Use this topic for posts that will collect community stars for the Jim Schug Trail course. You can also ask questions or make comments about this course.
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Story
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Chirping and Twirping
Just a gorgeous morning to be on the Jim Schug Trail! My Thom B volunteer shift didn’t start until 9:30 AM, so I had time to run this beforehand. Temperature was 38 degrees to start but it warmed up fast in the sun. Pretty much me and a plethora of dog walkers on the trail. Sun above and waters were calm. Quite a variety of birds serenading folks on the trail - orange-breasted ones, yellow ones, grayish blue ones, black ones, geese, and ducks. One larger-than-most-but-smaller-than-a-duck bird landed on some marshy grass with a small toad in his long pointed beak. He did not seem bothered by me watching him, unlike the ducks.
Decided to do something flat and “easy” for my long run today.
As I left the house it was sprinkling and I kinda hoped it would on my run as well. But sadly no I was just swimming through the humid air
I also came across a fellow challenger I only recognized them as a challenger because they were sporting last year’s tank top (@adamengst are there any left from last year with today’s humidity maybe I need a tank top version ) anywho Hi other challenger who ever you were!
Halfway point photo, sorta considered ice cream … But despite other challengers swearing by it, I’m just not a huge fan… sorry @dennis-s more for you
Even without ice cream it was a very satisfying run which I desperately needed
There are women’s racerback tanks from last year available in M and L, and it looks like the same is true for the men’s straight tanks.
You can also add a tank from this year’s colors if you go back into the Challenge Webscorer signup while logged into your account. There should be a few extra in each style.
I finally got to get back out with the Wednesday evening crew. We got to Dryden early so Miles got to play on the playground at Montgomery Park beforehand. On the run, Miles was doing fine - he got to see some horses!
Everything was going well, until about 50 ft from the end, a tire came off the stroller! If we were in the middle of the run, or it wasn’t a challenge course, I would have stopped to reattach the tire. But I was so close and wanted to first finish, so I ran it in with one tire, holding the left side up. Thanks @pestaaj for being my pit crew and bringing the tire!
Theo and I joined the Wednesday night group to run our 10th course together and finish the Stroller Challenge. We didn’t lose any wheels, but the strap that adjusts the stroller’s seat back came unfastened about 5.5 miles into the run.
I didn’t want to stop to fix it since storm clouds were brewing in the distance, so Theo had to stay fully reclined the rest of the way. We made it back to the car before it started raining hard. Theo was disappointed that we couldn’t stop at a playground after the run.
Lovely wet morning, lots of wildlife including herons and monarchs. I used this run as a HR training run, keeping it low at a chill effort. It felt very much like I was going slightly uphill on the way out though, and lo and behold, it may be miniscule, but it actually was!
Jake is now 1/2 way through his personal challenge! We did this one backwards to avoid parking on Dryden’s busy Main Street (definitely not dog friendly at 8am!!). Fall colors are still absolutely gorgeous! Sniffs weren’t as good as Hammond and squirrel chasing was prohibited, so not Jake’s favorite course. LOL! But a good run nonetheless.
so this was it- 44 of 44… the series of runs I was gonna complete by August before life happened finally finished.
In the original schedule ahead for myself, I was going to do this run as a sort of recovery run on an early July weekday morning taking advantage of the long daylight. Instead, I found myself taking advantage of unseasonably, warm weather, and an inability to adapt to the recent time change but still running early on a weekday morning. There were some pros to that: no bugs, not much concerned about heat and certainly no one else out yet. On the other hand, it was dark - the first half the run was pretty much just a headlamp run; all I could see was the the little bit of trail lit up in front of me. It also was very quiet on the way ; other than a couple geese honking as I ran by Dryden Lake I was just listening to my footfalls.
In that respect, perhaps this was a good final run because this was all about running. Because of the schedule I had to keep a certain pace - shades of marathon training years ago. The fact that the pace was much slower didn’t change the focus. I had to turn around after a certain amount of time. And after Wednesday’s effort, I was a little worried. I’m not making that cut off. 20 mile weeks are not supposed to be composed of two runs - one of 12 miles one of 8 miles - separated by a day.
But I was running well and got to the turnaround a few minutes ahead of the cutoff time. So the challenge became holding the pace on the way back. It was a more interesting run. The day was daunting so there was more scenery; even this late fall there’s a stark beauty in the bare trees, fallen leaves in numerous wetlands that line the trail. I also encountered a couple of dog walkers and even a pair of runners going the other way. All that helped me keep on pace and make it back to the car with a couple of minutes
Unfortunately, this time of day there was no ice cream to be had. But I did have my chocolate milk waiting at home!
(I didn’t carry a phone, so there are no photos not that there was much to photo in the dark anyhow)
no I was just swimming through the humid air 
I only recognized them as a challenger because they were sporting last year’s tank top 
(
with today’s humidity maybe I need a tank top version 
Hi other challenger who ever you were! 
… But despite other challengers swearing by it, I’m just not a huge fan… 
sorry 
