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I’ll echo @adamengst: today was a perfect day for a run, and it felt good to kick at the end. Thanks for a great time this morning, everyone!
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I gotta be honest: I’m really enjoying these group runs. Today was really fun, and though my legs were blown from yesterday’s runs, I really enjoyed running as a group. @adamengst said most of it, but I’m really grateful that he hung back a few seconds at the turnaround to let me catch up. We had a great chat on the return trip, though I was not at a conversational pace, I really did enjoy the conversation. Looking back at my Strava, every mile was a negative split, so that was pretty cool! Post-race banter was also really fun: now our group knows all about the bridge signs, eminent domain, and all that good stuff.
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It is looking like I am going to be in and out of town a lot over the next month and a half so I want to check of some speed runs while I’m here. This time I decided to run this course as an out and back, starting at the downhill end of the rec way. Running from my house this gives me a 1.3 mile warm and and cool down and saves gas/electric energy by not having to drive to the start of the course. In this orientation the course reminds me a little of the Black Diamond trail last year with a slight up going out and a slight down coming back. It will be especially lovely when the full trail is open and we no longer have to run the Game Farm/Stevenson road detour. Anyway, it was a lovely cloudy breezy morning for the run. There were no big obstacles blocking the trail this time though there was a nasty chemical smell blowing over the trail when running by the solar panel farm. I shudder to think what noxious pesticide/herbicide is now embedded deep in my lungs. Bummer. Overall I pushed myself to my limit and feel like I put in my best effort.
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The Dryden Rail Trail/East Ithaca Way is one of my favorite trails, but this was my first time to “cover the ground.” Great trail conditions, although quite humid.
Dodged a couple of chipmunks underfoot on the East Ithaca Recreation trail! And caught a glimpse of a Hairy Woodpecker.
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Chose a beautiful, if blustery, cool June morning for the run, and it was spectacular. Not many people out on the Dryden trail, but plenty of birds!
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After the run, we headed up to the Lansing Center Trail for a hike m, then grabbed fish fry at Crossroads Bar & Grille for Father’s Day. We decided to make it a picnic and eat by the lake at Salt Point. A lovely day in the Finger Lakes!
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I was planning on taking today off since my legs are still sore from an 11 mile trail run/hike on Saturday with the Finger Lakes Trail Conference cross county hike series and then a fast Peter DeMott Peace Trot yesterday. BUT…my 23 year old son came home from Illinois last night and asked if I would do an 11 mile run with him (as part of his training schedule) this morning. So out we went. It was so fun to run with him. We ran to the East HIll rec way, logged some miles for me, and then continued the run through his old stomping grounds at Cornell. Super great morning for a mom.
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I decided to run the East Hill Dryden Rail Trail at lunchtime to do a bit of heat training… 
spot on, because it was so hot that my phone went all black and said “emergency only,” so I could not take any photos on the trail 
I was only able to “resuscitate” it when I went back to the car and turned on the air conditioning.
I saw a few people walking, but no one running. The trail is in excellent conditions and the grass is perfectly cut.
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I’m headed to The Heights for a dinner with colleagues. I’ve never been there before so I am looking forward to trying a new restaurant!
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saw a Vulture flying pretty low and close, but he didn’t stop for me
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bought some bialys from Ithaca Bakery
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We seem to have brought a not-so-nice souvenir back with us from Canada: Covid -19. The kids, all but Shannon who had it already while she was studying abroad in Spain, came down with it first. Just as Jamie and I thought we might be out of the woods, Jamie developed a sore throat and cough followed by a positive test this morning. Thinking I’ve got to be next in line I high-tailed it out the door for a long run. From my front door I ran to the Cornell end of the East Hill Rec way. Did the rail trail course then headed back home and tacked on the Beebe course starting at the center of the figure eight, on Judd Falls road at the crosswalk between the Botanic Garden and the Wildflower garden. Then headed the rest of the way home giving me a 13.75 mile run. Not bad. It is 10:00 at night now and I am still feeling fine…wonder what my chances are?
On the rail trail I spotted this gorgeous raptor - red tailed hawk???
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I hope Jamie recovers well and you stay healthy!
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Oh no, not a good souvenir! I hope your family recovers quickly and that you don’t come down with it too. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!
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I saw two different foxes along the trail this morning. They were too quick for a photos. It was lovely getting out early this morning to beat the heat.
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Muggy and buggy, but not complaining–hooray for the heavy downpours this afternoon! Grabbed the break in the heat to hit the next distance in the Challenge. Legs not quite ready for this after punishing them Tues evening w bike-run-bike out to Long Loomis. And haven’t run this distance since Thom B in May. Grateful for the rain as it gave me a good excuse not to try biking to and from this course. Had to walk four short intervals in mile 7 to fend off tightness in left quad. Nice to see a couple of strong Challengers go by just before I drove off. Now, 10 days left to finish off the three longest courses and the Sweet 1600…
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Hightailed it home for dinner where our Westhaven Farm CSA share and home garden supplied the freshest ingredients to top bean tacos, along with a refreshing Norwhey Nordic Seltzer (Solar Citrus) purchased at Wegmans the other day. Yum!
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It was so cool to pop out of our car here as we hit our course 7 of the FLRC 100K challenge and see @amandaking offering us ICE for our water bottles. She was so sweet and encouraging to @scottpdawson @teressa.naylor and me as got ready to start this course. @aaronking32 was starting it (his 8th for the day) looking amazingly strong!!
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Muggy, buggy. 4 rabbits, one deer, one hawk. Partially powered by the band, the Goldfish. Onward!
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After leaving the Six Mile Creek winery (see Brookton Hill & Dale post Brookton Hill & Dale Star Posts - #45 by jhodges117), I headed to the East Hill Dryden Rail Trail.
Of course, I drive into the compost facility before realizing the instructions said otherwise. 
Once parked near the Challenge sign, I set off. Of course, I start by going straight across Stevenson Road. That didn’t seem right as I was tracking off course on the RunGo map. I paused my watch. Once I had my bearings, I turned and started running down Stevenson Road. Halfway, I realized my watch was still on pause.
Better to just start over.
So I stopped my watch and RunGo, walked back to the sign, restarted both, and started to run down Stevenson Road.
When the RunGo said I was “off course and rejoining at 4.52 miles,” I ignored it because I was still tracking the course on the RunGo map. Only later did I realize that I ran the sides out of order. 
But at this point, I was moving, and once I reached the East Hill Rec Way, I felt some nostalgia at being on my last completed Challenge course here in late Fall 2021. It was great to be back. It was also great to be shaded.
As I had returned and was passing my car, I restarted the RunGo app and then set off to complete the course and explore an area I had not see before. Running over Fox Bridge was neat. So was seeing a little bunny on my return. There were a couple other humans out. Most of it was shaded, some exposed, but regardless it was a bit of a slog with the heat. Still worth it though.
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I checked the radar as I had been all morning and saw a squall line that looked like it was headed right for Ithaca. The Inlet Shore Trail would be the last course for today, so I decided to try to beat the rain on my drive to the Greenstar Food Coop parking lot, and then wait out the storm in the car there. Needless to say, there just wasn’t time to stop somewhere along the way.
What does one do in the heat of the afternoon after just finishing off Lickbrook Treman, having a flight of beer and doffing loads of heavy food at a brewery? That’s right, you go run some more.
Since May, I have needed this final run on East Hill Dryden to cement my second challenge completion. I also wanted to run it for time, as my previous run on it was several courses deep into the 100k. This and Brookton being my least favorite courses, it was natural that I ended up running many of the other courses three or more times before getting around to this one. Well … I got it done, but my 100k pace from a few months back was far quicker than what I was able to muster today. I chose to start out tackling the paved half of the course and realized at the turnaround that I was mistaken about this being a good idea. My pace rapidly slowed as the contents of my stomach held on for dear life, and the more exposed nature of this trail allowed the sun to bake me a little more than it had earlier. Jodi, the more reasonable of our tandem, took the more sensible approach of simply running up and back on the north half of the course. The very fact that she ran at all is evidence that my poor decision making has been rubbing off on her.
As I am also prone to do, I completely forgot to take any pictures on this course. In fairness though, I didn’t spot anything photo worthy on this go.
With this done, and my legs properly sore now, it was finally time to find ice cream. As we drove around to find our way to Purity, we passed a track. I mentioned what a nice track it was. Jodi said “don’t even think about it”. I wasn’t. I mean not entirely. The thought did cross my mind just a teeny little bit. She doesn’t need to know that.
Pistachio. My go to.
Any hey, take a good look at this menu. Who are the people spending $28 for a sundae. Exactly what do they mean by “expedition”. Now for sure I know inflation is out of control!
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