Monday, October 28, 2019
Monday, October 28, 2019
Sunday, October 27, 2019
REBUILDING 2019 - Race #50
Track and Treat 5k Road Race
Sunday, October 27, 2019
OK, why exactly did this morning find me crawling out of bed at 6 AM to drive an hour to North Bennington VT to run a 5k? Well, a couple of reasons. One is that my previous race this year in VT is one I worked at rather than ran as a race -and while I covered the entire course taking down the markers and can definitely count it, I'd rather have one I actually "raced" on the books too. And since the other likely option was the Middlebury Turkey Trot in a few weeks (which is a 2.5 hour drive) - finding something a lot closer on a day I ended up having open was pretty sweet. Another is that the race I would have done, the Squirrelly Six up at Thacher Park (only half an hour away!) cost $50 for day of registration. Giving some compelling reasons I might consider paying that much for a 10k, but no such reasons existed in this case - heck, I can go up there tomorrow after work and run the course for free if I want to.
As an added bonus, the weather today was awful... cold, windy, and raining. I think there ended up being eight of us in the 5k (there was also a mile fun run which had a better turnout) and at least half of that number were people moving at paces similar to my own. 40ish minutes was just the right amount of time to be out there.
I got the impression that everyone there was affiliated with the Village School of North Bennington, a small private pre-k to 6th grade school - the race is a fundraiser for them - since they all seemed to know each other. They also had a mini festival going on in the school gym, with a bounce house and pumpkin painting as well as tons of baked treats. I suspect some folks were wondering where the heck I appeared from...
I definitely made the best decision to come back yesterday... if conditions in Framingham were like those in Bennington, the Bushwhack would have been miserable, especially for the poor volunteers waiting for me to get my slow backside through the course. And the drive back on the MA turnpike would have been truly awful.
This weekend completes my usual 9 states for 2019... with a slight possibility that I may still get to a race in OH and make it 10.
Bike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 16.3 mi, 5 hr 57 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Track and Treat 5k Road Race
Sunday, October 27, 2019
OK, why exactly did this morning find me crawling out of bed at 6 AM to drive an hour to North Bennington VT to run a 5k? Well, a couple of reasons. One is that my previous race this year in VT is one I worked at rather than ran as a race -and while I covered the entire course taking down the markers and can definitely count it, I'd rather have one I actually "raced" on the books too. And since the other likely option was the Middlebury Turkey Trot in a few weeks (which is a 2.5 hour drive) - finding something a lot closer on a day I ended up having open was pretty sweet. Another is that the race I would have done, the Squirrelly Six up at Thacher Park (only half an hour away!) cost $50 for day of registration. Giving some compelling reasons I might consider paying that much for a 10k, but no such reasons existed in this case - heck, I can go up there tomorrow after work and run the course for free if I want to.
As an added bonus, the weather today was awful... cold, windy, and raining. I think there ended up being eight of us in the 5k (there was also a mile fun run which had a better turnout) and at least half of that number were people moving at paces similar to my own. 40ish minutes was just the right amount of time to be out there.
I got the impression that everyone there was affiliated with the Village School of North Bennington, a small private pre-k to 6th grade school - the race is a fundraiser for them - since they all seemed to know each other. They also had a mini festival going on in the school gym, with a bounce house and pumpkin painting as well as tons of baked treats. I suspect some folks were wondering where the heck I appeared from...
I definitely made the best decision to come back yesterday... if conditions in Framingham were like those in Bennington, the Bushwhack would have been miserable, especially for the poor volunteers waiting for me to get my slow backside through the course. And the drive back on the MA turnpike would have been truly awful.
This weekend completes my usual 9 states for 2019... with a slight possibility that I may still get to a race in OH and make it 10.
2019 Event Totals
Run 229.8 mi, 61 hr 9 minBike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 16.3 mi, 5 hr 57 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Saturday, October 26, 2019
STILL NO WALK ON THE MARGINAL WAY
Saturday, October 26, 2019
I'm not sure when the last time was that I tried to walk the Marginal Way in Ogunquit - possibly after the SRTC Skills USA 5k back in 2016, because I remember the weather being somewhat iffy - but I decided to try again today, on my way back down the coast from the Wicked 5k in Kennebunk. The Marginal Way is a paved path that runs along the Ogunquit shoreline and apparently features some great views, as well as 39 benches over its mile and a quarter length, useful for taking a break from walking and just enjoying the scenery. This time I did a better job of researching parking and seemed all set... except as I drove into town there were people everywhere, and the signs I started seeing for Ogunquitfest 2019 explained why - today was the second day of the fall festival. So I gave up immediately, did a lot of growling and swearing at the horrible traffic through town (made worse by groups of people crossing the street) and eventually found my way back to the highway and the 4 hour drive back to Albany.
Here's a nice article (with photos) about the Marginal Way on New England Today Travel.
JMH
Saturday, October 26, 2019
I'm not sure when the last time was that I tried to walk the Marginal Way in Ogunquit - possibly after the SRTC Skills USA 5k back in 2016, because I remember the weather being somewhat iffy - but I decided to try again today, on my way back down the coast from the Wicked 5k in Kennebunk. The Marginal Way is a paved path that runs along the Ogunquit shoreline and apparently features some great views, as well as 39 benches over its mile and a quarter length, useful for taking a break from walking and just enjoying the scenery. This time I did a better job of researching parking and seemed all set... except as I drove into town there were people everywhere, and the signs I started seeing for Ogunquitfest 2019 explained why - today was the second day of the fall festival. So I gave up immediately, did a lot of growling and swearing at the horrible traffic through town (made worse by groups of people crossing the street) and eventually found my way back to the highway and the 4 hour drive back to Albany.
Here's a nice article (with photos) about the Marginal Way on New England Today Travel.
JMH
PLANS CHANGE
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Still no telling how my knee will behave after I smashed it into the ground yesterday morning, and now the weather forecast is cold and raining for tomorrow's Busa Bushwhack. I had originally thought I might drop down to the short course, but now I'm thinking I'll bail altogether and head back to Albany after this afternoon's Wicked 5k in Kennebunk.
The real disappointment, of course, is this means I won't have the opportunity to say hi to Rich Busa, who I believe turns 90 (!) in a few days. Rich has always been an inspiration in many different ways and no longer makes it out to many of the races where he used to be a regular, so chances to see him and chat for a bit are extra special. Hopefully next year...
JMH
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Still no telling how my knee will behave after I smashed it into the ground yesterday morning, and now the weather forecast is cold and raining for tomorrow's Busa Bushwhack. I had originally thought I might drop down to the short course, but now I'm thinking I'll bail altogether and head back to Albany after this afternoon's Wicked 5k in Kennebunk.
The real disappointment, of course, is this means I won't have the opportunity to say hi to Rich Busa, who I believe turns 90 (!) in a few days. Rich has always been an inspiration in many different ways and no longer makes it out to many of the races where he used to be a regular, so chances to see him and chat for a bit are extra special. Hopefully next year...
JMH
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Monday, October 21, 2019
13 Mile Ride on the Albany County Rail Trail
Monday, October 21, 2019
I had hoped to ride the entire trail end-to-end but it became clear fairly quickly that my legs weren't up for that, so I decided to skip the steepest section from South Pearl St to Delmar. It didn't help that my rear derailleur is somehow out of whack so that it kept trying to shift without my turning the shifting lever... another chore, to see if I can get that readjusted.
The path was very busy tonight - all the parking spaces were full at the Slingerlands trailhead except for the section signed "for vehicles with trailers only". So I ended up driving out to Voorheesville, where the parking areas were also filling up. Of course, when I rode past the Slingerlands lot, that sectioned I avoided parking in was filled with a line of cars, so I guess I could have parked there after all.
JMH
Monday, October 21, 2019
I had hoped to ride the entire trail end-to-end but it became clear fairly quickly that my legs weren't up for that, so I decided to skip the steepest section from South Pearl St to Delmar. It didn't help that my rear derailleur is somehow out of whack so that it kept trying to shift without my turning the shifting lever... another chore, to see if I can get that readjusted.
The path was very busy tonight - all the parking spaces were full at the Slingerlands trailhead except for the section signed "for vehicles with trailers only". So I ended up driving out to Voorheesville, where the parking areas were also filling up. Of course, when I rode past the Slingerlands lot, that sectioned I avoided parking in was filled with a line of cars, so I guess I could have parked there after all.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Saturday, October 19, 2019
A GORGEOUS FALL DAY
8.8 Mile Run at Onondaga Lake Park
Saturday, October 19, 2019
This one was an unexpected change of plans - I was originally supposed to be an hour south of Syracuse at the Dryden Rotary Fall 10k. But as I was eating breakfast I realized I really didn't have much enthusiasm for spending 2 hours in the car when I could have a more relaxed morning and spend some of that two hours running some additional miles.
Cool, crisp, sunny fall mornings are some of my favorite times to run, and I've also become quite fond of running at Onondaga Lake Park. I had hoped to run some of the trails at Long Branch Park as well, but it looked like they were having a cyclecross race there.
Best of all I managed just under 9 miles in the time I had, at a fairly steady pace. This gives me some hope I'll survive next weekend (with both a 5 mile and a 5k on Saturday, and then a 10 mile on Sunday.)
8.8 Mile Run at Onondaga Lake Park
Saturday, October 19, 2019
This one was an unexpected change of plans - I was originally supposed to be an hour south of Syracuse at the Dryden Rotary Fall 10k. But as I was eating breakfast I realized I really didn't have much enthusiasm for spending 2 hours in the car when I could have a more relaxed morning and spend some of that two hours running some additional miles.
Cool, crisp, sunny fall mornings are some of my favorite times to run, and I've also become quite fond of running at Onondaga Lake Park. I had hoped to run some of the trails at Long Branch Park as well, but it looked like they were having a cyclecross race there.
Best of all I managed just under 9 miles in the time I had, at a fairly steady pace. This gives me some hope I'll survive next weekend (with both a 5 mile and a 5k on Saturday, and then a 10 mile on Sunday.)
JMH
Monday, October 14, 2019
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Friday, October 11, 2019
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Sunday, October 06, 2019
FALL TORTURE TEST, Pt 3:
REBUILDING 2019 - Race #45
Running with the Angels 10k Road/Trail Race
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Bike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 16.3 mi, 5 hr 57 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
states visited: CT, MA, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Running with the Angels 10k Road/Trail Race
Sunday, October 6, 2019
As much as I was looking forward to running this race, it was clear before I even finished the 1st 5k of the ACORNS race that my legs just didn't have the juice and the best I'd be able to do is walk it - and I really didn't want to do that. So Ann and I enjoyed driving around Genesee County Park & Forest for a bit, so she could see more of it, and then had a leisurely lunch in Batavia since we didn't have to hurry back to Rochester.
I suspect if I'd had 4 or 5 hours between the races, rather than 2, I might have been able to pull it off.
So the positives of the fall torture test are (1) I finished 2 of the three 10k's and earned a nice finishers' medal at Run with the Deer, and (2) we discovered a new park near Rochester which is definitely a pretty cool place. The folks organizing the ACORNS races were also incredibly nice - Ann had a good time spectating, which doesn't always happen, and (3) Sunday afternoon ended up being a lot more relaxed than originally planned.
The minuses? (1) The Run with the Deer course was boring, which I should have realized ahead of time - how else is a former Army base going to be laid out other than a grid pattern? And regardless of the name of the race, there was no way any of the deer were going to hang out near the course, not with a few hundred people running around the place. (One plus to this minus - I didn't stick with the half marathon, which I had originally signed up for - and I don't feel any real desire to run the half in the future, given that it's just another 7 miles of back and forth on the connecting roads the 10k didn't use.) (2) My ability to run Monroe next Sunday is seriously in question. Between the distance, the climbs and descents (which make today's ACORNS run look flat), and the technical trails, I have to wonder if I'll end up hiking an even greater percentage of Monroe than I did the Midsummer Nights Madness back in August, and I'm really not that interested in doing that, as much as Monroe State Forest is beautiful this time of year. (3) I also have to question my ability to be ready for the After the Leaves Half in November - much less technical trails, but still substantial distance and elevation, and my "plan" to get back into shape has clearly not gone the way I was hoping it would. So this weekend has left me with some serious decision-making regarding some of the races I'm signed up for over the next month and a half.
JMH
2019 Event Totals
Run 192.2 mi, 52 hr 56 minBike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 16.3 mi, 5 hr 57 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
states visited: CT, MA, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Saturday, October 05, 2019
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