@brian-lazzaro wanted to do Long Loomis instead of Jim Schug for the Wednesday night run, so @Dave_K and @DamianClemons and I joined in, with @tonya-engst and @gumbywhale doing it as well. The forecast was dire, but we convinced ourselves that the main storm was going slightly north. Which it did, but we still got caught in torrential downpour for about 10 minutes from mile 1 to mile 2–it was so dark and raining so hard, I had to keep wiping both sides of my glasses lenses to have a chance at seeing. Then it lightened up, and we had a blast running through the deep puddles the rest of the way around.
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Luckily, it was fairly warm at the Dryden Hotel after for pizza, since I hadn’t thought to bring extra shoes and socks, and mine were soaked. Bacon-mushroom pizza for the win, although the chicken-feta had extra feta and no tomato sauce for a change.
In all of my 25 years of living in Ithaca I don’t remember a more wonderful Spring than the one we are having right now. I just love days like today. It was cool, breezy, sunny but not humid and the heavy forest canopy, not eaten by spongy moths, meant a glorious morning for trail running. There were some slippery muddy spots from the rain yesterday but we managed without falling and all things considered I love this course. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get a fast time this morning as this was my third fast run in a week having already significantly improved my time on the Lansing Trail and the East Hill Rec Way/Dryden course. But I was able to pull it off better than expected and hope I didn’t significantly worsen my right hamstring issue. I am looking forward to some nice slow running in the near future.
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Here I am $75 happier after a stop at Bigsby Market on the way home. OMG the snap peas and strawberries are delicious! Now out to my garden for more planting.
Was feeling pretty beat from several hard/long runs last week, but still managed to get out the door by 7 for my planned double Loomis.
“Backwards” (CCW) first lap like always – I don’t want to start my 2 hours on the trail with that 1.5mi uphill! Spider webs and caterpillar silk throughout, wiping my face every other minute, but other than that, nice conditions.
Met up with @adamengst for round 2, clockwise this time. Good conversation at the intersection of tech and running kept me distracted from the general achiness. Ended up with both laps being slightly faster than my last double, and considerably easier, effort-wise.
Almost ran negative splits every mile of the 2nd loop, too – if it weren’t for that last hill!
Another lovely morning for a trail run, and a great opportunity for a Top Secret™ chat with @steve-desmond while we loped along Hammond Hill’s scenic trails. I kept RunGo on the entire way to test out a few small tweaks I’ve made in the instructions based on feedback, and I added another couple after getting home.
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Went into the Dryden Agway for some organic Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew concentrate and a hose sprayer to see if that will help clear some of the %@!%#$*@ spongy moths out of the oak tree that they’re decimating next to our deck. Fingers crossed that it works better than all the tree wrap suggestions, which have been a complete failure so far.
We were taking a week off from a formal group run due to Father’s Day, but I still wanted to get out in the cool weather, so I made plans with @hubitron to run Long Loomis at Hammond Hill. He wanted a few more miles than that, so he went early to get those in first. When I pulled into the parking lot, there were three other cars besides his, including @kag22’s bright yellow-green SUV (Karen always has the brightest car around). She and Dave Jones and Jim Chely were just meeting for a run there too, so we caught up while waiting for Jay to come back. When he arrived, there was more catching up, since he hadn’t seen them in ages as well, and while that chatting was going on, @Katie_Gannon and @amalia showed up too, making it three independent groups the same time and trails. Clearly, we should have had the group run.
Katie and Amalia were going to tag along with the others, who knew the trails well, if not the Long Loomis course itself given that they’re not Challenging this year. Hope that worked out!
Jay and I did a canonical Long Loomis, and while we were talking the entire time, so it wasn’t race effort, it was still pretty sprightly, so it was nice to get something faster on the leaderboard. And woo—adding those month buttons at the gets me in the top 3 for Most Points and Age Grade for June, however temporarily.
@Katie_Gannon and I met for the first time last week at the Lansing Center group run and realized we were both missing Long Loomis. Not having my own car this week, I caught a ride with her to the Hammond Hill trailhead and who did we see but a group of 5 other FLRC runners! I ran most of the way with Dave but @kag22 also hung back to help me out when I fell not one, not two, but three times. Am I less coordinated this year or are the roots bigger, who can know? At any rate thanks for the sportsmanship Karen and Dave!
ran this route with Anne this morning, our second time on this course, a beautiful cool crisp day perfect for running. We didn’t see any people or animals on the trails, only heard the birds. These RunGo directions are perfect! Back at the parking lot there was a whole gaggle of kids with their adult leaders about to start their nature adventure, playing with compass and eager to begin
Such a fun run on this course today! I was not expecting to feel so good. Yesterday I ended the day, grumpy, dehydrated, and tired after an afternoon working on my in-laws bathroom after a leak caused extensive damage to the subfloor. Fortunately, my son Colin is a carpenter and he is helping. Working with him is always a treat, but the more we uncover, the more problems we find, so it has been frustrating. In any case, running Long Loomis was the perfect antidote! It was a beautiful cool morning and I found myself feeling strong on the uphills and a little braver than usual on the downhills. Dior kept me company, sometimes racing ahead to chase a chipmunk, but mostly sitting right on my heels. She is small enough to be a coyote meal, so I’m glad she stays close by!
On the way home, I tried to shop at Agway to get a new blade for the grinder I’ll need to cut through bathroom tile today, but alas, it wasn’t open yet.
Joined the group run this morning and enjoyed meeting some members - I ran with a small subgroup with a nice pace and good conversation, made the run go by quickly!
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Stoped by Clarks Market in Dryden on the way in to pick up some clementines to share
It was a cool, sunny Sunday morning—perfect for a group run. I ran near the rear of the group, accompanied by @jennifer.woltjen and @larrylepak. They were using running poles, which made happy little clicking noises behind me. For the first time ever, I ran all the way up Y1 and Y2; in fact, I ran the whole thing. I am feeling stronger and more sturdy than I did earlier this year, and I sometimes would press a little harder into the run, enjoying the feeling of my body working in the woods on a glorious day. The wildflowers by the parking lot were notably lovely.
@adamengst and I stopped at Bigsby’s on the way home to start researching the purchase of some Adirondack chairs. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a sign saying that they had cherries for sale, and by the time we left, we had a full basket of treats.
As @tonya-engst said, the weather was unbeatable and we ended up with 17 people who came for the group run, quite a few of whom had never explored Hammond Hill’s lovely trails. I ended up running with @Zippy the entire way, chatting the whole time and stopping at the main intersections to make sure @gplwoo (without Sam Dog, who was tired from sweeping the FL50s course yesterday) was keeping @adam.schoene, @kalebsm, and @Lloyd on course. At the end, we shared watermelon and oranges from @maplejh, and chatted with @kag22, Jim Chely, and Dave Jones, who were doing the Thom B loop separately. And Tonya and I got a selfie with the course sign before heading out.
This morning I completed the Long Loomis Course for my 10th and final course!!! I ended up running the ENTIRE course, so I am giving myself a pat on the back.
I really enjoyed this course. It was in the trees, trails were in nice shape (lots of horse apples though), and I felt strong.
I’m not very comfortable on the trails without navigation. On the final turn on RunGo, I thought it sounded like it said to go right on Y5, but I may have misheard?!?
Considering the courses I have run twice, I’m 1/3 of the way through the Challenge again. Will I finish 2X? Stay tuned …
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I placed an order online at CTB for a breakfast burrito. I received an ‘order ready’ text just as I was pulling into a parking spot.
Completed the Long Loomis course today! Used the RunGo app just not to get lost out on Hammond Hill. Not too many deer fly’s either. Its been a while since I have been out there and always say “why don’t I do this more!”
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Stopped by Bigsby Market on my way back to Ithaca. Picked-up a great selection of peaches, tomatoes, zucchini, corn and garlic. Yum!
Anne and I ran the Long Loomis course again this morning, and though the parking lot looked fairly empty here we actually saw several other humans using the trails. First one mountain biker passed us early on, then half way through or so a runner going faster than us passed us, then near the end another mountain biker going the other direction came by. Early in the day and with the whole route in the shade, we were spared the brunt of the heat and had a very pleasant run.
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After our run we drove over to Brooktondale again to eat sandwiches from the Brookton Market, under their big tent and with a pleasant breeze blowing through.
The heat & humidity has this princess planning out her runs a little more (or at least avoiding those longer, exposed runs). I wish I figured out what I was doing for the rest of this week …
Today I decided to seek the shade of Long Loomis for my second run there in the less than a week. I’m really enjoying this network of trails, especially the trees and width of trail.
The recent rain made the trail a little slippery. An incident that happened to me reminded me of Fancy Nancy:
I did a lot of reflection on this run, noticing how different trail running is from road running (for me). When I run on the road, I let my mind wander, problem solve, don’t pay close attention to the terrain or footing, and can easily see what lies ahead. When I run the trails, I have to pay attention to where my feet fall and with the twists and turns, I can’t see far ahead of me. I have anxiety and tend to plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t happen, but it is so exhausting!!! On the trails, I feel free from the anxiety and have a sense of peace.
Added on my road run the day after this trail run, I realized that on the trail, I feel more grounded and in the moment.
Also, I wonder how people run trails so fast?!? Are you consciously choosing the track to run? Do you pick up your feet higher? How do you manage the obstacles?
Worked in my classroom at EAC Montessori this afternoon getting a jump on prep for the coming year. I decided once again to ride my bike to the course and the journey from East King Rd to Hammond Hill is far more reasonable than from home. Still, the round trip was 30 miles with a fair bit of vertical, especially that last hill to the parking area–steep! And on the return, East King from Coddington is a killer, just straight and up! Tough ways to end each leg of the bike segments. What a lovely evening to be in the woods! The temperature was probably low 70s, the trails dry and a few other folks were out hiking and running as well. The first mile was tough after the crank up the hill, and I hiked and ran to limber up. Without the biking, I am confident I would have shaved a few minutes off my time but I’m not so sure I could have scored us 50-somethings any points.
It was hard to bike past Brookton’s without stopping on the return but I probably wouldn’t have been able to muster the energy to continue if I’d sat down! Upon arrival home, I was psyched to find awesome fresh produce from our CSA share at Westhaven Farm with a fresh loaf of Wide Awake ciabatta to hold gorgeous tomato slices. Along with a bowl of tomatillo-based gazpacho, I was well on my way to rehydrating and replenishing all those calories I’d just burned. Totally lucky guy!
The last time I ran here I sprained my ankle just bad enough that it took me four months to fully recover, though thankfully I was able to run on it through recovery without too much trouble. But it was nice to return for some redemption, and to leave these trails on a positive note this time.
Even if that still meant being a little spooked…
I’ll just say it: What are all those poop piles I passed? Is that all bear scat?? I looked it up on my phone after I had returned to the car. Let’s just say I ran a little faster. In fact, I hardly walked. Too slow.
On Monday I was growled at by a bobcat or lynx hiding in some shrubs on my home trails, so I’m all set with wildlife viewing for this week!
These are beautiful trails and it was amazing to be back, even if the scenery flew by a little faster. I certainly didn’t stop to take as many pictures!
Unfortunately there was no time to spare, as I was in a rush to get back to town so I could pick up my daughter Erin from camp and take her for a run in the BU Nature Preserve. And there wasn’t much to choose from that would be close enough.
