Grand Hawaiian Adventure 2019 (and HDT Wrap-up)

PRE-TRIP

The week of my Hawaii trip coincided with the last week of HDT.  I wasn't going to bring sandbags to Hawaii, so I had to get all the sandbag work in before I left on Thursday.

Monday, Sep 2:
One thing going for me was Labor Day.  After the weekend in Charleston, I had Monday to get in some work.  I decided to go for HDT's mandatory 12 miler, since it would take a good chunk of time.  I decided to do it on the trails at the Whitewater Center, because the thought of soft trail surfaces sounded more appealing to my foot.

Since the running motion feels the most comfortable, I decided to ruck shuffle when I could, and I ended up doing it for the whole 12 miles.  With shuffling, the pace was good, even though there was 1100 feet of elevation gain.  I did out-and-back laps along the main driveway of the park, and that's the trail with the least elevation change.

For sun protection, I wore my wide-brimmed boonie hat, plus long sleeves.  I'd roll up the sleeves when I was under the shade, to cool off a little bit.  It wasn't bad, though.

At mile 6, I rolled my left ankle.  I do that every now and then on trails, and 95% of the time, I can just run it off.  My ultimate frisbee coach had told me that having done it a bunch during high school and college made me more susceptible to rolling it in the future, but that it would be more elastic, too, so doing so wouldn't hurt as much, and she was right.  It used to take me out of commission for 1-3 months at a time, but it's not a big deal now.  This time, it actually seemed to help reset the inner workings of my foot, and it felt very normal for once.  It was stiff overall, due to the exercise, but otherwise normal feeling.  I thought I might be cured.  It ended up not being the case, because the issues came back a few days later.  But it felt good for the rest of the 12 miler, at least.

I've done Timed 12 milers 3x.  The first time, with my first round of PATHFINDER Endure, I went 3:08:09 (15:41 pace) on asphalt, going for sub-3:00:00 at the start, but bonking and struggling through the last few miles.  I did it again with my first round of PATHFINDER Horizon during Star Course training, and I was psyched to go sub-3:00:00, with 2:58:36 on asphalt (14:53 pace).  This time, I did 2:44:37, going 13:43 on trail.  That's exciting.  I wonder how I'd do on asphalt.  Would the hard surface make it more painful and therefore slower?  Or would I go faster because of the lack of hills?

Tuesday, Sep 3:
I had hurricane evacuees come over last night.  They're good friends from college, so it was great having them over, especially with their cute kids.

I got in an early morning HDT Core workout.  55 min of strength, plus 1 mi of rucking in 14:20.  Also did a ruck with my former roommate at night.  She didn't wear a ruck, but she's 8 months pregnant, so she was essentially rucking, with ruck front.

Wednesday, Sep 4:
Mega workout day...

• Started with HDT arms in the morning, 
• Immediately followed by a 20 min AMRAP HDT Care package, for a total of 55 min of strength.
• In the evening, a 1 mi ruck with my friend.
• Then at night after everyone went to bed, HDT legs (30 min of strength), including a 1 mi coupon ruck with 40# sandbag in 19:22
• Then 6 miles for HDT and PATHFINDER credit at 17:13 pace.

Started at 4:30am, ended at 12:30am.  HDT complete!

BIG ISLAND

Thursday...

Flew to the Big Island.  Stocked up on food at Costco.  Settled in at our 2-night resort, which was close to the water.  We went out to a nearby dock to watch the sunset.

Friday...

A bit of beach hopping...

Kahalu Beach Park was our first stop, since it was close to where we were staying.  We saw some surfers from a distance, and admired the black sand beach.  It was small, but it was a nice intro.  It was next to the foundations of an old sacred site, too.

Kaloko Hono Kohau National Historic Park was next.  Our family really likes the National Park Service.  This place didn't seem like much... at first, it seems like a visitor center in the middle of a lava field.  But, there's a 0.7 mi trail that takes you by some pictograms, and ends at the beach where there are sea turtles, a sacred site, and a polynesian-style hut.  The water and the scenery was amazing.

Pu'uhonua O'Honaunau National Historic Park was our third stop.  We went after lunch, and it was misting rain.  It's small overall, but has one section that was the royal grounds where the chief used to live.  The other section was the sanctuary, where people could go for safety.

Saturday...

On our drive southward, we came across an offshoot of Volcanoes National Park.  It's one section with a few different trails.  We picked a shorter 2 mi one that takes you through every kind of volcano-related ecosystem that you'll find in the area.  There was green sand, lava flows, and grassy hills.  It was a really nice surprise.

After that, we went southward to South Point, to the southernmost point of the US, period.  It was sooo windy there.  There was a place where people could cliff jump.  I would've if I could.  On other portions of the shoreline, giant waves crashed hard against the cliffs.  I also found a couple of geocaches.  It felt like a place at the end of the earth.

Sunday...

My battle buddy and I were one of 14 teams that had completed every single ruck and workout, so we had a tie breaker to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, which would each get discount codes at varying levels.  The tie-breaker was a 30 min body weight AMRAP, which made it easier logistically, since I was away from my standard gear.  We had about 12 hours to get it done, so that Brian could tally up the points.  #wewon

Went to Volcanoes National Park for the rest of the day.

• Listened to a couple of ranger talks.

• Hiked the Kilauea Iki Trail (4 mi), which went through the crater as well as a rain foresty area.  It was pretty unique.

• Drove the 12 mi Chain of Craters Road, which went from the summit to the sea, going by many lava flows.  

• There was a trail with more pictograms that we stopped at.

The terrain felt very desert-like and western US-like to me.  The air was dry (maybe because of the wind?), and it was hot.  

• We finished with a quick visit to the rim of the main crater, where steam vents are still active.

Monday... 

We went back to Volcanoes National Park in the morning, since that was the main thing we wanted to see on this island, and it was our last day in the area before we continued our loop around the island.  

We had flown into Kona, which is famous because of the Ironman World Championships.  But Hilo, on the opposite side of the island (the Eastern side) is actually the second largest city in all of Hawaii, behind Honolulu.  There, we got lunch at a Poke place, and got some fruit at the nearby farmer's market.

It was my first time trying Poke.  Sushi is good, so I figured that I'd like Poke.  I had always imagined it being more full of veggies, though.  This tasted like brown rice-based Asian food to me.  Maybe I imagined Ceviche.  

The fruit in Hawaii is great.  The pineapple at Costco was 2x the price of pineapple here at Walmart in the mainland, but it was perfectly ripe and tasty.  

After lunch, we went to a lava cave.  I've explored lava caves before, in Lava Beds National Monument in California.  I loved it, because you could explore without a guide and go wherever you wanted.  I was glad that my sister and dad got to experience it.  They are way less risk-averse and adventurous than me, though, so we turned around after about 25 min of slow caving.  I hadn't expected to encounter lava caves in Hawaii, but I had brought my headlamp (I am teachable!).

After the caves, we visited the world's newest black sand beach at Isaac Hale State Park.  It was formed with the most recent volcano eruption in Hawaii a couple of years ago.  It was wild and clean.

Tuesday... 

We went to Rainbow Falls in the morning.  The park is pretty much just the falls, and it's right off of a road in Hilo.  

  

Next, we drove north for Akaka Falls State Park.  There was a little trail that looped round, with interesting flora.  The waterfall is the main attraction, though.

Since the falls didn't take much time, we went onwards to Waimea, where we stopped at Hamakua Macadamia Nut Co's factory for samples and a behind-the-scenes look at their manufacturing process.  I like visiting factories for items that are unique to a certain region, especially when there are samples.  Maybe it's because I visit factories sometimes for work.  It's fun to see how much overlap there is in manufacturing, whether you're making beer or plastic wrap.

Then, when it was later in the day and a little less hot, we went to Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, where there were more sacred temple platforms by the ocean.

Wednesday...

It was our last full day, and we had finished our big loop around the big island.  We started the day with snorkeling.  I saw a turtle!  And lots of colorful fish.

We got snorkeling gear while we were there... it was only like $13 for goggles and a tube at Walmart.  I figured that I'd go for just a tube, since I had swim goggles, but as soon as I started snorkeling, I realized that I forgot that the goggles also provide a barrier against water going into your nose.  So, I ended up snorkeling with one hand pinching my nose the whole time.  It was ok, since I didn't snorkel for a long time.  But it was kind of a funny realization.

At Hapuna Beach, I finally got to see the endangered Nene goose up close!

In the afternoon, we did a drive through Kohala, which is a northern offshoot of the island.  It contains the oldest volcano (which is dormant) on the island, so there is more vegetation there. We stopped in a small town called Hawi, to browse their shops a bit.

Thursday... 

Flew to Maui.  The two islands are so close to each other!  That makes the airfare cheaper, too.  That was one of the reasons we chose the Maui+Big Island combo for this trip.

MAUI

We went to their Costco as soon as we got there, and then settled in to the condo that we rented for our 5 days there.

Friday, Sept 13:

Now that I'd staying at a single residence for a while, it was easier to do workouts.  Any wet clothes would get a chance to get hand-washed and air-dried during the day, and I could get used to routes more easily.  I didn't mind not working out much when I was on the Big Island, because I needed rest after completing the grueling HDT program, and I wanted to taper for the tie breaker.  And afterwards, I wanted to continue letting my foot recover.  

I started with a 5 mile sunrise run.  I found that my foot is still about the same, even after all that rest.  So, I've kind of given up on rest.  I'd rather have it stay the same while I continue to be active, than for it to stay the same while I stay inactive.  It was a slow run, but that was OK.  I haven't been running much at all since February.  Anything will help.  I need at least some cardio before big, challenging GORUCK events this fall. 

5.0 in 45:06, 9:00 average.  I tried to run in the bike lane when I could, since it was asphalt.  When cars came by though, I went onto the harder sidewalk.  It was a nice run, though.  Good views, since it was right next to the ocean.  Air quality wasn't perfect, since the cars polluted the air, even that early in the morning, even though there weren't a ton of cars.

Splits> 9:45, 9:22, 9:21, 8:42, 7:50. 

During the day, we went to Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge.  They had a boardwalk by the ocean, as well as some man-made ponds where migrating birds could find a place to rest.

Next, we went to Iao Valley State Park.  It's a sacred area where battles were fought.  The main attraction is a tall mountain called "The Needle".  But there are some hidden trails that you can explore.  We found one with many guava trees.

Afterwards, we drove up to Kanaha Beach Park to watch windsurfers.  It's interesting how different beaches around the islands have very distinct activities take place there.  Surfing, paddleboarding, snorkelling, windsurfing, etc.  

In the evening, I did a 3 mi ruck, going to a geocache 1.5 miles away.  I convinced my sister to come with me, though she complained about how fast I was going.  She wasn't expecting it to be a training ruck.  3.0 in 52:54, 17:37 ave, with about 25#.  I didn't bring a plate.  I brought a bag that doubles as a sandbag or a water bag.  I can't imagine filling that thing with sand through the small spout, but water was pretty easy to work with, and it's cleaner.  The whole thing is supposed to hold 80#, and I filled it about 1/3 of the way.  And, I could see that it filled about 12/15L of my Bullet Ruck, so I estimate about 25# for the water bag, plus the weight of my ruck, and a little extra water that I carried. 

Saturday, Sept 14:

In the morning, I did another ruck in the morning, to try to get back into some ruck training.  I was satisfied with only going 4.5 mi, since it wasn't feeling great towards the end.  4.5 mi in 1:11:05, 15:48 ave.  Good pace, though.

We love national parks, and Haleakala National Park is the main one in Maui.  It consists of a long drive with many switchbacks and rapid elevation gain.  It goes up to 11,000 feet.  There are some overlooks along the way, along with tiny trails.  The main trail stems off of the summit, and winds all the way to the shore on the opposite side of the island.  People go backpacking there, so if you're not doing that, you can only see the first portions of the trails.

That day, it was super cloudy.  At the summit, you couldn't see much beyond the rocks immediately in front of you.  It was cool to be in the clouds, though.  Somewhere below, there were supposed to be views of the Big Island and geological features.

My sister doesn't like heights, when untethered.  The elevation is high enough up there that it's a little chilly.  My dad brought along a towel to supplement his short-sleeve shirt.

While the best place to watch the sunrise is above the clouds, at the summit, the best place to watch the sunset is below the clouds.  We drove down.  It kept raining, but it stopped as the colors started appearing in the sky.

Sunday, Sept 15:

Another morning run.  This time, I went on a street perpendicular to the main beachfront road.  There was less traffic and therefore better air quality.  The bike shoulder was also wider, since it accommodated parking spaces.  It was uphill inland, so it was a hill session.  It was exactly 0.5 mi to the base of the hill, and another 0.5 mi to the top.  I ran to the hill, then did 5 laps up and down, and then ran back.  I nose breathed for the first 5 miles because my body didn't feel like going fast enough to require breathing with my mouth.  I think it's good cardio training, anyways.  I did start breathing with my mouth in the last mile.  I think I forgot about nose breathing when I started trying to text while running, and I wanted to increase the pace.

6.0 in 53:42, 8:57 ave.  Splits> 10:26, 9:06, 9:09, 8:45, 8:25, 7:49.

This was a more relaxed day.  In the morning, we went to a beach park (Kamole Beach Park III) only 0.25 mi from the condo, and went snorkeling and boogie boarding.  

In the evening, we booked a luau at the Hyatt.  It was on the other side of the island, so we explored the old city of Lahaina for a little while.  It used to be the capital of Hawaii.  There's a giant banyan tree in the middle of the main plaza.  The courthouse is on that same plaza, and there's now a nice little museum in there.  I like it when trips include nature as well as history and culture.

At the luau, there were performances of all kinds of hula, with guys and girls.  They had lots of different styles from throughout the Pacific.  They had Hawaiian food, like poi (mashed taro... didn't like it as much as I thought I would... I like taro, but this was too plain) and roasted pig.  

It was fun exploring the grounds of the nice hotel afterwards, too.  It was fancy.

Monday... 

Because there is a limited number of parking spots at the summit, the National Park Service controls the number of sunrise watchers through a reservation system.  The spots are only $1.50, but they sell out in seconds.  We weren't able to get one, so we used Monday to drive the infamous Road to Hana.  It's 64 miles, with narrow roads, with 620 curves, and 59 bridges, where 46 of the bridges are one-way.  It takes some guts and focus to drive that thing.  There are places that you can stop along the way to look at waterfalls or ocean fronts.  

Waikamoi Nature Trail was a mile long.  It was mostly just forest with some incline.  No views or anything.  It's OK if you want to stretch your legs, but it's not that far into the drive, and there are better places near Hana to spend your time.

Kaumahina State Wayside Park is one of the few places you can use real restrooms.  The water there is not potable, though.

Honomanu Beach is about half a mile from the highway.  You could drive down if you have a jeep, but we walked.  It's small and secluded, but it was nice to play there a little bit.  Nothing super special, but OK.

Wwailua Valley State Wayside Park had an overlook, but it wasn't anything special... you see lots of vegetation, and waterfalls that are so far away that they're just white threads in the distance.

Pua'aka State Park had a nice waterfall where you could swim.  The water was cold, and the rocks under the water were covered in slick brown mossy growth, so I didn't go underwater.

Waianapanapa State Park near Hana was incredible.  The 1.5 mile total round-trip trail took you from the black sand beach through lava fields.  We discovered a cave into which ocean water flowed.  There were so many unique and great views there.

We didn't stop anywhere in the city of Hana itself, but we did stop by nearby Koki Beach (the red sand beach) and Hamoa Beach for a few minutes.

We decided to drive another 40-ish minutes to see the Seven Sacred Pools.  It ended up being an hour more than that because of construction that blocked all lanes, with not enough room to even do a three-point turn to turn around because the roads are so narrow.  It turned out that the natural pools are in the other side of Haleakala National Park, so we got to check that off of our list, too.  

It was unique, but I had imagined something hidden in the forest, with each pool secluded.  The water was also mossier and murkier than I expected, so I didn't get in the water there, either.

We drove back along the treacherous road, doing the last portion in the dark.  I'm glad we didn't linger too much longer.  

Tuesday...

We had flights at 9pm, so we had the day to do stuff.  Since it was hot the whole trip, we decided to spend the day back up at the summit of Haleakala National Park, since it was cool there at high elevation.  It was great that we went back, because the clouds were gone this time, and we could see waaaay more than we did 2 days ago.

There's an observatory at the summit, because it's one of the top 4 places in the world for seeing the skies uninhibited.  It's not open to the public.

Flew back.  Good trip.  Each island has its own character, so if I come back to Hawaii, there will be new things to see.  If I do come back to Maui, though, I do want to try to see that sunrise from the summit.  There's also a rare natural phenomenon during sunset that we missed, too, where you can somehow see your shadow in the clouds?  I'd try to catch that next time, too.