the Way of the Turtle

14.5 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Monday, May 10, 2010

Since I didn't run yesterday, tonight ended up being my latest long run. My plan was to do 16 miles on the bike path... first west out-and back from the Niskayuna Lions Park to the old Nisky landfill, then east out-and-back to the top of the big hill down to Island View Road. It seemed like a good plan - fairly flat, and roughly halfway I could resupply at the car. And as usual, shortly into the run I decided to change the plan, in this case I think for the better.

Made the run out to the base of the old landfill with a stop at Lock 7 to check out the birds (grackles and swallows... the swallows were especially fun to watch as they swooped around chasing down bugs) and the water going over the dam. At the base of the landfill I decided to run to the top and get in a little hill work... then I decided to run up the hill to the entrance to the GE research facility to get in some more hills and also to not have to run as far once I'd gone back to the car.

Of course, once I'd reached the top of that hill, I decided to head down the other side to the trailhead at the corner of the GE property. And then it just made sense to keep going, at least to the top of the steep hill through the woods. (Well, it made sense to me... in a "if I go far enough in this direction, maybe I can just stop when I get back to the car" kind of way. And a "I haven't been here in a while, this will be more interesting than running the same old path" kind of way.)

more to come...