Why the Haleakala did we do that?

Our run up Haleakala, a 10000 foot high volcano on Maui, was ultimately successful, but our adventure was certainly not without some bugs and hiccups.

Chris trying to touch the ocean in Paia.

We started out at sea level in the town of Paia at 6:25 am. It rained the night before and is just clearing up as we are starting. The puddles however are still able to claim a victim as my dad (Brad) soaks a shoe before we even get going, oops! Anyhow, the starting conditions are nice and cool, and it's just getting light enough that we don't need to bring a headlamp for the portion before sunrise.

The first bug I encounter is at about mile 1, when I actually inhale a bug... immediately after my dad warns us about the swarms of them under the street lights! The bug gets lodged in my upper throat and I begin coughing and heaving as I'm unable to get it out. In a near panic at the inability to breathe without extreme irritation of my throat and the thought of having to pull-out of our run up Haleakala, I try drinking, eating gels and clif bars, and we even try flushing water through my nose (seemed like a good idea at the time). That still doesn't help! The darn bug is stuck in there for good, I'm sure of it! Eventually, after about 2.5 miles and 45 minutes of having this bug in there I manage to get it loose and cough it out. Turns out it's a beetle, no bigger than an ant! Of course through all that my throat ends up terribly irritated, something I dealt with for the rest of the run.

Beautiful rainbows!

Between the bug incident and mile 13 there really isn't too much excitement; we see numerous rainbows, have some great views of the ocean beyond the farmlands, we run through the town of Makawao, refill our hydration packs with a hose at the Kula lodge and restaurant, and finally reach the turn up Crater road toward Haleakala summit.

From here we only have 22 miles to the summit (which were all conveniently marked so we could count down to the top!). Although the climb so far has been steady, the remaining section will prove to be the toughest as it is exclusively switchbacks up the mountain side. Reaching 4000 feet elevation we are engulfed in a misty cloud, though we quickly climb out of it and get back into the sun. We’re all still feeling pretty good at this point, but by the 6000 foot mark Jenna is starting to have some difficulty with lactic acid build up in her legs. We catch this fairly early on and get her eating and drinking, and she takes some tums to help buffer things. With a quick recovery we continue our slow but steady trek up to the 7000 foot mark where we enter the national park.

It's daunting when they warn vehicles of 'No Food'

After refilling our packs again at the visitor center we hit rain! Blowing, cold rain! Obviously we all put our jackets and gloves on, but by 8000 feet we are all getting pretty cold (I’m pretty sure my dad’s lips are blue). Luckily, my mom and sister (our ride down) pass us here and are able to give us a change of clothes and some extra unexpected candy (THANK YOU!) to power us until the rain ends at 8500 feet.

At 9000 feet it clears up and we can see the observatory and the visitor center at the top of the mountain. Only 4 miles left, not too tough! Except that we’ve already went 31 miles (50km) and climbed the equivalent of 3 Grouse Grinds back to back! Not surprisingly Jenna develops an exertional cough over 9000 feet that makes it really difficult to breathe deeply, so her and I walk the last 4 miles while my dad 'runs' the last bit to get the pain over with. We finish the ~35.5 mile trek in about 8h45m (that includes my time inhaling bugs).

The most surprising post-run revelation is that we got sunburnt despite the cloud and rain for most of the day! Jenna’s legs and the backs of her arms and hands are quite red, while my calves are. The sun must have been pretty strong from 9000 to 10000 feet.

Insane switchbacks on the way to Haleakala National Park

After all that, I would still have to say the worst part was the car ride down! Although it was amazing to see how far we’d gone (seriously, why would anyone run that far uphill), those switchbacks sure made us nauseous! 

Run Highlights:

-Running through a lavender farm – smells delicious!

-Intermittent signs spray painted on the road that reminded us to breathe

-The nice family of a man biking up who offered us food and drink as we powered up the hill

-The changes in scenery – from luscious grasslands to the barren rock atop the volcano

-Surviving!!!

Paint Run by numbers, all the way to the top of Haleakala at 10,023 feet.

-UltraChris

T minus 4 days to Volcanoland!

We've been in Hawaii for 4 days now.
It's hot, humid, there is little water to be found.
It feels like we've been stuck out here for days.

Alright so its not quite like that...
It's beautiful and sunny here, and we wake up to the sounds of birdies outside our window.
In four days, we will be taking on the epic 34 mile run up Haleakala. (We had to push back the run by a day due to a change in the 'free maitais by the pool' from the 25th to the 26th)

10,000 feet up to the top of Mount Crumpet (Haleakala)

Yesterday we got up and ran for an hour bright and early in the morning. By 8:00 am it was already warm and humid enough that we were dripping sweat.
Consider me a little skeptical at this point.
We only ran for an hour, and I was sweating like crazy and had some trouble setting into a comfortable breathing pattern.

WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS?!

So I leave today for a short run to see if I can control my breathing a little better as to survive an 8 hour trek uphill!

-J.B.Running

Operation Elevation Simulation

**** Operation Elevation Simulation ****
Target: Simulate the elevation change of Haleakala, min. 10000 ft
Location: Grouse Grind, BCMC
Weather: -2 C; Clear, light breeze, falling snow at higher elevation
Trail Conditions: Frozen but clear at lower elevation; Sporadic ice and snow at higher elevation
Operatives: J.B.Running, UltraChris 

**** Mission Status: Successful ****
Lap 1: 1h02m, Grouse Grind
Lap 2: 1h05m,BCMC
Lap 3: 1h05, Grouse Grind
Lap 4: 1h10m, BCMC
Total Actual Elevation Change: 11200 ft
************************************

Jenna hiking up the Grouse Grind in snow.

As we started out on our first lap, we weren't quite sure of the trail conditions we would encounter, especially near the top. We had hiked up this trail just over a week prior and hadn't encountered any ice or snow until the very top. Just to be safe we brought our crampons along for the first two laps. It was a beautiful sunny day at the bottom, however at about the half way mark it began to get chilly as the wind picked up and the snow began to fall. At first we couldn't tell whether it was actually snowing, or just blowing off the top of the trees. By the time we got to the top we were a wee bit chilly, and fully convinced it was snowing, and not just blowing. The ice on the top half of the route (despite being a bit scary in places) made for some incredible icicle displays. As we got higher and higher, the water in the tubes of our running packs began to freeze. This was actually rather convenient, as it forced us to drink often to prevent the freezing. At the top, we took the Gondola down to save ourselves some time, and to save Jenna from the inevitable IT band pain that was still haunting her.

Amazing icicles along the Grouse Grind!

Lap 2 was just as cold and icy as the first, however there were a lot more people out on the BCMC. We appeared to be the least prepared, with the rest of the hikers carrying large backpacks and poles. All we had were small packs of water with a bit of food, some space blankets, and our pocket knives.

We thought we appeared unprepared, but at the start of lap 3 we saw a guy in shorts and a t-shirt. ARE YOU CRAZY!? I mean some people run warm, but it was COLD at the top!!! We're going to bet he didn't make it too far. Brr! The start of #3 was painful. Jenna didn't drink quite enough water through the first two laps, and was fading slowly. Her legs were a bit shaky, and it left her wondering if she would survive a fourth and final lap (not to mention the rest of the 3rd). After a small bag of chips (Only 90 calories in a bag? Come on, we're trying to hike up a mountain here!), some shot blocks, and a gel, we were on our way! Surprisingly finishing only 3 minutes slow than the first lap on the GG.
 

Unbelievable sunset from Grouse Mountain

As we started lap four, the sun was beginning to set. We opted to change into thicker jackets, and we were very happy with that decision! As the sun set, parts of the trail started turning pink and fiery red colours, it looked incredible!
It seemed to take forever to get to the half way point, but once we were there we were both feeling great!
Though the light was fading, we made it to the top and didn't have to dig out a headlamp!
Plus, we got to the top in time to catch the end of the sunset! What a perfect sunday!

WE DID IT!
Today's accomplishment made Haleakala seem like a much more attainable goal. Maybe it will even be a little warmer :)

I just can't say no to volcanoes.

Chris and Brad atop Haleakala in Maui in 2010

The year was 2010. Chris and his family had taken off on a glorious vacation to Hawaii over Christmas break. And by vacation, I mean Chris and his dad had concocted this grand scheme to ride their bikes 10,023 ft up a volcano. Sounds like what normal people do in Hawaii, right? Haha. Ha.
They did it. Here's some photographic evidence just in case you don't believe me!

Knowing that this is a running blog, I'm sure you've guessed what's coming next. In just three short weeks from now we're all headed off to Maui once again to enjoy the glorious sunshine and beaches. But I didn't just write this post to brag about going to Hawaii. I'm writing it because today we officially started training! Training to run up this wonderful volcano of course. Let me say this now. This was THEIR idea. I will take no responsibility for the Cochrane Insanity. Yes, it's a thing. I, on the other hand, now have a problem. Between my goals to become a strong and confident runner, and my absolute and unparalleled love for rocks, I CAN'T SAY NO!

I want to run 10,000 ft up a volcano!
It's a volcano!
Can I do this?
Shouldn't we have started training for this sooner?
Am I strong enough to make it without slowing them down?
Is this a good idea?
It's a volcano!

So I'm going to try! I'm going to try to survive, I'm going to try not to slow them down, and I'm going to run A LOT of hills in the next three weeks :)

We started tonight with a run simulating a quarter of the elevation gain, or 2500 ft.
Basically we picked a nice hill with a relatively easy decent near it and ran circles for about an hour and a half. We only needed to do 17 half mile laps, which didn't sounds so bad. Until we started running. Three laps in I'm running down the hill thinking "oh no, I have to do this how many more times?!".
After completing the 17 laps, I was surprised how good I felt. We were feeling rather satisfied with our accomplishment until a recalculation on the way home told us we actually should have done 18.5 laps. Better luck next time.

I'm attaching a profile of our run to this post, mostly because it looks like a bunch of Christmas trees all in a row, and that makes me happy.

**UltraChris' addition:

-J.B.Running
Any idiot can run. It takes a special kind of idiot to run up a volcano.