A hot ride, and getting organized: Need new shoes and an orange highlighter

I expect to be seeig a lot of this in the next coupla months.

Hopped on the bike on Sunday, June 23 for the first really long ride of the season: 46.5 miles in about four hours, a big triangle from Bedford to Wilton to Nashua to Bedford. Nice!

What wasn't nice was the weather. It was HOT: above 90 the whole time, and humid. And the sun was particularly brutal.

I don't mind hot weather so much when I'm on a bike. But on a long ride, it really does take a lot out of a person. When I got back to home base, I almost immediately fell asleep. Now, two days later, my circadian rhythms are still out of whack.

But I'm looking forward to upcoming adventures, both on foot and on bike, to try to move closer to some long-range existential goals I've been pursuing. To wit:

• Climb every mountain: My quest to reach the top of all 48 mountains in New Hampshire higher than 4,000 feet has been stalled at 30 for the past couple of seasons. Hope to return to that adventure, especially as this is the time of year when the days are longest and it's possible to do far peaks such as Owl's Head without an overnight. But it's always a balance between weather and other commitments and general fitness. We'll see.

I'd like to get 10 more done this season, and the good news is that most are fairly undemanding. The only "serious" high summits left are the three northern Presidentials: Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. All three of those can be bagged in one long day, and this is the time of year to do it.

It's an open question whether or not Zahnna, our now 10-year-old German shepard who's been along for all 30 so far, will be able to make all 48, or even any more at all. She's at the age when a German shepard's joints begin to stiffen up, and we're already on a regime of regular anti-inflammatory medication. We'll see. If she's going to have any chance at all of completing this quest, it'll have to be soon: this year or next at the latest.

• Ride the bike: Nothing matches the feeling you get after riding a bike for three hours or more on a hot day. Last summer, I did that a half-dozen times in all directions from home base in Bedford, N.H., and also in a long-awaited epic 74-mile ride across the Kancamaugus Highway and back. So, with this past Sunday's 46-miler under my belt, I'm ramping up to do some more. Here's a list of what I'd like to do:

1. Ride west to Harrisville Pond for a swim. (80 miles round trip, lots of ups and downs.)

2. Ride east to get fried clams at Ceal's on ROute 1A in Seabrook. (95 miles round trip, pretty mild.)

3. Ride west from York, Maine across the new (not yet opened) Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, N.H. to Bedford. (About 60 miles, all back roads!)

4. Ride the White Mountains loop, through Franconia and Crawford notches. (About 90 miles, I think, with serious elevation gain.)

5. Do a west one-way ride all the way to the Miss Bellows Falls diner in Bellows Falls, Vt. (About 65 miles, all back roads, including Pitcher Mountain.)

Well, looking at it logically, I should do the one-way ride from York, Maine first, but that bridge won't be open until late July. Rats! Maybe I should just take it slow and go out to the beach, which is a long ride, but hardly any real serious grades. Maybe this weekend. Then I could do Harrisville next weekend, which would put me in a good place for a sprint triathalon I hope to do on Saturday, July 13. Okay, penciling it in...

• Keep running: I've really been procrastinating in my running pursuits. Not that I haven't been running—I've actually been out quite a bit with the dogs. But organized races and longer distances have taken a back seat, so I haven't made much recent progress on quests to run at least 5K in all cities, towns, or unincorporated places in New Hampshire, or to run a minimum of 10K in all 50 states.

That will change, I hope, but it will need to be up to my own initiative, because there are very few places left in New Hampshire that hold races that I haven't yet run in. So, if I'm to make my self-imposed goal of May 14, 2016, I need to get busy. So I'll have to schedule some early morning jaunts out to places and do some 10K "two-fers" that straddle the border of two towns that I still need to get. I also need to get a new orange highlighter to use to color in my map, now that I think of it.

Also, I need to get running shoes. The pair I've been using are long past their life and that's one reason I've been holding back on longer runs. So I need to add that to the to-do list this week and make it happen.

Then I can make progress on the "50 states" quest. Right here in New England, I've yet to run Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, or Rhode Island, so I could pick up those four states before I head out to Kansas in September, where I hope to bag at least a couple more. And in the next couple of months, I have a few "one-day wonder" trips booked to South Carolina, Virginia, and I forget where else. Also in September, I'm supposed to take a quick two-day business trip to Seattle, so the state of Washington is within reach as well. So the tally could continue to mount as the months roll by.

All this depends on staying injury free. Cross your fingers!

Finishing the month (May 2013) strong

Last day of the month. What's the verdict?

Well, it finished with a good week for outside activities.

• Monday, May 27: My annual Memorial Day weekend bike loop from Bedford through New Boston and Goffstown. Little more than two hours. Nice to finally have dry weather and sunshine after five days of rain.

• Wednesday, May 29: Took dogs for hour-long run on humid night. Felt strong all the way along five-mile loop until turning ankle right at the very end. No serious damage, though.

• Friday, May 31: Up early and biked to Nashua to pick up my mother's mail, then back home on the other side of the Merrimack River. Six towns, about 35 miles, two hours and 17 minutes.

One note is that Thursday night I stayed late at work to try to get things done prior to a weekend visit to Chicago to see one nephew receive Confirmation and another graduate from high school. By late, I mean until after midnight, and then was up for another hour at home before finally getting into bed.

And then I tried rising at 5 a.m. to hop on the bike for a lengthy ride. Uck! Maybe I used to be able to pull that off, but not anymore. Nothing complicated about it. I need sleep, or I feel like a piece of garbage and have no fun. 

• Looking ahead: The trick will be to keep up this pace through June and the rest of the summer, making the most of the long days that will be with us from now until mid-August.

That means it's prime mountain-climbing time, and also prime lake swimming time. And that means it's time to make progress on climbing all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000-foot peaks, and to try to get into the water and work up to doing better at a triathalon this season.

There's one coming up in June, right in my own backyard. The Greater Nashua Triathalon, parts of which cover the exact same roads I just biked this morning to my mother's house. Maybe, maybe not. Not sure if I'll be up to a third-mile swim in just three weeks.

Still, need to stay focused on keeping the momentum going, with larger or longer events every other day or so.

Back on the local running circuit: Coming in nearly last in Bedford, N.H.

When you run what seems to be a strong race and still come in 238 out of 255, you're clearly not in it for the glory.

That's what I thought after completing the Bedford (N.H.) Rotary Club's 12K race, which was held under sunny morning skies on Saturday, May 18.

My time? 1 hour, 21 minutes, 31 seconds, giving me a pace of 10:56. Pretty good for me!

The good news? I wasn't absolute dead last. The bad news? I was 47 out of 47 people in my age group.

But still, I can take some solace that I finished ahead of 17 people. It would have been only 16 if not for my last-minute sprint right before the finish line, which enabled me to finally power past a guy I'd been chasing pratically the whole race. Nothing like a strong finish! (My wife pointed out that I should be proud of outrunning a 65-year-old guy.)

The Bedford Rotary 12K was a consolation race for me. What happened was, I got up too late to make it up to the small town of Hill, N.H., where they were running a rare 5K that started at 8 a.m.

Since Hill was out, I figured I'd run the Bedford race, which starts and finishes a short walk from my driveway. How often is that possible?

Even so, I didn't get to the registration table until about 10 minutes prior to the gun—cutting it close as usual. Just enough time to stretch out a bit and get to the starting line.

It's weird to run a race in the town where you live, and on roads you know so well. For one thing, it's very stress-free. I knew exactly where the hills were and how long they were, what kind of shade was present (or not), and so on. No surprises there.

But I did experience things I'd never encountered before. At the start, the bagpiper sent us off with a bagpipe version of 'Chariots of Fire.' And on Patten Road, a small band of elderly folks were manning an unofficial water stop, handing out cups of water filled from a garden hose while a sound system boomed Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstance' March.

In local news, I saw that a long-time town resident's house is sale, so the race helped me keep up with neighborhood scuttlebutt.

The race seemed short in part because I thought the mile markers were kilometers. This delusion was in effect until about Mile 5, when it became clear that we were more than half-way through, so the numbers couldn't be kilometers. This might be why the whole thing seemed relatively easy, even though I was running continuously for more than an hour. :)

Physical deterioration department: I was pleased to find that I survived the whole course pretty much without developing serious problems. The only part of me that felt like it was taking a beating was the feet. About two-thirds through the race, both felt like someone had taken a ball peen hammer to them. Just stress on the tissues and bones, I think. But no muscle cramping, chafing, or other complaints. Guess I'm starting to build up my tolerance and resistance.

So that's primed the pump for more road races or independent runs in the next few months.

Three more states added and some notes for May

Since the middle of last month, I've added three new states (Texas, Ohio, and West Virginia) to my quest to run at least a 10K in all 50. I haven't had time to write up the runs in detail, but will soon, as each had its own profile and there's a lot that I want to record for future reference.

For now, the page that tracks progress in this pursuit (see the link at right) is updated with basic info. After a little more than a year, I'm already up to 14 states, and not just easy close-by ones, either. Just three more, and I'll be more than one-third done!

Will try to pick up North Carolina later this month; also Maine/Massachusetts/Vermont this summer if chances occur. In September, a silent film gig in Iola, Kansas provides the chance to pick up some combination of Iowa/South Dakota/Nebraska, and possibly Oklahoma as well. And a quick trip to Seattle at some point in the next months might add the state of Washington to the trophy list.

In terms of other quests: After a winter of no progress whatsoever, I intend to start adding conquests to my ongoing quest to run a minimum of a 5K in every city, town, or unincorporated place in New Hampshire. I have to keep reminding myself that my self-imposed deadline to finish this project is May 14, 2016. I have something like a hundred more to go, so I better get busy.

In terms of actual races, Hill and Brookline are coming up in the next month or so, but after that it looks like a pretty dry season for new towns. So all the more important to embark on 'do-it-yourself' 5K runs to start filling in the gaps. I expect this will be the first year 'do-it-yourself' towns will outnumber official race towns.

With the nicer weather, I've been out on the bike quite often, and also running with our dogs, so my fitness level is trending better, I think. I've also been going through a process of moving away from all processed foods and trying to limit my intake to whole foods high in nutrition and low in processing. While driving out to Ohio and back this last weekend, I noticed just how rare it is to find real food along the way, but that's a whole separate post.

Anyway, back to the bike: Feels good to ride again, and it's a necessary joint-friendly aerobic counter-balance to all the pounding from running. Speaking of which: all the two-leash running around the neighborhoods, with dogs pulling me in every direction, has made a noticeable difference in my upper body. Another incentive to keep doing it! :)

On the bike, I hope to do several long rides this season. 1. White Mountains loop up and over Kanc, Bear Notch, Crawford Notch, Franconia. 2. From York, Maine over new Memorial Bridge and all the way to my driveway in Bedford. 3. Lake Winnipesaukee loop, from my house. (That's about 120 miles. Doable but would take all day.) 4. More rides out through New Boston/Francestown to hill region of southwestern New Hampshire. Harrisville for lake swimming, or perhaps to my old stomping grounds of Charlestown/Claremont.

Swimming and biking will provide the base for at least one triathalon this summer: maybe a longer one rather that the "sprint" one I did last July, if my swimming allows for it.

And then there's the long-stalled challenge to run on every street in my hometown of Bedford. This remains about half-finished. One reason: I've always felt I should always start/finish at my home, and I've done all the reasonably close streets. So I might have to modify the rules to include remote starting points. We'll see.

My next physical is in June, about six weeks from now. We'll see if any progress has been made. :)

Looking ahead to April

Not much of this coming up in April, so time to take matters into my own hands—er, feet.

Okay, warmer weather is moving into our part of the world. That, and a personal vow to get more active just this one month, means more action on the fitness front, including progress on both of the long-term challenges to run in every New Hampshire community and every state in the union.

In the first instance, no races are being held this month in any Granite State places I need, so it's time to start freelancing. The biggest problem on that score is my schedule, which is pretty packed with other commitments. However, my equally important commitment to health must prevail sometime, and that sometime is now.

So, what's the schedule look like? Let's see...it looks like every Saturday this month, the mornings are open for me to get out and bag two towns by means of the "5K on either side of the border" method. So that's April 6, 13, 20, and 27 for a total of eight towns, if I complete the set. Seems doable, so let's commit to it.

But which towns? Well, I don't have my state map in front of me right now, but when I get back to my home office, I'll figure out which pairs make the most sense and then come up with a plan. Let's hope for some nice Saturdays so this doesn't become an ordeal.

And then on the "50 states" challenge, I might be able to bag Texas during a business trip on Tuesday, April 16. Other than that, not sure. Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine are still open so maybe one of those, depending on the schedule. (I can always double up Maine for a business trip as well.)

The real jackpot for the "50 states" challenge will come during the first week of May, when I should be able to bag Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and perhaps a few others during a road trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. We shall see. Depends on how fast a start I can get on Wednesday, May 1. Right now the schedule calls for Pennsylvania on the morning of Thursday, May 2; Ohio on the morning of Friday, May 3; Indiana on the morning of Saturday, May, 4, and we'll go from there. Could also bag Kentucky, Michigan, or West Virginia, depending on the route back and how I feel.

By the time I get back to home base in New Hampshire, I should feel great! Or dead.

State No. 11: Connecticut, Wednesday, March 13

Evidence: the crumpled notepaper with my hastily scrawled route notes.

Okay, so it was almost a week ago and I'm only writing this out now. But I surprised even myself last Wednesday when I put on the running shoes in the bathroom of a McDonald's restaurant in Windsor Locks, Conn. And I surprised myself even further by running 8.1 miles though some varied end-of-winter New England landscapes.

What brought me to Connecticut? A sales call on Namco, a potential customer of our business. The sales call didn't last long, and I wasn't due in Syracuse, N.Y. until 9 p.m. So I had time for a run in Connecticut, a state I needed—but where?

I looked at the map. A quick swing up Interstate 91 would put me at Bradley International Airport, which serves the Hartford/Springfield area. I have a thing for running near airports, so all right, let's see what might happen. Thanks to Google maps, I quickly created a nice 8.1-mile triangle on local roads through Windsor Locks and Suffield, two towns on the airport's eastern perimeter. There was even some railroad track action involved, so it seemed promising.

And then there was the weather. It was a sunny afternoon and in the low 50s, well above my 40-degree limit for shorts/t-shirt. But a brisk wind from the west/northwest was blowing, and clouds were building in, making that breeze feel mighty cold in the shade. Still, it was mid-afternoon, and we'd just set our clocks ahead one hour, so I thought the run was doable with minimal gear.

The next thing I knew, I was changing in the bathroom of the McDonalds in Windsor Locks, emerging just in time to see a Delta Airlines MD-88 come coasting in on Runway 15-33. Nice. Then, clutching a piece of notepaper on which I'd hastily scrawled my route, I set off to the east on Elm Street to conquer yet another state in the union.



To my surprise, Elm Street had sidewalks all the way into town—about two miles! But then that shouldn't be surprising because Windsor Locks was no airport suburb, but an old New England community with a long history of manufacturing and industry that preceded the airport's presence. I found myself running through neigborhoods of stately old homes, with many looking quite handsome in the late winter late.

Elm Street sloped gradually downhill, which wasn't surprising, as I was headed for the Connecticut River. Knowing that I would have to regain that altitude, and also that I hadn't been running consistently all winter, I took things extra slowly. So I still felt quite strong by the time I reached my first milestone: Route 159, a north-south byway that served as Main Street. A railroad line parallels it here, and as I approached, a southbound Amtrak "Springfield Shuttle" train bombed through at speed, making for downtown Hartford. Nice!


I passed this building, now a bombed-out shell, on Main Street.

Turning left, I made my way through the most congested part of the route: shopping plazas, busy streets, multiple curbcuts, etc. But still, things were pretty quiet and I had no trouble. And sidewalks continued, even as I left the business district and headed northwest for what would be a looooong stretch on Suffield Street. Residential neighborhoods continued for about a mile, as did the sidewalk, to the point where I was beginning to believe that the entire route would be blessed with sidewalks.

No sooner did I think that then the neighborhoods stopped, as did the sidewalk, and I was quite suddenly pointed into open country, the road continuing ramrod straight through an undulating brown landscape off to a distant horizon. Yes, it was sunny, but the wind was blowing, and clouds were increasing, so it was feeling cold. And with all due respect to the glories of the New England countryside, in mid-March it's at its most barren and foreboding: no critters, tired leafless trees, dead grass, and mud everywhere. But I plodded on, not completely sure that the route I had planned would work out or was even a good idea at that point.

Somewhere in there I crossed the border into Suffield, which seemed to be a town without people. Traffic was scarce. The distance seemed more than it should. I began to wonder. Off to the west, just barren country, with absolutely no sign of the airport or the industrial area that fringed it, or the highway that I would make my way back on. Where was everything? What time was it? Was it getting late? Where was the railroad line that I should have crossed by now? If I did see it, should I turn left on it and use it as a shortcut back to where I started?


After a period of increasing self-doubt and an increasingly sore Achilles tendon in my right leg, I was just about ready to stop at the next house and confirm where the heck I was going before Ichabod Crane started chasing me. Before that happened, however, there it was: the railroad crossing, up ahead. That gave me enough of a boost to discard the railroad return option as unworkable (the trackbed was too rough) and forge ahead with my original plan.

And soon came the big left turn on Austin Street, a short stretch that would take me back west to Highway 75. As I turned onto it, my heart dropped: the road went on forever, and seemingly to nowhere. With no other option, I plodded ahead, grateful at least for the good pavement, the sun, and the sparse traffic. However, as I progressed, I realized what I was seeing was in part an optical illusion. The road was straight, but it also began a steady upgrade to a fairly high point that seemed a lot farther off than it really was. And the high point was none other than a signaled intersection for what had to be the highway I was seeking!

As I approached the highway, the landscape began changing again, with large corporate office complexes nestled among the barren junk forest. Weirdly, many of these were identified as "marketing" companies, although it wasn't clear at all what they could be marketing. I recall one of them actually had a pirate flag out front!

Turning left on the highway, I became alarmed to see not only no sidewalk, but really no breakdown lane nor any other space to run safely. And traffic would come in high-speed bunches released by sets of lights somewhere uproad. So it became this game of using the road as much as possible, and then jumping onto the soggy embankment to let traffic pass.

I soon regained the airport, which was comforting. But the airport is not small, and it took awhile to work my way through the National Guard portion, which included that railroad line I had seen earlier. (It was fenced off and part of a military installation where crossed Route 75, so I'm glad I didn't try to follow it in.)

Alas, I misjudged the remaining distance, which seemed a lot longer than it should have. Plus, with the clouds getting heavier and the wind coming off the open airport grounds, it was now getting seriously cold, and I was also worried about having enough time to get to Syracuse. I was able to keep going, however, and finally came within sight of the McDonalds starting point just as that same Delta MD-88 was taxiing out for take-off, presumably back to Atlanta.

Time? I started at 2:47 p.m. and ended at 4:36 p.m., so that's 1 hour and 49 minutes to run 8.1 miles. Not any kind of a record, but then I didn't expect to set one. It was more than enough for me to say that I've bagged yet another state: Connecticut, No. 11.

Now just 39 to go!

Getting the shoes laced up again

Zahnna, now 10. Too old to make it to the summit of all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000-footers?

We've just come through a February where my primary aerobic exercise has been shoveling snow.

Seriously. We haven't bothered to get a snowblower since the neighbors' kids outgrew the job, and so I tackle the 150-foot long driveway all by myself. By hand.

It's not too bad, actually. Takes about two hours, depending on the type of snow. And I feel great afterwards. So why not?

Skiing just hasn't happened much this season, and running isn't pleasant when temps are down, daylight is scarce, and streets are lined with snowbanks. So shoveling fills the gap, especially since it's a must-do chore if we don't want to be completely snowbound.

Ah, but all this will change (I hope) starting now. It's March. The driveway is clear. It's not terrible out. The dogs need exercise. So off we go, back in the swing of things, starting today, with a short run out and back to a local pond, a favorite doggie destination.

Looking ahead, I would like to make progress this year on three 'fitness projects,' for lack of a better term.

1. Running in New Hampshire: Keep adding towns in New Hampshire with the goal of finishing this by May 14, 2016, as previously stated. With a lack of towns with races, this year I'll have to ramp up the "do-it-yourself" quotient.

2. Running in all 50 states: Several trips planned that should allow at least a half-dozen to be completed: Pennsylvania in March; Ohio, Indianapolis, West Virginia in May; Texas, Oklahoma, maybe others in September. Would love to get to 20 this year.

3. Hiking all N.H.'s 4,000-footers: I've been stuck at 30 peaks since a couple of years ago, with no time lately to fit in big long hikes during my preferred (non-winter) season of May through about October. But there's no reason I can't bag all the rest this year. Most are fairly tame; the only real challenge would be to find a nice day to bag three northern presidentials (Madison, Adams, Jefferson) that I'm still lacking. I might even try to bring along Zahnna, our getting-older German Shepard (10 years this month) to complete her 48, if her hips will allow. We'll see.

Bonus project: Last year I did a surprising amoung of biking, including several longish trips (to Harrisville, to the seacoast, etc.) that were very satisfying. Maybe this year I'll try for Lake Winnipesaukee (just to Alton, or all around in a day?), or the Connecticut River. Last year also saw my first-ever triathalon, and I'd like to keep doing those, too.

A scarcity of towns...

Ah, the joys of winter running...

Now that it's February, I took a moment to check out the 2013 calendar at www.coolrunning.com to start getting organized.

All I can say is, wow! Out of dozens and dozens of races already scheduled, exactly one is in a New Hampshire community that I've yet to run in: Whitefield!

Of course more will be scheduled, but gone are the days when I could choose from several places each weekend. Now, with nearly 140 communities under my belt, it's much harder to find someplace where I haven't run.

So this reinforces the idea that I need to ramp up my quest by visiting "non-race" towns and running a minimum 5K. If I do two back-to-back, that's 10K. So I could net quite a few.

One problem is distance. Even in a relatively small state such as New Hampshire, some of the northern communities are a three-hour drive from where I live.

For those, I'll probably go up in the evening, do a "double run," then spend the overnight. Next morning, I'll get up and do another "double" before heading home.

And because I'm supposed to be training for a trek up the summmit of Mount Kilimanjaro, that might lead to a more aggressive schedule than in recent years.

What's a reasonable goal? Well, I'm going to Kilimajaro in September, so by then I should have done...let's say 25 more towns. Ambitious, but do-able.

This month, my main opportunities will come on Saturdays in the next two weekends. (The last weekend of the month, I'm out of town.)

So if I get going and the weather cooperates, I could have conceivably colored in four new communities by the end of month.

And that would be a great start to 2013. So stay tuned!

Tuesday, Jan. 29: Adding Florida, or thank God for Merry Weather Avenue

The Embassy Suites hotel and conference center that we called home in Orlando, Fla.

On the final morning of a four-day printing conference in Orlando, I fell out of bed at 4:45 a.m. and logged 7.3 miles on the roads and byways west of the Embassy Suites, where we're staying. It was enough to add Florida to the "Running in All 50 States" list as No. 10, pushing me into digits. I'm one fifth of the way there!

I suppose if you're going to add Florida, then January is the time to do it. New Hampshire had been in the grip of a prolonged spell of sub-zero Arctic weather when we left last Friday. Meanwhile, Orlando has enjoyed daytime highs about 80 and overnight lows in the (gasp) upper 50s!

So on Tuesday, Jan. 29, I ventured into the predawn darkness, but only after two "practice" runs earlier in the conference. The area we're staying is a commercial zone near the airport -- a land of hotels, chain restaurants, warehouses, rental car storage lots, and the occasional gated community. The bad news is that it embodies the worst in disconnected sprawl development. But the good news is that it's all so bright shiny new and filled with coconut and palm trees!

Seriously, while it's nothing like an authentic place ("This is not the retail district," said the clerk at the hotel when I asked about renting a bicycle), it does boast sidewalks (unbroken by frost heaves!) and some really elaborate landscaping. Alas, the sidewalks often wind their way through the elaborate landscaping, zig-zagging back and forth instead of in a straight line, which can be kind of a pain when you're on an extended run.

Still, that's no reason to complain. However, what is a reason to complain is that the sidewalks sometimes just give out altogether, forcing a runner (or walker) onto the road. Apparently it's up to developers to include sidewalks and landscaping, and some properties didn't get them or haven't yet been developed.

Here's the route I scratched out on a piece of hotel stationery, with the help of Google Maps.

Anyway, it was cool and calm when I set out into the pre-dawn void, first circling an Orwellian office development next to our hotel, then heading east on Hazeltine National Drive, which is all office parks, and then north on TCP Drive, which is all warehouses. Up ahead loomed my first big road, Lee Vista Boulevard, and even from a distance I could see I was in for trouble. The road was a wide, four-lane divided highway with a 45 mph speed limit, and busy, even at 5:20 a.m.

Really! I reached it during a lull in traffic and so crossed over to a sidewalk, but after that cars were pretty much constant, as Lee Vista is apparently a major east-west route. This wasn't a problem until the sidewalk ran out. With uneven turf lining the road and it still being dark, I really had no choice to run in a narrow bike lane, with cars and trucks whizzing by at top speed mere inches from my side.

This was not fun.

I began passing gated communities with names like "Crescent Vista Estates," with Semona Boulevard, a big north-south road, with its chain hotels and lit-up restaurant signs looming in the distance. The sidewalk resumed, but now included occasional sprinklers with nozzles pointing over the sidewalk. A ground fog had formed, giving the whole scene a certain Steven King ambiance, with pairs of car headlights tracing beams through the gray gloom.

I lucked out at Semona, crossing the busy street when no vehicles were approaching. But then the run got really interesting, as the road narrowed to a curvy two-lane highway with no sidewalks and no bike lanes, either.

For awhile, I thought I was screwed. It didn't feel safe, and with Lee Vista Road heading into undeveloped country, I didn't expect things to get any better. I was just beginning to formulate 'Plan B' for my run when I noticed that yes, across the road was an actual sidewalk.

The first break in the traffic, I scooted over, got on that, and kept going. Yes, the sidewalk soon disappeared, but there was enough of a shoulder for me to feel comfortable, and I was facing the eastbound traffic, which wasn't nearly so heavy. So my moment of crisis has passed.

Lee Vista Boulevard soon turned into Judge Road, and I stayed with it through open country -- westward, ever westward. To the south, jets were taking off from Orlando Airport, swooping overhead and sounding like a leaf blower and whistling tea kettle at the same time.

Conway Road was my next landmark, and the sidewalks started up again a few hundred yards before I reach it. Traffic on this north-south thoroughfare wasn't nearly so heavy, so I got across and continued west on Judge. For the next quarter-mile, the sidewalk ran alongside a brick wall, which I later found was a gated community, one of several that I would trudge by in this area.

After about a mile of this, I was getting kind of tired of brick walls and big iron gates. Good think I hadn't planned to run on any of the streets inside! I began yearning to see just one driveway or front door or chainlink fence. And then, just in time, I turned onto Merry Weather Drive.

Holy cripe! A perfectly ordinary street -- one lined with modest single-story homes! Through shrouded in pre-dawn darkness, the outlines were plain enough: the garbage cans along the sidewalk, the 'Beware of Dog' signs, the lawn ornaments. It felt like a real place! Even the slightly down market name (Merry Weather instead of the more uppity 'Meriwether' or something like that) felt right, like I was among real people who lived real Florida lives, even though most of them were sleeping just now.

About a half-mile of this was all I needed to feel refreshed. Turning onto Conway Drive to begin the trek back, I reentered the anonymous suburban sprawl. Well, at least Conway had generous sidewalks. In fact, for a short stretch, the sidewalks themselves had sidewalks! Seems like a recent rebuild of the road had included sidewalks, but a section of existing parallel sidewalk had been left in place. This created "express" and "local" sidewalks, something I'd never seen before.

(Sorry, no photos of all this. The hotel was miles away, and with no car and no time later, it wasn't possible to return to the scene of the crime. So here's a photo of coconut trees near the hotel instead.)

So I trudged back along Judge Road, returning to the more familiar sprawl near our hotel. Along the way, I passed the Renaissance Hotel on Semona Boulevard, which I visited the other night because it's the only place around that had a piano on which I could practice. (I was thrilled that any place would have a piano in this area.)

Approaching our hotel, I began to see other folks out for morning runs at more reasonable hours. One looked just like my business partner, so I greeted him a little more heartily (and insultingly!) than he was perhaps expecting. Of course he wasn't my business partner, but why let a little thing like that get in the way of reaching out to a fellow runner on the road?

Upon my return to the lobby, the clock read 6:45 a.m. So 1 hour and 37 minutes to do 7.3 miles. That's 13:12 per mile, which isn't too bad, considering that I haven't been running or doing any kind of exercise recently. And it was enough to add Florida to my list, which puts me at 10 -- double digits, and one-fifth of the way there.

Not sure when and where the next one will be, but stay tuned!

About to add another state...

Right now I'm in Orlando (that's our hotel, above) for a printing conference, which gives me the first chance of 2013 to pick up a new state: Florida! Land of the low-hanging fruit, and also the hanging chad.

The weather here is pleasant, with a mid-day high (right now) of about 75 degrees, which is a big improvement on 0 degrees in New Hampshire, which we left behind yesterday.

I went for a brief run this morning (2.5 miles) to gauge the area and climate prior to attempting an 8-mile circuit on either Monday of Tuesday. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to rent a bicycle where I am (hotels near the airport), so it's running.

There's a pool, too, so I may go swimming today (Saturday, Jan. 26) and tomorrow as part of the prep. I need to do more swimming anyway if I'm going to do better in any triathlons this summer.

Today I got a nice e-mail today from a guy named Andrew Cushing, a guy who was race director of a 5K I did in the town of Grafton this past fall. To help in my question to run in all of New Hampshire's cities, town, and unincorporated places, Andrew proposed organizing a few 5K runs in the sparsely populated hill communities north of Interstate 89: places such as Dorchester and Orange.

Not sure if this proposal was made out of pity, but I'm game. So I look forward to joining Andrew and his running pals some day when the weather warms up to bag as many as three towns in a single day. Thanks, Andrew!

And you know, I just cruised the N.H. race listings at www.coolrunning.com and out of something like 100 races already scheduled for the 2013 season, I think I saw maybe two towns that I hadn't run in before.

So this is the year, it seems, where I have to seriously broaden my effort to include non-racing towns, just as Andrew has suggested. It's the only way I'm ever going to get to finish this silly quest by the self-imposed deadline of May 14, 2016.

Also, one more note to myself. As motivation to keep things going this winter and into the summer, I have to remember there are plans afoot to join an expedition to trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in August or September of this year.

As a climb, Kilimanjaro isn't technically that difficult. With its big broad profile and steady slopes, this immense mountain is like a gigantic version of New Hampshire's Mount Washington. Even so, conditioning will improve my chances of making it to the summit, which is (gulp!) 19,341 feet.

So I have a specific reason to push myself in the months ahead, don't I?

And so maybe this will be what gets me to complete another list-in-progress: the 48 4,000-footers in New Hampshire, where I've been stuck at 30 since the season before last. We'll see.

Getting organized for 2013

Okay, a few thoughts about the new year, which is already in progress...

• December 2012 was a fairly quiet month. January 2013 will also be a quiet month if I don't get organized. So get organized.

• One reason December was a wash-out is that I'm having trouble finding time to work out. This has to change.

• For 2013, I need to run more regularly and avoid injury. This means taking time to stretch and warm up. And running regularly with our three dogs to give them the benefit of the activity as well.

• For 2013, it would be nice to get at least 40 new towns added to my "run in every place in New Hampshire" quest, and a total of 12 new states in my "run in all 50 states" quest.

• For biking, I need to come up with some plans to make the most of this. The 100-mile loop around the White Mountains would be doable. Another trip to Harrisville or the beach? To Brattleboro, Vt.?

• I also need to make time to hike to a few more summits so I can complete all 48. I could actually do that this year, if I plan it correctly.

• For now (January, February), I need to make arrangements to spend some time in the gym, when I'm not shoveling snow, which is the best excerise I've gotten lately.

• Speaking of now, we actually have a nice snowpack going this year, so I need to break out the cross-country skis, and also get to a few downhill areas. I'll have to call Peter Noonan and see what he things.

• I think in general, I need to shoot for the goal that I set for myself for my next physical exam, which is in June. Can I do it? I don't see why not, if I can remain focused and not distracted.

Okay, that feels a bit more organized. But it hasn't gotten me outside or more active, so I'll sign off here and make it happen.

All the best and Happy New Year!