the Way of the Turtle

CLIMBING THE HELDEBERG FOOTHILLS
8.4 Mile Run in Bethlehem
Sunday, March 11, 2007

route map (check out the elevation profile...)

Woke up to a sunny, relatively warm day... so there was no question that I would get out for a run, especially since I'm behind schedule in my training for the Eastern States 20 Mile (in only two weeks! YIKES!) The only question was... where and how far?

Given that I've been dealing with a cold for the last few days, I wanted some flexibility in the distance in case things didn't go well. But I also wanted to be able to go for a longer distance if things were feeling good. So in the end I headed over the Five Rivers to run a 6 mile loop on the roads in the area... that way I could stop after 6 miles if need be or do a 2nd loop for 12 miles, or even add a couple of extra bits to add 2 or 3 miles here and there...

The first three miles were tough... my left leg never really seemed to loosen up, possibly because I was limited to running on the left side of the road (oncoming traffic and all that.) So by the halfway mark I decided 12 miles were not a good plan... but I didn't want to stop at 6. So I headed off on one of the extra bits - a hilly extra bit.

Back when I used to live in the Berkshires, I had a run I loved to do which I called the Crazy Hill Run. Basically, after a couple of miles warm-up, the road went up and up and up for about 2.5 miles... followed by mostly downhill for the rest of the run. I used to run it once every week or every other week as a test of my running fitness... I always knew I was doing well when I could run the entire hill and only stop for my scheduled breaks. (Of course, running one hill wasn't always enough, so I also had the Double Crazy Hill Run which went up a much steeper hill not long after coming down from the first one!) Those were good runs... climbing into the foothills of the Helderbergs today reminded me of the Crazy Hill Run. I doubt the hills today were as steep or as long... but there's just something about running up a hill that seems to go one forever. I may have to make these hills part of my monthly workout...

Another thing about that part of the run that was nice was that it's basically country, rather than city or suburbs, and I really miss going for runs in the country. So being out today, running up hills, in the sunshine and the countryside, was a real treat. I even saw a flock of turkeys. I have to admit, the thought of running those hills worried me at first - I've been running mostly flats lately, and hills have sometimes caused a good deal of pain in my right hip and quads. But today was good... I made it up all the hills without walking, and nothing really started to gripe until the steep downhills. Maybe my snowshoe running this winter has done my quads some good...

It would have been nice to get in a longer run, but between the hills and my legs being 5 days out of practice I decided to stop when I got back to Five Rivers. I'll do a long run Wednesday night... it will have to be the Gerbil Wheel, but I need to get in a 16-17 mile run and that's the only time to do it. The Eastern States 20 Mile is definitely going to hurt... hopefully that long run will help it hurt a little less (or at least give me warning of just how much it's going to hurt!)

Oh, and if you're out driving and see a runner on the side of the road - please slow down. You don't need to give them tremendous berth, but far too many folks today blasted by me full speed, which can be very unnerving when you don't know what that driver is going to do next (like the one idiot who swerved toward the fog line rather than away...) Slowing slightly and briefly while passing a runner won't have any real impact on your travel time... but it will make a big difference to them. Take my word for it...

JMH