Sunday, November 30, 2014

DUCKS, GEESE, & SWANS
0.6 Mile Walk at Webster Pond
0.4 Mile Walk at the Manlius Swan Pond
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Weekly Activity Summary
11/23/2014 - 11/29/2014

running (3) - 12.7 mi
riding (2) - 32.1 mi
walking/hiking (3)  - 6.4 mi


outdoor activity 6/7 days
months ridden 11/12

YRG -


JMH

Saturday, November 29, 2014

2.5 Mile Run at Mendon Ponds Park
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Slow & Steady 2014 - Race #31
RT Turkey Run 5mi Trail Race
Saturday, November 29, 2014

2014 Event Totals
Run 178.0 mi, 41 hr 01 min
Bike 338.3 mi, 29 hr 10 min

Snowshoe 47.5 mi, 14 hr 38 min
Kayak 4.0 mi, 1 hr 3 min

states/provinces visited: AB, CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT

Friday, November 28, 2014

2.1 Mile Walk at Durand Eastman Park
Friday, November 28, 2014

Thursday, November 27, 2014

2.4 Mile Walk on the Erie Canalway Trail
Thursday, November 27, 2014

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

FIRST MAJOR SNOWSTORM OF THE SEASON...
Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Ordinarily, I'd go out for a walk in the snowstorm... except the temperature is right around freezing and the snow is very wet, which makes it downright unpleasant to walk in. Plus what's on the ground is very slushy... I think I'll wait for a later storm to enjoy a walk in the falling snow...

JMH
THE GREY BEFORE THE STORM...
21 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Sunday, November 23, 2014

SWAPPING A RUN FOR A HIKE...
5.2 Mile Run on the Albany County Rail Trail
Sunday, November 23, 2014
WHOA... SUNSHINE!
11.1 Mile Ride on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Weekly Activity Summary
11/16/2014 - 11/22/2014

running (1) - 8.0 mi
riding (2) - 30.3 mi
walking/hiking (5) - 8.0 mi


outdoor activity 7/7 days
months ridden 11/12

YRG -


JMH

Saturday, November 22, 2014

SLEET & RAIN...
16.3 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Saturday, November 22, 2014

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

IT'S HARD TO GET  MOTIVATED WHEN IT'S COLD & WINDY...
1.9 Mile Walk Through the Pine Hills Neighborhood
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

LOTS O' BIRDIES ON A COLD, COLD DAY
2.1 Mile Walk at Five Rivers EEC
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

HERE COMES THE ARCTIC BLAST...
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

... though so far it's not too bad. But sub-freezing temperatures probably mean I won't be riding much this week... it's tough enough to get motivated to ride in the dark, much less when I'll be freezing my extremities off to do so...

JMH

Monday, November 17, 2014

DISNEY STAR WARS RUNS -
An Unbelievable Opportunity...
Monday, November 17, 2014

Not in that that Disney is holding Star Wars themed runs at all... a quick look at the runDisney event calendar shows that they're offering a variety of themed races over the next year (and here I thought all they did was the January marathon weekend.) Though I am a little surprised at how little hoopla seems to have been made about the Star Wars runs... then again, clearly someone heard about these races, since they all sold out within a very short time of registration opening.

No, what I find incredible is what an obvious cash grab this is for Disney... let's take a look at the prices:

  • Kids races (including a diaper dash) - $20 (not too outrageous)
  • 5k - $70 ($22.58 per mile!)
  • 10k - $105 ($16.94 per mile!)
  • half marathon - $195 (the best "deal" at a mere $14.89 per mile!)
  • Rebel Challenge (run both the 10k and the half - for only $320!)
  • And, as with most races, all of these prices go up as race day gets closer...
Plus, they've got all manner of "extras" - each for a fee, of course, such as the Wookiee welcome party for $99 and a variety of commemorative pins. There are even special chEARing packages for family members and friends who are just along to support their runner, with prices ranging from free to $99.

So let's say we have a hypothetical runner who brings along a tyke for the kids race and does every adult race in an effort to get all the shirts and medals, and also wants to add all the commemorative items to his or her trove of Star Wars collectibles... right from the outset this individual is looking at a price tag of around $600, before any travel expenses.

It's probably clear from my username that I enjoy Star Wars, though I don't consider myself to be a hard-core fan... it's quite possible I won't even see Episode VII in a movie theater, since I typically wait for movies to hit DVD/Blu Ray and then watch them in comfort at home. And clearly Disney has hit on a winning combination - I don't know what the registration cutoffs were, but I suspect it's safe to say that Disney is pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars from this event. One area where George Lucas was a genius was in asking for the merchandising rights when he was cutting the original deal for the first Star Wars movie - as time has shown, Star Wars fans will spend all sorts of money to have Star Wars branded stuff.

That also seems to be true of runners these days... I've always been a little bit frustrated by the steep costs of tri's and du's but chalked that up to "that's just the way it is." Increasingly though it's becoming apparent that folks will pay crazy prices for all sorts of events, the most obvious example being obstacle races, where the fee for a 3 mile-ish course is rarely below $75. Of course, in interests of full disclosure, I've been known to pay a hefty fee a time or two myself, but I guess this makes me appreciate even more the lower-priced trail races and snowshoe races I do... I'm pretty sure you could do the entire WMAC Dion snowshoe series for less than the cost of the Star Wars 10k.

JMH


Sunday, November 16, 2014

14 Mile Ride on the William C. O'Niell South County Bike Path
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Slow & Steady 2014 - Race #30
Lil Rhody Runaround 8mi Trail Race
Sunday, November 16, 2014

2014 Event Totals
Run 173.0 mi, 40 hr 00 min
Bike 338.3 mi, 29 hr 10 min

Snowshoe 47.5 mi, 14 hr 38 min
Kayak 4.0 mi, 1 hr 3 min

states/provinces visited: AB, CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Weekly Activity Summary
11/9/2014 - 11/15/2014

running (1) - 5.8 mi
riding (3) - 50.1 mi
walking/hiking (5) - 8.5 mi


outdoor activity 7/7 days
months ridden 11/12

YRG -


JMH

Saturday, November 15, 2014

AND SNOW, TOO...
1.7 Mile Walk at Ooms PCA
Saturday, November 15, 2014

About an inch of snow on the ground at Ooms, which was a surprise after the bare dusting we had in Albany. The cold wasn't too bad, until the wind hit... then it was brutal, especially this early in the season.

I was a bit surprised that there were only a couple of geese and ducks on the pond, but maybe the rest were out eating... I know in the past I've been there at dusk when a hundred geese or more flew in to spend the night.

Usually I would just walk up to the gazebo and back, but today I decided the circle the entire pond. Lots of fresh beaver-chewed trees along the path between the pond and the road... guess they were pretty busy stocking up food for the winter.

Unfortunately, the walk was over all too quickly (or fortunately... that let me get out of the wind!) and it was time to get back on the road to southeastern CT, on my way to the Lil Rhody Runaround tomorrow...

JMH
BRRR... WINTER CAME EARLY...
15.1 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Saturday, November 15, 2014

It's a little hard to believe that three days ago I was running in shorts and a T-shirt and riding in summer shorts... during my ride today the temperature hovered around freezing, with a stiff wind from the west making half the ride pretty unpleasant. I had hoped to ride a few more miles than I actually did, but it was just too darn cold, and I'm not even remotely acclimated to winter temperatures yet.

JMH

Friday, November 14, 2014

Go-Lite Going Out of Business
Friday, November 14, 2014

Well, this sucks. For quite a few years now my go-to brand for waist packs and hydration packs has been Go-Lite... the gear I've used has held up to all sorts of abuse and they have the only waist packs I've ever used that really are "bounce-free." I stopped using their water bottles a while back but only because the Nuun hydration tablets I use are slightly carbonated, which causes every "hard" bottle I have to leak a bit (which is why I'm a fan of Ultimate Direction's water bottle with the soft rubber bite valves.)

Anyway, apparently making and selling great gear wasn't enough (maybe that's the drawback to selling gear that holds up for years and years - without new customers sales dry up) because Go-Lite applied for bankruptcy a month ago and is now in the liquidation phase of that process... I guess I'll try to pick up some gear to put in storage for the day what I'm currently finally wears out...

JMH

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

21.4 Mile Ride on the Zim Smith Trail
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
5.8 Mile Run at Saratoga Spa State Park
Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Sunday, November 09, 2014

ANOTHER LIVE MUSIC FIRST -
Battlefield Band in Concert
Sunday, November 9, 2014

I first started listening to Battlefield Band on LPs in the mid-to-late 1980's... while I never found them as compelling as The Tannahill Weavers or Silly Wizard, I still enjoyed their mix of tradtional and contemporary music (how can you not enjoy a band that plays "Bad Moon Rising" accompanied by a reel on the bagpipes?) I lost track of them around 1990, picked up a couple of cassette albums in the mid-90's (back when the now defunct Borders had an excellent celtic music section), and then gradually acquired all of their albums in either CD or digital format when I updated my music library over the last couple of years. Really, though, their work that I'm most familiar with is 25-30 years old. 

Lately I've been making more of an effort to hear some of the music I enjoy in live concerts, when the cost isn't prohibitive. I've heard Dougie Maclean twice over the past three years, and a month ago was treated to my first Tannahill Weavers concert. I was more than a bit surprised a few weeks ago when I got an e-mail from the Eighth Step (the organization which hosted both of the Dougie Maclean concerts I attended) showing Battlefield Band playing in early November, since I had no idea they were going to be in this neck of the woods.

It's a strange feeling looking at a band that has been around for over 40 years in one form or another and seeing mostly musicians who most likely weren't born when the band started. The last founding member, Alan Reid, retired from the band back in 2010, though two of the current members have been with the band for between 10 and 20 years. The music was great, and the banter between tunes and songs was fun (though they readily admitted that it was mainly designed to give whoever needed it time to re-tune their instruments.) I have to admit, though, I missed some of my favorite old tunes. Maybe that just means I need to listen more to their newer albums and pick up some additional favorites.

JMH
13.6 Mile Ride Through the Corning Preserve & Schuyler Flatts Cultural Park
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Weekly Activity Summary
11/2/2014 - 11/8/2014

running (2x) - 13.5 mi
riding (1) - 18.3 mi
walking/hiking (4x) - 6.0 mi


outdoor activity 6/7 days
months ridden 11/12

YRG -Wake Up (1)


JMH

Saturday, November 08, 2014

18.3 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path & Through Freedom & Collins Parks
Saturday, November 8, 2014

Friday, November 07, 2014

6.7 Mile Run Around the Pine Hills Neighborhoods
Friday, November 7, 2014

Wednesday, November 05, 2014

1.6 Mile Walk at Buckingham Pond
Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

OWLS & A GOLDEN MOON ON A WARM NOVEMBER EVENING
6.8 Mile Run at Thacher Park
Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Sunday, November 02, 2014

CHILLY AND WINDY... BRRR...
1.5 Mile Walk at Meridian Centre Park
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Weekly Activity Summary
10/26/2014 - 11/1/2014

running (1x) - 6.2 mi
riding (1x) - 17.5 mi
walking/hiking (6x) - 12.4 mi


outdoor activity 7/7 days

YRG -

JMH

Saturday, November 01, 2014

WOODPECKERS GALORE, HUNGRY DEER
1.4 Mile Walk at Tinker Nature Park
Saturday, November 1, 2014
OVERSLEEPING + LOUSY WEATHER = NO MENDON FOR THE TURTLE
Saturday, November 1, 2014