The Preparation Process - Test Runs

We were fortunate enough to get to spend 5 weeks in Kauai this trip and that allowed us to do a couple of short "test runs" on the trail. On two occasions, one week apart, we hiked the 8 mile round trip to the falls and back. Unless you have a week or so to rest after the test hike, I wouldn't recommend this as that particular 8 mile loop is still pretty strenuous. It gave us a chance to test out our shoes and our endurance. The trip we took in April as 6 1/2 hour round trip. The first test run in October as 5 1/2 hours and then the final one was 4 3/4 hours. I'm not sure what the reason was for the shorter times each go round but I can only assume it was trail familiarity and less stopping. Nonetheless, it basically meant that we ended up doing 38 miles in 4 weeks instead of 22, and I'm sure that my body felt the extra miles. It sounded good at the time, but I don't know if I would do that again.