One of our most successful group runs yet, with 38 people looping the falls. I’d been healing my knee all week in preparation for this one, and it was worth it, as we took on a clockwise (I think it’s faster and easier in that direction) effort of Taughannock Rim & Falls. Special thanks to @Marschmi and @steve-desmond for keeping me company when I needed to walk the stairs to avoid overloading my knee.
And then, of course, huge thanks to @scottpdawson and @amy-dawson for hosting about 20 of us on their back deck afterward for another hour or two of food, drink, and convivial conversation. We will be doing this again on other FLRC Challenge courses!
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@tonya-engst and I ordered from Creekside Cafe in T’burg, and my Uncle Louie sandwich was fabulous. They were super easy to order from in advance, so if you’re planning a Taughannock Rim & Falls run, it would be easy to make sure you have a sandwich waiting for you in downtown Trumansburg when you’re done. Highly recommended.
It was fun to pull into the parking lot and see other runners hanging out. We started out uphill and that got challenging quickly, but I stuck with it. Before it got too hard, we got to the top of the falls and turned to run down to the bottom. That was easy and fun. Amy Dawson led my pace group, which was great because she knows the course well. The falls were majestic, as always. I enjoyed socializing on the course and was pleased that the uphill at the end passed reasonably quickly and easily. I liked that parking was free at the top, but I think the easiest way to do this course would be to start from the bottom and get the uphill over with first. I scanned into the run several minutes before we started so once home, I edited my WebScorer time to match my Strava elapsed time—I had to look carefully to find “elapsed” time because “moving” time isn’t the right choice here.
Adam and I pre-ordered breakfast from Creekside Cafe and I got a breakfast burrito with avocado, and that was breakfast heaven for me. Hanging out on Scott and Amy’s excellent deck was also breakfast heaven and I enjoyed meeting and socializing with everyone though there were a few people who I missed out on chatting with, due to the size of our happy group.
Not gonna lie, I was a little nervous seeing the size of the group upon pulling into the parking lot – still not entirely used to those numbers again yet, even outdoors. Felt pretty good on the trails, and happy for the company – thanks again to Scott and Amy for hosting afterwards, probably the most “normal” I’ve felt at an in-person gathering in >2 years!
After doing Lickbrook yesterday and waking up struggling to walk normally, I was a lot nervous about today’s group run. But, I figured that worst case I could just hike the whole thing. It went surprisingly well and, with the exception of my right pinky toe, my body was fine. It was great fun running with @tonya-engst and @lgilmer again and many others!! Our pace group was fun and we mixed and matched with chatting. I was so excited to chat with Laurel about her music and to have the opportunity to introduce her to Xander at our house afterwards. Xander was thrilled to chat with her on our deck during the post run time. My legs felt fine and I took a minute to reflect that I used to be fully afraid to run with people at all, then I was terrified to run trails and now I can run with people on trails. It is pretty cool!
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Afterwards we picked up our pre-ordered breakfast from Creekside in Tburg and enjoyed time on our deck with many folks from the group run. I admit that I was totally envious of the breakfast burrito that @tonya-engst chose (next time that’s going to be my choice). I had fun talking with many folks, and, like Tonya, I missed talking to everyone because there were so many of us! It was a really awesome way to kick off a Sunday! @scottpdawson and Tonya posted the pictures already but I’ll post my own pics the next time I run!
Super nice group run at Taughannock this morning. I really enjoyed meeting some new runners and hanging out at the Dawson’s after the run. Thanks everyone!
I couldn’t make it to the group run but went up to Taughannock in the afternoon for two circuits of the course while the kids were napping. I ran an FL50s loop yesterday, slept like garbage, and woke up with a cold this morning, so this run was really just to scout out the Challenge course. Oh yeah, I also drove 20 minutes to the park and realized I didn’t put socks in my bag so I ran sockless in my inov-8 trail shoes and shredded some epidermis, but the alternative was not running at all. The trail was so dry I could’ve worn any road shoe and been fine.
I ran the first counterclockwise and the second clockwise. I found the latter so much easier—the stairs are over with sooner and you’ll end by running downhill instead of up. The Gorge Trail was jam packed so I had to flat Frogger with like 300 people and make some split-second decisions to avoid colliding with anyone, even though I wasn’t running very fast. I probably won’t run this course again unless it’s super early or just before dark to avoid crowds like this.
On the second circuit impounded the final downhill to snag a negative split. Afterward I opted not to drop in on the Dawson’s at 4 p.m. and instead went home and gorged on leftover homemade chili.
Just a quick heads-up for @Challengers who might be parking at the Taughannock Overlook in the wee hours: on the NextDoor site, a runner reported that their car was broken into around 6 AM while they were on the trails. Perhaps best to hide any valuables if you’re running out there at off times.
After two extra long days at work with no chance to exercise, it was fun to hit the trail again today with @scottpdawson! Today was my maiden voyage in my new Hoka trails shoes that Xander sold me after my run last week. I ADORE them. Scott and I twinned by accident and … since Xander has run this course 6 times in just a few more days than that, and returns from each run saying how much he loves trail, he has decided to sign up for the challenge!
I convinced my friends @teressa.naylor and Lynn Trudell to sign up for the challenge and today was our first chance to do a course the three of us. Lynn and I started 15 minutes ahead of Teressa (hiking) and Teressa ran to catch us. This was a great afternoon hike in the last week of our step challenge at work. Additional steps and a challenge course and hanging out with friends. Win/Win/Win.
This was a Loehr classic “while we are at it” situation. Jamie and I headed out to Taughannock this morning to do the 24 mile bike as training for his intermediate distance Cayuga Lake Triathlon this summer. Half way there we realized we ought to run the Taughannock challenge course afterwards, “while we were at it”, since we would be right there. Luckily we each had running shoes in addition to our biking shoes, though no bike locks. Since the park was literally like Grand Central Station (see photo) this glorious spring morning, Jamie felt it was safe to leave the unlocked bikes on the back of the car. Lucky for us they were still there when we returned.
My legs are still surprising sore from our Lick Brook/Treman escapade (my quads are actually
painful to touch) and definitely felt like jelly for the first half mile of the run, after getting off our bikes, yet slowly but surely we persevered. It truly is the ideal spring day!
On our way back home we stopped at Greenstar for a “Happy Birthday” smoothly treat for Jamie. He also discovered a vegan chocolate oreo cake “while we were there” which means I’m off the hook for baking a cake this afternoon (maybe I’ll take a nap instead ). We did consider running the Inlet Trail course “while we were there”, but quickly thought better of it!
Today is my 60th birthday and now I am running races for the 60+ crew. My goal was to finish every course once before my birthday to get credit at age 59 (success two days ago, finishing with the Lick Brook Treman monster run) and now I want to run them all again as a sixty year old. Today was the start of that plan and tomorrow we’ll run Lansing with the group. Just FYI - Liz Hartman is doing the same thing as she turns 40 in June.
I also have a goal to do the intermediate length triathlon at Taughannock with the Cayuga Lake Triathlon race. I have run the sprint distance for about ten years so this is going to be my stretch for a year. So Caitlin and I started the day biking 24 mile course out from Taughannock, past Lucas Winery, and then down to Sheldrake Point and back. Doing the Taughannock Rim trail run gave me confidence that I can do the 10K part of the triathlon after the bike ride. Now I just need to get my training in for the swim!
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We picked up some treats at GreenStar after our bike/run, including a birthday cake. See Caitlin’s post for the picture.
All’s well that ends well. I might have had a little too much wine and laughter last night but still got up early enough for an intense sweaty GRIT class at FLX Fitclub this morning, then grabbed a coffee at Gimme!, and made my way to the upper parking lot of Taughannock Falls, where the North Rim Trail and South Rim Trail meet. I walked around and around that area but couldn’t find the start sign. I checked my Run Go Directions, which I thought made it look like I was in the right spot to start - but where was the FLRC Challenge Sign??? Armed with my Run Go (which didn’t tell me I was in the wrong spot and that I was wrongly under the impression that the course started here), I took off with a gentle jog to make my way down the South Rim Trail. All went well. The day was heating up with sunshine but there is plenty of shade on these trails. It was especially nice and cool running up and back along the gorge trail. Then I had come back to Rt 89 and hit the stairs to begin my way up the North Rim Trail. Whew! I really my previous night’s shenanigans and GRIT class there, but slowly and steadily ascended the stairs and hill. Much to my surprise, as I approached the Welcome Center by the falls overlook, my Run Go directions were telling me that I had arrived! Indeed, I had arrived and there was the elusive FLRC Challenge Sign!!! I took a photo of the falls and check trail directions on Run Go again - this time seeing that I was now at the actual start location. Whoops!/LOL. So started jogging again to continue up the North Rim Trail to where I had started and counted my time there. Overall, I completed the course and its mileage, just not the way it was meant to be so I’ll probably be re-doing it at some point.
After the Taughannock Rim trail, I went to the Falls Tavern in Trumansburg where I had Today’s Special: BBQ’d Beef Brisket over Mac & Cheese. The brisket was tender and delicious and the mac and cheese was the real deal - just like my mom used to make, with plenty of sharp cheddar cheese in the sauce. Yum! I also drank A LOT of iced tea to get refreshed.
@Gretchen it’s all about “covering the ground” - as long as you get all aspects of the course covered, you do not need to start and stop at the sign. I personally would rather do this course starting at the bottom with the gorge trail, up the north rim and finish with a fun downhill on the south rim.
When I was training for Cayuga Trails 50 years ago, I did crazy stuff like this run multiple times. Once, 4x! Today, 2x was in the cards. I started by doing up/down/up, then switched it around to down/up/down for a nice downhill finish. Happy to keep the splits between the halves pretty even, within a minute of each other. The heat of the day was already present at 10a so I was happy to finish when I did! Got to say hello to @gmallinger as I started: he was finishing his effort for the day.
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The day’s schedule called for other pursuits before shopping local, but after polishing off the lawn (with my reel mower, to add more insult to my screaming calves) and helping with a cake delivery, I got to hit up Viva Tacqueria with Amy and friends. All in all, a great day!
This morning I headed out to the Challenge Course that is closest to my house. Sundays are typically my longer run days, so I decided I would run the course then continue in the area for more mileage. I started at the the trailhead of the Gorge Trail, ran the Gorge Trail, headed up the South Rim, and down the North Rim. After completing the course, I ran the Gorge Trail again then crossed 89 to run around the edge of the lake in the park for 8 miles total.
Several thoughts ran through my head: 1) STAY ON THE TRAIL!! I’m talking about other people I saw while I was out running. This really bugs me for safety reasons and also for preservation of the natural area. 2) Was I on the course trail or the ‘tourist’ trail?! You know those short loops that take you to a scenic vantage point! 3) I think we Challengers need to come up with a secret wave or something to identify fellow Challengers on the course. 4) I need to run a lot more trails!
No local shopping for me today though yesterday I took my kids for haircuts at a local salon, picked up a few perishable items from Shur Save, made two stops (Napa and Stover Lumber) looking for bolts for my husband, and finally picked up some treats at Gimme Coffee where I tried the Coconut Lime Bread. Yum! It seems like this should count, but it wasn’t on the same day as my run. Maybe I should have ran the track yesterday!
and instead went home and gorged on leftover homemade chili.
). We did consider running the Inlet Trail course “while we were there”, but quickly thought better of it!
I checked my Run Go Directions, which I thought made it look like I was in the right spot to start - but where was the FLRC Challenge Sign??? Armed with my Run Go (which didn’t tell me I was in the wrong spot and that I was wrongly under the impression that the course started here), I took off with a gentle jog to make my way down the South Rim Trail. All went well. The day was heating up with sunshine but there is plenty of shade on these trails. It was especially nice and cool running up and back along the gorge trail. Then I had come back to Rt 89 and hit the stairs to begin my way up the North Rim Trail. Whew! I really my previous night’s shenanigans and GRIT class there, but slowly and steadily ascended the stairs and hill. Much to my surprise, as I approached the Welcome Center by the falls overlook, my Run Go directions were telling me that I had arrived! Indeed, I had arrived and there was the elusive FLRC Challenge Sign!!! I took a photo of the falls and check trail directions on Run Go again - this time seeing that I was now at the actual start location. Whoops!/LOL. So started jogging again to continue up the North Rim Trail to where I had started and counted my time there. Overall, I completed the course and its mileage, just not the way it was meant to be so I’ll probably be re-doing it at some point. 
