Today notched another in my 50-state running quest: California! We're in San Francisco this weekend for a screening of 'Napolean' (1927), so took the chance to get in an eight-mile run prior to spending eight hours in a movie theater.
Bright, breezy Sunday morning for an eight-mile jaunt (give or take) through the streets of San Bruno and Millbrae, and along the perimeter of San Francisco International Airport.
Headed out of our hotel at 6:50 a.m., sun just coming up. Bright, breezy morning, wore just shorts but two t-shirts just to be sure. Right decision. Worried about sore right Achilles tendon but didn't prove a problem.
Headed north on El Camino Real in San Bruno, then east on San Bruno Avenue, over Highway 101 and onto grounds of San Francisco International Airport. Followed McDonnell Avenue south, underneath spaghetti junction of concrete overpasses leading into terminal area, then continued south down to Millbrae Avenue. Recrossed 101 to hook up with El Camino Real again, then headed north back to hotel.
Time in: 8:30. So that's 100 minutes to do about eight miles. Nothing to write home about, but enough to cross California off my list.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Preparing for the 'California' run on Sunday, April 1
A sore Achilles tendon had me lay off running this week, but I'm heading out today (Thursday, March 29) for a brief warm-up prior to the next "Running in 50 States" challenge. This one takes place on Sunday, April 1 in the streets and by-ways of San Francisco, where I'm heading this weekend to take in the once-in-a-life time chance to see the restored silent film epic 'Napoleon' (1927) in a theater with a live orchestra.
While I'm there, why not cross California off the running list? And so I will, I hope. I've mapped out an 8-mile route that follows the perimeter of San Francisco International Aiport, which is near where I'll be staying. The plan is to rise early on Sunday and get out on the streets before traffic materializes. Some of the roads look like they don't have sidewalks or even a lot of room for running, so Sunday morning is probably the best time to tackle this route.
If I complete the loop and stay out on the roads for at least 90 minutes, then I'll be able to count California as State #3! Only 47 left to go...
While I'm there, why not cross California off the running list? And so I will, I hope. I've mapped out an 8-mile route that follows the perimeter of San Francisco International Aiport, which is near where I'll be staying. The plan is to rise early on Sunday and get out on the streets before traffic materializes. Some of the roads look like they don't have sidewalks or even a lot of room for running, so Sunday morning is probably the best time to tackle this route.
If I complete the loop and stay out on the roads for at least 90 minutes, then I'll be able to count California as State #3! Only 47 left to go...
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Saturday, March 24: Epping 5K (#131)
The 2012 running season opened today with a strange one: the "2nd Annual Pursuit of the Holy Grail," a 5K that winds through the streets of Epping, N.H., ending in the parking lot of the Holy Grail, a local restaurant and pub. We've just come off a week of record-breaking heat (temps in the 80s!) so this morning's mroe seasonal weather seemed cool, which meant a good day for running.
The unusual part of this race (besides some runners costumed as if they were part of King Arthur's quest) was that it was point-to-point, a rarity in New Hampshire. I didn't know this, so drove to the starting line way out in rural Epping only to be told that registration was back in town at the Holy Grail, after which you take a school bus shuttle to the starting line.
Sheesh! So, with 15 minutes to go, I jogged back to the car and then sped to the Holy Grail, where I registered ($28, a steep entry fee) and caught the very last school bus to the start.
Although I was hoping for a strong time after being able to keep running all winter, a few things worked against that. For starters, I didn't have time to stretch out very much, and in doing what I could prior to the start, I stepped off the road and into a cold wet patch of ground that soaked one foot. Once we got running, this put something of a crimp in my style, and then my right Achilles tendon felt a little sore, so throughout the race I felt like I wasn't able to loosen up.
And then the lace on my left shoe came undone no less than three times! Bad karma.
End result was that I finished at 30:17, or a 9:45 pace, slower than I'd hoped after a whole winter of continuous running. Not sure where I was in the pack but I'll add that when results come in. For now, the 2012 season has begun!
P.S. Posted results have me placing 298 out of 463, a huge field!
The unusual part of this race (besides some runners costumed as if they were part of King Arthur's quest) was that it was point-to-point, a rarity in New Hampshire. I didn't know this, so drove to the starting line way out in rural Epping only to be told that registration was back in town at the Holy Grail, after which you take a school bus shuttle to the starting line.
Sheesh! So, with 15 minutes to go, I jogged back to the car and then sped to the Holy Grail, where I registered ($28, a steep entry fee) and caught the very last school bus to the start.
Although I was hoping for a strong time after being able to keep running all winter, a few things worked against that. For starters, I didn't have time to stretch out very much, and in doing what I could prior to the start, I stepped off the road and into a cold wet patch of ground that soaked one foot. Once we got running, this put something of a crimp in my style, and then my right Achilles tendon felt a little sore, so throughout the race I felt like I wasn't able to loosen up.
And then the lace on my left shoe came undone no less than three times! Bad karma.
End result was that I finished at 30:17, or a 9:45 pace, slower than I'd hoped after a whole winter of continuous running. Not sure where I was in the pack but I'll add that when results come in. For now, the 2012 season has begun!
P.S. Posted results have me placing 298 out of 463, a huge field!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Another state, and another season
This year's race season starts tomorrow for me with a 5K in Epping, one of the closer towns (about 30 minutes from my front door) that I've yet to complete a race in. Thanks to the winter without snow, I'm in a pretty good place, I think. We'll see tomorrow.But last Sunday I did an 8.3-mile run in Syracuse, New York, which makes the Empire State No. 2 in my quest to log a minimum 90-minute run in all 50 states. (The first was Kansas, which I got last month.)
I was in Syracuse for a Cinfest, a vintage film convention (see www.jeffrapsis.com about that) and took advantage of freakily warm and dry weather on Saturday, March 17 to go on a long steady run from my hotel out the Syracuse Airport and back.
Airport action: Kinda quiet on a Saturday afternoon. A couple jets on final approach, that's all.
A big loop, several bad intersections, but nothing terrible. Surprisingly strong late afternoon sun for St. Patrick's Day. Kind of nice to plod around the outer edges of a strange town with only my hotel key and a hand-drawn reference map to guide me. But it worked.
Which state will be next? Well, a quick trip to San Francisco next weekend will provide an opportunity. And if I do one a month, I can pick up the six New England states this summer...
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Few new towns on this year's calendar
It's March, and two of our dogs are about to take me on a four-mile run around our neighborhood. First, a few notes.
It's getting to be mid-March, and I'm surprised at how few races are scheduled in towns I haven't run. In prior years, by now I'd be sorting through a list of 15 or 20 communities for the coming season. This year -- just a handful. And that's out of six pages of listings on www.coolrunning.com.
So I really have entered a new phase of this quest. If I'm going to finish it by May 14, 2016 (see below), this is the year to start systematically setting up my "do-it-yourself" 5K courses. The goal: a minimum of 30 communities this year.
To do this, I need to make 15 trips, as my method will actually be to run a minimum 10K, only half in one town and half in another. To do this is quite easy: all you have to do is find where the border is marked between two towns (New Hampshire is pretty good at that), then measure off 2.5K (or 1.6 miles) in each direction.
So then, starting right at the border, you go into Town A a distance of 2.5K, then turn around and come back. That gives you a solid 5K in Town A. But then you cross the border and keep going into Town B, into which you run 2.5K, then turn around and head back. When you reach the border, hey presto -- another 5K done! And you're standing right next to your car.
Two advantages to this method: I can start any time I want, and no registration fees! So I can squeeze them in quite early, say, and still have most of the day free. (Plus I can take the dogs along.) And there being no races this weekend, and the weather being fairly nice, I might start early tomorrow with two towns, Brookline and Mason, and see how it goes.
Running in every state: Next up is New York State, which will happen while I'm roistering in Syracuse from Wednesday, March 14 through Monday, March 19. This will bring my total up to two out of 50. Well, you've got to start somewhere, and if the goal is to motivate me to workout while staying in a comfy hotel room, well, then it seems to be working, right?
It's getting to be mid-March, and I'm surprised at how few races are scheduled in towns I haven't run. In prior years, by now I'd be sorting through a list of 15 or 20 communities for the coming season. This year -- just a handful. And that's out of six pages of listings on www.coolrunning.com.
So I really have entered a new phase of this quest. If I'm going to finish it by May 14, 2016 (see below), this is the year to start systematically setting up my "do-it-yourself" 5K courses. The goal: a minimum of 30 communities this year.
To do this, I need to make 15 trips, as my method will actually be to run a minimum 10K, only half in one town and half in another. To do this is quite easy: all you have to do is find where the border is marked between two towns (New Hampshire is pretty good at that), then measure off 2.5K (or 1.6 miles) in each direction.
So then, starting right at the border, you go into Town A a distance of 2.5K, then turn around and come back. That gives you a solid 5K in Town A. But then you cross the border and keep going into Town B, into which you run 2.5K, then turn around and head back. When you reach the border, hey presto -- another 5K done! And you're standing right next to your car.
Two advantages to this method: I can start any time I want, and no registration fees! So I can squeeze them in quite early, say, and still have most of the day free. (Plus I can take the dogs along.) And there being no races this weekend, and the weather being fairly nice, I might start early tomorrow with two towns, Brookline and Mason, and see how it goes.
Running in every state: Next up is New York State, which will happen while I'm roistering in Syracuse from Wednesday, March 14 through Monday, March 19. This will bring my total up to two out of 50. Well, you've got to start somewhere, and if the goal is to motivate me to workout while staying in a comfy hotel room, well, then it seems to be working, right?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Off-season update:Topeka, Kansas
Just got back from a very long run this afternoon in Topeka, Kansas. Just couldn't help it -- the sun is out, the air is mild (about 60 degrees), the ground is dry, and the winds are light. So I went out for what turned out to be the longest run I've done in a long while -- at least in the past year, anyway.
It was 9.2 miles as measured by the rental car, taking 1 hour and 51 minutes. Like all great runs, I was motivated by a simple goal: to "capture" the Kansas State Capitol, about four miles to the west in downtown Topeka. (That's it above, under renovation.) It was ambitious for an off-season run and I wasn't sure I could do it, but I felt good (despite a draining nose and recent lack of sleep) so figured I'd just keep the route simple and see how far I got.
I started out on Fairlawn Road in West Topeka (where I'm staying at a Best Western), a suburban enclave of motels and convenience stores, and started down 6th Street -- or I should say up, because the first stretch slopes up at a surprisingly steep angle, made no easier by the lack of sidewalks. My plan was to stay on 6th Street all the way into downtown, and that's what I did, going up and down rolling slopes, first through residential areas and then past commercial properties.
It's a wide street, with two lanes in each direction, leading me to believe it must have been the main road out of town to the west (towards Salina, Kansas) before Interstate 70 was built just to the north, along the Kansas River. The commercial properties date from its heyday, and now repose in various states of use and neglect.
Up and down I went. Who says Kansas is flat? Not along 6th Street, as I reached major cross streets that told me I was getting closer: Gage, MacVicar, Washburn. I felt good, and was keeping my eye out for the first actual glimpse of the state Capitol's dome, topped by a statue of a Kansa warrior named Ad Astra, and currently augmented by a large construction crane. At one point, Topeka's street grid shifts to the right, and when I reached that point, I knew I was getting closer. Still, hard to see beyond the continuous wall of auto body shops and Mexican restaurants that lined the street.
But then, when the cross streets begin to be named after pre-Civil War presidents (Taylor, Fillmore, etc.) I saw it -- or I saw the crane, at least. Not too far off, actually, but not close either. But for the first time, I felt I just might have a chance at successfully completing this quest.
After getting held up by heavy traffic on Topeka Boulevard, I crossed and entered the downtown area. Even on a nice day, the place was completely deserted: no cars, no trucks, no pedestrians. It looked like a neutron bomb had hit the place! I jogged by the building that houses the Jayhawk Theater, then up 7th Street to Kansas Avenue, the "Main Street" of downtown Topeka. It was so quiet I could have run right up the middle of the street and wouldn't have bothered anyone.
Still feeling strong, I made a right on 9th Street, and there the Capitol was, facing me. I circled around the southern side, "capturing" it by jogging across the lawn and now facing into the sun, which lit up the building behind me like it was about to appear in a Cecil B. Demille epic. And then I started back, knowing the challenge was to keep going but not push too hard so my feet would hold up.
I was on 10th Street heading back, and it was a good choice: mostly commercial, with good sidewalks almost all the way back to Fairlawn. Leaving downtown and heading back west, I found 10th Street to be more institutional than 6th Street: hospitals, churches, the county's modern library, and Topeka's amazing high school, which was build in 1931 but looks like it belongs in an English university town.
The slog began to get to me by the time I hit Gage Road, but I pressed on, determined to make it back to Fairlawn without stopping. Soon the sidewalk gave out and the road narrowed, meaning I must be getting close. Uneven ground near the road forced me out into the flatter part of a gigantic open area, apparently part of a church cemetery, before I finally crested on final rolling hill and saw Fairlawn just below. Nice! I made it.
So pretty amazing that I've got the legs for this length of run at this time of the year. Hope I can keep it up, as it could mean some really good times for races later this year.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Looking forward to May 14, 2016
Well, we continue to enjoy the softest winter in some years. Hardly any snow in our part of the word, and yesterday afternoon it was 50 degrees. Running with the dogs on Feb. 1 in a t-shirt and shorts! Amazing. Note: Yesterday (Feb. 3, 2012) I ran 7 miles with the dogs!
Of course I say "enjoying" knowing that this kind of weather has cut into my opportunities to go downhill skiing this season. I'd like to get at least moderately proficient at it before I get too old to do it at all, and that time is coming...
But the up side is that I've continued to run regularly, which has been good for our dogs as well as for me. It's now February, and with the weather cooperating and with lack of a snowpack, I really haven't stopped running outside this winter. As a result, I feel stronger than ever, and barring any kind of injury, I should enter the 2012 running season in a good position to start finishing races below that 10:00 mile pace that's become my middle-aged baseline.
However, there's one thing new about 2012. I've been checking the Web sites regularly, and out of dozens and dozens on the New Hampshire calendar so far, only a handful are taking place in towns that I haven't yet reached. In past years, by this time I'd have a list of a dozen or more to look forward to, sometimes several on one day to pick from.
But now, after having completed races in 130 of our state's 234 cities, towns, and unincorporated places, the ones left where actual official races take place are becoming few and far in-between.
Well, this had to happen at some point. After all, it's not really reasonable to expect, say, the north country town of Odell (population 0) to hold a 5K anytime soon. And so it looks like the "Running the 234" challenge will be entering a new phase in 2012: one in which I begin to pick up towns where no road race is likely to ever take place, at least in my lifetime.
So, for each of those places, the goal will remain the same: to run at least a 5K within its borders. The only difference now is that it won't be in the form of an official race. And thus I will be able to start adding towns such as Dalton and Windsor to the list of towns completed.
And now that this second phase has started, I have come up with a date by which I want to complete it. The date is Monday, May 14, 2016, when I am exactly 52 years and 121 days old. (I was born on Jan. 14, 1964.) There's a very specific reason for this date, but I am keeping that to myself for now.
And now that I've gotten this far, I have just discovered something that is quite surprising. It seems that I've had my "number of cities, towns, and unincorporated places" wrong all along. It turns out that 234 is the total number of New Hampshire's incorporated cities (13 of those) and towns (they number 221), but that figure does not include the state's unincorporated places, of which there are 25. Ooops! I thought 234 was the total of them all. Learn something new every day.
So what to do? For me, the bottom line is that in completing this challenge, I hope to be able to finally color in every single nook and cranny of my big wall map of New Hampshire. And if I stick with the 234 number, and don't include the 25 unincorporated places (most of which are small slivers of land, but some of which are quite sizeable), then my map won't be colored in.
Well, looks like I just added 25 more locations to run 5K in order to finish this quest. I'm only just now beginning to process what that means, but right now I don't think it will prevent me from completing the quest. So onward we go.
Of course I say "enjoying" knowing that this kind of weather has cut into my opportunities to go downhill skiing this season. I'd like to get at least moderately proficient at it before I get too old to do it at all, and that time is coming...
But the up side is that I've continued to run regularly, which has been good for our dogs as well as for me. It's now February, and with the weather cooperating and with lack of a snowpack, I really haven't stopped running outside this winter. As a result, I feel stronger than ever, and barring any kind of injury, I should enter the 2012 running season in a good position to start finishing races below that 10:00 mile pace that's become my middle-aged baseline.
However, there's one thing new about 2012. I've been checking the Web sites regularly, and out of dozens and dozens on the New Hampshire calendar so far, only a handful are taking place in towns that I haven't yet reached. In past years, by this time I'd have a list of a dozen or more to look forward to, sometimes several on one day to pick from.
But now, after having completed races in 130 of our state's 234 cities, towns, and unincorporated places, the ones left where actual official races take place are becoming few and far in-between.
Well, this had to happen at some point. After all, it's not really reasonable to expect, say, the north country town of Odell (population 0) to hold a 5K anytime soon. And so it looks like the "Running the 234" challenge will be entering a new phase in 2012: one in which I begin to pick up towns where no road race is likely to ever take place, at least in my lifetime.
So, for each of those places, the goal will remain the same: to run at least a 5K within its borders. The only difference now is that it won't be in the form of an official race. And thus I will be able to start adding towns such as Dalton and Windsor to the list of towns completed.
And now that this second phase has started, I have come up with a date by which I want to complete it. The date is Monday, May 14, 2016, when I am exactly 52 years and 121 days old. (I was born on Jan. 14, 1964.) There's a very specific reason for this date, but I am keeping that to myself for now.
And now that I've gotten this far, I have just discovered something that is quite surprising. It seems that I've had my "number of cities, towns, and unincorporated places" wrong all along. It turns out that 234 is the total number of New Hampshire's incorporated cities (13 of those) and towns (they number 221), but that figure does not include the state's unincorporated places, of which there are 25. Ooops! I thought 234 was the total of them all. Learn something new every day.
So what to do? For me, the bottom line is that in completing this challenge, I hope to be able to finally color in every single nook and cranny of my big wall map of New Hampshire. And if I stick with the 234 number, and don't include the 25 unincorporated places (most of which are small slivers of land, but some of which are quite sizeable), then my map won't be colored in.
Well, looks like I just added 25 more locations to run 5K in order to finish this quest. I'm only just now beginning to process what that means, but right now I don't think it will prevent me from completing the quest. So onward we go.
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