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Driving to run start was difficult because of thick fog, but quickly burned off to bright sun. Nice cool temps for running
Driving to run start was difficult because of thick fog, but quickly burned off to bright sun. Nice cool temps for running
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My hair got so curly and humidified over the past few weeks that even after two days of dry, cool weather, it’s still a wavy mass, probably better suited for the polar regions. However, the rest of me felt rather relaxed this morning as the group run for this 9-miler began under blue skies and temps in the low 60s! I love the way this run takes us to the top of my little piece of the world, and then gives back more and more and more downhill until we’re done. My friend @meganthom happened to catch up to me on one of the big uphills while riding her bicycle, and it was great to have her company for a short while. All in all, a super start to the day and fun to rest with fellow runners in the pond and on the deck afterwards.
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I was able to get out, and do this course this morning:) Definitely hilly, I haven’t ran a course with that much elevation in a long time. The first couple hills felt good, the last few a bit more challenging, but still okay. I believe I summited around the 36-38 minute mark. The down hill portion felt awesome, but at this point my legs felt like jello:/ The hardest part of the run today, was definitely the last section on Ellis Hollow creek road. I got smoked on those final few short hills, my legs didn’t want to climb anymore. 
I finished with a time of 1:04.24, my goal was between an hour to an hour and 3 minutes. May have to do this one again, as I’m not satisfied with the time, but I just haven’t done much hills at all lately… Props, to Patrick, Kilian, and Sarah with 3 great times!
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A warm and hazy afternoon to leave work early and tackle stupid hills. After a drive by from Adam on Ellis Hollow and a quick chat with Vinny on Turkey Hill, I was alone for the rest of the course except for a lone biker steadily climbing the second hump. At least he seemed to be having fun. 
The sky clouded over and a lovely breeze picked up at the very top of the last hump, which made the nice downhill back half even more enjoyable. Thanks for the stupid hills, but I won’t be doing this one again! 
I joined @caitlin-loehr in taking scissors to my shoes due to pinky toe rubbing during my half marathon adventure in June. Listen, the tread is still good, felt a shame to throw them away!
There was a swallowtail butterfly on this flower which moved one millisecond before I took the picture. 
This flower is a bright red, not pink. I hadn’t seen one like it before.
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In fact, I saw Heather twice, once setting out on Ellis Hollow Creek, where she waved happily at me, and again after all the hills when she was starting to come down Ringwood, where she had a grim, determined look on her face and didn’t even notice me driving by. Warm day for all those hills!
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I certainly have been told I look angry when I am running by myself, but I think I was just really into the podcast I was listening to and enjoying the easy downhill. I was super paying attention to cars on Ellis Hollow in case you or Tonya went by, but usually I try to ignore people in cars when on the road. I don’t need to invite unwanted interactions with people (in consideration to safety).
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Today was low humidity and good air quality for the first time in weeks, so I decided to tackle one of my 3 outstanding courses (which are also the longest). I was forewarned that “triple hump” is more like 6-7 humps, but I didn’t realize the sheer incline for most of them. The first hump on Turkey Hill Rd seemed doable, which gave me a false sense of accomplishment. Once we turned onto Mt Pleasant, I started to regret my choices. At the top of the first climb, I stopped for water and my pup Charlie decided she’d had enough. (We had 7 miles to go).
I wore a hydration vest with powdered electrolytes for me, and carried a handheld water bottle for Charlie, which I squirted into her mouth every mile or so.
It lasted about 5 miles, then I could tell she was desperate for a stream to cool off in. Things were very dry, but we managed to find a swimmable ditch/pond as we turned off Mineah and onto Ringwood.
The last few downhill miles flew by, and I lost track of the humps around number 9 or 10.
Between walking the worst of mount pleasant and putting in a nearly 12 min mile, to a 7:30 downhill mile on Ringwood, I managed to hit my goal and not cause my dog to collapse of heat exhaustion.
We had lots more cool water waiting in the car, which was a welcome reward. Loved the views, reminded me of the Brookton Hill & Dale and Lansing road courses from years past.
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I thought triple meant three…..
Honestly this course was not nearly as tough as I anticipated and I felt pretty good on the hills. Word of warning though, if you have procrastinated on the challenge (like me 
) and find yourself running this on a Monday morning to squeeze it in, traffic is not nice. Wear bright colors, turn off the True Crime podcast, keep your head up and be prepared to jump into the ditch on Mt Pleasant and Ringwood!
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Looks like Ringwood Road (between Midline and Ellis Hollow Creek Roads) will be paved Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
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I enjoyed breaking in a new pair of Brooks Ghost Max 2s on Varna’s backroads this morning. It was warm, but a nice reprieve from the typical 85+ degrees I’ve been running in since June, especially when a nice breeze hit up top by the observatory. Ringwood’s fresh tarmac is fully open but they still need to paint the lines, so expect another closure at some point.
I was able to fit this run in thanks to the Air Canada strike, which changed our vacation flight plans twice and led to an extra day off from work.
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Dior and I took advantage of this beautiful morning to run triple hump and complete a sixth round of the challenge courses.
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Wow! Congrats on this accomplishment!
Decided to walk this one after a fast (for me) Black Diamond this morning. My legs were tired. Dior came along and we enjoyed the cooler temps and moody clouds. That makes 7 completions!
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I had been waiting a week or so for a day with good weather to try the Tough Tarmac Challenge. It finally arrived today, the last day of my pre-fall semester staycation (I am still in Ithaca for another week, just working remotely).
I hadn’t run more than 10-11 miles since last summer/fall. So while I was pretty sure I could finish I knew I couldn’t run the whole way. My strategy was to go from the hardest to the easiest course and walk a lot. Triple Hump is definitely the hardest, so I started here!
I walked every hill - even the little one near the end - and still managed to finish in just under 2 hours. I also lived dangerously by running in a brand new pair of Ghost 19s. Here they are at the end of the run:
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The weather was wonderful throughout our walk.
On our walk we realized we were both wearing our matching FLRC CHALLENGE shirts
it was not planned 
Surprisingly at the end of this one we felt pretty good and we decided if we grabbed a quick bite to eat we would also tackle the lake front loops.
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