Happy 1-1-11!

It's a nice warm (i.e. >40 degree) day in Albany and the rain hasn't started yet. A perfect morning for a long run along the river.

Hi snowman!

Still pretty frosty in the river:

Part of the path was plowed... but not this part:

A statue of J. Erik Jonsson on the RPI campus:

Coffee break in downtown Troy:

Heading back toward Albany:

It's warming up!

Now it's a cappuccino, chai tea, and Netflix afternoon :)

Happy New Year, y'all!

Snow Day

Albany didn't get as much of the white stuff as other parts of the eastern seaboard - but it was enough to make for an interesting day! John got the photographer assignment today as he ran some errands (therefore, all photos courtesy of John Beard).

Our car before dawn - this is after an initial attempt at cleaning it off, which was also courtesy of John Beard:

A shoveled sidewalk - again, thank you JB!

John's accomplishment here was noticing how cool this car looked (yep, it's just parked, and yep, there was a LOT of wind around here today):

Wintry scene around the museum and parking meters buried up to their necks:

A pause at the Daily Grind for a steaming cuppa Joe:

A "Snowed-Under Vehicle""

Snow on the awnings:

Our street after the plows came through several times:

Our car before John cleaned it off. Again.

Our backyard:

Overheard by John: Something to the effect that "At least it's a dry snow." I can add that to "heat" and "cold" as things that are better dry.

Thank you to public transit for us not having to drive today!

Snowshoe race in Woodford VT

John's first race in the northeast (this winter anyway) - I convinced him that it wouldn't be so bad to snowshoe for 3 miles, even though it's cold and snow is falling. He tagged along after a promise of hot coffee before and after, plus a free loaf of bread at the finish line. It was also fun to rent snowshoes for $5 to try out the racing type.

Snow was coming down as we were getting ready, but it stopped before the race began:

Ready to go!

Come on John, you can do it!

He did eventually get out of the car and join me and maybe 100 other folks at the starting line. Pre-race announcements were mercifully short, and then we were off.

The course began on an open cross-country ski trail which had enough snow to make it feel like I was running in slow motion as my heart rate went up. The race director had warned us about an early hill. I actually didn't mind the hill because then at least I had an excuse for my slower-than-running speed.

Then it was off into the woods on a narrow trail. Fun! I was soon passing a couple people here and there, following someone for a while to take a breather and then working to find a place to pass. The trail was awesome, and I put my technical trail running skills to good use while trying to find the best places to place my oversized feet when a root or a rock appeared here and there.

I only stepped on one other person's shoe, and that was because he stopped to walk when I was right behind him. Didn't expect that! Surely he had heard me breathing down his neck? I'm not a quiet racer when I'm aiming to pass.

The racing shoes were great - narrow and light, with plenty of traction and perfect for those conditions. We have some hiking snowshoes from France, but we may have to get some for racing. How to explain that native (and pseudo-native) Texans would own not just one, but two sets of snowshoes? And possibly a pair of cross-country skis in the near future too?

Anyway, I had a blast running through the woods, weaving around on the trail, playing in the snow, passing more people, getting in a great workout. I was still glad when the trail finally reached the main road and headed for the finish line. Except that road still wasn't packed down much, so it was back to running on "sand" for a quarter mile. John cheered me in as the 3rd woman (finally something other than 2nd place!) and I got my loaf of free Vermont Bread Company bread :)

We're back in Albany, all tucked inside awaiting the first snowstorm of the season to hit. Fun weekend!

Weekend long run

Yesterday sported (comparatively) beautiful weather in the Albany area, so I went out for a long run along the Hudson River. I took my camera to capture a few shots, although most of these won't mean much to anyone except in a few cases.

For example, this one reminds me of our paddle during Desert Winds because of the (hard to see) green warning light (not so much the water temperature):

An interesting sign near the river in Albany:

No swimming today:

I can't resist photos of unexpected artwork:

This one is for John - again hard to see, and I don't really have an excuse this time for why I didn't just get closer to take the picture. And also, what are the panels powering, the giant powerline pole?

The Hudson and the sun trying to come out:

A great bike path along the river:

For Kathy:

The Approach:

Not quite as high as I remembered (well, this was before we started climbing Rocky Mountains):

This is new:

Our sledding hill behind the library (not pictured is the fence and busy road at the bottom):

The new building helps make Troy look better...?

The computer center where we prayed our coding was right and the printouts would come out quickly:

The Physics building:

The Armory:

"One word changes everything" - OK, but what word is it?

Nason Hall :)

The site of many fun evenings watching Big Red kick big butt:

The site of our Hockey Line stand:

Archway to campus:

Our one piece of modern art:

Heading back down:

For Mom:

This one makes me laugh:

The Egg at Empire Plaza near my apartment:

Fun run! Hoping for a couple more of these before we get too snow-covered...