Do run (and bike and paddle) Boston!

Great Urban Race Boston!  John and I were excited to return to Boston and do our first urban race of the year.  It's funny, I love Boston but I don't really know it all that well.  We are enjoying learning as we go.  Maybe not ideal as an urban racing strategy, maybe we'll need to work on that for next year.

The race started in Harvard Yard, which is a really cool area to hang around in and explore.  We met a nice volunteer at the Visitor Info booth with the most awesome Boston accent - I can't get enough of listening to that.

The race itself started at noon a block from the Harvard Square T stop.  We checked over the clue sheets and for once didn't have a really solid idea where most of the clues were.  We picked out Sargent's Wharf and decided to head downtown.  There was an inbound T just about to close its doors as we ran down the stairs and jumped on - lucky catch!

On the T we studied the clues and searched our maps for Somerville.  The only useful thing we managed to get off the clue sheet was reading the really small print that was part of CP 5 and writing down the important part - I was happy to have an immediate answer when Sheila asked about it after we got back above ground.

We started out on State Street at the Black Rose, which was a lucky choice as a first checkpoint.  The challenge was to arrange colored cans into a "64" pattern by sliding them (no picking them up or moving them out of the rectangle already defined).  It took us awhile, there were only 4 puzzle stations, and a line had formed by the time we were done.

 

From there we ran to the wharf, briefly passing it up because it looked like just a parking lot, but then we discovered the volunteers over by the water.  They gave us each a large chunk of butter to coat our hands, and then pointed us to a large, heavy (not alive, at least) fish that we would have to transport down the boardwalk.  The person holding the fish couldn't move, so we handed it off as we went, making sure not to drop it, and not ever considering trying to toss it!  Not sure why the butter - to make it harder to hold the fish or to protect our hands from the scales or to keep us from smelling fishy?

Down at the other end, far away from the paper towel rolls we had seen when we started, we were told to crab-walk down to the dock where a couple "lobstah" guys were waiting.  Time for the live animal part of the show - sweet!  John got to pick up a lobster while I used a tool to clamp a rubber band around one of its claws.  The creature seemed mostly curious about the whole thing, moving its eyeballs around to try to get a view of us.

The real challenge was how to get the camera out with butter-coated hands - luckily the second guy went along with the idea of pulling it out of John's pocket (the cord was hanging out, at least) and even put it back for him afterwards.  These Boston lobstah guys ain't shy.

After much paper-toweling of butter from our hands, we headed across the North End to get the center point for our tic-tac-toe square (a sign with the word "Famous" in it):

Around the corner we found a gallery called Shake the Tree where they had put out a few copies of a book about food trucks.  We were to look through it to find ingredients from a certain recipe - I asked them if they knew we were coming in with butter on our hands?  We tried to be careful with the books as we also tried to read fast.  Eventually I copied out 7 ingredients, they gave us a flyer, and took our picture out front with John shaking something that is NOT a tree:

Sheila (on the phone) guided us southwest across a few streets and up a small hill to a bar called the 21st Amendment.  Other GUR teams lined the sidewalk working on something, so it looked like a puzzle of some sort - John ran in to get our copy.  We discovered we needed to match up 21 states with their respective wacky laws prohibiting things like slurping soup or keeping an alligator in your bathtub - funny!

This took awhile but we finally finished that task in return for a flyer from the bar.  We also got our picture with each of us displaying the number "21":

Running over toward the Boston Common, another team joined us and John chatted with them briefly in a mad downhill dash toward a food truck for another tic-tac-toe square:

Next we needed to "head east on West" where we found the Brattle bookstore and a cool mural:

That was all for downtown - back to the subway to visit the Back Bay.  On the crowded T we worked on other tic-tac-toe squares but didn't find anyone wearing red socks or a Baltimore Orioles jacket.  Oh well, we were getting well-versed in what we needed to finish that CP, so there was hope we could do it.  And we got to talk with some locals.

Back at street level, I tried getting ahold of Sheila again, but our test of a new phone system was failing rather completely.  John reached her and chatted for a minute while I jumped up and down on alternating legs.  That was when I decided my knee must be doing OK (I had been resting it since the previous weekend and we had wrapped it for the race).  So that was something.

We finally found our next CP, Kings Back Bay bowling alley, where we needed to complete a fill-in-the-blank celebrity puzzle and get our photo with a set of photos and bowling pins:

We went back to Mass Ave to look for a bus going north, but didn't see any coming so we opted for the T back into town and then out again on the red line.  While making the transfer, we wandered the platform looking for red socks, when we came across team The Fast and The Furious - hi guys!  They had soundly beaten us in the Boston GUR last year, and we were pretty stoked to see them.  They weren't nearly as excited to see us.  None of us could believe that we were over 2 hours into the race and still had a whole 'nother section of CP's to hit.

Sheila directed us to the Somerville area, which was completely off our maps and a place I had not even heard of (whereas most of the time around Boston I'm at least familiar with the name but still that doesn't help me in the least).  We got off the T and started running north, following the Boston guys (TF&TF) up to a park.

Here we were instructed to do a wheelbarrow while transporting a frisbee, a soccer ball, and a softball.  John stuffed a couple items down his shirt and the soccer ball between his legs, then I carried his feet while he hand-walked along the grass.  Once at the other end, I returned to the start so John could toss me each item in turn - 3 solid throws and catches, and we were done, yay!

We actually managed to get out of there slightly ahead of TF&TF, running back down toward the main street.  Look, there's a woman with red knee-highs!  John ran up to ask her about getting a photo, but she turned out to be another racer, and she obviously had been getting the same question all afternoon as she was by now well-versed in the rule that "strangers must be non-GUR participants" for the tic-tac-toe.  Oh well, good try John!

Sheila helped us find Comicazi (cool name!) on Highland Ave where we had to find a Star Wars character and take our photo to apply an Instagram filter.  I was a bit worried about this one... we just bought smart phones for the first time a week ago, and we have spent the last week getting used to how they work and setting up various apps.  Would we manage this on the fly?

Find yoda - check.  Open Instagram and get the camera on - check.  Take a selfie with our new phone - check.  Apply the "1977" filter - check.  Upload picture - "Failed" - uh oh.  This caused some consternation, but I left that window open and hoped the photo wouldn't disappear before the end of the race.

To dispel the suspense, here is the photo in question:

While all that was going on, we had forgotten to get a flyer from the business, but luckily Sheila thought to ask about it - thank you for saving us, Sheila!

Next was a quick jog down the street to a place vying with Comicazi for the coolest checkpoint name - Kickass Cupcakes.  I yelled up to John that this is what we were looking for, and a woman walking toward us with a white bakery box in her hands was like "Yes, you need to go there" - awesome.

We found the bakery (but not TF&TF - they skipped this one) and ran in to get our little cupcake with a note on the top.  It said "Take a picture with a frosting kiss mark on your cheek" so we quickly got this shot:

Then the lady behind the counter explained that we also needed to each apply a tattoo and use the materials at the little table to complete the tasks.  There we found some wet wipes to help get the tattoo part done.  A photo of the result (and it's still on my leg today - kick ass!):

Also on the table were several tubs of frosting, little spoons and cups, and a sign that said "Do not eat the frosting..." - aw, fake frosting? - "... for Great Urban Race only" - oh phew!  We ate the little cupcake in a couple bites and proceeded to discuss whether we needed to draw something on my face in lieu of the blue frosting shmush, so we decided to be safe and get something on the other cheek that looked like a kiss mark (while the team next to us had to do cat whiskers - very funny!)

After spending way too long in the bakery, we were finally back on the street and running toward a school parking lot.  We still had not finished the tic-tac-toe and I had visions of us running around the Harvard campus at the end looking for one photo with 2 people with different university shirts on.  How hard could that be?

Sheila guided us to the spot where there were several Chevy cars, so we got in to figure out a short car-related puzzle (we did not need to call Click and Clack, sadly).  Then we got our photo with the car - just like the product placements in the Amazing Race!

Sheila let us know about a street one block away that was an intersection of two streets with names of trees.  John wasn't aware that this was the goal of this photo, but he did manage to capture it even so:

We had several options now for finishing the tic-tac-toe.  Running toward the T station, John veered off and yelled "Red Sox!" which I didn't interpret correctly because I tried to tell him that we actually needed Baltimore Orioles instead.  But no - actual RED SOCKS!  The woman was more than happy to let us take a picture with her ankles, thanks so much!  Tic-tac-toe - check!

We ran into the T station and then waited a while for an inbound train, but it came eventually.  One stop south, then we booked it up many flights of stairs and to the finish line where The Fast and The Furious (but no other teams!) were waiting.  Just over 3 hours to complete the course, wow that was a long one!  Our Instagram photo was still visible on my phone, phew, and we had all the other photos and parts and pieces that we needed.  Second place, score!

The costume contest was awesome, as usual.  A couple of Cinco de Mayo characters, our favorite entry:

The winners!

That was wicked cool!  And a nice start to our 2012 urban racing season.  Thanks for a fun event, GUR folks!

And to finish off the explanation of this blog post title... on Sunday we rode bikes around the Charles River bikeway and rented a kayak to paddle on the river among the sailboats.  We enjoyed the heck out of that.  The cameras took the day off, you'll have to take our word for it  :)

Flat-CAT flat-ass not-quite-100

The CAT-100 was originally a low-key 100-mile event with a few (25) entrants, running along the Catoctin and Appalachian trails in western Maryland.  This sounded like an interesting "training" event for me, and a chance for us to visit with Kathy and Bob for part of a weekend.

Various events, including a permitting problem, conspired to change the weekend up a little.  Gone were the trails from the official race, now it would be run in two 50-mile sections on the C&O towpath along the Potomac River.  This sounded nice, for about 1/3 of that distance.  I'm nowhere near trained (not sure I ever would or could be trained) to run 100 flat miles.  Not just somewhat flat, but super-duper flat with only a slight rise/drop over the 25 miles of towpath the race would cover.  At least it was a nice surface (crushed gravel) and not pavement.  I decided I would try for 50 miles of that, and then do my own thing for the 2nd half of the training event.

It was fun meeting Jim the RD and other runners from the area.  Everyone was very nice, the volunteers were great, and the area was so pretty.  John had a good time exploring, in between supporting me and jumping online to help with a couple teams doing the Austin GUR race on Saturday (they came in 1st and 2nd, yay!).

The actual running - not too much to say about that.  Luckily John took some pictures so I can just summarize.

First 20 miles felt smooth and fast - I wasn't sure how long that would last, so I went with it, staying on the "easy" side of the effort.

It's not often my running pictures actually look like I'm running:

The towpath was scenic, green, very pretty, and since I was going to see each part only twice (out-and-back upstream, out-and-back downstream) I didn't mind the sometimes monotonous feel in certain stretches.  It was great running next to a river again, especially in the area that had some little rapids and a bunch of geese (and later in the day, rafters).

John looking across at Harpers Ferry and looking down at me on the trail - see me way down there?

Hi John!  The guys running behind me caught up and asked me how he got up there.  I could only say that John is a mountain goat.

John enjoyed driving to West Virginia and Virginia briefly, learning some of the history of the area and the tow path itself.  Apparently there was a race between building the railroad and building the canal.  The railroad won.

John ran with me for a few miles here and there, and it was fun to talk with him in between catching up on my podcasts (by the way, we just discovered "3 Non Joggers" and they are too funny!).

At the 30-mile aid station taking a short break:

Raiding the watermelon tub:

The volunteers were so great, we appreciate everything they do.

And I appreciate my husband!

Back on the tow path.  The last 20 miles got tiring, not at all a surprise.  But I was happy to be heading back to the start/finish, glad to be aiming to get off the tow path.  50 miles of flat running starts to wear you down. A bit of speed-walking every mile helped.  By the time I was done with all that, my quads were completely shot.  I'm about trained for one flat marathon, not two in a row... I cannot even imagine how other runners did the whole 100 miles there, wow.

Interestingly, the slight rise on the way back (vs. the slight drop on the way out) made a difference and a nice change of pace on my legs.  It ever-so-slightly changed which muscles were taking the brunt of the work, and I was still mostly running by the end of the 50 miles.  Squatting to use the bathroom, however, got really difficult by the afternoon.

It was a really nice day for running - cloudy and cool, barely any rain.  Birds singing, a relay race going on at the same time, hikers, bikers, lots to see.  I couldn't complain!

Back at the start/finish, studying the maps to get started on the next 50 miles:

My "non-race" second half of the training started back down on the tow path for a few miles, a hilly climb up to Maryland Heights for a nice loop and some great views, and back down to the tow path to find the AT and John.  I was heading north now instead of east-west, happy to finally feel like I was going somewhere.

Starting on the AT was great - we have been near it but not much on it over the years, in Georgia, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont.  I was dang excited to finally be speed-hiking on it for real.  I crossed under a highway and started climbing to the first ridge.

There was a sign near the start of the trail, so I went to check out the map.  It was here that I had a "Bill Bryson moment" - I could see where I was starting out at the southern border of Maryland.  I scanned upward to see how far into Maryland I was planning to go.  Up - up - all the way to the top!  What?  That certainly explains what "Pen-Mar" means - Pennsylvania-Maryland, the northern border.  That was slightly stunning; we had talked about maybe doing sections of the AT in the form of one whole state at a time, but I had missed the concept of doing it this actual weekend.  It's not the widest part of Maryland by any means, but it was still weird to think about.

That kept my mind busy while I climbed up through the trees.  The trail was a bit rocky but for the most part much better than the Long Trail in Vermont.  Along the ridge at the top I wished my legs weren't so tight from the first 50 miles, as I would have loved to really run it.  The legs never loosened up like I had hoped, so I tried to run a bit here and there.  But mostly focused on speed-walking as fast as I could.

It got dark.  My handheld light nearly ran out of battery by the end of the section, but I made it down to Gathland State Park where John was waiting.  Kathy and then John's dad both called while I was sitting in the car, that was pretty funny.

In the next section it rained on and off.  Part of it was rocky and slow, but then there was a really nice runnable section and I made up some time.  Coming to the car I discovered that Kathy and Bob had driven an hour just to see us for a bit, how sweet of them!  They had a crazy busy weekend and we didn't know if we were going to get to see each other at all, but happily I got to say Hi and John got to visit with them for a while.  Thanks y'all!!

Getting out of the car was chilly but I was climbing again so I soon warmed up.  The climbs were never too long, just long enough to stay warm in the cold, clammy night.  This next section was short on mileage but long on challenges.  I found the George Washington Monument park, had to figure out the trail a couple times, and checked out some sign boards about GW's life along the way.

The AT followed a footpath toward the monument but then diverged.  I debated going up to see it, but decided not to make the trek up the hill.  It turns out that the subsequent downhill was hard enough as it was, so it was probably good I had not made it any longer.

Here began the tough part of the trail (at least with the condition of my legs) - large log steps every few feet.  I'm sure they are good for reducing trail erosion and such, but they were quite difficult for me.  My left knee (the one I fell on 2 weeks ago) had been aching a little all day, and these steps really did a number on it.  I carefully stepped down each one, favoring the aching knee.

Another uphill (with log steps), another downhill, and another, and another.  I could hear the highway a long way away (time-wise, if not distance-wise).  Eventually I got there.

Crossing over the interstate on the AT bridge at night was really cool.  I'm glad I got to do that.

On the other side I saw a sign toward "Annapolis Rock", and I didn't think I should be heading in the direction of Annapolis, so I took the other trail which seemed to head toward a parking area.  Luckily I chose correctly, and our yellow rental car was parked and waiting (with John inside napping).

I wasn't really excited about getting back out of the car, but I put on more clothes, drank my Gookinaid, Ensure, and hot coffee (yay for hot coffee!), and took a 10-minute shut-eye.  Then John walked me out as I told him about my achy knee.  I was shivering a lot but knew that I had a big climb (yes, up to Annapolis Rock, which apparently is nowhere near the city it is named after).  Thanks John, see you when it's light out!

The climb warmed me up quickly.  I even took the quarter-mile side trip to see the scenic view from the Rock, but couldn't tell much about it in the darkness other than there's another town to the west.  Back on the main trail, I just tried to keep moving, not kick too many rocks, and be patient because this was a long section.

Partway along, there's a drop down to a creek crossing, and here is where my left knee gave up for good.  Every downhill step was painful and my leg didn't so much want to bend.  It was an easy decision to give up on the final 10 miles and stop after the end of this section.  It was a lot harder to actually get to the point where I could stop.  I still had about 6 miles to go.  At least it was uphill and then flat along a long ridge until the last drop at the end.

The uphill went fine.  The ridge started out OK but that didn't last.  First there were rock gardens, reminding me of the last section of the Bandera 100K.  That wasn't so easy.  Then - then! - there were large rocks all over the place, reminding me of the last section of Hardrock (below Putnam AS) - what in the world?  This took forever.

Finally it was like whoever built the trail said "Hey!  We don't have to be directly on TOP of the ridge, we could put the trail a little lower and it would be a lot nicer".  Thanks a lot (sarcastically) to whoever routed the trail through the boulders in the first place, and Thanks So Much (heartfelt) to whoever came to their senses and found the bench below the ridge.  I was still walking, but with purpose and without curses.

The sun shone on the ridge, and while I was still in shadows, I was happy that I had made it to morning.  Eventually John appeared - Hi John!  He had hiked up to find me, and I was almost to the downhill.  It took a little while to get down, but I made it, and I was done.  90 miles in ~26 hours, works for me  :)

Waving "goodbye" to the last Maryland section of the AT - next time!

Sunday was a beautiful day, including warm sunshine, a trip to Waffle House, more time visiting with Kathy and Bob (that alone was worth stopping early), lots of sleep, and repacking.

Monday we got home to our new toys...

Time for the Beards to get into the 21st century!

Birthday in the City

New York City with Mom!  What a fabulous birthday present!

We took trains down on Friday, met up in Penn Station, then jumped on a LIRR train to our hotel in Queens.  Dinner that night was at the Himalayan Yak - interesting and awesome.  One of my favorite things about the city is all the incredible food choices.

Saturday we started with a quick stroll down Wall Street before our ferry over to...

The Lady:

It was a beautiful morning, actually the entire day was gorgeous so we spent most of it outside.

Looks like spring even though it feels rather chilly for April:

The ranger tour was most excellent, as usual.  Here is our view during most of the tour - the statue "in motion":

The ranger talking about sculptures of various people who were instrumental in putting this whole thing together:

Nice view of Manhattan:

Walking around the island...

Sporting our audio guides:

John waiting for a chance to say "Merci!" to Monsieur Bartholdi:

Next stop = Ellis Island and a good look at what people went through to get into this country:

We were rather starving at this point, so we headed back to the mainland... er... the bigger island and jumped on a subway up to Greenwich Village.  It was super crowded but we managed to stop several places for our own version of a "food tour" - slices of Joe's Pizza, an Indian sample plate, some chocolate-dusted corn nuts (?), a chocolate-pear tart, and some scrumptious gelato.  I'm hungry just thinking about all of that.

Next stop - Times Square, because everyone should see it once in their life.  Again, super crowded but a fun gawking experience.  Including a run-in with a naked Texan.  No, it wasn't John (this time).  We climbed up the stairs for a better view of the scene:

After that we needed some Central Park time.  We walked all over the park, saw/heard some excellent street artists and musicians, and smiled at all the flowers and greenery.  Ahhh....

The most amazing find was a set of spotting scopes placed to view a red-tailed hawk, actually a pair with a nest across the way.  Mom had even heard of "Pale Male", it was like our own version of a celebrity sighting.  I could not have planned this better if I had actually planned it.

More pretty flowers:

Hans Christian Andersen - the boy isn't part of the sculpture, but he could be:

Climbing all over (and under) Alice:

We met Ron and Jerome briefly at a birthday gathering for Ron, then aimed for The Hummus Place for supper.  It is rapidly becoming one of my favorite restaurants.  Then we introduced Mom to the concept of "compile your own frozen yogurt", where we all compiled our own, of course.  Yum.

Wow, that was only the first day!

Sunday looked more rainy so we decided to stay more or less inside.  We started with a walk through the great Grand Central Terminal.  Then a quick 30 Rock shot:

View from the Top of the Rock:

Rather soggy but you get the idea:

The rest of Sunday involved the Museum of Natural History, the Green Expo for John (he got to drive an electric car around the block!), Maoz with Ron for falafel, and an afternoon at MoMA.  Then we couldn't resist trying to fit in just one more thing, so we journeyed down to Chinatown, wandered a few blocks in rather soaking rain, and stopped in for some fried rice.  Phew, another amazing day!

Monday morning we were all ready for some pre-train calm and relaxation, so we leisurely made our way back to Penn Station.  On the way we stopped at a little grocery store for fruit and found that everything in the store (not just the produce) was organic, a nice surprise.  Surprises just kept popping up around us all weekend!  Like finding a big Post Office building right next to Penn Station so Mom could get a quick look at their museum.

I'm sure I'm forgetting many details, but suffice it to say, last weekend was a resounding success  :)

Don't Run Boston (at least this year)

Sometimes you just want a do-over.  For me, that usually means I've been orienteering or urban racing.  And while we did exercise our nav skills, that wasn't the problem this time.

I was excited to bring John to the Trail Animals (TARC) "Don't Run Boston" 50k and 50 mile races yesterday.  This is event is fairly informal (but with a drop bag/aid station, water drops, and awesome volunteers) and involves doing your own navigation in a maze of trails around Blue Hills park to the south of Boston.  Last year I had such fun in the 50-mile race, I couldn't wait to try it again.  John figured he's not quite ready to run a 50k, but some trail miles would be good training so he was game to try.

I started at 6 a.m., stuck with a group of guys for a couple miles, and paid more attention to the beginning of the course this time.  John watched us run around the pond and then headed to Dunkin Donuts to hang out and wait for the 50k start at 8 a.m.  I enjoyed doing my own nav early on, learned some things about unmapped trails while climbing up to Buck Hill on the Skyline Trail ridge, and managed to pick the correct trail heading down the other side.

Similar to last year, the group of guys was at the first water drop to greet me but then took off as I mixed up a Spiz baggie.  I didn't quite follow the correct trail up to Hawk Hill but quickly found it again at the top and located an occasional old purple blaze as it wove around in the rocks and scrub.  A trail re-route, a quick journey through a couples holes in a fence, and then I was running well near the swamp.  The early miles felt great, the short climbs were going fine despite not much hill training this year, and I felt like I was running faster than last year.

I hardly saw another runner the rest of the race.  I did yell hello at a couple guys who crossed up ahead of me as Sassaman Notch (not sure if they heard me).  I saw a large group of 50k runners on the red trail right before I climbed up Tucker Hill, and I saw them pause at the exact spot I had questioned a couple hours earlier, so I yelled "Right Turn!" and I think that helped (hope so anyway!).

The volunteers at the aid station car were great, and someone named Jill had even baked a bunch of delicious cookies to share.  Neil told me that John had started just a bit late, but he did get a drop bag in place with his Gu's and stuff.  I finished the Skyline Trail section and really enjoyed it.  Last year it had seemed slow with all the rocks and ups/downs, but this year I really enjoyed it and managed to feel like I was actually running and not just hiking on it.  It probably helped that the rocks were dry this time.  In fact, it probably helped a great deal.  I was still careful on the steep downhills, but nothing was slippery this time.

Yay for the tower and the views on Boston!  Beautiful blue sky.  Some wind to cool us down occasionally.  What a nice day.

Hello again, wonderful aid station folks!  I had an orange slice and got set up for the next big loop.  The yellow section was easier footing than the Skyline Trail, but I guess that means I have to run.  A couple muscles were getting a bit stiff but nothing too bad.  Eventually I worked my way around to the museum where I had a fig newton and filled a Spiz baggie.

There was a ton of tourists hiking up the trail to the tower.  It was such a beautiful day for getting outside, it was good to see that many people were taking advantage of it.  At the top I headed over to the ski area, figured out the right ski slope (last year Bob had helped me with this section) and started down.  It was getting quite warm and my stomach was slightly uncomfortable.  Good heat training to start the season.

Back in the woods, but not much shade.  A group of mountain bikers had gathered, and they parted to let me through while asking if I was running 50 miles?  Yes, and thank you!

One more hefty climb back up the hill.  Near the top I knew I was about to hit another section with a large hiker population, so I stopped for a pee break and to relube some spots that tend to rub especially when I sweat a lot.  My stomach appreciated the former, and other parts of me appreciated the latter.  Ah, much better.  I was back in the shade, the wind had cooled me off, and the brief break was hugely helpful.

I came over a hill to see about five people standing along the next trail, all looking in my general direction.  But not at me.  I stopped to try to figure it out, and one guy directed my gaze to a large hawk that was standing directly in between me and the other folks.  Wow!  As soon as I spotted it, it spread its wings and flew away - looked like a red-tailed hawk, and way closer than I normally get to see them.  Then the guy told me that it had just eaten a snake.  Double wow!

I ran down and took a right onto a lesser-used trail in the direction of the best nav section of the course.  Turn upon turn, hitting several intersections twice (or 3 times) but never repeating anything, always keeping your mind focused on which way to go.  Plus I was started to feel good again, not as hot or bloated.

Then bam, my left foot caught something that I never saw, and I went flying.  Most times (luckily) I catch myself when I trip but this trail looked so nice and smooth that I totally didn't expect it and I was moving too fast to recover.  The map went one way, water bottle another way, as I rolled on my side.  I hit my knee on something, and 2 bumps appeared on it almost immediately.  Hmm, that's not ideal.  No blood, just some scrapes.  I tried to get most of the leaves and dirt off my shoulder, back of my shirt, and back of my legs, then gathered myself and started walking to see what would happen.

Last year I had slipped on some wet granite and sported a bloody elbow and knee proudly around the rest of the course.  I had joked that it would be interesting to do that again, but I was JUST JOKING, I swear.  I guess you still have to be careful what you "wish" for.

I was able to walk/run around the green trails and down to the water drop near the road.  But it wasn't going well, and my knee continued to hurt.  There was also a faint pain deeper in my leg so I was wondering if I had slightly pulled a muscle.

As I approached an intersection with the Skyline Trail I suddenly saw John up ahead.  Hey John!  It was so great to see him.  I limped over and he told me about getting lost a couple times and I told him about my tumble.  By then I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish the whole 50 miles.  But I was still OK for walking, so John continued on up to the tower.

Every time I stopped even for a minute my knee tightened up a lot.  Walking did help loosen it up, but I decided I shouldn't push it at all.  We have too many interesting weekends coming up, so I opted for the "let it heal" approach instead of even trying to finish the 50k.  Maybe my mistake in the 6-hour race last month (where I let a blister grow to epic size) helped with the decision.  So I walked back down to the volunteers at the truck and told them I was done.  Bummer.

John was there already, and he was getting ready for the big loop of yellow/green trails.  I iced my knee as he set out.  The lure of being able to head home early was too much for a man who wasn't quite trained for 31 miles of running anyway, so he stopped early too, after a respectable ~24 miles.  We did get to talk with a couple friends and had an easy drive home (with more ice on my knee).

A bit of rest, ice, elevation, and even an ace bandage wrapped around my knee overnight for the heck of it, and things are going better today.  I even biked to work.  Now it just looks like 2 scrapes and a bruise.  I have high hopes for a quick recovery.  But I wish I could have run the rest of the course.  Not sure if I'll get a do-over for this one!


On the plus side, we brought home quite a haul from Trader Joe's and REI  :)

AR training

I recently got lucky enough to join a team for the Untamed New England adventure race in Maine in June, very exciting!  I almost always race with at least one teammate who is related to me, but Laurent was great at the Frigid Infliction - twice - so I guess it's time to try longer races with other folks I don't know well.  I met Druce at Desert Winds, and John and I will race with Dima at the Longest Day in May.  In the meantime, it's about time to do some adventure racing training!  Good thing I've got the running thing mostly down pat.

Last weekend I rode up to Thacher State Park, ran around for a while, and rode back down (even got a bit of rain for a short gear/clothing test).  Good start.  The only downside so far of the biking training is that I can't listen to my iPod.  So I got my "Ready Player One" fix (awesome book!) in a couple hours of trekking.

John got his bike together yesterday to join me on my second "bike paths of the Albany area" ride.  We made it all the way from one end of the Mohawk River trail to the other!  Awesome.

But first, on the way over, John noticed the "Bella-Napoli Italian Bakery" on the map, and John is an excellent judge of breakfast and pastry places.

We worked our way over to Watervliet and hit the trail heading west.  What a nice ride along the river for miles and miles.  I commented that even Austin, with all its awesome outdoor stuff, doesn't have anywhere close to the bike paths that Albany does.  Who knew?

Lock #7:

Superfly on the Mohawk River:

It's not so easy to shoot lots of photos while biking.  But I did want to get a shot at this intersection.  Entitled "In Schenectady, the separation is about 6 inches":

Also, I'm practicing my selfies, so many of these won't be nearly "John quality" for a couple months.

Today I went running around Pine Bush (more audiobook time!) and then we took Sunny down to the Hudson River for a float trip.  Neat to be paddling on the Hudson!  It's always fun to find ourselves paddling on a new (for us) body of water.  So psyched that John could bring the boat up from Texas on Amtrak.

Checkpoint and actual half-decent (and very lucky) selfie!

We've got A LOT in the plans for the next ~10 weeks, so while I'll probably have a lot of blog-worthy material, I may not have a lot of time for the actual blogging part.  We shall see!

Happy Easter  :)