK, I did three nights of rain on the 60 hour run. It was as cold and wet as I have seen up there on the ridges. It didn't stop us then and I don't see it making much of a difference if it does. Times will suffer of course, but that's just the was it is.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year. Get out and run a bit, or at least walk.

The days go bye

Date Description Miles
9/5 Triple Treck (30 Miles) 30
9/6 NIght Run, Manoa/Nature Center Return with Devon (14) 14
9/9 Hard Hot Highway(solo)+ Makapu'u Ups with Don (8+8) 16
9/10 Maunawili with Pete (8)
9/11-9/15 Crash
9/16 Hard Hot Highway (solo)+Makapu'u Repeats with Don (10+10) 20
9/18 Maunawili with Pete (10) 10
9/19 Peacock (12) with gang (hauled 2 gals. water to top.) 12
9/21 Maunawili (12) 12
9/23 Hard Hot Highway (25)(solo)+Maunawili(solo/with Pete)11 36

Just got back from 9/23 which was long, hard, hot, and wearing. Ran roads plus a Makapu'u up to far side of Waimanalo, back to trail head, and then the Waimanalo/Nuuanu up. Met Pete at the Falls trail. By then I was out of water, and tired.

Night Run

Devon called me Sunday morning to ask me about the Triple Trek and tell me he was going to do a night run. We talked about it and decided to try at least a Manoa-Nature Center-return and maybe more depending on how we felt. I have not done much night running, with the exception of those few evening runs that ran late so it seemed a good chance to get back into it. We agreed to meet at Manoa around 8:00pm.

It had rained on and off most of Sunday in the valley so I was expecting some mushy conditions. It was slippery along the Falss trail but the mud level was not bad and we made the falls fairly quickly. My calf was tight and I had told Devon I would be walking most of it. That seemed to agree with him. The Ahuilama up the back of Manoa Valley was its usual succession of mud pits. And after the initial dancing around the least of them we were forced to get good and muddy at that long deep trench in the midst of the bamboo. It began to rain heavy as we made our way up the trail and before we hit the Switchbacks we were soaked.

Ahuilama is not in great shape. It need to be worked on badly, but all in all it was passable and better than I had expected. The trenches are deeper and there seem to be more rocks littering the trail--all evidence of bad water management--but the biggest fallen trees were cut and we made good progress up to the concrete posts and slide. The last set of switchbacks were good, though the area around elbows is pretty steep and needs to be graded again.

The ginger was in full bloom and the night air was filled with the sweet aroma of white and yellow gingers. Some of the last of the night Jasmine was also in bloom and it added to the heavy fragrence of the evening. We made it to the Pie Stand at the top in about 55, and pushed on. Niether of us were up for a full HURT loop when we hit the cut-off for Nu'uanu and we agreed to head toward the Nature Center via Manoa Cliffs. Near the top of the cut-off we ran into another fragrance that just about put us to sleep. The Kahili ginger was in bloom along that little pocket of wetness near the top. I have never been out at night when it as in bloom. Sweeter than Olena. Amazing. Devon and I hovered around the blossoms like bees after honey. ( I was happy to find my nose is coming back a bit. I could not get a full close up sniff of the flower to register much, but the ambient smell a few feet back came to me pretty strong. I guess all the time on the trails is having a positive effect on my nose.)

We briefly hit rain along Manoa Cliffs, and then things calmed down. The moon couldn't break through much but the trail is good and I have done the reverse direction enought times recently that it was not problem. I was a bit surprised by the climb up into the straberry quava though. How easy it is to forget the ups when all you have been doing is the downs. The drop down Moleka, the cross-over and the Center trail all went well. We hit the Nature Center around 2:20.

We turned around and headed out just abut 2:30. Hogsback was a bitch. I was a bit tight from the rest and found the climb hard. But we pushed on and by the time we got up Roots and Rocks I was feeling better. The downlines often worked on the up and we hit the bench at the top in 24 something. No great shakes but a respectible time none the less. The climb up Mangos and Nahuina was hard but good and we hit the road around 1:05. Again, a decent under 7:00 HURT pace. The backside of Kalawahine was filled with ginger and it was intoxicating. We reached the Mapcase in about 1:40 or so. I'm not sure why we slowed. That area coming up the Cliffs trail switchbacks is pretty overgrown, so it was a bit slow going.

Devon wanted to get a picture of the Kahili, so we took a little time going down the cut-off to find a good bloom. Then it was a good push to the flats and toward the Pie Stand. Devnon and I have both been up on top during bad rains storms and we spent some time comparing our 'how much water' stories. The entire Flats can go under water and it doesn't pay to try and get down the trails on anyside if its been raining hard. I've seen the Cliffs trail flooded and running with waterfalls, I was down the Nu'uanu section with Judy last year and it was hair raising at times. Both of us have seen the Ahuilama in full rush. Given a choice we agreed that though the experiences were great they were not something either of us would knowingly repeat.

The going down the back of Manoa was slippery and slow at times. We slowed a bit and didn't get out until the clock had ticked by 3:00 hours I believe. I was a bit disapointed with the time on the return. I usually look at a 2:30 as the goal. A three is more of a 7:00+ pace. But it was slippery in the back of Manoa, and neither of us were up for a fast pace down the falls trails. All in all it was a good night run.

Pushing the Trek Envelope

Its Tuesday before the Saturday of the Trek. Still time to get in some good training. I had a late start but was on the trail by 5:30PM and heading up the Center Trail fast and feeling good. Hit the top of Water Pipes by 4:30, the top of Center by 16:30, and Smokies by 24:30 of so. So it was a fast run down Easies, a push up Ginger Shorts, and back down Twisters. I was feeling good up Stair cases and hit the Bench at 27:50 and managed to push up to the bottom of Moleka by 30:00. Not record setting times but among the best I have done in a long while. I was at the road at the top of Moleka by 40:00, but lost it on the steps toward the top of Manoa Cliffs, Hitting the top just over 45:00. Good pace in the early part of the Cliffs, but once again my mind wandered and I lost concentration, losing a few minutes here and there to other worlds. Made the top at the back of Manoa Cliffs by 1:00 and the Map Case by 1:02. I have done better, but the trails were different. This year seems to be harder just naturally, not just from a fitness standard. I was pushing down the back of Manoa Cliffs and my right calf tightened. I slowed but kept pushing and it seemed to be easing but spasmed again. I slowed knowing it was no good to push it as it would just aggravate the problem. After the turn a the bottom of kalawahine it felt a bit better and I was striding good, and ran into the last of Hash House Harriers heading out toward Tantalus. The guy's name was Warren and he was in his 60's. He had some poles and we talked, and my calf was tight so it didn't matter much about time anymore. Warren told me his tale of a hip replacement, and the fight he has had to come back. He is packing about 30 pounds too much and that may explain his difficulty to some extent. Anyway it was nice talking to Warren, thought the pace was slow.

His friends met him with a beer at the road, and I headed down Nahuina in the dark. I was using my neck light by the mid point after a few close slips and stumbles. It was dark, seemingly darker than a few days ago. I made it to Center, and strode down in the dark, alone and enjoying the quiet and peace of the night.




First turn on Nahuina

I was happy with the good time to the Map Case. No sense in push when you got a problem. Part of staying within one's own realm. The reality is sometimes not what we expect, but it is what limits us. I ran to the limit. Could only have eked a minute or two out of the push. Need to get those minutes from my core. Need to do ab work to find the extra time and the stamina I am going to need in the coming months.



by © aminagawa
The ginger is in bloom all along the Trek. It is wonderful. I wish I could smell it better than I do at the moment, but my sense is returning slowly.

Slowly cranking it up

Last Saturday I ran a complete Maunawili Out and Back. It wasn't fast, perhaps a 5:30 something, but it was the longest run I have managed to do since the Run to the Sun in March. It felt good, but I was surprised by how slow I was in comparison to some of the other runners in my class. Dr. Bill was out in front of me by a few minutes at the turnaround and then widened that lead despite my attempt to run a lot of trip back. I didn't catch him until we were just a mile or so from the turn up the Pali. And then I had to play the hundred questions game in order to slow him down long enough for me to catch my breath. When I ran out of questions I watched him jog off ahead of me. It wasn't until we hit the old Pali Highway road that I could drop into first gear and grind past him.

Today, Wednesday July 15, Don and I met at the Makapu'u Lighthouse parking lot and did four ups and returns. I put on a set of weights for the first two, and then, when I expected to fly up the hill on the third, found I had put some serious work in already and my legs just wouldn't go. I was still fighting a bit to keep up with Don. The Makapu'u light is a good walk/run because for much of it we can walk side-by-side and talk. You get to know what somebody is doing in their life if you walk with them for three hours.

Don was happy about the four loops, and so was I. It felt good to be out on a Wednesday morning once again.

This afternoon Fish and I are supposed to try a Trek Loop.

The Official Ultralist RTS Race Report

The 36.2 mile Run to the Sun began at 4:30 AM this last Saturday, March 14th 2009, at the House of Pancakes sign at Maui Mall in Kahulu’i Maui, Hawaii. Conditions were beautiful and occasionally runners waiting at the start caught a view of the finish line at 10000 feet high atop the distant Haleakela volcano. John Salmonson, the god-father of Hawaii Ultra Running, started the race and soon after racers received a considerable Hawaiian blessing—a heavy downpour of rain and gusting of wind.

In less than an hour the southwestern winds moderated, the skies became scattered clouds and the near full moon cast a silvery glow across the cane fields and lowlands of the Maui saddle. It seemed an enchanting day to be running across the island that many call pair-o-dice. But the spirits of the land seemed unsettled, and even those in the lead could feel the turbulence that hung low in the air to the southwest.

If you have run the RTS before, or visited Maui you may be familiar with how the showers brought in by the northeastern trades sweep along the northeastern slopes of the volcano, finally being held up by a northwestern ridge of cinder cones and high flows. It usually allows runners to skirt the edges of the squalls and seek protection against the less exposed western face of the mountain higher up the slopes. With a reversal of this weather pattern the lower levels were more protected, but the higher one climbed the colder and more exposed to winds runners became. Above the 4000 foot level conditions quickly deteriorated as fogs, mists, and gusts brushed hard across the mountain. The temperature dropped quickly from the seventies, down through the sixties and fifties.

Rains dampened the runners and winds sucked up body heat. The switchbacks through the pasture land from 4500 to 7000 feet, were intermittently reminiscent of those golden moments of past races, but all to often runners were held up on hairpin turns by high gusting winds heavy with sharp biting rains. Those with heavier gear in drop bags at the Park visitor center were smart if they put on all they had brought along, because above 7000 feet the mists grew thick, the winds howled, and rain pelted hard and stinging on exposed skin surfaces. As the lead runners broached 8000 feet the winds gusted near 50, temperatures dropped below 30 and freezing rain iced the roads and coated the landscape.

Discussions between Park Rangers, race coordinators, and emergency personal led to the moving of the finish to a secondary location at 9200 feet and approx 33 miles, which was below the most difficult of conditions. All the emergency alternative preparations began to pay off and though disappointed, cold and near hypothermic runners were sheltered in the back of a truck to warm up before being shuttled to their rides, or back down the mountain. Cold, wet, shivering, and very tired runners were warmed with hot soup, or hot chocolate, layered in blankets, and watched over by cautious and concerned volunteers. What could have been a very difficult situation for all was extremely well handled by a very prepared and dedicated coordination of volunteers, Park staff, and Maui Emergency Personnel.

Most runners felt a certain wistful regret at not having made it to the top this year. But there were very few complaints from those warming up in the trucks and vans; and a trip to the top where the ice hung heavy in storm force winds was enough to cure all but the few who combine ultra-running with abject stupidity, of their irrational desire to continue beyond the official stopping point. As one local runner explained, there are ample methods of killing yourself in the islands. You can always come back tomorrow Brah, freeze your ass off, get lost, and die and there won’t be anybody to stop you. It was a gentle reminder that almost every island in the group has recorded a score or so of runners and hikers who have disregarded local cautions and simple common sense and gone out and become forever lost.

The top finishers are posted below with complete list at
http://hurthawaii.blogs.com/RTS%202009%20Results.pdf

1 Meissner Sean Or 35 M 5:30:47 1
2 Miyachi Fujio Japan 30 M 5:34:02 2
3 Armstrong Jaime CAN 32 M 5:39:02 3
4 Glaus Eric Hi 47 M 6:01:50 1/40
5 Hart Ellen Co 50 F 6:08:50 1
6 Schramm Erica Nv 30 F 6:10:06 2
7 Cutting Shannon Hi 44 F 6:20:31 3
8 Schramm Mike Nv 40 M 6:36:20 2/40
9 Denniss Tom AUS 48 M 6:42:35 3/40
10 Edwards John BC 63 M 6:44:38 1/60
11 Eklof Klas CA 38 M 6:47:49 1/30

Makapu'u!! Home again.

Down below the Makapu'u road, there is a path that leads to th stone formation and the small bay to the right

It was with great satisfaction and relief that I met Don for a few ups at Makapu'u head. The entire process of getting ready, the drive out, and the transition to the eastern end of the island was a great pleasure for me. I got there on time and was surprised to find that Don wasn't there yet. So after sitting around for a bit, I made my way up the road, keeping my eye on the curve in the road at the bottom of the ridge, and looking for Don's car.

It was blowing a bit, threatening to rain, and I found myself kind of hiding in the lee of the Keawe that grows along the road. There is a path that leads out to the small bay and remnants of fishponds that offered some shelter. Finally I spotted Don's car, and waited until it made the turn into the parking area. As it headed down toward the parking I began a 'great striding' down the road and into the parking area. I don't know how much of this act Don caught, it didn't much matter, actually. In the end it appeared that I had just finished an 'up'. It was a long and complicated production for such a small joke. But you never know.

After a good greeting we managed to do a couple of good loops. It was good to get together and to talk. Don about his trip to the northwest and Glacier, and me about the high desert and the Rocky Raccoon.

It was windy and kind of chilly, but it was good to back in Hawaii no matter what the weather!

Recovery

Out on the Kalawahine Trail.

One Definintion of Kalawahine is Cleansing Rain.

Well, the hallucinations have ebbed, and the periods of coma like inactivity have passed. I have managed to scrub the dirt off most of my appendages and the blisters are not as bad as I had feared when they were burning the bottoms of my feet. I still have GI problems, but I always have those, and for some reason nobody is the least bit interested in hearing about them.

I feel relatively good, I have some knee pain I do not like, but I will go easy for a few weeks. I am coming back into the world. The endorphin bath is always quite blissful, even with the tremendous pain and hardship it takes to get there.

loop 1: 5:59:00 Being Really Stupid actually slowed on last section to rest.
loop 2: 7:05:00 Minor Bonk coming into Paradise (chills/sweats, loss of balance)
loop 3: 8:11:00 Major Stop sock change, bonk (20 minutes) Loop run all in the dark
loop 4: 7:34:00 Gut Cramping (15 minutes slowing)
loop 5: 7:01:00 Gut Cramping (30+ minutes-- almost put me out. I just walked through it.)

35:50:00

I'm wondering what I can do next.