See you in Lahaina!

Today's run: Medium-Long Run of 14 miles at 8:33 pace
43 miles this week. Marathon is 8 weeks from today!

"See you in Lahaina!" I said, as my wife wife left me on the side of Highway 30, fourteen miles away from Baby Beach in Lahaina. Thomas had given me the idea to run part of the Maui Marathon course for one of my runs, and I had been looking forward to this way of seeing the island for weeks. Covering 14 miles on foot without doubling back or looping can be quite a treat.

Or, at times, monotonous.

Doesn't seem possible, does it? Beautiful, tropical island with stunning views...

The first half- hour was mostly up and down in a curving part of the highway. There were numerous places where the rock-face had been cut into to let the road through, leaving giant, vertical rock walls on either side of the road. At certain points, the traffic would subside in both directions and it would be just me, the view to the ocean or rocks, and the silent road. Despite the 7:30am start, it was pretty warm already and I was sweating. Fortunately, I had kleenex.

The next half- hour brought the road down to the coast: flat, but exposed to the sun. Still miles away from Lahaina, these were empty beaches and vacant highwaysides. The view to my left was the ocean, and the view to my right was the dramatic peaks and cliffs of the two dormant volcanoes that built this side of the island. The constant exposure made me wilt, however, and I wondered if I could make it.

So, I took a little break. With a spot of shade as the road broke inland a bit, right around the hour mark, I stopped. (I almost never do this.) I mopped my face, changing to my third clean kleenex, ingested the entire Gu packet I brought, and drank a few ounces of water... leaving me almost out.

The main reason I don't like to stop is that it is hard to start up again. My legs complained as I began again, and for the next twenty minutes or so, the scenery didn't change and monotony set in. I started to think about how varied the San Francisco routes I take are: Embarcadero, Golden Gate Park/Lake Merced, and even the Mission Loops.

At around 1:20 I started to feel great. My pace picked up again, I realized I was probably 2/3 the way there, and I felt like I'd probably find water before I absolutely needed to. Then I concluded: the Gu has kicked in! This stuff is great! I'm definitely going to use this in the marathon.

Five minutes later, I found a beach park that had water spigots. I emptied my pockets of used kleenex and Gu packet and re-filled my water bottle. The water had a taste that reminded me of the outdoor drinking fountains I'd used as a kid (summertime in the San Fernando Valley). It tasted warm and metallic.

The next half hour showed increasing progress towards my goal. The beach parks became more frequent, and I saw a sign marking the entrance to Lahaina (sooner than I expected). I took my turn-off onto Front Street and was immediately grateful to be off the main road. The street began as a quiet resedential street with some shade, and then evolved to the main drag of Lahaina's tourist district (which was pretty quiet at around 9:15 on a Sunday morning). Lappert's! There's a Lappert's ice cream! I know where we're going later!

Past the commercial district (not before noticing a large sign that says "Jesus: Coming Soon"), the street became resedential again, and before I expected, I found the street that lead me to Baby Beach. I spotted our car, and soon found my wife on the beach. I was surprised by the pace.

Our cooler held some nice, cold drinks. The water cooled me down almost instantly, and I took a brief nap on the beach. Perfect.

Updated 6/10: Added pictures and links. Pictures are from a different day, and condensation on the lens caused them to be blurry. Rats.