the Way of the Turtle

NO SNOW YET...
12 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Too bad, really... it would have been cool to run in the falling snow...

Knew I needed to get in a long run before the snow hits and makes it harder to do night runs (well, at least non-snowshoe night runs!) So I headed over to the bike path along the Mohawk River in Niskayuna, originally planning to first run west to Lock 7 and then head in the opposite direction almost all the way to the Northway. Took my Yaktrax in case the snow was still covering the path - turned out I could only have used them part of the time, unlike my short run there a week ago.

After running to Lock 7 and back, I changed plans a bit, in part to take advantage of the fact the the path was mostly clear in that direction and in part so I could ditch my waist pack - I decided to run in the other direction only 2 1/2 miles, then return to the car and repeat the Lock 7 out-and-back. It was a good decision - there was enough packed, uneven snow on parts of the path to make the east leg a bit challenging and very tiring. And it was great not wearing the waist pack! While it was tempting to stop the 2nd time I got back to the car, I pushed myself to do the last 3 miles (didn't go all the way to Lock 7) so I could run a full 12 miles and 3 hours. Slow going, and the last 4 miles or so were not much fun... but the Eastern States 20 Miler is only 39 days away!

I even got to hear coyotes howling over in the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve across the river - guess it's just as well I didn't go over there to run!

BRING ON THE SNOW!

JMH