To the End.. almost
I am up at 2:30am. It's that whole jet lag / travel thing in spades. We'd only arrived and gotten to bed 3 1/2 hours beforehhand and that was after 23 hours of travel. But I'm wide awake - moreso after the Kona coffee - and out the door by 3:45.
I head south on the Wailea beachwalk. I never ran much here on previous trips, and now I remember why: it's very curvy and uneven. Kind of like trails as opposed to roads, but without the nice soft surface. But I'm committed, and I take this sidewalk to its end, past the Grand Wailea, the Four Seasons and the Fairmont, all the way to the end of the Wailea resort area.
Now I find that I can continue straight on a coastal road that was new to me. I am still going south, and this road takes me a couple more miles into Makena. I am enjoying the solitude of this quiet area- but of course everything is quiet at 4:30 am.
The road ends onto the main one, if you can call it that. I continue south past the last of the resorts of Makena. The side of the road bike trail is now gone for good and the road itself becomes more and more narrow. And less straight. There are a few beach access areas, and a smattering of homes.
The turnaround is at the end
of the road, just at the entrance to La Perouse Bay Park. My watch tells me that
I've been running for one hour, ten minutes. This route used to be 6 miles. The
earth really is getting smaller! I suppose that my route this day is a bit more
circuitous than usual, so maybe I can call it 7 to this point. As I turn back it
also occurs to me that anyone reaching this point with thoughts of circumnavigating
eastern Maui would, about now, determine what a huge, 30-mile mistake they have
made.
It's still dark as I head
up all the small hills on the way back. It was on one of these where I had my famous
collision with a bicyclist who was screaming down whilst I was running up in the
darkness. That time (about 12 years ago), I wore a reflective vest that was no help
since the biker had no light. This time I have a flashing light attached to the
vest.
Just as I get over those thoughts,
I hear some large animal thrashing about in the woods/scrub nearby. Kind’ve
scary, but it seemed more afraid of me than the other way around. I couldn't figure
out what in the world it could be... until the next day when Debbie and I saw some
wild goats during our hike in the area. Who knew?
I make it back in 63 minutes;
a bit better, but only a bit.
To the End, Really
This time I didn't turn around
at the usual 6-mile point, but kept heading south on the road leading through the
lava flow. I had done the usual 12 a couple times now, but this time it would
be the whole enchilada. Picture that black asphalt road surrounded by desolate black
lava almost as far as you can see - which isn't too far - in the early two morning
pitch darkness. That road continues on another two miles before it really and truly
ends at a trailhead parking lot. Debbie and I have hiked here, most recently a couple
days ago.
If I was to go straight back,
I'd only have 16, whereas my goal was 20 today. So I did some extra dipsy-doodle
type loops in Makena on the way back. By the time I pulled up into the Marriott,
I was moving pretty slow. But I got my 20.
Still More Meanderings
I finally saw the Southern
Cross – at least I think so. Partially obscured by clouds, it was as low as you
can go on the southern horizon. I still don't know why it's important for me to
spot it, but it's somehow a good omen.
As I was watching the
stars during those early morning runs, I also spotted six meteors one day, and
three the next.
As it turned out, I ran every
day on Maui, and the miles piled up. In those 14 days, I logged 164 very slow
miles.
