Weekly Activity Summary
7/9/2026 - 7/15/2026
7/9/2026 - 7/15/2026
running (1) - 6.2 mi
riding (1) - 8.0 mi
walking/hiking (9) - 29.7 mi
outdoors 7/7 days
yoga/other - STC(7), CTC(2), CW3(1), BF2(1)
yoga/other - STC(7), CTC(2), CW3(1), BF2(1)
JMH
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Friday, July 10, 2026
Thursday, July 09, 2026
Wednesday, July 08, 2026
Monday, July 06, 2026
Saturday, July 04, 2026
Thursday, July 02, 2026
Wednesday, July 01, 2026
A DECENT START ON A HOT HUMID MORNING...
4 Mile Run at Washington Park
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
It feels like the Universe has been consiring to keep me from running, most recently in the form of a local repair shop that won't have time to work on my car until next Monday. Now theoretically I could just step out my front door and run... but I've been doing so little running for the past months that the concrete sidewalks would beat the heck out of my knees, and I really don't want to risk running in the road. So I came up with three options within walking distance: Washington Park, the Hackett Multi-Use Path next to the school, and Buckingham Pond, with the idea being to walk there as a warm-up, run 3 miles or so, and then walk home.
The weather this week threw in an extra complication - it's supposed to be extremely hot and humid. So that means running either 1st thing in the morning or late in the evening.
This morning I managed to get up and get moving in time to head to Washington Park, the closest option. I walked the 0.6 miles there at a brisk pace and then ran laps around the lake in both directions, on both the dirt path and the paved roads. The good news is my body does remember how to run, albeit very slowly. But I've got a lot of work to do to build my strength and endurance back up. My plan was to do 4 loops for about 5k of running - it was warm and unpleasant enough that I almost cut that short, but then a shady stretch with a cool breeze revived me enough to complete the 4th time around, after which I walked home and was pretty useless until mid-afternoon.
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD...
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
The past couple of years I've been finding it very difficult to maintain my mileage.
Some data from the past 5 years:
During the worst of the covid years, I kicked things into a higher gear... and then for a variety of reasons my mileage dropped off, and I lost a lot of the gains I'd made from my previous extended training.
Here's what things have looked like so far this year:
Previously I'd averaged about 5 miles a day on foot during the school year, more in the summer. The first four months of this year I wasn't anywhere near that. What changed things was the Utica Road Runners Five After Five Challenge in May, where participants try to cover 5k or 5 miles a day for 15 days (there are also options for total distance over the 15 days, as well as a really crazy option or two.)
I've done both the 5k and 5 mile a day options previously, and decided to use the challenge this year to start getting my mileage back on track. Clearly some part of that worked, though most of it was additional walking - I still didn't manage to run much.
The challenge this summer is going to be to increase my mileage even more and especially to increase my running mileage. Along the way I also need to start losing some of the weight I gained as my activity level dropped... one afternoon I was hauling a 40 lb bag of bird seed up my front steps and it occured to me that I was hauling the equivalent of that bag around with me every day (!) and that has to change. I also want to get back into the habit of doing yoga workouts on a much more regular basis.
I didn't get out of shape overnight, so getting back into shape is going to take a lot of patience (I tend to be better at being frustrated and/or depressed about where I've allowed mysef to go rather than patient, so that's going to take work!)
Monday, June 29, 2026
17.2 Mile Ride Through Albany & Slingerlands & on the Albany County Rail Trail
Monday, June 29, 2026
It looks like my most recent duathlon was way back in 2018, and even befor that I had moved most of my riding to off-road paths and trails as much as possible. Today's ride was a reminder why... I rode local streets and roads to get to the Kenwood MultiUse Path, took that to the Rail Trail, did a few miles on the trail, and then took roads back home (with a stop at Ayers Automative, where I was given the bad news that they can't work on my car until next week.) Honestly, the 12 miles or so on roads went just fine, but the 5 miles or so on the Rail Trail and the Kenwood trail were just so much more enjoyable - I could concentrate on riding and the scenery around me rather than on the cars buzzing by me.
It would definitely be more convenient to just take my bike down the steps and ride from home - and I'll probably do that once or twice more before my car is good to go - but I don't see myself going back to raod riding on a regular basis any time soon, unless things change in a big way and I somehow move out to the countryside instead the middle of Albany.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
DO BETTER 2026 EVENT #19b
Juneteenth 19k (SOLO)
(+an extra 0.6mi)
12.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path & the Erie Canalway Trail
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
I definitely haven't done a good job of increasing my riding now that warmer weather is here... tonight's meager 12.5 miles were tough. (The wind didn't help!)
2025 Event Totals
Run 107.34 mi, 31 hr 53 min
Bike 11.8 mi, 1 hr 20 min
Snowshoe 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Bike 11.8 mi, 1 hr 20 min
Snowshoe 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
STATES: NY
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
5.2 Mile Walk on the Albany County Rail Trail
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
It's been less than a day and I very much miss my Gold Peak Zero Sugar tea and Diet Coke (I'm seeing if cutting aspartame from my fiet has a positive effect on some health issues I've been experiencing... fortunately Gold Paek does make unsweetened tea, so I'm not going the very unpleasant full caffeine detox route, though I think I'm noticing that I've reduced my caffeine intake.)
During tonight's walk I once again found myself thinking that walking 2.6 miles away from the car on a path doesn't seem like that big a deal, until you have to turn around and walk the same distance back.
I also realized that walking without socks (which I did last night because of the rain) when it's warm is not a great idea... the rain kept things cool enough last night that I had no issues, but by the time I turned around tonight I had a hot spot on the ball of my left foot that was definitely a developing blister by the time I was done.
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