Sigh... No Snowshoe Race This Sunday...
Thursday, December 16, 2010

After the 2010 MA Championships at Northfield Mountain were cancelled back in March due to a distinct lack of snow, the hope was that they could instead be held at Savoy around the middle of this month... a long shot but one worth hoping for. Unfortunately all the recent rain has left the underlying ground pretty wet (and lets face it, the Savoy trails tend to be on the wet side to begin with) so even though the snow is starting to fill in... no race this Sunday.

So I'll just have to find somewhere to go on my own to get in either a bit of running or some snowshoeing... with a 2 week break from work coming up I'm determined to get off my backside and get back to getting outdoors on a daily basis.

JMH

&%$$*!!$*##ing Albany...
Sunday, December 12, 2010

Got up way too early this morning to head off to what would probably have been my last running race of 2010 - Gail's Trail Run, in the past run on the Leatherman's Loop course at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, but this year being held at the Collis P. Huntington State Park in CT... so I was not only looking forward to the race but also to seeing some new sights. Plus I was considering stopping by Ward Pound Ridge on the way home and running at least part of the course there too... all in all a plan for a pretty decent morning, dampened only by the threat of freezing rain followed by just plain cold wet rain. (And actually, the freezing rain was just starting in Albany as I left the house, which did give me a pause... but I decided to at least start the drive and turn back if it seemed like the roads were getting treacherous.)

All that took a nose dive when I got to my car and discovered that some scumbag had smashed the small quarter panel window on one of my rear doors to get into the car, rifle through the items in the small storage bin under my stereo, and steal - a bag of dirty laundry containing a couple of shirts and some socks and underwear. Aargh!

By the time I was done putting some plastic over the hole it was too late to get to the race on time, so I moved the car closer to my place and went back inside to file the insurance claim. For once I was pretty sure it would be a snap - file the claim, which should be paid for by my full glass coverage, and have whatever company the insurance people wanted come to my car while I'm at work and fix the window. A hassle but no big deal... until I found out that at some point my coverage was apparently changed and I no longer have full glass. So I get to pay for the repair! Hurray! My insurance company strikes again! (What do I pay these guys for again?)

On the plus side, I probably was better off not trying to drive to CT... since when I went out to the car about an hour later to bring more stuff into the house everything was coated in ice... so much so that I first slipped and slid all the way to the bottom of the steps (fortunately doing nothing worse than bruising my backside and my dignity) and then after crossing the street to my car I slipped and fell on the sidewalk, gaining a few more bruises in the process. Aargh.

All in all, not a great start to Sunday... but also not as bad as it could have been, so enough complaining.

JMH

Another Surprise...
REBUILDING DISTANCE 2010 - Race #40
RT Turkey Run 5mi Road/Trail Race
Saturday, November 27, 2010

The Short Version - the turnout was low enough that I ended up taking 2nd place in my age division... this has been a very strange autumn racing season...

JMH

2010 Event Totals
Run 333.5 mi, 76 hr 33 min
Bike 119.4 mi, 8 hr 51 min
Snowshoe 71.7 mi, 18 hr 26 min
Kayak 3.0 mi, 47 min

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

OK, This Was a Surprise...
Tuesday, November 24, 2010

A few weeks ago I ran a fun trail race down near Kingston - the Ulstercorps Service Spint, a 5 mile jaunt through the hills and hollows of the Hudson Valley Resort property on Williams Lake. I ran a decent race but I can't say I went all out, seeing as I was planning to run a bit more and ride my bike later in the day, and the next day I had the Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon up at Thacher Park. The race had a pretty good turn out for a 1st time event during a fairly busy racing season - about 50 runners or so.

So I was more than a bit surprised when the following arrived in the mail today:



Like I said after the Portage Lakes Du, sometimes it's all a matter of choosing the right race... even when you don't know you've done so. And it sure was awfully nice of the folks at Ulstercorps to take the time and postage to send me the certificate.

Of course, this also probably means I've reached the apex of my racing career... two age group first place finishes in one year. I doubt that'll happen again before I hit the 70+ age group... and possibly not even then!

JMH

A Change in Plans... No Ridgewalk For Me Today...
Sunday, October 17, 2010

There are a bunch of reasons why it didn't make sense to do the 15 mile Ridgewalk trail race today, but the most important one is pretty simple... by not running the race I have more time to spend with Ann. (Of course, this leaves me with 4 DNS's to one actual running of the event... Ridgewalk is kicking my backside!)

Next year...

JMH

A First for the Turtle
Monday, September 20, 2010

Quite literally. There were so many participants between all the races going on yesterday at Portage Lakes that they weren't able to post results immediately afterwards... but they've got them up today and -

I took 1st place in my division!



OK, time for the full disclosure... sometimes it doesn't matter if you're slow and fat if you pick your race carefully. Apparently Olympic Distance du isn't all that popular, because only 25 people actually competed (out of somewhere around 900 spread out over all the tris and dus yesterday)... and I came in 24th out of those 25. I also signed up for an age group - Over 40 Clydesdale 220+lbs - which I knew was unlikely to have many (if any!) other participants. So yes, I came in 1st out of a group of one fat old guy... though the results do show that had I signed up for my age group (45-49) I would have taken that too, since apparently I was the only guy in that group running and riding yesterday.

But you know what. I don't care. I drove for 9 hours round trip (17 from Albany) to compete yesterday and I busted my butt to finish the race. I rode fairly well (for me), made it through the run uninjured, and paced myself well enough that I didn't end up having to crawl the last couple of miles and even managed to break 3 1/2 hours. And in the process I got my first ever first place finish... I think I've earned the right to enjoy it for a bit, before I go on to get my butt kicked in the races coming up next weekend... and all the weekends after that too.

JMH

Another Shot at a Longer Du
Wednesday, September 8, 2010

... and in Ohio to boot... though this time in Akron, which is quite a bit closer to Rochester. Still a lot of driving that weekend, but 8-9 hours less than the round trip to Heuston Woods back in August.

So Sept. 18 I'll be heading to Akron for the Portage Lakes Olympic Distance Duathlon. And afterwards I'll make a rather long drive back to Albany so I can be at work Monday morning. Wahoo...

Thinking about it, while this will be the longest du I've ever done, it's actually not that much longer than the Rochester Autumn Classic F1, which I've done 5 times now... just an additional 3 miles of running and 5 miles of riding. Hmm... looks like I'll have to move up to a Half Iron du (!) if I ever want to go significantly longer... and I'm definitely not going to be ready for that challenge anytime soon.

JMH

7 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Friday, September 3, 2010

Another day where it took considerable effort to overcome inertia and get my butt out the door... I'll be glad when the cooler weather arrives this weekend.







Initially headed over to the Madison Avenue Pinelands trailhead (aka "the water tower") but was put off by the crowd I saw heading in as I drove up... didn't feel like sharing the trails with that many people this evening. So instead I ended up at the Discovery Center and happily saw one other person while I was out slogging through the woods and meadows... though I did spot several deer and a heron and heard lots of birds. The chickadees seem to be especially prone to chattering away as I run through the pines... I'm beginning to think word is out and they're all actually laughing at me in chickadee.







A tough seven miles... hopefully my legs will feel stronger than they did tonight during Sunday's Oak Tree Half Marathon... I'll be using how I feel during and after my races over the next week or two to figure out if I want to attempt the Niagara Falls International Marathon at the end of October, or stick to "shorter" events this fall...







JMH

Tough Decision...
Friday, August 27, 2010

Everything was looking good for this weekend's Hueston Woods Du in Ohio... the weather looks to be excellent (especially compared to last Sunday!) and both the bike and I seem ready to finish respectably (for me, anyway.)

Unfortunately, as the day progressed and I thought about it more and more... I decided not to go. I really want to do the race, for a bunch of reasons - it would be the longest du I've ever tackled, it's in a place I've never been, and it looks like the field for the Olympic Distance is fairly small. But the thought of spending 17+ hours driving this weekend, when I could be doing something fun with Ann on the last weekend before work starts back up (I don't count Labor Day weekend, since she always goes camping then) - in the end, that just seemed like too much.

Maybe next year I can schedule things differently and actually make it an extended trip to Ohio and visit a bunch of parks while I'm there... but this year I think it's going to have to be another DNS.

Sigh.

On the bright side... we'll have an entire weekend with what's supposed to be fantastic weather to get outside and do some fun stuff. Could be a whole lot worse...!

25.9 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Many days I head out and pause a lot to take pictures... but every once in a while it feels better to just put my head down and grind out some miles with minimal stops. Today was one of the latter days, though I did get a few shots of egrets, herons, and one of the Mohawk River eagles...

I started out heading west to the base of the old landfill, then back east all the way to the end of the bike path in Cohoes (where several miles of roads connect it to the trail through the Corning Preserve.) It's been quite a while since I rode east of Manor Ave in Cohoes, partly because the path really isn't all that interesting there (it mainly runs along backyards and through some sections of Cohoes that are a bit run down) and partly because while the ride out is a sweet downhill, it's a climb all the way back to the tunnel under rte 9, just east of the Colonie Mohawk River Park. Well, apparently this is my week for riding out-and-backs that involve long climbs on the way back...

My legs were definitely feeling the last few days of running and riding, though I did keep up a decent pace and rode one of my longer distances this summer (sad, very sad.) I briefly considered riding out to Lock 7 Rd one more time to end up with close to 30 miles for today... very briefly, since I was hungry and tired.

Now all I've got to do in a week and a half is ride something like this distance... after running a 5k... and then run a 10k... at this point I'm confident I'll finish Hueston Woods, but I have a feeling the end isn't going to be pretty... not that it ever is.

JMH

Sigh... 2010 Chingachgook Challenge Half Marathon - DNS
Saturday, August 7, 2010

For whatever reason I just couldn't get to sleep last night... and running 13 miles on 1 hour of sleep just didn't strike me as a good plan, especially not with an hour's drive home afterwards.

Oh, well. It's not even close to my first DNS and it certainly won't be my last...

On the plus side, I got a decent amount of reading and work on the computer done... but I still would have rather been asleep, so I could have run this morning.

JMH

REBUILDING DISTANCE 2010 - Race #20
Discover Presque Isle Duathlon Drowned Rat-athlon
Sunday, July 25, 2010

Last year it was sunny during the race but then rained all afternoon while we were trying to have fun in the park. This year the rain started right around when we arrived... and didn't let up until we'd left to find some warm filling food for lunch.



The start of the race was delayed by about half an hour while a thunderstorm blew through, with pretty heavy rain at times. Fortunately it let up enough for the race to get going... it would have been more than a bit annoying if they'd had to cancel. Just before we started running the first leg, down to the Perry Monument and back, I tucked the rain jacket away in my jersey pocket, thinking I might need it later. But I realized pretty quickly that I was generating enough heat that I'd be fine, and left it in the transition area for the rest of the race.



Took it easy on the first run but managed to pass half a dozen other runners, which felt good... I may not be back to running longer distances yet but I've regained enough that I can push the short stuff a bit more. The rain stayed a light drizzle, which was actually more pleasant than the heat and sun we had for the last two years.





Of course riding a bike in the rain for almost an hour isn't much fun... thankfully the roads in the park are in great condition with few holes. The amount of rain varied... there were a couple of points where it came down pretty hard and the wind was blowing, gah! And most of the trip back to Beach 11 was through an inch or so of water on the road... I thought I pushed pretty hard but my time was actually comparable to last year, and a few minutes slower than back in 2008. Still, for the weather conditions I guess I did pretty well (for me.) I was reminded that 12 1/2 miles of almost flat terrain is actually harder in some ways than a rolling course, because you never get a break. And after just about 90 minutes in the rain I was ready to be done.



Except of course I had the final run, during which the dark clouds gathered and dumped the heaviest rain of the morning on us... at times it was hard to make out the other runners on the path as much more than blurry outlines. But I definitely ran better than I would have in the heat and humidity... I was definitely motivated both the try and break 2 hours and get done as quickly as possible in hopes of finally changing into some dry clothes!





Came across the finish in 1 hr 59 min 20 sec... not a PR but substantially better than last year, when I'd torn up my knee a little over a month before the race. I'm glad I stuck it out - this was one of the wettest races I've done, but I suspect some of my trail experiences helped... the rain didn't throw me off my game nearly as much as it seemed it did for some of the other folks, rather it probably helped me run the 3rd leg faster than I would have otherwise. I definitely need to wear lighter shorts for du's - ended up with some painful chafing from running in wet heavy cycling shorts, which won't me much fun for a few days. Ann was a really good sport about sitting in the car for a 5 hour round trip and getting dragged out of bed to be at the park by 6:20 AM, then hanging around in the rain for three hours... she definitely earned her post-race brunch. And I'm hoping none of the other du's I do this year will be as wet as this one was!

JMH

2010 Event Totals
Run 159.1 mi, 37 hr 42 min
Bike 66.4 mi, 4 hr 58 min
Snowshoe 71.7 mi, 18 hr 26 min
Kayak 3.0 mi, 47 min

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

Sigh... No Undercliff/Overcliff For the Turtle...
Monday, July 5, 2010

Every summer the Shawangunk Runners Club puts on a series of 5 XC runs on Monday nights, mostly held at the Mohonk Preserve and Lake Minnewaska Park Preserve... I ran three of the runs back in 2008 and had planned to do four or maybe all five this year, in part because it's a great excuse to visit a part of NYS that I love. In a couple of cases it will take some creative travel arrangements, like today when I was planning to drive to the first run, Udercliff/Overcliff, straight from Rochester... a plan which involved heading to Binghamtom first and then to Mohonk, in an effort to save roughly an hour or more of driving.

Except - as I was driving down I81 just south of Syracuse I heard a loud hissing from somewhere outside the car... it sounded like one of my tires had suddenly lost air. The handling didn't change but I still got off the road at an exit a short distance later and checked, to find one of the rear tires very soft (but not flat, fortunately... at 70 mph on the highway at flat would have been bad.) So I spent a few minutes putting on the temporary spare and saw that the original tire had lost air along the rim... probably a problem with the bead, aggravated by the heat today. That squashed any hopes I had of just adding air and putting it back on, and I ended up ditching my trip to the 'Gunks in favor of taking route 20 back to Albany... took a bit longer than the highway but I was able to keep my speed lower, which was a bit more comfortable given that if anything else had happened I had already used my only spare... and all of the garages I passed were closed for the 4th of July holiday.

On the plus side, it could have been a lot worse... had the tire gone completely I would probably been on the rim in a matter of seconds, and I got to see some very nice countryside as I took the slower route home. But it still would have been nice to run at Mohonk this evening. Oh, well.

JMH

Plans Change...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

I was going to spend a couple days out in Rochester and run the wonderful Forge the Gorgeous trail race Thursday night... except for a variety of reasons I'm staying local this week. That's a bummer because I won't get to see my sweetheart until the middle of next week, but it should give me a little more time to decompress after the mad rush to the end of the school year. I'll just have to make a special effort to get to Fillmore Glen sometime later in the summer. Maybe I can even convince Ann to go with me...

So instead I'll be heading south tomorrow to hopefully check out some cool nature areas during the day and then run the Summer Solstice Trail Race at Lake Minnewaska State Park Preserve in the evening. Anyone who's read my self-centered ramblings for a while now will know the Minnewaska is one of my absolutely favorite places to go, so I'm looking forward to that... and also hoping for a run this year that doesn't leave me injured. Last year I somehow tore up my left knee running this race... now there's an unpleasant memory. So one of my goals for this year is to have a good time and let that bad memory fade into the background, behind all the good ones I have from Minnewaska.

JMH

REBUILDING DISTANCE 2010 - Race #9
Rochester Spring Classic F1 Duathlon
Saturday, May 22, 2010

Wow. This was my 6th year of doing the Spring Classic Du... it's amazing how time flies.

Tough race today. Partially due to the heat (which was more late June than late May) and partially due to my being tired from a very long week and not in the shape I wish I was in right now.

Surprisingly, the rides went well... probably because I know the course really well at this point and am getting better at pacing myself. One thing I did notice is my climbing isn't very strong this year. Usually I pass people on the climbs, this year I was making up time on the descents and the flats.

My runs were definitely weak this time around... I was on the slow side during the 1st 2 miler and then even slower for the 1 mile and 2 mile legs later in the race. I guess I just haven't built up the distance reserves that let me hammer out shorter runs like this. Hopefully I can do better in the fall.

All in all, my finish was slower than I'd hoped for, a little over 2 hr 26 min... but when I checked previous years that turned out to be a fairly average time for me, so I guess I don't have too much to be disappointed about.

As always, the folks at Yellowjacket Racing and all the volunteers were fantastic. One of the biggest reasons I keep coming back to this race (besides the fact that it was the first duathlon I ever did and the Mendon area is beautiful in late May) is the incredibly positive attitude there. I like the fact that no matter how long it takes me to finish I always feel like I'm just as important to the folks organizing the race as the faster people are... this is one of the few races I attend that will actually hold off announcing the various winners until after everyone has finished, which is pretty cool of them. And it's why I expect to be back next May for a 7th go around the Spring Classic Du course.

JMH

2010 Event Totals
Run 72.5 mi, 16 hr 02 min
Bike 40.0 mi, 2 hr 56 min
Snowshoe 71.7 mi, 18 hr 26 min
Kayak 3.0 mi, 47 min

states visited: CT, MA, NY, VT

REBUILDING DISTANCE 2010 - Race #8
Catskill Mountain Spring Series #2 -
Olana Star Loop 10k Trail Race
Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Olana is a beautiful place to run, and I have particularly enjoyed these late-May Wednesday evening runs since I first started doing them back in 2007. Tonight was pleasant in that it was a bit cooler than some years have been. But I was definitely feeling the effects of both being heavier and not in the shape I'd like to be... it was tough going during much of the run, especially on the many climbs.

The course covers most of the trails at Olana... first the carriage trail around the heart-shaped pond, with two out-and-backs to add in some hills and a little distance. Then up the road past the start (near the renovated barn that now serves as a visitors and education center) to a long climb up more carriage trails to the east of the house, followed by a descent down almost to the edge of Route 23... at which point you turn and run back up the hill you just ran down. Up and up along a series of switchbacks, until finally things level off a bit on a trail that goes past an awesome view out over the Hudson River toward the Catskill Mountains. Another steep descent, this time down to 9G, once again with an about-face and climb back to the top at the bottom. From there the rest isn't too bad... a gradual climb up to the house, followed by a rapid descent along the switchbacks and then a relatively straight shot down to the finish. Lots of hills, lots of woods, and some really nice views along the way... one plus to being slow is I can actually take a moment to enjoy those!

The trails have been re-surfaced in most places with crushed stone... while I can see the logic (making it easier for people to use them) I liked the old trails better, with some definitely rough and rugged sections. I actually felt like my footing was a bit less secure in some spots with loose stone underfoot. Still, that was a fairly minor issue, and I suspect over a few years the trails will work their way back to being somewhat less "domesticated" like they were previously.

Initially I was disappointed with my finishing time of 72 min and a bit, since I remember finishing in 66 min last year... but then I checked the previous years and found that they were comparable to this year. So I really didn't do all that badly... but I still hope I can run this one a little faster next time.

JMH

2010 Event Totals
Run 67.5 mi, 15 hr 05 min
Bike 20.0 mi, 1 hr 33 min
Snowshoe 71.7 mi, 18 hr 26 min
Kayak 3.0 mi, 47 min

states visited: CT, MA, NY, VT

Aargh... No Outdoors For Me Again Today!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

And it was tough to just head indoors when I got home... it was raining very lightly and just perfect weather to go out for a walk... unfortunately the end of the school year is rocketing toward us and I am, as always, buried under work.

I'm hoping to take much of tomorrow afternoon/evening off from working to visit one or two nature preserves near Catskill before heading to Olana for the annual Olana Star Loop 10k race... lots of hills while running the beautiful carriage trails of Olana. Should be a really nice break from grading, grading, grading.

JMH

Flower City Half Marathon - DNS
Sunday, April 25, 2010

Woke up to chilly drizzling rain... thought about running along the streets of Rochester for something like 3 hours in the rain, and the fact that Ann and I hadn't gotten to spend much time together yesterday (collapsing exhausted and falling asleep at 8 PM has a way of doing that)... and decided to spend some time with her this morning instead of running. I had a good, fun race yesterday and am feeling better than I expected to, today. That'll have to be enough for this weekend.

JMH

Change in Plans
Friday, April 9, 2010

I had intended to drive to Andover early tomorrow morning to run the Merrimack River 10 mile trail race - one I've never done before, but which I've heard good things about. Then today the opportunity came up to run a bit closer to home, over in Hawley, with some friends from the snowshoe & trail races I run in MA, CT, and VT... so now it looks like I'll be saving myself 2+ hours of driving and running in the Kenneth Dubuque Memorial State Forest, the site of several of our snowshoe series races. Maybe next year I can head east and run both Merrimack and Great Bay, as I had hoped to this year.

JMH

No Great Bay Half Marathon For Me...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010

I was hoping to be further along with my distance training by now... no such luck. While I could probably finish a half marathon on Sunday, I suspect it would leave my knees in a state where I'd be unable to run for much too long afterwards. So no Great Bay Half Marathon for me this year... maybe next year.

Ironically, I signed up for the Merrimack River trail race just because I was going to be over that way anyway this weekend and wanted to give it a try at least once... now I'll be driving over the Andover Saturday morning just for that!

JMH