Three years and some moons ago, I was on my way to the Lihue airport — wet, dirty, and sleepless. I’d just spent four nights on the… Read more “Hawai’i’s Teachings in Kaua’i’s Secret Garden: Photos from Another World & A Never-Ending Story”
Author: Pina Marek
Dreamer.
Music to My Ears: Book Writing Adventures & A Few Excerpts
How do you write a book? Well, you sit down with your laptop or a notebook and a pen and start putting words down on a page.… Read more “Music to My Ears: Book Writing Adventures & A Few Excerpts”
You Can Do It, Even if You Think You Can’t. (And Not for the Stereotypical Reasons You Might Be Thinking About.)
Last week, I wrote and published a post called “Cool Moon 50-Miler: I Hallucinated, I Ached, And I Threw Up Blood. But I Finished.” But that’s not… Read more “You Can Do It, Even if You Think You Can’t. (And Not for the Stereotypical Reasons You Might Be Thinking About.)”
Cool Moon 50-Miler: I Hallucinated, I Ached, And I Threw Up Blood. But I Finished.
This post, just like the run could have, can go two ways; either it’s going to be a quick business or a long journey with more twists… Read more “Cool Moon 50-Miler: I Hallucinated, I Ached, And I Threw Up Blood. But I Finished.”
Two of the Best Wonderland Trail FKT Films (Yes, this is a very subjective statement.)
I am a slow runner. This is not a complaint, and it’s not a critique. It’s just a plain statement of the truth. I can hold a 12-minute/mile pace for about 10 kilometers, and a 15-minute/mile pace for 20 miles, but that’s about it. After giving it absolutely everything, I was able to finish my first 50-mile race in just under 25 hours. Yes, I did spend roughly four hours in aid stations and getting my foot iced and taped so that I could keep moving, but still, this is SLOW.
And so it might come as a bit of a surprise that I do, in fact, enjoy seeing people chase FKTs (fastest known times), even though I know that nothing like that will ever be possible for me. (Well, unless I establish a route and keep my snail-paced FKT until someone comes to take a stroll and beats it.)
Today, I wanted to share with you two of my favourite FKT documentaries (oh wow, saying I’ve got a favourite FKT documentary feels like choosing a favourite child), both of them from the wonderful Wonderland Trail (most up-to-date FKTs can be found on this link).
The first Wonderland Trail FKT film I ever saw was about Gary Robbins who got his FKT in 2015, made by Ethan Newberry, also knows as The Ginger Runner. I re-watched it several times since. Gary is a beyond-inspiring runner (seriously, watch “Where Dreams Go to Die” to see what real grit is).
The second film I’m going to recommend today is also by Ethan Newberry, and follows Kaytlyn Gerbin, the current holder of the female supported FKT, and Dylan Bowman, who held the male supported FKT on the Wonderland Trail for just five days.
I hope you’ll enjoy these, I hope they’ll motivate you, and I’ll be back next week, hopefully back from the dead so I can tell you all about my Cool Moon 50-mile race which I haven’t recovered from yet. Just a little teaser: I totally got my money’s worth, having experienced it all; hallucinations, chafing, unstoppable nosebleed, nausea and throwing up, ridiculous heat, being stripped naked at an aid station to be brought back from the dead, and having to walk downhill backwards because legs gave up on me.
Alone in Wonderland | Book Recommendation
Christine Reed Alone in Wonderland reads like a personal journey, more so than the physical. And even though no descriptions can come even remotely close to capturing… Read more “Alone in Wonderland | Book Recommendation”
Kīlauea Iki | One Photo
I’ve been to Hawai’i before. I’ve seen Kīlauea before. But even the most basic knowledge of geology and, therefore, a slightly deeper understanding of how this place came to be, made this visit to the crater so much more fascinating.
Right next to Halema‘uma‘u crater, the star of the most recent eruption, there’s the smaller Kīlauea Iki crater that last erupted in 1959. Before it was a flat plain of volcanic rock, Kīlauea Iki was a V-shaped crater filled with trees. Then, suddenly — boom. A long fissure opened in one violent event and started to spew lava. Several other vents opened and within 24 hours, joined their forces in one event.
Fountains of lava were visible from afar, the tallest one reaching 1,900 feet (source).
A new cinder cone, Puʻu Puaʻi, was formed, and when the surface of the lava lake that formed in the crater submerged the fissure, the fountains stopped. Eventually, the lake drained back into the vents, leaving behind its crust. Signs of the drainage can be beautifully seen all around the crater’s edges in the slabs of rock that lay on the sloping walls.
We hiked through the crater, guided by the ahu, or cairns — trail markers built from stacked rock. For the first half (okay, maybe only a quarter) of the hike, I managed to stay on or near the trail like any other normal person. (You’re allowed to go off-trail in the crater, as the surface is very durable, and not at all delicate like many other places.)
“Why is it orange?” I was asked by our group when we stopped near Puʻu Puaʻi displaying a big red-colored scar on its side.
“Oxidization,” I answered, and then the excitement of understanding overpowered me and I ended up running all around the crater, looking at features that wouldn’t make any sense and wouldn’t mean anything to me only a year ago. After all, what’s there to see besides a flat plain of black rock and a few mounds of more black rock?
A lot. I found a crack in the floor that was going to turn into a slab dipping under the “surface” in a few hundred years, a steam vent, a piece of a broken slab that displayed beautiful layers in which you could see how the surface of the lava lake cooled down, turning into rock,… I found a lot.
And it all meant something thanks to knowledge. In fact, it was beyond fascinating thanks to knowledge. And I only wish I knew even more, then the place would probably blow my mind even more.
Goodbyes
It seems that giving goodbye is something of a theme this past week. My dog of 13 years passed away last Tuesday, right before I headed out… Read more “Goodbyes”
takayna | What If Running Could Save A Rainforest?
Patagonia has some really good short films and documentaries, there’s no arguing that. But last week I happened upon one that, for some reason, had been elusive to me up until that point but which I consider one of my favourite ones now. (Ouch, this was a super hard thing to say — nearly all of Patagonia’s short documentaries are my favourite ones!)
And because I’m publishing this from an airport, which means that in a few minutes, I’ll be on an airplane, re-watching this documentary, and because I genuinely think this short documentary is as heart-breaking as it is beautiful, and as important as it is, perhaps, unwanted, I thought the best course of action would be to share it with you all.
We all have probably heard about deforestation and realize that it poses a certain amount of threat to our future and the future of the planet. But how often do we hear about how bad it really gets, or about the people who are putting their own bodies on the line against heavy machinery to save the lungs of the planet and the homes of millions of species?
“I’ve felt Country talk freely to you and then run back to the same place months later to a silent and sterile wreck of splinters and dirt. This is a fundamental fight. The disease of man chasing money is real and it’s an epidemic… We fight on.”
Stills Hunter
What is being done? What can we do? And how is one runner helping save the Tarkine forest?
Patagonia answered this and more in takayna | What If Running Could Save a Rainforest.
That One Idiotic Friend We All Need
“Because your phone might die, write my number on your arm. You might lose a piece of paper, but you’re not going to lose your arm… most… Read more “That One Idiotic Friend We All Need”
