SIGH.
Wednesday, January 30, 3013

I was really hoping to run this evening... if for no other reason than it's always a kick to be running in shorts and shirt-sleeves in January, and tomorrow the temperature's supposed to drop back to more seasonable levels.

Except - when I got to the Madison Avenue Pinelands trailhead for the Pine Bush, I discovered that the trails are covered with ice - and I didn't have my screw shoes. I went a little ways in but quickly concluded that it was simply too treacherous. So I beat a careful retreat and figured I'd hit the bike path instead.

Except - because it was warm I wasn't wearing tights, and it started raining fairly steadily as I was driving over to the trailhead. It became apparent very quickly that I would end up pretty chilled if I ran in the rain, despite the much-warmer-than-normal temperatures.

So in the end - no run for me tonight, as a result of circumstances beyond my control (icy trails and the rain) and poor choices on my part (not having my screw shoes or a pair of tights with me.)

Hopefully tomorrow night will work out better - I really would rather not jump into the Cast A Shadow race on Saturday after having last run almost a week before...

JMH

HURRAY! WE HAVE A SNOWSHOE RACE TOMORROW!
Friday, January 11, 2013

Between the warm weather and the rain we're supposed to be getting, I was pretty sure it would be cancelled... I can't imagine that conditions will be ideal (if nothing else, we're going to be sweating bullets in the 40 degree weather... or else swearing at the rain!) but current word is that tomorrow's snowshoe race at Constitution Hill is ON.

Guess that means I'm getting my backside out the door tonight for a run - finally, after a week of being far lazier than I should have been, given what I have coming up this spring...

JMH

MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT...
No Seashore Nature Trail 50k for the Turtle
Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I haven't run for almost two weeks, and my foot hasn't bounced back to normal... more like a slow crawl punctuated by occasionally being dragged backwards every once in a while when I do something stupid. I suspect this is going to be a slow-healing injury that I'm going to have to manage carefully so that I can be ready for the Big Island Marathon in March and Rock the Ridge in May - and attempting a 50k after little or no running for 6 weeks doesn't qualify as careful management. In any case, the 50k was going to be a struggle after spending November training for it - as things stand now, it's questionable if I'd even be able to finish in 8 1/2 hours, regardless of the state it would leave my foot in afterwards.

So I'm doing the smart, mature thing and pulling myself out of the 50k, growling and snarling all the way, damn it.

Hopefully taking it easy for the next month or so will leave me in a better place going into snowshoe season and next year's running season. And in the meantime I'll try to do some thinking and see if I can figure out how to have my running in 2013 not suck nearly as much as I did in 2012.

Can we have some cheese to go with all this whine? Sigh.

JMH

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST...
Friday, November 16, 2012

I've been clinging stubbornly to my intention to run the Lil Rhody Runaround this Sunday, for a bunch of reasons - I enjoy the race a lot, it's one of my few remaining chances to run a race in RI this year, and I was also looking forward to visiting Trustom Pond NWR to check out the flocks of migrating waterfowl and Rome Point to hopefully check out the seals.

But - it's been a very long week at work, leaving me less than enthused about spending 8 hours driving this weekend. And while my foot has been slowly feeling better - I suspect it hasn't improved much beyond where it was last Saturday, when a short easy run left me limping around for a couple of days afterward. And at this point - if I'm going to have any chance of running the Seashore Nature Trail 50k, I don't know that I can afford more setbacks.

So at much as it aggravates me to do so - no Lil Rhody for me this weekend.

Sigh. Being injured really sucks.

JMH

BAD TIMING...
Rochester Marathon Unlikely for the Turtle
Saturday, September 22, 2012

The signs were certainly there... last night my easy ride was much tougher than it should have been, and I was ready to fall asleep by around 8:30 PM... this morning I woke up feeling generally crappy and went mildly downhill from there. Nothing too drastic, but there's no question my body's trying to fight some sort of bug off.

There was a time when I would have said no big deal, I'll just run a slower time... but the reality is, if I haven't made a miraculous recovery by the end of the day, running the marathon tomorrow is a bad idea because (1) I probably won't finish (not a distaster, but it would be really frustrating, and would also involve complicated logistics of Ann coming to get me somewhere along the course and then getting me back to my car near the finish - and the area near the finish is nuts) and (2) I stand a good chance of walloping my system enough that whatever this bug is will take a really solid bite out of me and I'll end up being either really sick or sick for an extended period of time, or both.

It's particularly frustrating because in the last day or so I reached a point where I have been really looking forward to running on Sunday.

Sigh...

JMH

T Minus 3.5 Days & Counting: It's Hard to Believe...
Wednesday, September 19, 2012

... that in 3 1/2 days or so I'll be running the Rochester Marathon... and I'm not even thinking about it all that much, beyond trying to make sure I don't tire my legs out too much this week. When did I go from being anxious about an upcoming marathon to it just being one of those things I do periodically?

Of course, it probably helps that I know I'm not ready to run this race all that well, so I'm treating it essentially as an expensive training run where the goal is to finish. And I suspect it helps to be fairly confident that I can finish, barring mishaps or stupidity on my part... it's really just a matter of how long it will take (my predicition is somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 hours) and how much it's going to hurt...

And no doubt I'll have plenty of anxiety Sunday morning...

JMH

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 YEAR OF THE DNS (DID NOT START)
1.7 Mile Walk at Buckingham Lake
Monday, July 9, 2012

I was really looking forward to running the 1st race in the New Paltz Summer Series, Undercliff/Overcliff, this evening... unfortunately I didn't get much sleep last night and when I started the drive south, I found myself doing inexplicable things like stopping at green lights (fortunately with no one behind me!) So before I got on the thruway I turned around and came back home. Darn it.



I considered going out for a run but again didn't feel like driving far... or running, to be honest. So instead I headed over to Buckingham Lake for a walk. Lots of people, and a distinct lack of ducks, though at the end one of the mallards with youngsters showed up, and the lone youngster that everyone seemed to enjoy beating up on was looking for food too.



Water levels are the lowest I've ever seen them - but then that's the same everywhere around here. Around here we're close to 4" below normal for the year so far, and that's on top of the lack of snow melt after our horrendously snow-free winter.

JMH

A GOOD NIGHT FOR A RUN!
7.1 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, March 7, 2011

I was pretty tired after what so far has been a long-ish week, but there was no way I was passing up a chance to go for a run when the weather today had been in the high 50's. And in the end I was glad I forced myself to hit the bike path, because despite dragging my backside most of the time tonight was a great night for a run - warm (53 degrees when I finished, according to a sign along Troy-Schenectady road) with a pleasant breeze and a glorious full moon to light everything up in shades of silver.

The path was clear from the Lions Park over to Lock 7. Initially I had thought to turn around at Lock 7 but there was enough of a clear track through the remaining snow that continuing west wasn't a problem. Once I reached the base of the old landfill, I took the path all the way to the top and soaked in the view of the river lit by the full moon while enjoying the breeze. I was even inspired to go through 2 very basic katas very slowly (running shoes, which are designed to grip the ground, are not the best footwear for doing turns in kata!)

The geese on the river were very noisy tonight - not sure if they were worried about the slow fat guy plodding down the bike path or something else, but there was a lot of honking going on. I also heard a few ducks and what I think were several killdeer. But what I enjoyed most was running along the bike path on a warm, quiet night, with occasional patches of snow crunching under my feet and silver light from the full moon filtering through the trees. I wish I'd had more energy so I could have stayed out for a few more miles!

JMH

Welcome, Winter Solstice!
Thursday, December 22, 2011

In the US, today is considered the official start of winter, and has the shortest number of hours of daylight. I'm a huge fan of the winter solstice for the simple reason that from here on out, we gain several minutes of daylight each day, which means my days of having to run, bike, or snowshoe after work in the dark are numbered...

JMH

1.5 Mile Walk at Buckingham Pond
Monday, October 3, 2011

By the time I got out of work it was getting too late to head out for a bike ride - I haven't been able to find the handlebar mount for my better light, so I'd rather not do an extended ride in the dark yet. Instead I drove over the Buckingham Pond to do a couple of loops around the park.

There was quite the mob of ducks by the parking lot... guess that's really not surprising, given how many ducklings I saw there this past summer. Spent a bit taking some pictures and then headed off around the pond. The section that runs right along the water clearly took some damage during the storms, and the city seems to have done a fairly slapdash job fixing it, so it's now a wide, ugly stretch of path. Other than that the park seems to have come through unscathed - not too surprising, considering that I never lost power during the storms. They must have a really effective drain system in place, because even with all the rain we've had over the last couple of weeks the water level was normal.

As I was finishing my first loop I stopped to take pictures of the ducks again and was surprised when a group of them started waddling off toward the parking lot... then another group followed... and another... I finally noticed Icould hear whistling, and saw someone crossing the road into the parking lot with a bag in one hand and a big group of duckie moochers heading toward him. Apparently he feeds them often enough that they recognize his whistle and go looking for a handout.

A couple of runners passed me as I was walking, including one fellow who was pushing a baby jogger - seemed a bit inconsiderate to be using one of those on the relatively narrow footpath, but maybe that's just me. I've thought about running laps there but in the end the lack of distance does me in, since I'd have to run around the pond eight times just to get six miles, and I suspect I'd quickly be bored out of my skull... don't know how track runners do it.

JMH

FLOODING, FLOODING, & MORE FLOODING...
1.7 Miles of Walking to View the Mohawk River Flooding
4 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Monday, August 29, 2011

I went back and forth between running at Thacher Park (where the waterfalls should be running quite strong!) and Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve (which I've avoided most of the summer because the biting insects are brutal.) Since I ran at Thacher less than a month ago, Vischer Ferry won out...

I really should have known better, since I'd been receiving e-mail alerts about flooding along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers all day, and various bridges were closed at different times (including the Twin Bridges on the Northway!) But not really thinking, I blithely headed north to Vischer Ferry...





....except I had to get off the Northway at exit 7 when it turned into a parking lot... only to find route 9 just slightly better. Finally got north of the Mohawk River (50 minutes after I left the house - usually Vischer Ferry takes me half an hour, tops!) only to find all the roads down by the Nature Preserve closed due to flooding. I tried the parking area at the former bridge & ferry crossing - closed. Did manage to get to the overlook at the power plant, and found myself looking at one heck of an angry river blasting over the Vischer Ferry dam. Given that the path from the overlook vanished into the water, I suspect major parts of the Nature Preserve are submerged, and I wouldn't have been able to run there even if I had managed to get near it.







Headed back across the river to check it out from the other side - figured I'd run the bike path from the Lions Park to the old landfill and check things out along the way. Riiight. I managed to get to the parking area where the bike path crosses Forts Ferry Rd and walked down the path to take some pictures. That was the closest I got to the river for a while, because all the other roads were closed down. I finally made my way to Blatnick Park at the top of the old landfill, right around the time the police showed up and put yellow tape across the entrance to the bike path.



From what I could see, the path wasn't flooded, and more than a few folks were ignoring the path being closed - so I geared up and ran the path down to Lock 7. Four trees down across the path along the way, but nothing too difficult to get around safely. The water was high (no surprise) but well back from the path. I didn't bother going further than Lock 7 or even over to the Lock, because there was a lot of activity there and at least a few police officers, and I didn't see much point in getting in trouble for being someplace they didn't want me to be. So I headed back to Blatnick Park, and continued up the path toward Knolls. Didn't go all that far - I really wasn't up for an extended run on pavement today, and it was getting late.







Looped around the pond at Blatnick Park on my way back to the car and was surprised to find a snoozing heron at the back of the pond - even more surprising, he didn't take off when I stopped to get some photos. The ever-present geese were enjoying the lawn nearby, and seemed less perturbed than usual by my presence. Perhaps they've gotten more used to people after a long summer of baseball games and so on.



So a somewhat disappointing afternoon and evening in terms to what little running I ended up doing (I spent more time driving than I did running) and because I couldn't get to most of the usual sites along the Mohawk River to get some photos of the floods - a real contrast to the June 2006 floods, where I rode my bike along most of the path (until I reached a downed tree with no way around or through it) and even drove down to Lock 7 to get photos. But so it goes...

UPDATED: Well, I suspect this explains why the local powers-that-be were so insistent on closing down the roads near the bike path, as well as all the heavy equipment I heard at Lock 7 - apparently the water was starting to wash out one of the banks at Lock 7 and there was concern that the dam would fail - one heck of a scary thought, given how much water was flowing through that area with the dam in place.

JMH

2 Days & 4 States...
Monday, July 25, 2011

... though, to be fair, I only drove through 2 of the states (NY & MA.)

Drove a total of about 700 miles over slightly more than 2 days (about 7 hours more.) Ugh.

Ran one race, 13.1 miles, at a glacially slow pace... sigh.

Walked 7.2 miles in 5 different parks in NH and 5.5 miles in 4 different parks in ME.

But it's still nice to be home again.

JMH

1.8 Mile Walk at the Crossings of Colonie
Monday, May 16, 2011

No surprise, my legs were pretty beat today (well... I did run 21 miles and walk 7.6 miles over the last two days...) so I decided to take it easy and go for a walk after work. Ended up choosing the Crossings of Colonie just because it was close to several places where I had errands to run.

This time around I headed over to the wooded section in the southeast corner of the park. Wandered through the woods for a while, including following a couple of trails which I suspect are very unofficial. After that I headed over toward the main entrance, with a long pause to watch dozens of swallows swooping all over the place over a marshy pond. They're incredible to watch as they dive, jink, and soar, and I'm amazed there aren't any mid-air collisions. I even managed to shoot some video of them.

Incredibly there were two groups of runners in the park today - one group that seemed to be part of the class put on by Cicotti Rec Center and the other looked like it was some sort of "learn to run" program, possibly one of the ones put on by Fleet Feet Albany. Watching them almost made me wish I was running this evening... and then I'd walk up a tiny rise, feel my legs groan, and decided walking was a much better plan.

JMH

NIGHT ALONG THE RIVER
6.3 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Had a dinner to go to tonight with one of my students (he was being recognized as the senior with the top GPA and had nominated me as a teacher who has had a great deal of influence on time at the Academies - in all honesty a real honor for me) so I wasn't able to get outside right after work. But I packed my gear so I could go for a run if I wanted to afterwards, and when we left the dinner it was just too nice a night to head home and indoors. Instead I headed over to the Niskayuna Lions Park to put in a few miles on the bike path.

Perfect night for a run... it might have even been a bit too warm at first, but it cooled down nicely as time passed. The sky was clear and a cresent moon lit things up nicely. All manner of frogs were calling in the river, ponds, and swamps along the path - quite the serenade! There were a lot of cars in the lot when I first arrived (unusual, given that I got there a little before 9 PM) but other than a few people right at the start I didn't run into anyone while I was out there.

Back when I lived in the country I used to run at night fairly regularly in the summer. It was cooler than during the day, and often I'd find myself unable to get to sleep so I'd hit the road for 6-9 miles in the dark. Traffic was usually light enough on the back roads that during a 90 minute run (I was a bit faster back then!) I might see one or two cars. I've always enjoyed the peacefulness of running in the dark and the challenge of running more by feel than by seeing the ground ahead of me (admittedly, I prefer to run trails with a headlamp to try to avoid tripping over rocks, roots, and holes.) So having to run tonight after dark was a blessing in disguise and one I think I will try to repeat occasionally as the spring, summer, and fall progress.

JMH

LONG DISTANCE 2011 - Race #1
Spring Forward 15k Road Race
Sunday, April 3, 2011


Back to beautiful Mendon Ponds park for my first race of the 2011 season, plus a few miles afterwards to build distance for the trail marathon at the end of May. While I can't say that the Spring Forward 15k is one of my favorite races (it is a road race, after all!) the course is nice and hilly for a good workout, the scenery can be really nice, and the folks at Yellowjacket Racing are always great.

What wasn't great was how freakin' cold it was when I arrived at the park! Even though I knew I'd probably warm up a couple of miles into the race I didn't want to risk freezing for 2 hours, so I wore my jacket and gloves (and I was right, I tied the jacket around my waist at about the three mile mark and never needed it after that.

Didn't set any PRs today but I did keep to a nice steady pace that left me some gas in the tank for my post-race run and still mananged to pass a couple of other back-of-the-packers. Not quite as satisfying as pushing my hardest and ending fried... but that won't get me ready for the marathon. I also set a goal of running up all the hills and I pretty much accomplished that - walked a bit toward the top of the longest ones, but that's OK. It was definitely a good day for a medium-length run in the sun at a pace that was probably a bit faster than I'd have gone if I just headed out for a run.

I sometimes wonder if the other runners see some of the things I notice as I'm cruising along at the back... like the herd of deer running across a field in the distance as we were leaving the park... or the hawk perched in a tree just over our heads about a mile and a half from the finish. Wonderful sights like that help me appreciate being slow!

JMH

2011 Event Totals
Run 9.3 mi, 1 hr 57 min
Bike 0 mi, 0 min
Snowshoe 74.3 mi, 18 hr 57 min
Kayak 0 mi, 0 min

states visited: MA, NY, VT

WONDERFUL SUNSHINE - BUT DANG THAT WIND IS COLD!
9.1 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, March 27, 2011

Finally dragged myself out the door this afternoon to get in the second run of the weekend... ended up over at the bike path for a variety of reasons. While things felt pretty comfortable when I walked out the door, the wind was blasting on the path and I quickly wondered if shorts were such a good idea. Fortunately I had enough gear for my upper body and head that it was doable...

Lots of ducks and geese along the way, and it looks like they weren't thrilled with the wind either - they were mostly clustered in the out-of-the-way bays and inlets. Spotted the usual mallards plus mergansers (both common and hooded), green-winged teals, and ring-necked ducks. There was also a good-sized group of gulls further along, including one very large fellow that I suspect was an immature greater black-backed gull. And it was nice to see a couple of herons back! I also watched a muskrat scurry across the path, and later on two red squirrels zipped across just ahead of me.

The path out to Lock 7 Road was clear, then it was mixed patches of snow and ice/pavement all the way to the old landfill and the Hill. Stopped at Lock 7 briefly - water's a good deal lower than the last time I was there. I even managed to convince myself to run up the Hill to Blatnick Park... that was fun, running uphill with the wind trying to blow me back down...

But it was worth it when I reached the top, just to see the Canada geese on the baseball field... though I'm not sure they understand the game. I'm pretty ignorant about sports and even I know the outfielders should be spread out and someone needs to be covering the bases.

The run back was somewhat more enjoyable, with the wind at my back... though when I got back to the parking lot and saw I only had eight miles, I gave in to insanity and kept going for another half mile or so before turning around. Of course that meant I ran the last half mile heading into the wind that seemed to be getting colder and colder, but at least that meant I was well and truly done by the time I got back to the car... and 9 miles is nothing to sneeze at, especially after yesterday's run/hike on the Nipmuck trail.

JMH

BIRDS!
6.1 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A rainy morning followed by a warm sunny afternoon... too bad that the sunshine was mostly gone by the time I got done teaching this week's karate lesson, but I still headed over to the bike path for a short run... in shorts! Wahoo!

Enough of the snow and ice was gone on the path heading east that I started out with about a mile out and back in that direction, then took the Gerbil Wheel west to Lock 7 and back. I was surprised to find that my legs didn't feel too bad... I was expecting a lot of grumbling after yesterday's long haul on snowshoes up at Thacher Park.

Along the way I saw birds, birds, and more birds, and I heard a few I didn't see. It's a great time of year for waterfowl - I spotted common mergansers, northern shovelers, wood ducks, mallards, black ducks, green-winged teals, and of course Canada geese. Also a number of cardinals and smaller birds, and the blackbirds were calling constantly. At various times I also heard a kingfisher, a killdeer, and a woodcock calling. Spring is definitely on the way!

JMH

4.6 Mile Run Through Albany & Around Buckingham Lake
Friday, November 5, 2010

Finally a break in the rain! Other than being a bit chilly and windy it was fairly nice outside when I got out of work, and I had a bit of time before tonight's performance of the fall play, so I headed out for a short run to try and work the rust out of my legs after too many days of inactivity. Can't say I'm particularly fond of running around Albany, but it beats not running at all, and spots like Buckingham Lake Park offer a slight nature break in the midst of the city neighborhoods.

I had planned to do three loops around the lake, but my guts were in something of an uproar by the time I got there so I cut the run short and headed for home before things got really unpleasant. I suspect I have my own stupidity to blame - I probably shouldn't have downed a Powerbar right before I headed out the door.

JMH

4 Mile Run, Albany Academy to Normanskill Farm
Thursday, October 21, 2010

Very little time today between wrapping up extra help sessions with my students and another work function, so I squeezed in a very short run from the school over to Normanskill Farm. After following city streets for a ways, I went down what used to be a yellow-brick road (before it was paved over, though in spots the asphalt has worn away revealing the bricks underneath) and over the Whipple bridge to follow a trail down the hill and then along the Normans Kill a short distance before turning around and heading back. I would have liked to have run longer but there just wasn't time...

The last time I was at Normanskill Farm was almost a year ago, after last year's Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon, when I stopped to get some photos of the many trees that were in brilliant fall colors. There were fewer showing gold and reds today, possibly because of the recent rain or possibly because some of the trees have yet to change color. Still, it was awfully nice to spend some time surrounded by a bit of nature, before having to follow the city streets back to work.

JMH