A Beautiful Sunny Afternoon
2.1 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, February 27, 2011
After a grey snowy morning we were treated to a bright sunny afternoon... much too nice to just head indoors, but I was too fried from skiing and snowshoeing to do very much, so instead I headed over to the bike path for a short walk.
The work dismantling the old Niska Isle bridge is proceeding, they've got about a third of it down so far. There were half a dozen pigeons sleeping in the sunshine up on the power line, so apparently they're finding someplace new to roost (or else they're in for a rude awakening once the rest of the bridge is removed.)
On the way out and back I spotted a downy woodpecker, a white-breasted nuthatch, a mourning dove... and several red-winged blackbirds! I haven't seen the latter since last fall, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear them calling "conk-a-ree" to each other - a definite sign that spring is on its way. I'll miss snowshoeing and skiing - but I am eager to get back to running trails and riding my bike and I'm especially looking forward to having more daylight after I wrap things up at work.
JMH
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Bummer... No Tannahill Weavers for Me
Saturday, February 26, 2011
I got very excited when I found out in mid-December that the Tannahill Weavers would be playing at Cafe Lena in Saratoga tonight... I've been listening to their music since I was in college but have never had the opportunity to hear them live. At the time it seemed do-able... a snowshoe race in Northfield Saturday morning, concert in Saratoga Springs Saturday night, and then another snowshoe race in West Hawley Sunday morning. But today it became more and more obvious that going to the concert just wasn't going to work... it would leave me with very little time after getting home for Northfield and I'm tired enough that getting home around 11 tonight when I have to be up early tomorrow morning just doesn't seem like a good plan.
I'll just have to hope for another opportunity to hear them live in the future...
JMH
Saturday, February 26, 2011
I got very excited when I found out in mid-December that the Tannahill Weavers would be playing at Cafe Lena in Saratoga tonight... I've been listening to their music since I was in college but have never had the opportunity to hear them live. At the time it seemed do-able... a snowshoe race in Northfield Saturday morning, concert in Saratoga Springs Saturday night, and then another snowshoe race in West Hawley Sunday morning. But today it became more and more obvious that going to the concert just wasn't going to work... it would leave me with very little time after getting home for Northfield and I'm tired enough that getting home around 11 tonight when I have to be up early tomorrow morning just doesn't seem like a good plan.
I'll just have to hope for another opportunity to hear them live in the future...
JMH
Thursday, February 24, 2011
CRUNCH TIME REDUX... BLEAH!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The problem with end-of-term exams is once the kids have taken them... they still have to be graded. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather tomorrow evening will be decent enough that I can get outdoors... at least I can look forward to two more snowshoe races this weekend!
JMH
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The problem with end-of-term exams is once the kids have taken them... they still have to be graded. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather tomorrow evening will be decent enough that I can get outdoors... at least I can look forward to two more snowshoe races this weekend!
JMH
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
BRRRRRRR.....
Saturday, February 19, 2011
I had originally planned to either go back out on the Greylock trails for a short loop or head over to Constitution Hill after today's race... but the wind blasting nonstop made it really freakin' cold! Combine with my muscles cramping up from hanging around in that cold after the race... and it was easy to decide to call it a day after we'd wrapped things up at the Greylock Visitor's Center and just head back home. Maybe tomorrow will be better... I don't mind cold in and of itself, but gale force windchill is just plain vicious.
JMH
Saturday, February 19, 2011
I had originally planned to either go back out on the Greylock trails for a short loop or head over to Constitution Hill after today's race... but the wind blasting nonstop made it really freakin' cold! Combine with my muscles cramping up from hanging around in that cold after the race... and it was easy to decide to call it a day after we'd wrapped things up at the Greylock Visitor's Center and just head back home. Maybe tomorrow will be better... I don't mind cold in and of itself, but gale force windchill is just plain vicious.
JMH
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Short Walk on a Warm Windy Evening
Friday, February 18, 2011
I had planned to go for a run tonight, but the combination of a couple of chores that needed doing and being a bit beat from the past week made that a difficult proposition. So I settled for a short walk to the store and back, to pick up some supplies for the post-race feeds tomorrow and possibly Sunday.
It was definitely an atypical February evening - warm and windy, with a bright moon up in the sky. I've been enjoying snowshoeing and I'm looking forward to another month of that (at least, if the snow holds up) - but tonight I felt a definite stirring in my blood for trail runs on warm spring days and evenings. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming running season!
JMH
Friday, February 18, 2011
I had planned to go for a run tonight, but the combination of a couple of chores that needed doing and being a bit beat from the past week made that a difficult proposition. So I settled for a short walk to the store and back, to pick up some supplies for the post-race feeds tomorrow and possibly Sunday.
It was definitely an atypical February evening - warm and windy, with a bright moon up in the sky. I've been enjoying snowshoeing and I'm looking forward to another month of that (at least, if the snow holds up) - but tonight I felt a definite stirring in my blood for trail runs on warm spring days and evenings. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming running season!
JMH
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Borders Files For Bankruptcy
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Word has been flying around about Borders being in financial trouble for a while now; that was confirmed in a really big way yesterday when the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Word is they're looking to close about 1/3 of their stores as they reorganize and try to find a way to have a productive future in the bookselling business.
It's no great surprise that a chain of bookstores is having financial problems, between Amazon commanding a strong share of the marketplace and Borders apparent inability to break into both the online sales and the e-book arenas. And let's not forget that people are just plain not buying as many books; while I don't have any data to back this up, my impression is that many people these days would say that reading is overrated.
The reasons for Borders' difficulties are outlined in a multitude of articles. I'm not going to rehash those here. Certainly Borders has lagged far behind as Amazon and Barnes & Noble have embraced a variety of new technologies, and no doubt their management has made many mistakes... but I tend to think Borders' biggest mistake has been in forgetting what they used to be - a top-notch book store, both for people who love books and for people who might just pop in looking for a best-seller or something for their kids. I used to love Borders because I could find books and CDs there that I couldn't find anywhere else. Now I mostly end up buying books at Amazon (because Borders doesn't carry them or Amazon offers a good discount) and CDs on Ebay (because who buys CDs anymore, besides me?) Borders get my business primarily when they send me a hefty coupon or when I've accumulated enough Borders Bucks through my purchases that I can save a bunch of money by shopping at Borders.
So why do I care that before too long Borders may have gone the way of Ames, Caldor, and CompUSA? Simple - because they are a major player in book sales, and I buy and read a lot of books... and the loss of such a major player can only be negative for the rest of the industry. And I hope they manage to find their way again, even if it's at the price of closing a number of stores around the northeast that I've shopped in during my travels. But I can't say I'm all that hopeful.
JMH
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Word has been flying around about Borders being in financial trouble for a while now; that was confirmed in a really big way yesterday when the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Word is they're looking to close about 1/3 of their stores as they reorganize and try to find a way to have a productive future in the bookselling business.
It's no great surprise that a chain of bookstores is having financial problems, between Amazon commanding a strong share of the marketplace and Borders apparent inability to break into both the online sales and the e-book arenas. And let's not forget that people are just plain not buying as many books; while I don't have any data to back this up, my impression is that many people these days would say that reading is overrated.
The reasons for Borders' difficulties are outlined in a multitude of articles. I'm not going to rehash those here. Certainly Borders has lagged far behind as Amazon and Barnes & Noble have embraced a variety of new technologies, and no doubt their management has made many mistakes... but I tend to think Borders' biggest mistake has been in forgetting what they used to be - a top-notch book store, both for people who love books and for people who might just pop in looking for a best-seller or something for their kids. I used to love Borders because I could find books and CDs there that I couldn't find anywhere else. Now I mostly end up buying books at Amazon (because Borders doesn't carry them or Amazon offers a good discount) and CDs on Ebay (because who buys CDs anymore, besides me?) Borders get my business primarily when they send me a hefty coupon or when I've accumulated enough Borders Bucks through my purchases that I can save a bunch of money by shopping at Borders.
So why do I care that before too long Borders may have gone the way of Ames, Caldor, and CompUSA? Simple - because they are a major player in book sales, and I buy and read a lot of books... and the loss of such a major player can only be negative for the rest of the industry. And I hope they manage to find their way again, even if it's at the price of closing a number of stores around the northeast that I've shopped in during my travels. But I can't say I'm all that hopeful.
JMH
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CRUNCH TIME... BLEAH!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
What a week... I've wanted to get out for a run every night and just haven't had the time or in some cases the energy. We split the school year into three terms, and the winter term ends next week... which means my kids are getting ready to take exams on what we've been studying for the past few months and I'm trying to not only help them prepare for that but also grading work they've submitted so they can use it to help them study. Lots of late evenings giving them extra help and then even later nights at home working means not much time left for getting outdoors.
I'm reminded of the following quote, which I posted several years ago after reading the book it's from:
"One recent morning, while running, I had a vision of a bear careening slo-mo through Yellowstone on a National Geopgraphic TV special. Bears are big, but they sure can move. Everyone knows a gazelle is built for running -- and yet you wouldn't want that bear chasing you, would you? Then I remembered that the Colorado Department of Wildlife allocates one hundred square miles for each of our state's brown bears. Any less than that, and you end up with 'nuisance' bears who eat garbage and start fights. I related to this implicitly. If I am prevented from crashing through the underbrush, I too eat garbage and snarl a lot."
-- Robin Chotzinoff, People Who Sweat
I definitely need to get outside and crash through the underbrush (or at least through the woods) so that maybe I'll eat less garbage... and before I start snarling a lot. Thank heavens we have two snowshoe races coming up this weekend!
-JMH
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
What a week... I've wanted to get out for a run every night and just haven't had the time or in some cases the energy. We split the school year into three terms, and the winter term ends next week... which means my kids are getting ready to take exams on what we've been studying for the past few months and I'm trying to not only help them prepare for that but also grading work they've submitted so they can use it to help them study. Lots of late evenings giving them extra help and then even later nights at home working means not much time left for getting outdoors.
I'm reminded of the following quote, which I posted several years ago after reading the book it's from:
"One recent morning, while running, I had a vision of a bear careening slo-mo through Yellowstone on a National Geopgraphic TV special. Bears are big, but they sure can move. Everyone knows a gazelle is built for running -- and yet you wouldn't want that bear chasing you, would you? Then I remembered that the Colorado Department of Wildlife allocates one hundred square miles for each of our state's brown bears. Any less than that, and you end up with 'nuisance' bears who eat garbage and start fights. I related to this implicitly. If I am prevented from crashing through the underbrush, I too eat garbage and snarl a lot."
-- Robin Chotzinoff, People Who Sweat
I definitely need to get outside and crash through the underbrush (or at least through the woods) so that maybe I'll eat less garbage... and before I start snarling a lot. Thank heavens we have two snowshoe races coming up this weekend!
-JMH
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
And the Results Are In...
2011 Muddy Sneaker Trail Race Lottery
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Muddy Sneaker 20k trail race is held annually in mid-April at the High Tor Wildlife Management Area in Naples, NY. The race has gained a certain degree of notoriety both for being one of the more challenging trail races in western NY (actually, when it started, it was one of the only trail races in that area) and for the fact that only 150 spots are available, which had led the race organizers (the fine folks at Goose Adventure Racing) to hold a lottery to pick the lucky 150 + 25 for a waiting list. I tried to get in several years ago without success, and since then have been doing other races that weekend... but this year I decided to go for it and put my name in the hat. The lottery was tonight, and - I made the waiting list (7th on the list, in fact.)
So on the one hand its a bit frustrating (I still don't know if I'm running the race or not) but on the other there's hope that seven runners will drop out over the next month or so and I'll be moved to the event list. And if not - I'm sure I can find somewhere else to run that weekend...
JMH
2011 Muddy Sneaker Trail Race Lottery
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Muddy Sneaker 20k trail race is held annually in mid-April at the High Tor Wildlife Management Area in Naples, NY. The race has gained a certain degree of notoriety both for being one of the more challenging trail races in western NY (actually, when it started, it was one of the only trail races in that area) and for the fact that only 150 spots are available, which had led the race organizers (the fine folks at Goose Adventure Racing) to hold a lottery to pick the lucky 150 + 25 for a waiting list. I tried to get in several years ago without success, and since then have been doing other races that weekend... but this year I decided to go for it and put my name in the hat. The lottery was tonight, and - I made the waiting list (7th on the list, in fact.)
So on the one hand its a bit frustrating (I still don't know if I'm running the race or not) but on the other there's hope that seven runners will drop out over the next month or so and I'll be moved to the event list. And if not - I'm sure I can find somewhere else to run that weekend...
JMH
Monday, February 07, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
My plan was to stop somewhere on the way home, probably Schodack Island State Park, and do some XC skiing. Unfortunately by the time I reached the MA Turnpike the rain had started to fall, and it was pretty steady from then on. I'll go out in wind, in cold, in snow... but not rain just slightly above freezing. Maybe if I had more waterproof gear (instead of just a couple of jackets) but I don't... and ending up back at the car cold and soaked just didn't seem like it would be any fun at all.
Guess this is a day to get some work done indoors instead... I'll just have to get out after tomorrow's race!
JMH
Saturday, February 5, 2011
My plan was to stop somewhere on the way home, probably Schodack Island State Park, and do some XC skiing. Unfortunately by the time I reached the MA Turnpike the rain had started to fall, and it was pretty steady from then on. I'll go out in wind, in cold, in snow... but not rain just slightly above freezing. Maybe if I had more waterproof gear (instead of just a couple of jackets) but I don't... and ending up back at the car cold and soaked just didn't seem like it would be any fun at all.
Guess this is a day to get some work done indoors instead... I'll just have to get out after tomorrow's race!
JMH
Friday, February 04, 2011
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
What a GREAT Winter So Far!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Lately I've listened to a lot of people complaining about how rough this winter has been and I just have to say - I think this is probably the best winter we've had since I started snowshoeing in December 2005! Plenty of snow for skiing and snowshoeing, none of our races cancelled due to lousy conditions... it's been great! And looking around at everything coated in white, with massive icicles hanging from the eaves... that's got to beat brown and grey.
Now I realize that the top weather-predicting rodents, Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck, both predict an early end to winter. Far be it from me to go up against two such formidable marmot meteorologists, but I say phooey on that! Let's see a good old-fashioned winter with snow until late March!
(Besides... Phil and Chuck may have been playing it safe. After the succession of storms that have buried the northeast in snow over the past few weeks, they may have been wary of the backlash from calling for six more weeks of the same. And was I the only one who didn't know that there are dozens of weather-predicitng woodchucks out there giving forecasts on February 2?)
JMH
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Lately I've listened to a lot of people complaining about how rough this winter has been and I just have to say - I think this is probably the best winter we've had since I started snowshoeing in December 2005! Plenty of snow for skiing and snowshoeing, none of our races cancelled due to lousy conditions... it's been great! And looking around at everything coated in white, with massive icicles hanging from the eaves... that's got to beat brown and grey.
Now I realize that the top weather-predicting rodents, Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck, both predict an early end to winter. Far be it from me to go up against two such formidable marmot meteorologists, but I say phooey on that! Let's see a good old-fashioned winter with snow until late March!
(Besides... Phil and Chuck may have been playing it safe. After the succession of storms that have buried the northeast in snow over the past few weeks, they may have been wary of the backlash from calling for six more weeks of the same. And was I the only one who didn't know that there are dozens of weather-predicitng woodchucks out there giving forecasts on February 2?)
JMH
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
5.2 Mile Run Snowshoe on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Since I haven't run in a while and we're supposed to get a lot of snow tomorrow, I headed over to the bike path to do a couple of laps on the Gerbil Wheel. Good thing I had my snowshoes in the car, because when I got there I discovered they hadn't yet plowed the path between the Niskayuna Lions Park and Lock 7 Road, so there was 6-8 inches of snow covering the pavement. Sometimes you just gotta be flexible... I strapped on my older pair of snowshoes and headed off down the path.
Even though the snow wasn't too deep, it was mostly unbroken and surprisingly tough going - I ended up walking a lot of the trip out. The flat, flat path was both a plus and a minus; no hills to climb, but none to catch a break going down either. Running down the short hill to Lock 7 Road felt really good, so much so that I decided to keep going on the far side of the road. Made it most of the way to the trailhead at the Lock 7 parking lot, then decided to turn back. Since that part of the path doesn't get plowed, it was tougher going than the Gerbil Wheel.
I was able to run more on the way back, in part because I could use my previous footprints and in part probably because I was warmed up. But I still did a good deal of walking. Once I got back to the park, I decided I wanted to get in a bit more, so I headed east toward the Niskayuna/Colonie town line, another section of path that doesn't get plowed. That was obvious when I reached the barrier and saw just the tips of the posts to either side sticking up out of the snow. Turned around and headed back, just in time as it happens - while I was in the car getting ready to leave two snowmobiles went by on the path.
I almost didn't go out tonight, because I got home from work early because of today's storm and was feeling pretty warm and comfortable. But in the end I'm glad I went out instead of staying home. It was tough going and more walking than running but well worth it.
JMH
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Since I haven't run in a while and we're supposed to get a lot of snow tomorrow, I headed over to the bike path to do a couple of laps on the Gerbil Wheel. Good thing I had my snowshoes in the car, because when I got there I discovered they hadn't yet plowed the path between the Niskayuna Lions Park and Lock 7 Road, so there was 6-8 inches of snow covering the pavement. Sometimes you just gotta be flexible... I strapped on my older pair of snowshoes and headed off down the path.
Even though the snow wasn't too deep, it was mostly unbroken and surprisingly tough going - I ended up walking a lot of the trip out. The flat, flat path was both a plus and a minus; no hills to climb, but none to catch a break going down either. Running down the short hill to Lock 7 Road felt really good, so much so that I decided to keep going on the far side of the road. Made it most of the way to the trailhead at the Lock 7 parking lot, then decided to turn back. Since that part of the path doesn't get plowed, it was tougher going than the Gerbil Wheel.
I was able to run more on the way back, in part because I could use my previous footprints and in part probably because I was warmed up. But I still did a good deal of walking. Once I got back to the park, I decided I wanted to get in a bit more, so I headed east toward the Niskayuna/Colonie town line, another section of path that doesn't get plowed. That was obvious when I reached the barrier and saw just the tips of the posts to either side sticking up out of the snow. Turned around and headed back, just in time as it happens - while I was in the car getting ready to leave two snowmobiles went by on the path.
I almost didn't go out tonight, because I got home from work early because of today's storm and was feeling pretty warm and comfortable. But in the end I'm glad I went out instead of staying home. It was tough going and more walking than running but well worth it.
JMH
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
