the Way of the Turtle

No Short Sleeves Today!
5-6 mile trail run at
Five Rivers Environmental Education Center
Iaido class
Friday, February 10, 2006

I'm glad I enjoyed the warm weather while it lasted, because seasonable temperatures have definitely returned! On the plus side, maybe we'll get some snow and the last few snowshoe races will be, well, snowshoe races.

After spending much of the week inactive (practiced katas and self-defense for a while on Monday, and taught classes Wednesday and Thursday... but no running or biking since Sunday) I managed to get out for a short run at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, a nature preserve/education center that takes its name from the 5 major rivers that flow into this area (the Hudson, Mohawk, Sacandaga, Schoharie, and Hoosick rivers, to be exact.) The trails there are pretty nice, though in good weather I sometimes find them a bit crowded (it seems to be a popular place to walk.) Today I saw very few people. The terrain was challenging at times - the mud from the warm weather has frozen, leaving behind a crunchy unstable surface. But that was no big deal. Saw a flock of turkeys while running on the Wild Turkey Trail (they seemed less enthused to see me than I was to see them) but my favorite part is running along the Vloman Kill - the trail runs along both sides, through essentially a pine forest, so with the pines above and the water running in the stream its very peaceful and very scenic. The ice made some really cool patterns on the water as well. All in all, a very good run.

We had a pretty decent iaido class this evening. Reviewed some terminology and philosophical points, then practiced advanced katas - first Ninin Giri (which is one I really enjoy doing!) and then we learned Yoko-Ichi-Monji, which we practiced three years ago in Japan and I remembered as a real knee-killer (my memory is sound.) Other than spending a lot of the time trying not to blow out my knees while we did that one, it was a pretty good class.

Tomorrow is the big day at the Latham Circle Mall - the Clear Channel Communications Family Activity Day. Hopefully they will have a great turnout and it will be worth the time and money we've invested. In any case, it will be good for the students to participate in and see a demo (but it sure would be nice to get some new students out of the deal!) With luck I'll have some pictures to post later in the weekend.

JMH