Sunday, December 21, 2008

Kauai running

I have been looking forward all year to visiting Kauai, "The Garden Isle". I love Maui (I've been there 5 times in the past 6 years) but decided to visit Kauai. There are 18 of us staying in a large (it's big!) villa right on the ocean on the West shore (check out Villa I on http://alohakauaivillas.com).

We landed pretty late on Friday (Dec 19) and were tired by the time we slept around midnight. My PST biological clock woke me up at 5:30 a.m. and pretty soon all of us were eating  hearty breakfast while sitting on the lanai.

The day was spent lazing. It was 3:30 p.m. when 5 of us headed off in the direction of the Pacific Missile facility. The others turned back 1.5 miles into the run while I decided to go up Kokee road (this road leads to Waimea Canyon and beyond to Kokee). What a beautiful run it turned out to be! The road gradually started climbing and I was soon negotiating a steady 4-5% grade. 

Birds chirping of to my left accompanied by the sound of water rushing down the hill in the form of a stream. Water headed back to the ocean to evaporate and begin its run down the stream again days from now!

No mile posts went by to inform me about my progress. After having run up the road for about 33 minutes, I decided I would turn back as soon as the first car passed me. I had to run another 3 minutes to start to point my shoes down the hill.

The run down finally showed by how steep the run up was. I felt good going up and even better coming down the long way to the left turn back to the villas.

I'm excited about tackling that climb again this week. I will carry water and something to eat that day.

It's 6:45 a.m. and I want to eat breakfast while watching the sunrise from the lanai. :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

End of The Year Blog Tag

I was tagged by Alan Geraldi with the questions below.

1. What was your 2008 running highlight and running low?
I would have to say that the Rio Del Lago 100M was my highlight for the year. The heat was intense and runners were dropping like flies. I played it safe during the hot hours of the day (12 noon to 4 p.m.). That strategy paid off handsomely and I managed to finish with less than 5 minutes to spare.

I don't know if I had a low of any note. The closest would be the DNF, at 67 miles, in the Tahoe Rim Trail 100M.

2. What race are you secretly planning on doing (or contemplating) for 2009 but haven't made it known to the public....until now.
A few people know that I want to do the inaugural 260-mile Thames Ring (June) in the UK. It sounds intriguing to say the least. Now I guess a lot more will know.

3. Where would you like create and direct an ultra that (to your knowledge) none exists?
I would like to create a 100M run in the South Bay. This would be in the corridor between San Mateo and San Jose.

4. What is your "primary" race for 2009?
My primary race will be the 260-mile Thames Ring. If that race does not happen for some reason, I will focus once again on the Lean Horse 100M and try to go under 24 hours.

5. What is the most exciting thing about your upcoming race schedule?
A few old races, a few new ones ... Keeps me on my toes.

6. List your planned races for 2009:
100M self-supported run at the end of Jan along Hwy 1 from Pacifica to Monterey
Adam Blum's Fatass 26-mile run in Feb
Coyote Two Moon 100M in March
AR50 in April
100M self-supported run the weekend after Ruth Anderson
Quicksilver 50M in May
Ohlone 50K in May
Thames Ring 260-mile ultra in June
Tahoe Rim Trail in July (?)
Lean Horse in August
Rio Del Lago in September
Dick Collins 50M in October

Tagging Anil Rao, Rajeev Char, Mark Tanaka, Jean Pommier, Brad Niess and Rick Gaston.