Running in Hawaii

On April 25th my wife and I headed down to Maui for a much needed tropical vacation.  What this mean to me was hitting up some trails and getting in some quality runs that didn't involved snow.  After doing much research the weeks leading up to our trip I scouted out 3 different areas I wanted to visit, so after a few months I am finally posting some pictures and data.

Makawao Forest Reserve - The parking area is about 40 minutes from Kehai, the road is all paved and you are blessed with some great views of the island as as you climb about 2,500 ft on the way (parking area is about 2,700 foot elevation).  I headed out for 3 loops, a little over 5 miles per loop with 900 ft of climbing each. The trail was all single track and went through several different areas of vegetation.  The moderate climbing meant running uphill was doable and bombing the downhill was really fun.  The only problem I had was this was my first run with any sort of vertical for the year so I pretty well destroyed my quads on the downhills, but it was fun either way!

Up at 4 AM for what turned out to be an awesome run.  First person in the parking lot and glad Hawaii doesn't practice daylight savings time. 

Really big tree.

Overall a totally awesome trail.

Hard to believe this is on a tropical island.

Lahaina Pali Trail - This trail goes up and over the southern point of the northern mountain of Maui, and is only about 10 minutes drive from Kehai.  I tried to hit the east side trail head before sunrise to catch the sun coming up over Haleakala but I couldn't find the trail head in the dark, so I headed over to the west side trail just off the highway.  The trail climbs about 1,500 feet in about 3 miles then goes up on the point for about a mile before dropping back down the other side.  Due to time constraints I just went to the top, VERY windy, buy some great views!

Windblown and barren landscape. 

Anyone see the irony in a conservation area with giant wind turbines?

Looking west toward one of Maui's smaller offshore islands. 

Looking north at yet another island.

Polipoli State Park, Kula Forest Reserve - This is a beautiful redwood forest located about an 1 hr and 15 minute drive from Kehai  After taking winding paved switchbacks through farm country you eventually end up on a dirt road built for logging.  I drove the road in our rental car (and got a flat tire) but it was very derivable in a sedan despite the 4-wheel drive only sign.  However, this was under dry conditions, had it been raining a 4-wheel drive would definitely have been needed!  Due the unexpected length of travel time I only managed a short 5 mile loop that I created based on a map I found.  The unique part about this location is that it is located about 5,500 above sea level and you can actually connect to a massive system of trails including the spine of Haleakala volcano.  The 5 mile loop I did had about 1,500 ft of elevation gain with a high point of 6,500 ft.

The drive provides some incredible views. 

Another awesome trail!

Deep in the redwood forest of Maui.

You can actually go all the way up the spine to the summit from here. 

Good shot of the sun rays beaming through the trees. 

Watch for cows!

Running, running, more running, and some snow

It is now the middle of May and my 50 miler training is in full swing.  I was reminded of this over the weekend when I embarked on a 24 mile training run, which was still on roads but I will get to that later, and then followed that up with a 12 mile run the next day.  That capped off a 60 mile week.  From here on out, my weeks will not drop below 50 and will top out at 70.  I have discovered, at least for me, that more miles means strong legs and faster times.  That may not be true for everyone, but after running consistently for several years that is one of the many items I have discovered.

It is now spring in Alaska and that has me excited.  Most of the snow in town has melted (note the use of the word "most") and temps have been steadily increasing and are up to the lower 60's this week.  With that said, I realized the other day that I just ran through a record winter, we had over 135 inches of snow here in town, and I was actually running during the exact time that we broke the record.  While I was gladly cheering to break the record once we got close, the problem with this is the mountains are still buried under several feet of snow, which is why I have been having to getting creative on my runs and running more on roads than I had hoped to be at this point in the year.  All in all however, the snow melted much faster than I thought it so the trails are only a few weeks behind where the would be on a normal snow year.

We just got back from a vacation in Maui a few weeks back where I managed to check out a few trails, so I will post on that and a few other of my runs later on, but for now, here are some pictures about winter and spring running here in Anchorage.

The section of single track by my house on December 24th, looking west. 

Same section of trail on the 24th as well, looking east. 

That same section trail but this was taken on May 6th, looking west. 

Same section of trail also on May 6th, looking east. 

A trail marker near Kincaid park, March 17th.

That same marker, March 31st. 

And finally, that same trail marker on May 6th.

Park benches, taken March 31st. 

Those same benches on May 6th. 

The melting snow resulting in a swamp that looks like something out of Lord of The Rings rather than a forested section in the middle of Anchorage. 

Hard to see perception, but about 2 feet of snow pack.  Like many trails in Anchorage it is groomed during the winter for skiing.  This confirms my estimates that I was running on 2-3 feet of snow pack all winter, perhaps more in some areas. 

Found this gem buried in my phone, taken on February 11th.  Looking southwest from the Coastal Trail.  This was actually taken exactly 1 week before the Little Su 50k.