GOOD RIDDANCE 2019
Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Rather than spend time whining about how much this year has enjoyed kicking me around, all I'm going to say is - so long, I'm NOT going to miss you.

APPROX. 2019 TOTALS

RUN 427.4 mi

RIDE 724.6 mi
SNOWSHOE 26.4 mi
HIKE/WALK 434.5 mi
PADDLE 0 mi
XC SKI 0 mi
DAYS OUTDOORS 318/365
MONTHS BIKED 12/12

2019 Event Totals
Run 259.4 mi, 68 hr 37 min
Bike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 19.0 mi, 6 hr 43 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT

REBUILDING 2019 - Race #56
New Year's Eve 5k Classic
Tuesday, December 31, 2019

 

 

Had I known ahead of time that Ann would want to go to a New Year's Eve party in Syracuse tonight, I probably wouldn't have signed up for a New Year's Eve (day) race near Niagara Falls (a little over 3 hours west and north of Syracuse.) Honestly, the smart thing would have been to skip this one, but I really wanted to run a race on the last day of the year, and I liked the idea of visiting Fort Niagara State Park again (we stopped there once before back in 2015.)

 

After near-record highs yesterday morning (50 degrees!) today hovered around freezing with a brisk wind and periodic snow squalls. Without the wind it would have been perfect December running weather (well, when it's not going to be in the 50's!)

 

Tomorrow will prove to be a more significant challenge, due to distance (7.5 miles instead of 5k), terrain (hills instead of flat) and significantly less sleep (thanks to the "holiday" tonight.)

 

JMH

2019 Event Totals
Run 259.4 mi, 68 hr 37 min
Bike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 19.0 mi, 6 hr 43 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT

BRRRR...
0.8 Mile Walk on the Niagara River Shoreline Trail
2.2 Mile Walk at Niagara Falls State Park
Monday, December 30, 2019

0.7 Mile Walk at Buckingham Pond
1.3 Mile Walk at the Crossings of Colonie
1.5 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, December 29, 2019

2 Mile Walk at Green Lakes State Park
Saturday, December 28, 2019

0.8 Mile Walk at Seneca Park
1.7 Mile Walk at Tinker Nature Park
Friday, December 27, 2019

0.6 Mile Walk at Mendon Ponds Park
2.5 Mile Walk on the Erie Canalway Trail (Greece)
Thursday, December 26, 2019

3.6 Mile Walk on the Erie Canalway Trail (Newark)
Wednesday, December 25, 2019

2.3 Mile Walk at Hamlin Beach State Park
0.5 Mile Walk at Ontario Beach Park
Tuesday, December 24, 2019

3.7 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, December 22, 2019

I really should have gone for a run today, but instead had the rare opportunity (when Ann's not around) to go for a walk with a friend - sometimes it's nice to have company and to have someone to talk to other than myself.

JMH

QUIET SOLSTICE NIGHT
Saturday, December 21, 2019

One plus to the holiday season - a lot of the college kids are gone for a while, so parking is a whole lot easier and it's much quieter than when they're around.

Tonight is the winter solstice, probably my favorite "holiday" of the year - because it means for approximately the next six months we'll be regaining a few minutes of daylight each day. As someone who does most of his outdoor activities after school, this time of year can be a real challenge (heading out into the cold AND the dark) so I really look forward to a couple of months from now when it will still be light at 6 (and even more to the change back to Daylight Savings Time, which adds an additional hour to that evening daylight.)

JMH

Productive Yet Disappointing Too
Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Snow day today, though honestly with the small amount of snow we got I'm not sure the school's really needed to close - but I'll almost never bemoan an extra day off, though this once is going to have some of my students scrambling the get everything done that they need to by the end of the week.

Between the weekend and today I did manage to get a lot of the updates done for this season's series races on the Dion WMAC Snowshoe Series website that I manage - pretty much the only series races I haven't updated the info on are the ones that haven't posted updated info yet. In the past I've also tried to maintain a listing of as many of the other snowshoe races in the northeast as I can, but I need to think of a better way to do that, because keeping it up-to-date in very time consuming for something that essentially becomes just a public service (and it's not like I'm not already volunteering my time and paying for the website - though I do save money of a few series races each winter from RD's who thank me for my efforts by letting me run for free.)

The disappointment of the day came this afternoon when I wanted to go for a run and had a case of grumbling guts... I got geared up and everything but then after about 45 minutes gave up and changed into my hang around the apartment clothes. Hopefully tomorrow will be better - I'm going to take my gear with me to school and see if I can go for a run between the end of the school day and coming home for the evening (both because there will still be a little daylight left at that point and because it's difficult to get to sleep at a reasonable time when I run later in the evening, and I've been pretty sleep deprived lately.)

Anyway, enough whining and moaning, woe is me. I've got it good and just need to get my head out of my you-know-what and start seeing that again.

JMH

0.7 Mile Walk at Buckingham Pond
Sunday, December 15, 2019

REBUILDING 2019 - Race #55
Gore Mountain 2.7mi Snowshoe Race
Sunday, December 15, 2019

It never fails to amaze me how much I've forgotten about how much snowshoe "running" sucks at the start of the season (and the whole time, if one doesn't work at improving, like I didn't last season.)

 

Good news, the "5k" at the Gore Ski Bowl reminded me today.

 

The pluses - there was a decent turnout (21 people.) It started out sunny and not too cold (mid-30's), The snow was in much better condition than I expected it to be. I was able to get some decent photos of the start and the runners coming off the 1st downhill before starting my own race about 5 min behind everyone else.

 

The minuses - I haven't been on snowshoes since late last February, and as I alluded to above, I was barely on them last season. So my legs are most definitely not in snowshoeing shape. I might be able to fake it if I were in decent distance shape (comfortable half marathon to 15 mile runs) but I'm not that either. So I walked everything even vaguely resembling an uphill on the first two laps. By the third lap my legs were finally starting to warm up and I was able to run more (albeit very slowly) but I can't claim I was upset that there wasn't a 4th lap for me to really cut loose on, because I likely would have either thrown up or been reduced to walking much of the course.

 

I have several colleagues who like to point out that one definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expect different outcomes. Clearly I need to do something different in 2020, assuming I survive to the end of 2019.

 

JMH

2019 Event Totals
Run 256.3 mi, 67 hr 57 min
Bike 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min
Snowshoe 19.0 mi, 6 hr 43 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 hr 0 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT

7.6 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Saturday, December 14, 2019

Yesterday was definitely the better day to ride, though more of the path was clear today. The rain today was more of an everpresent mist than distinct water droplets, and even after sunset there was enough light to see the fog rising up off the river.

I was a bit worried at first - sometimes when I have a lot on my mind running is the perfect way to distract myself, and other times I find myself thinking about whatever it is the entire time I'm running. Today started out more of the latter, to the point where I almost thought I'd turn around after a mile and a half - but eventually I found my groove.

I ended up running all the way to the intersection of the bike path and the road running through the Colonie Water Treatment Facility - it even looked like the path had been plowed from Forts Ferry to where I turned around (if so, I hope they keep that up all winter!) Along the way I saw three deer and several bunnies.

I had originally planned to stop once I got back to Lions Park, but I had less than a mile left at that point to get to 7.5 miles, so I decided to push on and go a little further. My legs definitely didn't appreciate that, nor did my guts, which had been griping on and off since I turned around when the plowed path ran out. Sometimes winter running on the bike path would be much easier if Niskayuna and Colonie kept the bathrooms open.

Tomorrow should bring my first time on snowshoes in 10 months. That's going to hurt...

JMH

9.1 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, December 13, 2019

 

Tonight wasn't ideal weather for riding - there was a very light spattering of rain the entire time - but I have no idea if I'll get another chance at 40 degree weather and the possibility of a rideable link between the Niskayuna and Colonie sections of the path that are plowed in the winter. And since I haven't yet hauled my fat bike up from the basement, riding over any snow or ice is a risky proposition. So after work I headed over to the mostly deserted Lions Park to do a little riding.

As it turned out I ended up walking about a quarter mile each way, where the snow and ice just hadn't melted enough for me to feel safe riding. The rest was slow going - both due to the wider tires on my bike for winter riding and the fact that not only haven't I ridden nearly enough this year, but in the last two months I've only ridden three times, which means my legs spent most of the ride objecting to what I was asking them to do. On other hand, I had the path mostly to myself, and I did see the heron I spotted Monday night and several bunnies dashed off into the brush as I rode toward them.

JMH

6 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path & Lock 7 Rd
Monday, December 9, 2019

 

Way back in 2007 I signed up to run the Eastern States 20 mile road race, which starts in Maine, runs along the New Hampshire seacoast, and finishes just over the Massachusetts border. One of the biggest challenges to getting ready for it is the timing, at the end of March. Albany has a definite lack of safe places to train on pavement in the winter, especially if you work for a living and need to do most of your running either before work (bleah!) or in the evening. One place that was available was the 1.9 mile stretch of the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path from Lions Park in Niskayuna to Lock 7 Rd - the town actually plows it in the winter. (As an aside, we now have twice as much plowed bike path, because the Town of Colonie typically plows a stretch of about 2.4 miles from Mohawk Riverside Landing Park over to Forts Ferry Rd.) So night after night that winter I went over to what I quickly dubbed "The Gerbil Wheel" and ran back and forth in the dark. From the park all the way to Lock 7 is about 2.25 miles, so if one does the math - it takes a bit of patience to do 16-17 miles, which is the most I think I ever managed. Especially when one is slow like I am (I was typically wrapping up those long runs after 9 at night and sometimes even later.)

 

(Another aside - I wrote in my race report for the Eastern States 20 miler that I doubted I'd ever do it again... now I've visited that part of New England often enough that I very much want to run it again, and am just looking for the right time.)

 

Yesterday I stopped by the Lions Park after my walk to see if the path was plowed and it was, so it was a no-brainer to head over there tonight with temperatures in the high-40's. There was a little bit of rain but that's what rain jackets are for.

 

I haven't run since Thanksgiving Day so this was very slow going. I ended up going all the way to Lock 7 and then along Lock 7 Rd to the intersection with River Rd, and even did a lap around the parking lot to reach 6 miles before I stopped. Along the way I head a barred owl call, saw a large rodent-like critter twice (initially I thought muskrat but it turned out to be a possum) and spotted the silhouette of a heron down in the small patch of open water under the Ferry Rd bridge.

 

JMH

 



1.2 Mile Walk at the Crossings of Colonie
Sunday, December 8, 2019

WINTER ARRIVES A BIT EARLY...
Monday, December 2, 2019

The snow started early yesterday afternoon; by the time I got up this morning, a little over a foot had fallen in Albany. It's been coming down lightly all day, but is supposed to pick up again tonight, when we might get as much as another foot.

Maybe I'm not much of a snowshoe runner after all, because as much as I like how nice the snow looks sometimes, all I can think right now is that it's going to be a lot of hard work (like the hour I spent shoveling this morning and walking to and from work tomorrow) and a pain in the neck (snow emergency parking, bleah.)

Not to mention all the people who don't bother to shovel their walks, so even just walking around here becomes a hassle.

Though I suppose the plus side is, I might actually get a few practice sessions on snowshoes before the season opening race on December 15...

JMH