3.1 Mile Walk at Five Rivers EEC
Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 4 -
WE HAVE A ROOF!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
I had hoped to get out of Albany early enough to run the 5 mile Run for the Woods in Marcellus, a fundraiser for the exellent Baltimore Woods Nature Center that Ann and I visited last December. Unfortunately sleep did not cooperate and I ended up leaving in the early afternoon instead... but at least I got out to Rochester with a couple of hours left to work on the new shed.
During the week Ann painted the exterior and got help pushing it into position against the back wall of the garage. So tonight we installed the rafters and then attached the sections of the roof - one of the more annoying aspects of this kit is how many parts of the shed are in separate sections rather than single pieces of wood. In the case of the roof, however, I don't know that it could have been done any other way, since each side is approximately 5' x 10', and particle board comes in 4' x 8' sheets.
It was a bit tricky getting everything lined up, especially with the way some of the rafters are warped - but by dusk the shed had a roof - a significant step. Tomorrow is the big push to the finish - shingle the roof, install the windows and doors, and attached various pieces of decorative trim.
JMH
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 4 -
WE HAVE A ROOF!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
I had hoped to get out of Albany early enough to run the 5 mile Run for the Woods in Marcellus, a fundraiser for the exellent Baltimore Woods Nature Center that Ann and I visited last December. Unfortunately sleep did not cooperate and I ended up leaving in the early afternoon instead... but at least I got out to Rochester with a couple of hours left to work on the new shed.
During the week Ann painted the exterior and got help pushing it into position against the back wall of the garage. So tonight we installed the rafters and then attached the sections of the roof - one of the more annoying aspects of this kit is how many parts of the shed are in separate sections rather than single pieces of wood. In the case of the roof, however, I don't know that it could have been done any other way, since each side is approximately 5' x 10', and particle board comes in 4' x 8' sheets.
It was a bit tricky getting everything lined up, especially with the way some of the rafters are warped - but by dusk the shed had a roof - a significant step. Tomorrow is the big push to the finish - shingle the roof, install the windows and doors, and attached various pieces of decorative trim.
Almost there...
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
GO RIDE IN TRAFFIC!
9 Mile Ride on the Streets of Colonie, Guilderland, & Albany
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Unless, of course, you don't have to... other than during du's and paddle tri's, I've done very limited riding in traffic over the last couple of years - I much prefer bike paths where the unpredictable objects are similar in size to me. This morning I dropped the car off for some work which would definitely take most of the day - so I brought my bike with me to ride home. On the plus side - the shop doing the work is near the location where I used to teach karate, and for a while I was riding to and from there regularly, while trying to keep my old Subaru alive long enough to find a new car. So I had a pretty good idea of the least dangerous route to take, though it's complicated a bit by all the construction past and ongoing over on Fuller Rd and near SUNY Albany.
Overall, I found driving in traffic pretty nerve-wracking... fortunately much of the route I took is pretty quite in the morning, so there were only a few stretches where I had cars and trucks blasting by me. I do wish I'd thought to pack my camera - one part of the route runs through Six Mile Waterworks Park (a part of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve) and later in the ride I rode past Buckingham Lake, and both would have been good spots to get some pictures at times when I wouldn't usually be there (ie. mornings!)
Of course, unless I decide to run back over to pick up the car - I get to repeat the process either later today or tomorrow morning. No question, I'll be glad to be back to riding bike paths when this is all over... though I am thinking I might try to ride to work 2-3 days a week this fall, if I can get my backside moving early enough to have time to change clothes when I get there.
JMH
9 Mile Ride on the Streets of Colonie, Guilderland, & Albany
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Unless, of course, you don't have to... other than during du's and paddle tri's, I've done very limited riding in traffic over the last couple of years - I much prefer bike paths where the unpredictable objects are similar in size to me. This morning I dropped the car off for some work which would definitely take most of the day - so I brought my bike with me to ride home. On the plus side - the shop doing the work is near the location where I used to teach karate, and for a while I was riding to and from there regularly, while trying to keep my old Subaru alive long enough to find a new car. So I had a pretty good idea of the least dangerous route to take, though it's complicated a bit by all the construction past and ongoing over on Fuller Rd and near SUNY Albany.
Overall, I found driving in traffic pretty nerve-wracking... fortunately much of the route I took is pretty quite in the morning, so there were only a few stretches where I had cars and trucks blasting by me. I do wish I'd thought to pack my camera - one part of the route runs through Six Mile Waterworks Park (a part of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve) and later in the ride I rode past Buckingham Lake, and both would have been good spots to get some pictures at times when I wouldn't usually be there (ie. mornings!)
Of course, unless I decide to run back over to pick up the car - I get to repeat the process either later today or tomorrow morning. No question, I'll be glad to be back to riding bike paths when this is all over... though I am thinking I might try to ride to work 2-3 days a week this fall, if I can get my backside moving early enough to have time to change clothes when I get there.
JMH
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 3
Monday, August 20, 2012
Today was definitely a work day... finished the last wall (the trickiest one, with spaces for the window and doors) and then - it was time to start raising the walls and securing the whole thing.
JMH
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 3
Monday, August 20, 2012
Today was definitely a work day... finished the last wall (the trickiest one, with spaces for the window and doors) and then - it was time to start raising the walls and securing the whole thing.
Oddly enough, the gable trim was one of the toughest things to do - for whatever reason the dozen-plus screws on each side just did not want to bite into the gables. Ended up pre-drilling the 2nd one.
While overall things ended up fairly straight and level - the end result has a few spots that don't match up as well as I'd have liked. Ordinarily I'd blame my own incompetence - but in this case we were very careful, and all the wood was pre-cut. And therein lies the problem - especially since a lot of the 2x3's were warped to one degree or another. I can't say I'm all that impressed with the quality control of the company that built the kit - but perhaps this is considered a "cheap" shed and Ann needed to shell out a lot more money if we wanted to be sure that everything was top-notch instead of simply functional.
While Ann caulked all the seams and joints, I finished a last bit of building - the faux shutters for the window and much more importantly the 4 rafters for the roof. Over the next few days Ann will get the exterior painted and the whole thing pushed back into position - and then we can wrap up construction and she'll have a new shed.
JMH
Sunday, August 19, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 2
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Only a couple hours left to work once we got back from Letchworth today... but enough time to build another wall, and the framework for the last one. Tomorrow will be a big day - raise all the walls and get the exterior set up to be painted, so that the whole thing can be pushed up against the back of the garage.
JMH
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 2
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Only a couple hours left to work once we got back from Letchworth today... but enough time to build another wall, and the framework for the last one. Tomorrow will be a big day - raise all the walls and get the exterior set up to be painted, so that the whole thing can be pushed up against the back of the garage.
JMH
Saturday, August 18, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 1
Saturday, August 18, 2012
I had planned to head back today but Ann was stressing about getting a bunch of work done on the shed while the weather was good, so I adjusted my plans and we spent the day leveling the shed site and then building shed parts instead.
First the base...
Hammerin' Turtle, Day 1
Saturday, August 18, 2012
I had planned to head back today but Ann was stressing about getting a bunch of work done on the shed while the weather was good, so I adjusted my plans and we spent the day leveling the shed site and then building shed parts instead.
First the base...
And then two walls and the gables for the tops of those two walls.
While we were building the base, Ann gave the underside of the floor panels a coat of deck stain to help preserve them.
All in all, a pretty productive day of construction... lots of hammering and I didn't smash any fingers even once.
JMH
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Block Stackin' Turtle
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Demolishing the old shed left us with a hole filled with sandy dirt and a variety of patio blocks, so today's job was to move the blocks, smooth out the dirt, top it all off with gravel, and then level it out as best we could. I spent a chunk of the morning tackling the block-moving phase - a hot, sweaty, slow, tedious process that involved prying each block up, lifting it, and moving it to a stack off to the side. Most of the blocks were 16" x 16" square concrete... not fun. But lots of sweat and one sore back later, we had a hole ready to be prepped for gravel and the base of the new shed... work for later in the afternoon, after a trip to Home Depot to buy a bunch of bags of gravel and the treated 4x4's that the base of the shed will sit on.
We also moved the parts of the new shed from the garage to the porch, so Ann could put her truck away while we're in Ohio over the next few days. I suspect my back will be grumbling about all the lifting and hauling for a while...
JMH
Block Stackin' Turtle
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Demolishing the old shed left us with a hole filled with sandy dirt and a variety of patio blocks, so today's job was to move the blocks, smooth out the dirt, top it all off with gravel, and then level it out as best we could. I spent a chunk of the morning tackling the block-moving phase - a hot, sweaty, slow, tedious process that involved prying each block up, lifting it, and moving it to a stack off to the side. Most of the blocks were 16" x 16" square concrete... not fun. But lots of sweat and one sore back later, we had a hole ready to be prepped for gravel and the base of the new shed... work for later in the afternoon, after a trip to Home Depot to buy a bunch of bags of gravel and the treated 4x4's that the base of the shed will sit on.
We also moved the parts of the new shed from the garage to the porch, so Ann could put her truck away while we're in Ohio over the next few days. I suspect my back will be grumbling about all the lifting and hauling for a while...
JMH
Monday, August 13, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Demolition Turtle, Day 2
Monday, August 13, 2012
Today we put together a rough list of the materials needed to rebuild the exterior of the shed and headed off to Home Depot to get a price - and also to compare that price to the sheds they sell. As it turned out, the cost of a brand new shed would only be a few hundred dollars more than the cost of the materials to fix up the old one - and a trip to Lowes gave us not only a lower priced option but also a shed that Ann liked. Best of all, for some additional money we could have it installed.
Except... when she sat down to sign the paperwork, we discovered that the installers require a minimum of 3 feet free around all sides and the roof - and Ann wants it right up against the back of the garage, just like the old one. So we were back to building it ourselves. Ann purchased the kit and we unpacked it into the garage, then spent the rest of the afternoon tearing down the rest of the old shed. It's really too bad we didn't know from the start we'd be rebuilding from the ground up - would have made the demo process go a lot quicker. But so it goes...
JMH
Demolition Turtle, Day 2
Monday, August 13, 2012
Today we put together a rough list of the materials needed to rebuild the exterior of the shed and headed off to Home Depot to get a price - and also to compare that price to the sheds they sell. As it turned out, the cost of a brand new shed would only be a few hundred dollars more than the cost of the materials to fix up the old one - and a trip to Lowes gave us not only a lower priced option but also a shed that Ann liked. Best of all, for some additional money we could have it installed.
Except... when she sat down to sign the paperwork, we discovered that the installers require a minimum of 3 feet free around all sides and the roof - and Ann wants it right up against the back of the garage, just like the old one. So we were back to building it ourselves. Ann purchased the kit and we unpacked it into the garage, then spent the rest of the afternoon tearing down the rest of the old shed. It's really too bad we didn't know from the start we'd be rebuilding from the ground up - would have made the demo process go a lot quicker. But so it goes...
JMH
Sunday, August 12, 2012
A TALE OF TWO SHEDS
Demolition Turtle, Day 1
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The first shed came with the house Ann and her brother bought 13 years ago... and refurbishing it has been on her "to do" list for a couple of years. It's ugly, the wood is rotting away in spots, and there are enough gaps that it's pretty easy for bees and wasps to get in and build nests. Last summer we decided that it wouldn't be too difficult to remove the sides and roof, leaving the frame intact, and then rebuild the exterior. One glitch to that plan - the floor is rotten in spots, and the frame is attached on top of it...
During the week Ann removed most of the stuff stored inside; today we took out the rest and started tearing apart the exterior. After ripping off the trim, it turned out to be pretty easy to knock the side panels off from the inside with a framing hammer... a bit satisfying to smash the heck out of the sides to boot.
The roof is looking to be more problematic - the bulk of it is a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood with what feels like a ton of asphalt shingles on top, not to mention about a million pointy nails poking down. I'd hoped we get the whole thing ripped apart today, but it looks like it's going to take a little longer before we can start building.
JMH
Demolition Turtle, Day 1
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The first shed came with the house Ann and her brother bought 13 years ago... and refurbishing it has been on her "to do" list for a couple of years. It's ugly, the wood is rotting away in spots, and there are enough gaps that it's pretty easy for bees and wasps to get in and build nests. Last summer we decided that it wouldn't be too difficult to remove the sides and roof, leaving the frame intact, and then rebuild the exterior. One glitch to that plan - the floor is rotten in spots, and the frame is attached on top of it...
The roof is looking to be more problematic - the bulk of it is a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood with what feels like a ton of asphalt shingles on top, not to mention about a million pointy nails poking down. I'd hoped we get the whole thing ripped apart today, but it looks like it's going to take a little longer before we can start building.
JMH
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Thursday, August 09, 2012
A FUTURE CHALLENGE?
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Today I received an e-mail about an event happening down in the 'Gunks next May - the Rock the Ridge 50 mile challenge, being put on as a fundraiser for the Mohonk Preserve. Ordinarily I wouldn't even consider a 50 miler - I'm too darn slow to make the time cutoffs at most of them - but this one has a 24 hour time limit, which even I should be able to do. And it's in an area I absolutely love...
The catch - registration is a whopping $150, plus participants have to raise a minimum of $250 as well. I've got to admit, the registration fee seems fairly steep to me - but I've also been thinking about this all day, which tells me I've been bitten by the bug. The only question is - will it gain enough of a foothold for me to fork over the cash before the cap for individual runners (50) is met? (There are also relay and team options, but somehow I doubt I'll find three other folks willing to travel at my glacial pace and also willing to shell out that much money to do it.)
Decisions, decisions...
JMH
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Today I received an e-mail about an event happening down in the 'Gunks next May - the Rock the Ridge 50 mile challenge, being put on as a fundraiser for the Mohonk Preserve. Ordinarily I wouldn't even consider a 50 miler - I'm too darn slow to make the time cutoffs at most of them - but this one has a 24 hour time limit, which even I should be able to do. And it's in an area I absolutely love...
The catch - registration is a whopping $150, plus participants have to raise a minimum of $250 as well. I've got to admit, the registration fee seems fairly steep to me - but I've also been thinking about this all day, which tells me I've been bitten by the bug. The only question is - will it gain enough of a foothold for me to fork over the cash before the cap for individual runners (50) is met? (There are also relay and team options, but somehow I doubt I'll find three other folks willing to travel at my glacial pace and also willing to shell out that much money to do it.)
Decisions, decisions...
JMH
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Ahhh... Cool Night Breezes...
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Have I mentioned how much I hate the heat and humidity this summer? The past two nights have been wonderful... cool enough that the breeze coming in through the window had me reaching for a blanket. If only it would stay like this until, oh, October or November...
JMH
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Have I mentioned how much I hate the heat and humidity this summer? The past two nights have been wonderful... cool enough that the breeze coming in through the window had me reaching for a blanket. If only it would stay like this until, oh, October or November...
JMH
Monday, August 06, 2012
Sunday, August 05, 2012
ALMOST BEAT THE RAIN...
13 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Rain this afternoon - at last! Too bad it wasn't about four hours earlier, it would have been a welcome relief during the races, at least for me. Once it had let up for a while and I'd rehydrated and was feeling human again, I decided to take the bike out for an easy ride. Not too many people on the bike path (no surprise, given the rain earlier and the threat of storms later.) I did spot a couple of herons, as well as a group of deer that included several youngsters... but the real treat was a turkey hen and her three "chicks" (they were almost as big as her) that darted across the path ahead of me just west of the Colonie wasterwater facility.
I stopped on the way back to the car to take some pictures of the river from the vantage point near the old railroad bridge... and while I was there heard a rumble of thunder and felt some rain drops... so I ended the ride with a 15-16 mph sprint back to the car, in hopes of beating the worst of the rain. I was mostly successful... only got a little bit wet instead of totally soaked.
JMH
13 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Rain this afternoon - at last! Too bad it wasn't about four hours earlier, it would have been a welcome relief during the races, at least for me. Once it had let up for a while and I'd rehydrated and was feeling human again, I decided to take the bike out for an easy ride. Not too many people on the bike path (no surprise, given the rain earlier and the threat of storms later.) I did spot a couple of herons, as well as a group of deer that included several youngsters... but the real treat was a turkey hen and her three "chicks" (they were almost as big as her) that darted across the path ahead of me just west of the Colonie wasterwater facility.
I stopped on the way back to the car to take some pictures of the river from the vantage point near the old railroad bridge... and while I was there heard a rumble of thunder and felt some rain drops... so I ended the ride with a 15-16 mph sprint back to the car, in hopes of beating the worst of the rain. I was mostly successful... only got a little bit wet instead of totally soaked.
JMH
Whupped Turtle - TFWOAC! Kicked My Butt Big Time
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Yup, I was right... 4 races in 2 days was not the brightest thing to attempt, especially in the middle of summer (hot weather sucks for racing, in my book) and given my current state of training (or rather, lack thereof.)
So the final score is
Race the Train - DNS, due to lack of sleep the night before
Moonlight in Vermont - a definite success
Indian Ladder 15k - survived, with a lot of walking
Indian Ladder 3.5mi - DNS, the 15k wiped me out and I would have had to walk most of the short race
I think it is fair to say I well and truly got my butt kicked by TFWOAC!
Of course, if past experience is a reliable guide, Moonlight in Vermont will probably not fall on this weekend next year - usually it's mid-July. So if I decide to take on a challenge it will have to be a "mere" three races... and I'd better be a lot more consistent in my training than I was this year.
JMH
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Yup, I was right... 4 races in 2 days was not the brightest thing to attempt, especially in the middle of summer (hot weather sucks for racing, in my book) and given my current state of training (or rather, lack thereof.)
So the final score is
Race the Train - DNS, due to lack of sleep the night before
Moonlight in Vermont - a definite success
Indian Ladder 15k - survived, with a lot of walking
Indian Ladder 3.5mi - DNS, the 15k wiped me out and I would have had to walk most of the short race
I think it is fair to say I well and truly got my butt kicked by TFWOAC!
Of course, if past experience is a reliable guide, Moonlight in Vermont will probably not fall on this weekend next year - usually it's mid-July. So if I decide to take on a challenge it will have to be a "mere" three races... and I'd better be a lot more consistent in my training than I was this year.
JMH
Saturday, August 04, 2012
1.6 Mile Walk at Buckingham Lake
Saturday, August 4, 2012
After spending the afternoon in a series of half-hearted and unsuccessful attempts to get out on the bike, I finally managed to get over to Buckingham Lake this evening for a walk. Two fairly pleasant surprises greeted me when I got out of the car - the fountains are running again (they're a bit noisy, but I still like them, both for the visual and because I think they improve the water quality by aerating the water) and there was a heron hunting along the shoreline just past the parking lot.
Quite a bit of work has been done at the park this year - they've put in a couple of trash/recycling bins and a water fountain, and it looks like they recently added fresh stone dust to a couple of spots and are resurfacing the ramp down to the water with crushed stone and eventually what looked like wood chips.
For the third day in a row - no blackbirds at a spot that earlier in the summer was loaded with them. I definitely have to research their migration habits.
Not as many people as I would have thought - mostly parents and kids at the playground. Maybe the heat was keeping folks away, or maybe most folks think they have better things to do on a Saturday evening than walk around a pond on the outskirts of Albany. Their loss - Buckingham Lake is a wonderul little oasis in the middle of all the so-called "civilization" around here.
JMH
Saturday, August 4, 2012
After spending the afternoon in a series of half-hearted and unsuccessful attempts to get out on the bike, I finally managed to get over to Buckingham Lake this evening for a walk. Two fairly pleasant surprises greeted me when I got out of the car - the fountains are running again (they're a bit noisy, but I still like them, both for the visual and because I think they improve the water quality by aerating the water) and there was a heron hunting along the shoreline just past the parking lot.
Quite a bit of work has been done at the park this year - they've put in a couple of trash/recycling bins and a water fountain, and it looks like they recently added fresh stone dust to a couple of spots and are resurfacing the ramp down to the water with crushed stone and eventually what looked like wood chips.
For the third day in a row - no blackbirds at a spot that earlier in the summer was loaded with them. I definitely have to research their migration habits.
Not as many people as I would have thought - mostly parents and kids at the playground. Maybe the heat was keeping folks away, or maybe most folks think they have better things to do on a Saturday evening than walk around a pond on the outskirts of Albany. Their loss - Buckingham Lake is a wonderul little oasis in the middle of all the so-called "civilization" around here.
JMH
Jinxed Turtle - TFWOAC! Truncated Before It Even Begins
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The plan was a reasonable one - got to bed early (for me) with the alarm set for 4:45 allowing a 6 AM departure for North Creek. Didn't count on not being able to get to sleep, probably in part to the heat (noisy neighbors were in their backyard, which means I have to have the bedroom window shut both the reduce the noise and to block the fumes from all the smoking they do.) Got back up and scanned a bunch of photos into the PC (the new scanner works GREAT! Though scanning photos is still a tedious process...) and finally managed to doze off some time after 3 AM... so when the alarm went off 90 minutes or so later, I looked at the idea of driving a 3 hr round trip with a train ride and 1.5-2 hr run in the middle and made what I think was a smart decision to go back to bed.
So instead I will have to settle for TFSOAC... with Moonlight in Vermont at midnight and then the two Indian Ladder races in the morning.
Time to do a bit of riding... and then maybe a bit of napping (to make up for the sleep I'll lose when I get up at 6:30 to get ready for the drive to Thacher) before I leave for Pownal.
JMH
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The plan was a reasonable one - got to bed early (for me) with the alarm set for 4:45 allowing a 6 AM departure for North Creek. Didn't count on not being able to get to sleep, probably in part to the heat (noisy neighbors were in their backyard, which means I have to have the bedroom window shut both the reduce the noise and to block the fumes from all the smoking they do.) Got back up and scanned a bunch of photos into the PC (the new scanner works GREAT! Though scanning photos is still a tedious process...) and finally managed to doze off some time after 3 AM... so when the alarm went off 90 minutes or so later, I looked at the idea of driving a 3 hr round trip with a train ride and 1.5-2 hr run in the middle and made what I think was a smart decision to go back to bed.
So instead I will have to settle for TFSOAC... with Moonlight in Vermont at midnight and then the two Indian Ladder races in the morning.
Time to do a bit of riding... and then maybe a bit of napping (to make up for the sleep I'll lose when I get up at 6:30 to get ready for the drive to Thacher) before I leave for Pownal.
JMH
Friday, August 03, 2012
NOT MY SMARTEST PLAN...
THE FIRST WEEKEND OF AUGUST RUNNING CHALLENGE! (TFWOARC!)
Friday, August 3, 2012
Saturday morning - Race the Train 8.4mi road race
Saturday night at midnight - Moonlight in Vermont 4mi road race
Sunday morning - Indian Ladder 15k trail race
Sunday morning - Indian Ladder 3.5mi trail race
So... if I'm successful, I'll have run 4 races and something like 25 miles by early Sunday afternoon... and I will be the official TFWOARC! champion. (Of course, it helps that I'm the only fool I know of doing this!)
I'd be a heck of a lot more confident if I'd actually been running consistently (so I'm "well rested", right?) And if the forecast didn't call for hot, humid weather all weekend...
I'd have my head examined but I fear all they'd find is a sign that says "SPACE FOR RENT"
JMH
THE FIRST WEEKEND OF AUGUST RUNNING CHALLENGE! (TFWOARC!)
Friday, August 3, 2012
Saturday morning - Race the Train 8.4mi road race
Saturday night at midnight - Moonlight in Vermont 4mi road race
Sunday morning - Indian Ladder 15k trail race
Sunday morning - Indian Ladder 3.5mi trail race
So... if I'm successful, I'll have run 4 races and something like 25 miles by early Sunday afternoon... and I will be the official TFWOARC! champion. (Of course, it helps that I'm the only fool I know of doing this!)
I'd be a heck of a lot more confident if I'd actually been running consistently (so I'm "well rested", right?) And if the forecast didn't call for hot, humid weather all weekend...
I'd have my head examined but I fear all they'd find is a sign that says "SPACE FOR RENT"
JMH
Thursday, August 02, 2012
2.5 Mile Walk at the Crossings of Colonie
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Another day of intending to get out on the bike and ending up going for a walk instead... since I had errands to run nearby, I decided to wander around the Crossings of Colonie for a bit. It was quite strange to get there well before dusk... it also wasn't the best day if I was looking for peace and quiet, because they had a band performing in the big gazebo near the barn.
The wet areas were mostly dry, only a few puddles... even the main pond was really low, and the water near the shore was covered with a pretty nasty layer of green slime.
Lots of birds around, as usual... I even saw two kingfishers, though they seemed to be hanging around the pond between the park and the nearby Beltrone Living Center. Conspicuous in their absence were the red-winged blackbirds... last summer I noticed that they all seemed to disappear at about this time, and it looks like it's a yearly thing I just haven't picked up on before. I'm planning to ride on the bike path tomorrow... have to keep my ears open and find out if they're gone from there, too.
JMH
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Another day of intending to get out on the bike and ending up going for a walk instead... since I had errands to run nearby, I decided to wander around the Crossings of Colonie for a bit. It was quite strange to get there well before dusk... it also wasn't the best day if I was looking for peace and quiet, because they had a band performing in the big gazebo near the barn.
The wet areas were mostly dry, only a few puddles... even the main pond was really low, and the water near the shore was covered with a pretty nasty layer of green slime.
Lots of birds around, as usual... I even saw two kingfishers, though they seemed to be hanging around the pond between the park and the nearby Beltrone Living Center. Conspicuous in their absence were the red-winged blackbirds... last summer I noticed that they all seemed to disappear at about this time, and it looks like it's a yearly thing I just haven't picked up on before. I'm planning to ride on the bike path tomorrow... have to keep my ears open and find out if they're gone from there, too.
JMH
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
ENTER THE DOJO!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
WARNING - the following video clips include some profanity... might not be suitable for work.
This popped up recently on Rob Redmond's always excellent 24 Fighting Chickens site - watching it gave me some serious flashbacks to the last decade or so of my 27 years of training and teaching in a martial arts school that shall go nameless... the head of the school wasn't quite this bad... but at times it was mighty close...
The previously-mentioned head of the school was also fond of creating school-specific katas (or more often getting his students to create them and then editing them to put his stamp on them.) Initially it was weapons katas (because those traditional katas are so long and boring, after all) but eventually it spread to empty-hand katas too... again, I never saw anything quite to the level of the "Dance of Death"... but...
(A disclaimer - I have no problem with martial artists creating their own katas... but this was in a school that already required 14 katas to test for 1st degree black, and then 4-5 katas per black belt rank... and where the majority of the students and instructors had disturbingly little knowledge of the actual applications of the moves in the katas they were learning. Of course, this is all just my woefully uniformed opinion...)
Anyway, if you find the above as funny as I do - check out the rest of their videos on Youtube. Just don't be watching them when you should be engaged in serious martial arts training...
JMH
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
WARNING - the following video clips include some profanity... might not be suitable for work.
This popped up recently on Rob Redmond's always excellent 24 Fighting Chickens site - watching it gave me some serious flashbacks to the last decade or so of my 27 years of training and teaching in a martial arts school that shall go nameless... the head of the school wasn't quite this bad... but at times it was mighty close...
The previously-mentioned head of the school was also fond of creating school-specific katas (or more often getting his students to create them and then editing them to put his stamp on them.) Initially it was weapons katas (because those traditional katas are so long and boring, after all) but eventually it spread to empty-hand katas too... again, I never saw anything quite to the level of the "Dance of Death"... but...
(A disclaimer - I have no problem with martial artists creating their own katas... but this was in a school that already required 14 katas to test for 1st degree black, and then 4-5 katas per black belt rank... and where the majority of the students and instructors had disturbingly little knowledge of the actual applications of the moves in the katas they were learning. Of course, this is all just my woefully uniformed opinion...)
Anyway, if you find the above as funny as I do - check out the rest of their videos on Youtube. Just don't be watching them when you should be engaged in serious martial arts training...
JMH
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
