Lake Placid Marathon (Short story)

Awesome day in the ADK! The rain stopped and the sun was shining on us today as we ran in our favorite place in America. We completed the Marathon Relay in 3:46:11 which was a PR for all of us!

Detailed race report with photos coming soon...

After the race we decided to go kayaking on the Ausable River. We were treated to a personal tour of the local wildlife rehab facility before retrieving our kayaks. Here is one of the Great Horned Owls. Pretty cool raptors!

Ho Ho Ho

Day 1 in the Adirondacks found us driving by "Santa's Workshop" in Wilmington, NY on our way to Catamount Mountain (photo above) for a hike. This hike has been on our list of "to do's" for a year or two and its 3.6 mile round trip distance seemed like a good warmup for the week. The ADK Trail Guide book said there would be some rock scrambling, a chimney, but the views of Whiteface mountain and the high peaks were stunning from the rocky summit. Sounded great!

We registered at the trail head and started our way into the woods. Nice level trail through the trees and then we started to climb. We crossed a small brook that was flowing briskly from last night's rainfall.

The trail continued to climb and become more and more rocky. During a break, Abby noticed a "lady slipper" on the side of the trail. We looked closer and there were several of them. These wildflowers are a cousin of the orchid and are very beautiful and delicate.

The trail kept climbing and the views from the various outcrops of rocks were indeed spectacular.

Remember the bit about the Chimney? Well, we managed to get there after several scrambles and managed to coax Denise up the gap. Once though, we still were faced with a significant rock face to climb before we reached the summit. We decided that enough was enough. Denise is not real keen on open rock climbs and I was thinking that the views from here were great already and the climb down would be challenging enough. Besides, we have a race to run sunday!

Denise said they they would wait if I wanted to go on to the summit. I left my pack with the girls, took the camera, and proceeded to the summit. After some very challenging scrambles, I managed to reach the summit, the south summit that is. There was still .3 miles left to go to the actual summit with more open rocks and climbs ahead. Good choice to stop where we did because I don't think that Abby's arms/legs were long enought to climb up one face. I had to be creative myself to get this far...

I snapped a picture and started back down.

The photo is of Gina and I climbing down the Chimney. Oh yeah, Santa would not have made it through the top part! We had to remove our packs to squeeze through the narrow gap!

We made it back down the mountain and to the car, all in one piece. The girls would butt-slide down the rock faces, make the return trip much faster! We stopped at the A&W in Wilmington for ice cream and spotted this snapping turtle along-side the road on our way back to the cabin!


Below is a picture of our home for the next week!



We will hate to leave...

HEADS UP!!

I took Gina and Abby over to Liberty park this afternoon for a run. We wanted to get 30 minutes in and decided to do a simple out and back. Shortly after we started, we decided to go into the woods for some shade instead of baking in the meadow sunshine. As we prepared to exit the woods, I noticed a trail that veered south and looked like the deer trail I followed last winter. We started down it and it indeed connected with the ledges area and came out back near the gas wells making for a nice loop.

The girls liked the area and we had a good run through the woods. We had to traverse the meadow again to get back to the car and as we passed by a ball field, the batter hit a foul ball and everyone shouted "heads up!" I looked up to see the ball coming down near us as Gina and Abby did the "duck and cover" routine! The ball dropped harmlessly 4 feet away but it was close enough.. That would have made a good story: "Tell me again how you got that lump on your head?" "I went running with Dad..."

Just get out the door! (again)

I am still having a motivation problem with my training. I guess I really do need an event to train for or to scare me into training. The 'plan' for the Running with Scissors race starts in two weeks so that will be good.

I managed to get out this morning before work for 4.5 miles of the local trails. It was very quiet and very enjoyable. It started the day off well and as usual, once I was out the door, it was great!

Just get out the door...

Our Lake Placid trip is very near and we cannot wait! The weather looks to be near perfect for race day with clear skies and high of 70 degrees. We will probably have to build a fire in the cabin with the lows in the high 40s... However for the mountains, this is as good as it gets!

Adirondacks, here we come!

Wildlife weekend...

Ok, not the 'party' wild-life but nature wild-life sightings...

One my way to work yesterday, I was sitting at a stop light and noticed something crossing the street in front of me. I quickly recognized a possum and then took a second glance. She had 8 babies hanging off of her as she ambled across the street. One of the babies fell of and she stopped and waited as it scrambled back to her and climbed onto her back. The mother possum then continued her trek across the street. The funniest thing was the expression on the face of the lady in the car next to me. She had this look of disbelief as she moved her sunglasses down her nose to get a better view... It was a true laugh-out-loud moment.

I have been hearing barn owls hooting on some of my runs lately and finally was able to see one a couple of weeks ago. Last week during an evening run, I heard the owl call across the way and then heard another call back the other direction. It was pretty cool to hear them call back and forth but they were both pretty far off. Last night, I once again heard a owl call some distance off and then the response startled me because it was real close. I stopped running and started looking up. I then spotted the owl up in a tree not 10 yards away. It turned its head and then flew away. It was very beautiful to both hear and then to see fly away.

Shortly after the owl sighting, I noticed a turtle digging a hole right in the middle of the trail. She was probably going to be laying some eggs later and I suggested to her that she may want to move to a 'less traveled' location, but she just pulled her head inside her shell and didn't listen. Oh well, living with a teen-aged daughter, I am used to that reaction...

This morning, all of us went out for a nice 4 mile run. It was really run to have the entire family out together on this beautiful day. We then decided to give both dogs a bath to help us cool off. After a nice lunch, Abby spotted something in the woods next to us. Was it our dog? Was it a deer? No, it was the local coyote wandering through the neighborhood. Gina let out a scream when we tried to get her attention from her ipod, and the coyote decided to stay in the woods instead of crossing through our backyard.

We are looking forward to a good hike this weekend. I am planning on taking the girls down to the Buckeye Trail north of Blue Hen falls for a nice jaunt. I really enjoy this section and want to share it with them. Should be fun...

Extra protein

I have been trying to get back into the habit of running in the mornings before work. I feel it helps the day to go better and I have my evenings free to do other things, like work on the basement project. Mornings are my favorite time of day, I think because it is a new day, full of the promise of things to come. Some days, this feeling lasts until noon, typically, it lasts until I open my email at work...

Anyways, as I was running along the bike path, listening to the woods come alive with bird calls and other sounds of morning, I ran through a small cloud of bugs! Since I was also running a lot faster than usual, trying to get some leg speed back, I was gasping for air and ingested a nice healthy dose of insects! After stopping for a moment to cough, gag, etc in an attempt to clear my throat, I continued on my way, wishing I had water to drink...

Needless to say, I ran the rest of the loop with my mouth closed...

6 weeks!

6 more weeks until the Lake Placid Marathon! I cannot wait to get back up to the mountains again for a week of relaxation. We are all pretty excited about the race and trying to pick which summit we want to bag the week after the race. So far, Giant mountain is leading. The view from the summit is supposed to be great and there are some exposed areas on the way up to provide good viewing opportunities, (distractions) on the climb up.

Denise and Abby are going to run in the "Run 4 Life" 4 mile run this saturday at Hudson Community Chapel. It will be Abby's longest run to date and I think that she will do great! Denise and Abby ran 3 miles yesterday and Abby felt good afterwards. Denise and I ran 12 together early yesterday morning for her last long taper run before Cleveland marathon next weekend!

I am going to try to get back into the basement project this week. I am ready to rough-in the light fixtures and run the wiring. It should not take too long, it is just the 'getting started' part that is the most difficult. I also have some outdoor projects to complete. Since the weather has been nice, the outdoor items have superseded the indoor ones.

Only 4 more weeks of school for the girls! May will be a whirlwind of end-of-year activities and then "let the summer begin!"