3 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Friday, May 29, 2020
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Monday, May 18, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Steep Endurance VERTual Challenge Part 3:
4.4 Mile Run on Platte Clove Mountain Rd
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
I was a bit distressed to see signs indicating that Platte Clove Mountain Rd is closed to traffic as I approached the site of the annual race - I had been planning to drive to the pulloff at the finish, park there, run down the mountain, and then turn around and run back up. Instead I spent a while trying to find a place to park where I hoped I wouldn't get ticketed or towed, and ended up on the side of the road where we park for the race. That left me with a little bit under a quarter of a mile to the base of the steep parts.
After that it was trudge, trudge, trudge up the hill. It was nice to not have to be concerned about traffic once I passed the locked gate (the road up the mountain is closed from 11/15 to 4/15 because it's too unsafe to maintain and for people to drive on in the winter, but there's almost always some traffic during the race in early May.) Further along there were definite signs of road work, including the heavy equipment they're using, but no one working.
I'm curious to know of the original plan was to have the work done by now - if not, then the race wouldn't have happened this year even without the pandemic.
I typically think the trip back down sucks more than the trip up, at least for someone like me who can't run steep downhills. It took me almost as long descending as ascending, but I did get there in the end and found my car waiting for me undisturbed.
I'm not sure I want to know what my legs are going to feel like tomorrow, between all the uphill today and a 2nd 10+ mile day only two days after the last one...
JMH
4.4 Mile Run on Platte Clove Mountain Rd
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
After that it was trudge, trudge, trudge up the hill. It was nice to not have to be concerned about traffic once I passed the locked gate (the road up the mountain is closed from 11/15 to 4/15 because it's too unsafe to maintain and for people to drive on in the winter, but there's almost always some traffic during the race in early May.) Further along there were definite signs of road work, including the heavy equipment they're using, but no one working.
I'm curious to know of the original plan was to have the work done by now - if not, then the race wouldn't have happened this year even without the pandemic.
I typically think the trip back down sucks more than the trip up, at least for someone like me who can't run steep downhills. It took me almost as long descending as ascending, but I did get there in the end and found my car waiting for me undisturbed.
I'm not sure I want to know what my legs are going to feel like tomorrow, between all the uphill today and a 2nd 10+ mile day only two days after the last one...
JMH
Steep Endurance VERTual Challenge Part 2:
6.2 Mile Run at Olana State Historic Site
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
6.2 Mile Run at Olana State Historic Site
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
One of my favorite parts of spring race season is the Onteora Runners Club's Catskill Mountain Spring Series, which includes the Platte Clove Mountain Run 5k (sneaky, because it's a point-to-point so you'll likely do an additional 5k between getting to the start and getting back to your car), the Olana Star Loop 10k, and the High Rock Run Up 2.25mi (same observation as Platte Clove - you've got to get back to the start after finishing the run up to the Palenville Overlook.) All three races are low-key and happen on Wednesday evenings (and I love me an evening race.)
Most years I do Olana, because I enjoy the scenery and find it pretty runnable. The other two I tend to do every 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year, I suspect because I have to forget how damn hard they are before I'm willing to torture myself again. This year, of course, all three have been cancelled due to the pandemic, but with a forecast for nice weather today, I decided it was time to take advantage of the hilly courses to add to my elevation total for the VERTual Challenge.
Olana wasn't too crowded when I got there a little before lunch time but the number of visitors had picked up by the time I was done, so I'm glad I did this during the day. The Olana trails are as beautiful as ever, and I saw lots of birds and animals while I was out there. It was definitely worth the drive.
I would have liked to have either walked or run the Hudson River Skywalk along the bridge, but between the mileage (an extra 2.5 or so) and the time I decided I'd rather get in part of the Platte Clove Run, since it involves about 1200' of climbing.
JMH
Monday, May 11, 2020
Steep Endurance VERTual Challenge Part 1:
10.1 Mile Run on the Albany County Rail Trail
Monday, May 11, 2020
10.1 Mile Run on the Albany County Rail Trail
Monday, May 11, 2020
So what is the Steep Endurance VERTual Challenge? In a nutshell (emphasis on the NUTS) it means trying to accumulate some elevation over the course of this week's runs, starting today and going through next Sunday. Now I'm not under any illusion that I'm going to be competitive with the majority of folks doing this, but it's an opportunity to push myself to do more hills this week, help the Steep Endurance folks who are taking a financial hit due to cancelled races, and (you guessed it) get a medal for my efforts. A medal will get me almost every time...
Today I decided to try running somewhere I haven't before - I've run all of the rail trail from Voorheesville to the bridge over the Vloman Kill, but never mile and a bit from that bridge to the S Pearl St trailhead. Originally I thought I'd do about 6 miles total (which would have me turning around a little bit after the steeper parts ease off and the uphill grade becomes very gentle) but then a combination of the rainy weather keeping the path much less crowded than normal and my failure to run a 10-12 miler this past weekend convinced me to go out to the 5 mile mark before turning back.
JMH
Saturday, May 09, 2020
PLUMBING TURTLE REDUX
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Given how cold and windy it is today, I'm not sure I'm all that disappointed that I didn't get to run the two races I'd signed up for (Salmon River in the AM and Towpath Trail in the PM.) But at least we didn't get the snow some places did.
A couple of days ago I went under the bathroom sink and found that it was leaking again. This morning I took everything apart and found what I thought was the problem, but when I put it all back together it still leaked. A little research showed that I've been doing on of the kinds of connection wrong, so I once again took everything apart and tried reconnecting it the correct way. At the moment it seems to be behaving...
Unfortunately I didn't have the parts to also replace the two water shutoff valves, so sometime in the future I'm going to have to take it apart again to do that... but it does seem like I learn a little bit more each time, so maybe that's not so bad.
At least today's work didn't involve any rush trips to Lowes for parts!
JMH
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Given how cold and windy it is today, I'm not sure I'm all that disappointed that I didn't get to run the two races I'd signed up for (Salmon River in the AM and Towpath Trail in the PM.) But at least we didn't get the snow some places did.
A couple of days ago I went under the bathroom sink and found that it was leaking again. This morning I took everything apart and found what I thought was the problem, but when I put it all back together it still leaked. A little research showed that I've been doing on of the kinds of connection wrong, so I once again took everything apart and tried reconnecting it the correct way. At the moment it seems to be behaving...
Unfortunately I didn't have the parts to also replace the two water shutoff valves, so sometime in the future I'm going to have to take it apart again to do that... but it does seem like I learn a little bit more each time, so maybe that's not so bad.
At least today's work didn't involve any rush trips to Lowes for parts!
JMH
Friday, May 08, 2020
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Wednesday, May 06, 2020
TOWHEES & GROSBEAKS
9.3 Mile Run in the Albany Pine Bush
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
9.3 Mile Run in the Albany Pine Bush
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
I had actually planned to run between 7 and 8 miles today, but my additional loops ended up being longer than I expected, so I was pretty beat by the time I was done.
I saw (and heard) quite a few towhees (they make quite a racket as they scatter leaves and stuff on the ground looking for bugs) as was lucky to hear three rose-breasted grosbeaks (I ended up seeing two of them.) There also seemed to be quite a few blue jays around.
JMH
Sunday, May 03, 2020
Saturday, May 02, 2020
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