A Hike at Powder Mills Park
Monday, May 28, 2007

photo slideshow

Today was supposed to be a running day, but instead Ann and I headed over to Powder Mills Park east of Rochester to do a short hike and feed the fish at the fish hatchery there.



Powder Mills Park has an interesting history... in the latter half of the 1800's, the property was used as a mill site for making blasting powder. The owner, Daniel Rand, designed his powder mill specifically to avoid the catastrophic explosions that caused havoc and death at other blasting powder mills, and in the 58 years of the mill's operation, there were very few accidents and explosions. In 1910 the mill was shut down so that operations could be moved to Pennsylvania (closer to the coal mines that used much of the blasting powder produced by such mills) and 19 years later Monroe Country purchased the property for use as a park. (As always, special thanks go to Rich and Sue Freeman and their excellent book Take a Hike! Family Walks in the Rochester Area for both the route we hiked and the historical info related above. See Footprint Press for more about their excellent guide books.)



Ann and I headed over to the relatively easy trail to the Daffodil Meadow, though we didn't expect to see any daffodils this late in May. The trail winds throught the woods along the Irondequoit Creek, and other than a bit of traffic noise it's quite peaceful. While there were very few daffodills in bloom, there were lots of phlox, and the weather hasn't been warm long enough yet for it to be too buggy. On the way back, we took a trail that looped along the edge of a swamp, and spotted several wood ducks with ducklings, as well as several woodpeckers. As the trail made its way back toward the fields, we also spotted a fox moving through the brush.






Near the entrance to the park is a fish hatchery run by the Reidman Foundation of Rochester. The hatchery gets 24000 fish for free from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and raises them for 8-9 months until they can be released into the Irondequoit Creek. The fish raised are primarily various species of trout. Fish in the "corrals" range from a few inches long to over a foot. Best of all, for a quarter you can get a handful of food pellets to feed them... I stocked up on quarters before leaving for that very purpose! We fed the fish in corrals and then went over to the larger pond to feed some more (and also get pestered by the geese and their goslings, who are not averse to an easy meal!) While we were there, a blue heron down to the far side of the pond and snared several fish for a quick meal, before flying off again. It was fascinating to watch him stalk fish near the shore and snatch them out of the water to gulp them down! (It's times like that when I wish I had a better camera with me...)



So all in all, a nice little hike with lots of cool wildlife. I may try to compile the trail maps from the Freeman's book and go for a run at Powder Mills Park this summer... it seems like it could be a nice alternative to Mendon and Black Creek.

JMH

15.6 Mile Ride Along the Erie Canal
Sunday, May 27, 2007

Giving my legs a break from running (this is, after all, the week that culminates at NIPMUCK) Ann and I headed north to Greece and took the Erie Canal towpath west throught Spencerport and Adams Basin. For a little while it looked like we might make it all the way to Brockport, but her legs gave out and we headed back before then.

The ride out was windy, but we were moving at a fairly slow pace so that wasn't really a big deal. Of course, the plus side to that is - the ride back was quite a bit faster with a nice tailwind! The path wasn't too busy, and the roughest section was apparently paved last summer. The amount of new development we saw was a bit disheartening... what can I say, I'm a firm believer in fewer people and more trees!

JMH

6 Mile Run Along the Genesee Valley Greenway
Saturday, May 26, 2007

I had originally planned to run last night, but it was just too hot... so after working much of the morning and spending 4+ hours in the car to get to Rochester, I braved the wrath of a grumpy girlfriend and headed over to the Greenway for a short run. (I'd been hoping she could ride her bike along the path as I ran, but apparently two days of vigorous yard work had left her too sore and tired.)

It was actually a nice evening for a run, and the Greenway is usually a pretty nice place to round up some "easy" miles (since it's relatively flat and smooth) but tonight's run was complicated by an extremely acidic stomach, brought on (I suspect) from too much iced tea and soda earlier in the day followed by too much trail mix during the drive. So I shortened the run from 9 miles to 6, and ended up back a little sooner than Ann expected... probably a good thing all around.

JMH

LONG DISTANCE 2007, Race #6
Olana Star Loop 10k Trail Race
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

2007 Olana Star Loop photo slideshow

Olana was the home of Fredric Church, a important artist in the Hudson River School of painting. Church built a Persian style house on top of a hill overlooking the Hudson River just south of Hudson, NY, and carefully designed and landscaped the grounds so that his home would be, in effect, a work of art. Today, Olana is a New York State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark, and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York. (For more info about Church and Olana, check out the official Olana website.)

Olana, circa 1986

When I was in high school and college, I visited Olana a number of times, both as part of art class field trips and on my own to explore the grounds. Back when we held karate classes at Columbia-Greene Community College, one of our summer rituals was to spend the bulk of one class running from the college up to the house and back, along the carriage trails that wind around the hill. So when I found out that a trail race is held there in May, it was natural that I wanted to try to run it. I even managed to talk Miss Linda Moller (one of my fellow AMAI instructors) into running it too, despite her protests that she would be very slow and probably wouldn't be able to finish the entire 10 km.

We had great late May weather - sunny and warm, but not particularly humid. The drive down was nice, reminding me of my trips to Minnewaska for the Summer Solstice Run (only a month away!) Met Miss Moller at CGCC and headed up to Olana for some running fun. It was interesting waiting for things to start... I've gotten used to seeing familiar faces at many of the races I do, whether in western NY or New England, and this was a totally new crowd. About 50 runners lined up at the starting line, and after a few quick words from the RD - off we went!





The Olana Star Loop is arranged as a series of out-and-back loops, so at various points I got to see the front runners come blazing by from the direction I was heading in. It became clear early on that there would be three or four of us at the back of the pack, especially since I had decided to take it easy, in part because I knew the course was hilly and didn't want to strain my left calf again, and in part because I'm trying to rest up for NIPMUCK. The first loop took us up a hill and back down, and then around the pond near where we'd parked. Most of the trails were pretty wide and clear, though one section took us along a steep hillside and down a barely-travelled singletrack. We wrapped up the first quarter of the race running along the road back to race HQ, where a water stop had been set up.



From there we headed along trails below the house, eventually running down a long downhill all the way down to the main road that runs past CGCC (route 23, I think.) Of course, the disadvantage to an out-and-back is that what goes down must go back up, so up the same hill we ran. Continuing uphill, we looped around to a trail overlooking the Hudson River, and had a great view from a section that had been cut back to provide a scenic overlook.

Right after that came a section that many folks seemed to find a real challenge - a leaf-covered, uneven trail littered with fallen branches that took us back down to the main road. As runners passed me on their way back up, many warned me to be careful. While I appreciated the thought, it really wasn't that bad, compared to some of the places I've run! On the way back up, I passed Miss Moller on her way down, who seemed in good spirits despite having run 4-4.5 miles at that point.





From there, we made our way uphill on roads and paths, all the way to the house, and were treated with some great views of the Catskills off to the west. Just past the house we went back onto the carriage trails, and had a quick 3/4 mile downhill run to the finish. As I said, I planned to take it wasy, and I did, without totally dogging it... I finished in 1 hr 11 min, or an average pace of about 11.5 minute miles... all in all, a pretty good run. Miss Moller came in a few minutes later, having completed the entire course and very pleased that she had done so.



So overall, this was a nice little race/run through some beautiful scenery, and some nice hill work to boot! I'm definitely glad I made to drive down there, and if I can I think I'll run it again next year!

Next up: NIPMUCK.

JMH

2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 68.4 mi, 15 hr 39 min
Cycling 26.2 mi, 1 hr 55 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, VT

22 Mile Ride on the Bike Path
Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Got home from work to find that the new freewheel for the Kent road bike I bought last August had finally arrived... the spokes arrived last week, and I had already replaced the broken ones and done my best to true the wheel. Since I'd been planning to ride tonight anyway, I installed the new freewheel, put the tire back on the rim, and after a short test ride up the street and back headed over to Colonie Town Park for a ride along the bike path.

It was a nice evening for a ride, though my late start meant it got a bit chilly toward the end. Lots of people were out on the bike path enjoying the good weather... walkers, runners, riders, skaters... still, I managed to make good time out to Knolls Atomic Power Labs in Niskayuna and back. I even rode up to the top of the landfill to test my new lowest gear (which works great, though it's a fairly big jump to the next gear) and then rode back down, albeit very slowly and carefully (that's the hill I crashed on last August!)

Overall, a good shakedown for my repaired bike... with luck the weather will be good enough this weekend for me to put in some more time on it.

JMH

SCALY CRITTERS
A Live Reptile Show with the Reptile Guys
Sunday, May 20, 2007



Ann's EMT group is doing various things to celebrate National EMS Week (May 20-27) and kicked off the week with a cookout/pot luck meal at the ambulance station. After we got things set up, we were treated to a live reptile show from the Reptile Guys. They brought out a variety of lizards and a small alligator which we got to touch, and then several snakes of increasing size which we actually got to handle, including a 6 foot boa constrictor and a 12 foot albino python. Pretty cool, overall... the large snakes' musculature was particularly incredible!

JMH

LONG DISTANCE 2007, Race #5
Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon
Saturday, May 19, 2007

Spring Classic Du info
2007 Spring Classic Du results

2007 Spring Classic Du photo slideshow



finishing time 2 hrs 19 min - a PR! 4 minutes faster than 2005 and 13 minutes faster than 2006!

Back in February and March I was thinking I wouldn't do the Spring Classic this year, mainly because it's on the same weekend as several other races I'd like to do some day, like the Soapstone Mountain Half Marathon and a new duathlon in Vermont, the Mountainman Du. And as much as I enjoy the Spring Classic, it is a bit repetitive, especially since I do the same course in the fall for the Autumn Classic. So a couple of months back I was all set to pick another race for this weekend.

But then, pretty much the same thing happened as last summer when I was thinking of skipping the Indian Ladder trail race... as I thought about it more, I realized that this race and its course is becoming an old friend, and as much as I might enjoy another race, I'd miss doing the Spring Classic. Of course, it probably helps that the race organizers, Yellowjacket Racing, and all their volunteers are just a fantastic group of people who make the race a very positive and fun experience. So in the end I chose to go to Vermont for the Mt Tom Road to the Pogue, and signed up for my 3rd Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon (and my 7th du with Yellowjacket Racing.)

So despite getting to Rochester around midnight Friday night (after iaido in Utica), Saturday morning found me crawling out of bed at 5:30 AM so each some breakfast and get my gear together for a trip over to Mendon Ponds Park... a drive I'm definitely getting used to! The weather was great - sunny and cool, even a bit chilly as I checked in and wandered around waiting for the race to start. Almost forgot to strap on my timing chip, which would have been a disaster, but fortunately heard someone talking about theirs and hustled back to the car to get mine just before we all lined up for the Formula 1 (three runs, two rides) start. (The Supersprint athletes, who only complete the first three legs, would start 5 minutes after us.)



Boots had the usual pre-race comments (mostly reminders about safety and USAT rules) and then we headed out for the first run. I pushed fairly hard, and about 5 minutes in started being passed by the faster Supersprinters. One thing that was a bit of a surprise was how hot it got, especially after the fairly chilly wait to begin. As I hit the base of the last big hill before transition, I realized that I had a pretty good possibility of running the first leg in a little over 20 minutes - a very fast time for me!



Hustled through the first transition and headed up the hill on my bike. Took it pretty easy initially, to give my legs time to warm up, and watched as many riders passed me (some of them foolishly close.) I suspect some of those guys are primarily riders, because they were riding in clusters and didn't seem too concerned about staying as far right as possible... makes me wonder if maybe they need a course marshall driving the bike course to holler at some of the newbies doing stupid things. As I warmed up, the riding felt pretty good... I pushed hard, but not so hard that I wouldn't have anything left for the remaining legs. It also became clear that I should have done more hard riding, since my hamstrings started cramping. In any case, I hauled myself up the last long hill through the park, and made it back into transition in about 41 minutes... a pretty darn good time!

The middle run is always my worst, and today was no different. I walked most of the first half mile, trying to loosen my hamstrings... it felt like the run took 20 minutes, but it was more like 12 or so. And just as my legs started working again - it was time to ride!

The nice thing about the 2nd ride is you don't need to save anything for later (well... beyond the last run, but that's only two miles.) My legs were definitely feeling the workout... the hills got harder and harder to ride, though I pushed hard and kept up a good pace. The heat also continued to be a surprise - I found myself dripping sweat much of the time. Despite the heat and my legs running low on juice, I managed a good 42 minutes or so.

The final run was tough, between the heat, my muscles needing to get used to running after pushing hard on the bike, and my energy reserves running low. But I managed to get back into the groove, and finished the 2nd run in about 22 minutes, even passing a couple of folks during the 2nd mile. My overall time was a very respectable 2:19 (well, respectable for me) - the fastest I've ever done this race!



Best of all, I wasn't totally dead afterwards... definitely tired, but not shot. Maybe there's hope for NIPMUCK after all...

Next up: the Olana Star Loop, a low-key race on the hilly trails of the Olana State Historical Site, about an hour south of here overlooking the Hudson river.

JMH

2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 62.2 mi, 14 hr 28 min
Cycling 26.2 mi, 1 hr 55 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, VT

Iaido Class
Friday, May 18, 2007

Next-to-last iaido class before the summer "break", and the last one prior to the beginner students being evaluated in June. After warm-ups the advanced students got a brief talk about looking at the whole picture and taking time to "stop and smell the roses." Then we spent the bulk of the class focussing on katas while GMC worked with the beginners in preparation for their evals next month.

Jim C. and I were the only advanced men present, so we each were able to run through many of our katas under the eye of Mr. Phillips. I managed to get through nukiuchi, uken/saken, riken, and ninin-giri multiple times before we wrapped things up. Jim was brave and also did yin/yan-no-kata (both of which involved extensive time kneeling) - I was chose discretion over valor and decided not to risk my knees, with the Spring Classic Du tomorrow morning out in Rochester.

Some of the katas felt decent, others felt like they need a lot of work... truth be told, they all need a lot of work, because I don't practice them often enough. So it was nice to get a chance to focus on them for 45 minutes or so. Especially since I have a feeling we won't be doing as many katas next time; I suspect much of the class will focus on the beginners showing what they've learned instead.

JMH

...HOW ABOUT A SHORT RUN?
5.2 Miles in the Pine Bush
Thursday, May 17, 2007

It was very clear a long run was not in the cards when I came home from work last night and fell asleep for about an hour. So, I am now officially tapering for NIPMUCK. I can only hope I have a sufficient base that I'll be able to finish despite my lack of long trail runs in the past month. (And if I DNF it's not the end of the world.)

Tonight I headed over to the Pine Bush after getting new tires put on my car (it came with snow tires.) I'm looking forward to it being a bit quieter and maybe getting even better gas mileage than it does now. Anyway, I headed out on the somewhat busy trails (within the first mile I was passed by four runners and two riders) and it became quickly clear that last weekend took a lot out of my legs... they were very tired, even though I've barely run at all this week. Hopefully tomorrow's rest will leave them in good shape for the Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon on Saturday morning.

I also tried out a pair of my new Injinji Tetratsoks tonight, and I have to admit they're very comfortable, though some padding in the heel and maybe under the ball of the foot could be nice. With luck they'll cut down on some of the blistering I'm prone to... though at $12-$16 a pair, I don't foresee having a huge supply of them anytime soon.

JMH

STILL NO LONG RUN...
7.8 Miles in the Vischer Ferry Preserve
Monday, May 14, 2007

My legs just weren't up to five hours today... I could tell that walking up and down the stairs at work. So I headed over to Vischer Ferry for a relatively flat recovery run instead, and given the way my legs felt, it was a good move indeed.

Never really reached a point where the running felt good, but I did manage to keep going for 105 minutes or so. Enjoyed the warm weather, despite the blasted bugs. I'm not sure if the critters splashing in the old canal were fish, turtles, or muskrats, but there was definitely a good deal of activity in the water. And one of the real pleasures of spring - the birds!

At this point I'm starting to think it's time to go into taper mode and abandon the last long run. I'll make a definite decision on Wednesday... but if I don't do the long run then, it isn't happening. I don't want to cut my recovery time before NIPMUCK too short... that could doom me to a DNF just as surely as insufficient preparation.

JMH

NO LONG RUN...
14.7 Mile Ride on the Bike Path
Sunday, May 13, 2007

While my legs weren't all that sore, they were definitely tired, so I postponed my long run until tomorrow and took the bike over to the bike path west of Schenectady. Bit of a headwind on the way out, which not only made it tough riding but also chilly, but the ride back was a treat. Might have been nice to get off my backside earlier in the day and get out there sooner (so I could ride more) but so it goes...

Less than a week until the Spring Classic Du, and three weeks until NIPMUCK!

JMH

A Short Hike at Clarendon Gorge
Saturday, May 12, 2007

Since I was driving a good distance to get to the race today, I wanted to do something else while I was in Vermont... within the time constraints of the race being in the early afternoon and my being a bit tired from the race. So I pulled out my hiking and waterfall books to see what might be close to my route home.

Initially I had planned to stop at a park in Woodstock and walk an uphill path to a scenic overlook... as it turns out, an overlook we ran to in the race. In the end I ditched that plan, not wanting to do a 2 mile uphill hike (followed by 2 miles downhill) just to end up somewhere I'd been earlier in the day.

One of the easiest choices was Clarendon Gorge, just south of Rutland off Rt 7. A short hike down the Long Path/Appalachian Trail (they follow the same route through this part of VT) took me down to a somewhat scary suspension bridge over the gorge (well, scary if you aren't particularly fond of heights, like me.) The gorge itself was pretty cool - some small waterfalls, lots of big rocks... it was well worth the side trip, and hopefully my pictures will do it justice.

After that, I was faced with the day getting later and all my other options involving somewhat longer hikes (4 miles or so) so I called it a day and got back on the road to home. It would have been nice to see a few more sights and spend a little more time in nature (as opposed to driving past nature!) but all in all I'd say this was a day fairly well spent.

JMH

LONG DISTANCE 2007, Race #4
Mt Tom Road to the Pogue 6.2 Mile Trail Run
Saturday, May 12, 2007

Mt Tom Road to the Pogue info
2007 Mt Tom Road to the Pogue results

2007 Mt Tom Road to the Pogue photo slideshow


A while back I stumbled across an advertisement for a new trail race in Vermont - the Mt Tom Road to the Pogue 6.6 mi, run on carriage trails in the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock, VT. Between the appeal of doing an new race and especially a race in Vermont, I signed up immediately, since registration was limited to 400 runners. If nothing else, it was bound to be a fun diversion from doing longer runs in preparation for NIPMUCK.

I'm sure I checked where Woodstock was when I signed up, but it was still a surprise when I downloaded directions several days before the race and found out it was just under a 3 hour drive from Albany! Had I not been pre-registered, I might have bailed, but instead Saturday morning found me packing my gear for the drive to Vermont. Fortunately, the race didn't start until 1 PM, so I was able to sleep "late" (6 AM) on a race day.

The drive over was initially uninspiring, taking me an hour up the Northway to just past Glens Falls. From there I headed over toward the border, with a short stretch paralleling the Champlain Canal, which I'd never seen before. From there I headed into Vermont for a fast-paced drive along Rt 4 (which is a 4-lane highway) though some nice countryside into Rutland. But the really nice parts of the drive were between Rutland and Woodstock, where Rt 4 runs through the Green Mountains and after passing Killington runs alongside the Ottauquechee River. It's not the Berkshires, but it was still great to be in the mountains!



Arrived in Woodstock, followed the signs to park my car, and walked over to race HQ... or perhaps I should say, I walked up to race HQ. A couple of days before the race I received an e-mail mentioning that the course had been shortened to remove the steep hill at the start, and at the time I thought that was too bad. As I hiked the steep dirt road up to the field where the race was set up, I began to reconsider, especially when I had to hike back down to the car (about half a mile away, total) and then back up again to wait for things to begin. Along the way I snapped some pictures of the grounds of the mansion - if the rest of the park was as pretty as the hike in, we were in for a great run!

About 15 minutes before the start, we all hiked a half mile up the path to the starting area and proceeded to attempt to sort ourselves by pace... in theory, the race numbers were issued in rough order according to predicted finishing times, so I took a spot near the back and kept my eyes open to make sure I wasn't getting surrounded by faster runners. After a short wait, the RD arrived, did his best to get people to leave some room for each other, and then fired a starting pistol. And off we went!



It became clear very quickly that the "sort yourselves by pace" idea was less than successful, as many runners with numbers similar to mine blazed by me on the path. The first half to three quarters of a mile were a pretty steady uphill... I ran, but tried to stick to a pace that kept my breathing under control. At just before a mile, we hit the water stop intersection, which we would pass two more times before the end, and also were treated to one of the coolest things about the race: standing on the shore of the Pogue (a large man-made pond) was a piper in full Scots dress playing his pipes. That was a real pleasure... at various points during the race I could hear his pipes skirling away and it was always a pick-me-up.



We ran part of the way around the Pogue, then headed off into the woods for a loop up toward the northern summit of Mt Tom and then back down to the Pogue. Passed two mile markers on this section - the 1 mile at 10:20, and the 2 mile at about 22 minutes... a much faster pace than I've run recently! I guess it was a combination of good trails (they were wide, relatively clear, and very runnable) and short distance (so I had energy to burn) but I kept pushing at that pace as we returned to the Pogue and ran the rest of the way around it.







From there we headed uphill toward the southern summit, and had a couple of great views - first of more mountains off in the distance, and then, at the top, we had a panoramic view of Woodstock far below us. From there it was mixed down and uphill running, and a great stretch along a singletrack trail that was a fun break from the carriage roads.






Once we came back out on the carriage trails, it was about a mile and a half of downhill to the finish. Most of it wasn't too steep, so I was able to keep up my pace, and continued to clock sub-11 minute miles. I was also passed by several runners who I'd left behind on the climbs (that energy-to-burn thing again) but who were clearly much better downhillers than I am. (Of course, being worried about blowing out a knee while running downhill does hold me back a bit.) Still, I managed a good clip down the hill, and had hopes of averaging 10 minute miles at the end... I came close, too, coming down the final hill and "sprinting" the last level stretch to the finish in 63 min 8 sec. Another cool feature to this race - they had a spotter just before the level stretch radioing bib numbers to the RD at the finish, and as I came in I heard him announce my number, name, town, and state over the PA system. At times like that it's almost like I'm a real athlete...!

After that, I wandered around for a bit, scarfed down a couple of bagels with cream cheese, and claimed my T-shirt. I briefly considered walking back up to the Pogue and the overlook to get some better pictures, but decided that a 2 1/2 mile hike uphill wasn't that appealing. So in the end I made my way back down the steep hill to the parking area, and took my time changing clothes before climbing into the car to make the drive home.

Despite the long drive, I'm glad I did this race. I'd been concerned that all my long slow training had left me incapable of running faster, and that clearly isn't the case, since I averaged 10:10 miles today, which is one of the fastest paces I've run since resuming serious running two years ago. Woodstock and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park are very pretty places to be, and the folks organizing the event were definitely a great group of people. (They also organize the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in early June, which sells out within a couple of hours of on-line registration opening in early December... maybe someday I'll get in to that race and have another cool run through the mountains of Vermont.) I will definitely keep this on the list of races to consider for the future, and would recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone who doesn't mind making the drive to Woodstock, VT.

Next up: the Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon at Mendon Ponds Park (I definitely seem to spend a lot of time there!) This will be my ninth duathlon, and my third year to do the Spring Classic... I'm curious to see how my times will compare to the previous years', given that I haven't done any riding much beyond 20 miles and I haven't done any bricks (that's where you run and ride in the same workout, to get your legs used to the transition between events.) I'm also just plain looking forward to doing the race... the Spring Classic was the first du I ever did, and the Autumn Classic last year was the first race I did after the Crash, so at this point those races feel like old friends.

JMH

2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 57.2 mi, 13 hr 33 min
Cycling 6.2 mi, 33 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, VT

9 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Well, it wasn't the 12-14 miles I set out to do, but it was a pretty good run all the same. My legs definitely felt the wear-and-tear of Sunday's Medved Madness race, but at the same time it felt good to be out pounding the trails. I even ran up most of the hills! I had originally planned to run two loops, but as I finished the first one I decided to give my legs a break (this was a recovery run, after all) and just added a mile or so to the end of the first loop.

What a great night to be out, too... nature is definitely going green, and the temperatures felt more like late June than early May.

JMH

A SHORT RIDE ON A PLEASANT MAY EVENING
12.3 Miles in the Corning Preserve and Schuyler Flatts Park
Monday, May 7, 2007

How could I pass up an evening with sunshine and temperatures in the 70's? After a lot of internal debate I finally decided to head down to the Corning Preserve for a short ride, mainly because it's nearby and relatively flat, so I could potentially get the blood flowing in my legs without working them too hard.

Apparently lots of other folks had the same thought about the nice evening, because the path was very crowded at each end (you can always tell when you get about a mile or so in, because the crowds drop off dramatically.) Unfortunately, the bugs were also out enjoying the evening... I rode through many clouds of little black annoyances. They didn't bite - it was just distracting to be getting peppered with tiny insects at 12-15 mph.

As I was riding out toward Watervliet, the traffic noise was almost nonexistant, because 787 was a parking lot. Definitely made me glad I was out riding instead of sitting in my car on the highway wondering when I'd finally get to my destination!

I originally thought I'd do two out-and-backs, for a total of 22 miles or so, but two things changed my mind - as the sun started to drop behind the Albany skyline, it was getting a bit chilly, and on the way back I was fighting a non-stop headwind. So instead I did a short jaunt down to the pumping station and then finished the ride at just under an hour. It would have been nice to ride a bit longer, but I can't say my tired legs minded the early finish!

JMH

LONG DISTANCE 2007, Race #3
Medved Madness Mudness 15 Mile Trail Run
Sunday, May 6, 2007

Medved Madness info
2007 Medved Madness solo results
2007 Medved Madness relay results

2007 Medved Madness photo slideshow



A while back I stumbled across an announcement that Medved Running & Walking Outfitters of Rochester would be putting on a 15 mile trail race at Mendon Ponds Park, with the option of either completing the race solo or as a relay. The race was the brainchild of three Medved employees - Dan Andrus, Greg Crego, and Mort Nace (the latter one of the crazy founders of Goose Racing, organizers of a variety of crazy trail and snowshoe events in the Rochester area.) Each devised a 5 mile loop through some portion of the park, and the result was the Medved Madness 15 Mile Trail Run/Relay. Given the location (in one of the Rochester area's most beautiful parks) - there was no question that I had to be there for the inaugural race!

So that's how I found myself crawling out of bed at 5:30 AM on a Sunday morning and driving over to Mendon on target for a 7:15 arrival. Passed a small herd of deer alongside the road on my way into the park, and began wondering what we were in for when I turned down the road to the Hopkins Point lodge and had to drive through a flooded section! Checked in, got my race number and a nifty shirt, geared up, and then sat on a picnic bench enjoying the sunshine (it was a chilly morning) while waiting for everything to start.

A few minutes before 8 AM, we gathered at the starting line, and listened to a few words from Mort Nace about the race, mostly geared toward thanking the folks at Medved who had made it happen and thanking all of us for being there (apparently they had a significantly bigger turnout than expected.) He also told us that you could tell the crazy soloists from the smart relay folks by the color of their race number (which prompted lots of looking around as people checked out the competition.) And most importantly, we were given the color codes for each course - yellow tape with red dots for leg #1, pink tape with yellow dots for leg#2, and yellow tape with black stripes for leg #3. After that - it was time to run!

Leg#1 - Dan's Magellan's Nightmare: We headed off across a field and into the woods... and then the challenge of leg#1 became apparent: we were running much of the course on game trails! The first stretch was an ankle-breaker, with lots of roots, fallen branches and logs, and uneven, grassy footing. Hopped across a stream early on, and eventually exited the woods and headed across more fields before - you guessed it - going back into the woods on more game trails. Almost got lost a couple of times, but by that point there was a small group of us at the back who worked together to find the course whenever we lost sight of the flagging. Eventually made it to the beach and had a short run along the sand before heading into the woods again. Ran up the hill that we go up for the du's... and found we were off course again! Back into the woods , finally coming out at a section I knew would be a challenge - the mudpit trail leading to the ponds. The mud was deep and very mucky... early on I had a shoe sucked off, and it quickly became clear that I might as well get used to having a couple of pounds of muck on my shoes. All the way to the ponds, and then across the bit of land between Hundred Acre Pond and Deep Pond, and then all along the shoreline trail back to the starting area - mud, mud, and more mud. And worst of all - the course was double-blazed with flags for leg#3, so I knew I'd be fighting my way through that muck again! Made my way to the transition to leg#2, and was very surprised at the time (around 52 minutes.) There's no way I was running 10 minute miles, so I suspect that leg#1 was a bit short. Still, it was a fun start, and at least it looked like leg#2 would take us away from the mud.











Leg#2 - Greg's Running with the Devil: After topping off my Gatorade I headed back out, this time onto the hilly trails on the East Esker and around the Devil's Bathtub, a kettle pond hollowed out by the glaciers that moved through the area during the last ice age. While these trails meant I'd be running up and down more hills, I also suspected they'd be a bit clearer than the game trails we ran on during the first leg. Fairly quickly it became apparent that there was a group of three of us running in close proximity - a fact which became very useful when we hit the first poorly-marked junction and spit up to look for markers (and found one about 5-10 minutes later.) After running through the woods for a while, we headed out into the fields, and ran into the 2nd spot where it wasn't clear which way to go, wasting another 5-10 minutes searching for course markers. Frustrating, but at the same time all part of the fun of a trail race! Once we finally found the correct path, we had a great run up and down hills through a pine forest, and then it was back up onto the esker, up and down a challenging hill or two, and finally through the woods back down into the starting area. Reached the transition point at about 2 hours 10 minutes, or 1:20 for the 2nd leg... about right, given that I'd guess we spent 15 minutes or so lost. On the plus side, since most of what I ran on this leg was dry, my shoes had pretty much dried out from all the muck I ran through at the end of the first leg. Not that they would remain that way for long...











Leg#3 - Mort's Muddy Mayhem: I lost one of my trail buddies when I went off course the 2nd time in leg #2 - apparently she didn't miss the turn that I did. The other, a gal whose husband is apparently a fairly competitive trail runner but who had never run trails before today, stayed with me through the end of leg #2 and then decided to call it a day (I think getting lost twice was too much for her.) So after topping off my Gatorade bottles, I headed out into the last leg, expecting it to be a muddy slog through every swamp Mort could find. Hit the mud almost immediately, as the course took me back along the shore of the pond (which was even more churned up than it had been at the end of the first leg!) Got out of the mud briefly to climb a hill, but descended almost immediately after and was back to slog, slog, slog. Crossed the bit of land between the ponds and headed back into the deep mud-pits. Didn't lose any shoes this time, but I did go in up to the middle of my calf on more than one occasion. So much for my shoes drying out... ordinarily I like running through a bit of mud, but this was too much... pulling against the constant suction was a major energy drain, and my feet getting soaked for the 2nd time meant some hot spots that would definitely develop into blisters. Incredibly, once I was through that section, the leg was relatively mud-free for a much of the rest... we were running trails through the fields over by Quaker Pond, and those were mostly dry. As I ran around the pond, I caught up with my remaining trail buddy from leg#2, and we both ran into a fellow racer who was lost and looked pretty disoriented (he'd been out for a while with no water, so I suspect he was dehydrated.) I pulled ahead as we made our way around the pond and up into the woods. From there the course took us back to Deep Pond... hit some major mud getting to the shoreline trail, but that was fairly dry. Dragged myself up a side-trail to the top of Cardiac Hill - that hurt -and from there it was a relatively easy run through the woods back to where we started the 2nd leg and down to the finish, with 1 hr 10 min for the last leg and at a total time of 3 hrs 20 min. Not bad at all, considering the time I spent lost in the middle of the race, and considering that my prediction was anywhere from 3 1/2 to 4 hours to complete the course. Mort shook my hand at the end, and asked me if I'd had fun, and I gave my usual answer - yes, in a sick and torturous kind of way!
















After that, I changed hobbled down to the car and finally got my feet out of my disgusting socks and shoes, then hobbled back up to the lodge to pick up lunch for both myself and Ann (I'd ordered a lunch tocket for her, before we knew she wouldn't be able to be there.) And then it was time to drive home and eat (definitely one of my favorite post-race activities, right up there with collapsing into a semi-comatose state.)

All in all, this was a race well worth doing. I got to run in parts of Mendon I might never otherwise have run, and I got to meet a few people in the process. I also confirmed that while I've got a lot of work still to do to get ready for NIPMUCK, I'm definitely on the right track, and I'm probably stronger than I was as this point last year. The mud was definitely memorable, even more so than the killer hills along the esker... that's actually kind of funny, when you consider that the mud was only a couple of miles of a fairly long course. Regardless, I would definitely considering doing this one again (though next year I may try to convince Ann to come down to Block Island with me while I do a trail race there... we'll have to wait and see on that...)

Next up: only one week away, the inaugural Mt Tom Road to the Pogue 6.6 Mile Trail Race at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, VT. A short race, but the course sounds fun, and I'll get to go to someplace new!

JMH

2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 51 mi, 12 hr 30 min
Cycling 6.2 mi, 33 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY