Finally Out Again

Testing some things this weekend. Went to lean-to via Moss Hill Road on Saturday with:

• La Sportiva sneakers & thin knee-length compression socks
• ZPacks gaiters
• SMD Flight 30 UL
• Hummingbird Hammocks Single+, tree straps, & Martin bugnet
• EE Apex Enigma
• Kammok UL Weather Shelter
• Didn't bring towel, trekking poles, handkerchief, or pack hangar

Footwear was fine. Path was pretty gradual and they got a little muddy - definitely NOT waterproof! The gaiters stayed up the whole time which was a nice surprise. The pack was fine, but I've mentally decided to move on from my UL pack and get a Gregory which will only be another 5-8 ounces and will be more comfortable; it also won't sit on my back and soak up all my sweat! 

The hammock setup was great! It rained a little (sprinkles on & off) so I used my Sea-to-Summit poncho over me & the pack. Then when I got to lean-to I pretended it was pouring and tried to setup tarp & hammock while still in poncho with pack on my stomach. Nice test all around. The tarp was big enough for the hammok, though not a lot of extra room. Setup was narrow since I forgot my pole. Used the poncho as a ground cloth for my pack & footwear while I napped for 45 minutes. All-in-all, a solid test and a great day. Few, if any, bugs.

Sunday

• La Sportiva sneakers & padded ankle-length Darn-Tough socks
• ZPacks gaiters
• SMD Minimalist
• Hummingbird Hammocks Single+, tree straps, & Martin bugnet
• This time I remembered trekking poles and pack hangar (see pic below)

Went in from Bailey road this time. Much shorter, and much STEEPER which was a good workout for the legs. Really felt stronger as a result of this hike - less knee pain. Can't believe how much quicker it was going back to car vs the walk in - or at least it seemed that way. No nap today, but did set up the hammock again and added a ridgeline to keep bugnet out of my face. Pack hangar worked, but I think it should be thicker cord, and no so long - best idea is to get cord that can also be used to field-repair Zpack gaiters also, and used as bear-bag hang. The Minimalist bag was fine, but still not as comfortable as the Gregory packs I've had in the past. AND I HATE THE ROLL_TOP closure. Waste of time & space I think, but maybe that's just due to my current approach. I've listed the Flight and my Fusion packs on FB, but I'll keep the minimalist as an alternative in the future.

The point of hiking in again Sunday was to replenish the outhouse supplies - completely empty I noticed on Saturday. Added 1 roll TP, 1 package wipes, 1 hand sanitizer, and some feminine hygiene stuff to the tupperware container. It wouldn't hold the 2nd roll of TP that I brought so I just double-bagged that in hopes it would survive until needed. Maybe I'll check again this weekend.

Gear eval: 

• La Sportiva were fine, though not as comfy as when I first tried them on and my toes were a bit sore on Sunday from the down hill. Should try downhill again with thin socks to see if that changes things. But on Saturday, felt like my feet slipped around way too much with the thin socks.
• ZPacks Gaiters - AWESOME. Even on Sunday, with ankle socks, they stayed above the calf the entire time.
• HH Single+ - continues to be comfortable and I had a decent nap in it with just an UL inflatable pillow.
• EE Apex Enigma blue / gold - perfect for the weather on Saturday which was cloudy & spots of rain.
• Backpacks - I don't like how little structure the UL / frameless packs have. It doesn't stand up when it's on a flat surface. It's harder to pack because it flops around so much. I hate how it's right on my back which soaks up my sweat and makes me hotter, faster. And the roll-top is only useful when you've got a bunch of food that you are working through over several days - it's not like the gear itself gets smaller. 

NCT / FLT Weekend

Lots of hiking this weekend. Used a daypack on Saturday and drank all 3L of water. My Pesto Chicken & Pesto MRE was actually good. The cherry cobbler was okay. I started at the Sugar Hill Fire Tower and made it just past Julie's Crossing down near the Watkins Glen State Park.

First I went from Sugar Hill towards Watkins Glen...


Then I stopped for a break and had a Chicken Pesto Pasta MRE. Also had the cherry cobbler. The oatmeal cookie & breadsticks were gross, though.

In the morning I finished the rest of the trail from Sugar Hill to FLT map M14 access point #1. The scrambled eggs tasted okay, but man, they sure didn't come out well.


Finally I walked around some of the gorge and found the point where the FLT intersects with route 329.


My R knee was swollen before I started and this didn't help it much. On the brighter side, I made it. I wore a knee brace and it wasn't that hard but there were a few times when I had to take it really easy. The trail was well marked - didn't really need the map but it was great for swatting bugs away from my ears.  The hardest part was Julie's Crossing as the trail was obscured. On the way back I actually went in circles once before finding it. There were also some parts east of Vanzandt Hollow Road that needed to be adjusted where it fell off the cliff due to erosion.

At night I had a nice set up with a hammock and a rain fly. It was good at first, but then it got wicked windy and rainy - I had to get up a few times to resecure the stakes and tighten the string. I tossed and turned a bit, but was still more comfortable than in a tent. I wasn't sleeping that well, but I was resting okay starting at 9pm.

Then a group of people came in around 10 and decided to start setting up camp. They didn't shut up until 4am. Eventually I even got some water in my hammock somehow and ended up going into the car at 5am. I then slept until 9:30.

So as of the weekend (20.61 miles) I now have 23.29 miles towards the challenge - almost halfway towards the 50, so now I think I can seriously look towards the 100 challenge.

BSA Boston Trip

Drove up to New England Base Camp in Milton, MA. With me & Brian were Seojun and Will Stetter. Great group to travel with. We left at 9:32am Friday, 5/25 and arrived at 16:42. Stopped twice for about 20 minutes each plus an emergency 2 minute pee on the side of route 88 near Oneonta for Brian.

Sleep system: Coleman air mattresses, sheets, sleeping bags, real pillows. My mattress kept deflating. Brian had an accident on his the 2nd to last night. And because it was so hot during the day and we were so active, it was a horrible time to not get enough sleep! But we powered through and made some nice memories. Fortunately I had purchased an air pump that recharges so I didn't have to have electricity because the camp site was hundreds of feet away from the nearest outlet.

Food: cold cereal, sandwiches, campfire pies, bag lunches, etc... Once or twice Brian & I ate out, but not much. It wasn't the healthiest of times, but it was fun. Although we had camp stove & cookware, we didn't use it at all. Larabar supply was completely consumed - love those!!!

Water: Gregory 3L bladder was key for me & Brian.

Ozark Trail day pack was very uncomfortable. And not having side-pockets to stash stuff quickly was a huge pain.

Clothes: Always bring jacket & winter hat in daypack! We went to Fenway to watch Red Sox and it got so cold they sold out of blankets! I bought us some hats and it was just enough for us. We weren't comfortable, but it wasn't miserable either.

Crazy weather! Wicked hot Friday & Saturday (90℉). Very chilly & windy Sunday (55℉). Rained Sunday night before we left Monday morning (67℉). A little of everything except snow.

Scouts @ Kiwanis

Someone said it got down to 24℉ last night and I believe it! Brian had my 0℉ bag and I had my 20℉ Kelty Tuck. We were in the REI Half Dome. No rain. He was on a Therm-a-Rest and I had a Big Agnes inflatable. Got here at 5:30pm, bet at 9:30pm.

I heated water & gave Brian some freeze dried spaghetti while I have rice w/ lentils from home. I slept well until 11:30 but saw my watch every hour until 3:30 when Brian woke to pee. I hadn't wanted to wake him but I was holding for 2 hours myself! At that point I grabbed a fleece liner and put it around my wind pants & coat. We then slept until 7.

My pad made a lot of noise every time I moved until I put a liner around it.

We again slept on a slope and slid down all night. Brian did great and was warm enough. I'll need another 0℉ bag I think!

Oatmeal for breakfast since the rest of the scouts weren't up yet. Love the new cooking system Annie & the kids got me for my birthday and it was only $27.

It's 10:30am and the scouts are just cleaning their breakfast dishes. Pete Reif is making chili for lunch, but I may stick with my mashed potatoes. Need to leave by 3pm to get ready for Easter Vigil fire.

Scouts at Kiwanis

Boy Scouts overnight w/ Brian. Made mountain pies on the fire which were nice. Went to sleep at 10 after playing cards in the tent for a few minutes. Didn't play w/ the other boys at all. Rained much of the night and the REI Half-dome - 16 years old - finally sprung a leak right above my head. I need a better air mattress due to my hips. Didn't sleep much - ran 2 soccer matches Friday just before going to the camp.

It got down to 46℉ in the morning, probably colder in the night. We had my phone for white noise so at least Brian slept okay. When he woke, he didn't want to stay for breakfast & I really needed a bathroom so we left.

Can't believe it, but I left my sleeping bag at the house. There were extras so I got lucky. Definitely can't use that tent in winter without a better sleeping bag than the summer-weight one they loaned me.

Green gate for the camp is 1.38 miles up Kerrick Hollow Road on the R.

Green down jacket & winter hat were perfect. Even though I was in shorts it was good. Also glad to be wearing hiking boots & thick socks.

Spencer Crest w/ the Boys & Belle

Hike at Spencer Crest w/ Belle & the boys. Much easier hike than I was hoping but there were still some hills. We all had fun - Brian and I tried our backpacks. I need a new one! Maybe Brian, too, but his isn't even 1 year old.

Then went home & slept in yard in Coleman tent w/ no rain fly. Although it's a 4-person tent, we were cramped to Belle couldn't stay with us. It rained at 1 a.m. but we all slept pretty well. I had 3 pillows which helped but my sleeping bag was still uncomfortable. New one of those, too. And a good pad.

Cooked muffins in orange peels which were pretty good, but some charring due to the flames so the boys didn't eat them much. The eggs & bacon in a paper bag was a complete bust. The sides of the bags got so hot they flames & then the whole thing fell off the stick and into the fire.

Tray to hold hot food was great. Large measuring cup (4 cups) was good to mix batter & then pour.

Day four - five

Yesterday we spent between breakfast, blizzard beach, and dinner. Breakfast was with Chef Mickey and dinner was at rain forest cafe. Blizzard beach was okay but an awful lot of work get there, get ready, wait in lines, and then get to dinner in time. And it poured again at Disney springs! Food was good though.

Today was breakfast in "the" castle at magic kingdom. Annie liked the food but wasn't entirely impressed with it in general. We did some rides including the seven dwarves mine rude which was good but short. Annie didn't do space mountain but the rest of us did, even Brian. Lunch on the go and dinner at Be Our Guest. It's was a late lunch so almost ask the dinners and desserts came back in boxes.

Annie sure or a tin of work into this trip!

Disney day three

Didn't sleep great due to kids needing help and a very late swim at 10:30. Nice sunny weather so far. Signed up for Jedi training, had breakfast at a cafe, and then watched the first order March! Potty break and then toy story.
That was a fun game! Rush through wake Disney museum, then star tours simulator ride, then literally run to the Jedi academy check in. But as usual we were early. So a pity break, may and I held slots at the Jedi show and around noon, dark clouds started rolling in. Sweet!
Kids show for postponed so we went to the star wars theatre, then muppets 3D. Then a nice Italian lunch, and the Indians Jones stunt show. After some stress around doing tower of terror or Jedi training, and a potty break, we are doing Jedi. Tower is next.

Disney day two

Animal kingdom. The threat of rain was ever present but it was just a couple spots and the cloud cover was perfect thanks to hurricane Hermine. Everest was so good we did it three times! The Kali rapids was short and not that exciting though it's good if you want to get wet. We cancelled our breakfast, did the safari which was cool, and lunch at the Tusker buffet was fantastic. We switched up or dinner because when we arrived it looked very fancy and they were a double charge restaurant. We had pizza instead and they messed up or order but we got an extra water and iced tea out of it 😀

Day 15.7 - Montessori 5K - 26:43 - 8:35 / mile pace!!

Well, I was shooting for an 8:30 / mile and came in at 8:35 / mile so I'm happy with that. I foolishly forgot the exta .2 miles and expected to finish around 25:30 but upon reflection, I see where I went wrong and I'm pretty happy w/ my time. I've been training at a 9 min / mile pace so this is a nice improvement, especially considering the screwy terrain.

I wore my Asics, shorts, and t-shirt. I forgot my hat and it was wicked sunny, but I survived :-) Can't wait for the next one - and hopefully I'll be down to 210 by then!

Day 15.2 - 2.6 miles - 23:16mins - 8:57 pace!!!

Wow! My first sub-9-minute mile in quite a while! I did NOT want to run today. I was up late, I ran yesterday, it was a wicked long weekend, etc... But I told myself that these are the days when I have to be disciplined and it will pay off in the long run. With my weight dropping continually, I need to continue to train, too.

So I dropped the kids off and hemmed & hawed, stopping to buy a water & powerbar since I'd forgotten mine, and drove around a bit going back & forth in my head about running or going to work, having to change, where to run, etc... Finally I parked at Kinsella park, changed, and got warmed up.

I decided to go with a t-shirt under a long-sleeve shirt, a combo which works well on these chilly & windy mornings when I forget my jacket. I work my NB sneakers and my Brooks shorts. I started at the park & ran up Canada Road to the intersection w/ South Hamilton street. At first I was jogging in a 4/4 breathing pattern and when I realized what I was doing, about 2 minutes in, I upped it to 3/3 and my speed picked up, too.

The first mile was about 8:40 if I recall & calculated correctly. That was surprising when I looked at my watch. I knew there was a big hill at Healthworks so I just tried to keep a steady pace going. Around the Walmart entrance by Spring Pond I noticed my shorts were chafing my left inner thigh. I tried to move the shorts up, down, sideways, etc... but nothing helped for long. I considered stopping but I recalled the words from "Once A Runner" that says all runners deal with pain eventually - there's no finessing it. Those words kept me going.

The hill outside Healthworks was indeed tough, but for the most part I kept my rhythm the same only switching to 2/2 near the very top. I didn't slow down on the downside, keeping the pace up and just using the easier workload to regain some energy and then I was able to really pick up the pace when things flattened out again. As tired as I was during the run, when it was over, I felt like I could have gone longer / faster. Tomorrow is an off day and since Annie is away on Friday & Saturday, I'm planning to run on Thursday & Friday mornings. Gotta keep up the good work!

Day 13.7 - 30 mins - Massachusetts

Ran around Eric's neighborhood on Sunday morning. It was humid and rainy. My Asics were great, but soaked. I didn't run hard or too long - just enough to work off one of the Cinnamon Buns I ate the night before :-)

Day 12.5 - Saturday - Beartown loop

Ran early this morning before work and it was actually a bit chilly which I didn't expect. I wore a Starter t-shirt, Asics, and tights. I ran the loop (2.6 miles) in 24:32. I tried to take it easy because I have a 3-lax game day on Saturday and I really didn't want to drain myself. I think I may have gotten a cold from the run. Should have brought a hat.

Day 10.1 - Monday - noon - Highland Hills

Brennan kept me awake for over 1.5 hours last night. I'd been up late on the weekend watching TV. My left knee hurt, my calves hurt, and it was cold and rainy. So when my alarm went off at 4:50 am, I turned it off and went back to sleep and resigned myself to missing my run today, even though I'd planned on doing some hills for the first time in forever.

Then, my 10-11 meeting ended and I didn't have anything else going on until 1:30 so I stepped out to talk to Applebee's about the league sponsoring and went home to grab some lunch. On the way, I realized that I had enough time to get in a run and since I had to referee Tues, Thurs, and Friday, it made more sense to skip my Wednesday run instead. So I grabbed my Asics, my blue Nike tights, my Nike jacket, a long-sleeve shirt, and ran out the door.

Getting to the bottom of Lexington was the easy part - but it was tricky with a wet surface and my muscles still hurting. But I got down there, and took a left running up Sunset all the way to Field. Then I turned around and ran all the way down Sunset to Bridge, and then ran up Sunset to Field again (I think - it's a little confusing trying to remember at the moment). Then I jogged down Sunset to Fox, and ran up Fox to Cintra Lane. I went left on Cintra to Hamilton,etc... whatever. Eventually I got home.

There were a couple walk breaks in there and I wasn't setting any speed records, but if felt great that I was so excited to run and that I put as much effort into the run as I did. My shins are shaking - sewing machine leg you might say - but my calf muscles feel a lot better than they have in a while. Hope I'm not too sore to ref tomorrow!

Day 9.6 - Saturday - Jones Rd - 35 minutes

I didn't get to run until 10:30am because Annie didn't feel well and Allison woke up early. I had to worry about heat for the first time in recent memory. I still wore my tights because I feel they help my legs and they feel great, but I definitely suffered some extra heat because of it - glad I wore a short-sleeve shirt. My Asics Kayanos were fabulous as usual - I should get another pair.

I parked at the Fire Dept and ran up Forest, onto Jones, and all the way to the metal gate in 17:30. The return trip was nearly identical. Right off the bat my calves hurt, but I stuck with it. My left shin, again, was an issue but it went away. It's sore now a few hours later - I did NOT take Alleve prior to the run so that may have something to do with it - I'll have to track it. Taking tomorrow off and then running on Monday. Not sure what the schedule will be since I'm reffing Tuesday & Thursday. I like the current rotation though - easy 30 min run day 1, timed fast run on day 2, and long run on day 3. I do have to keep my shins in order, though. Hopefully I can drop some weight and have a positive effect that way in addition to the stretches I'm doing. Maybe if Annie doesn't go to Florida I can add some strength training, too.

5.3 - Rainy morning

Today I got up late, was a bit tired, and was still recovering from running yesterday. Still, I put on the tights and went out. Seems like no matter which way I ran, there was a headwind. It rained hard about 1/2 way through the run, but then stopped and just left some puddles for me to avoid. The Brooks continue to work great.

A little upset at myself as I was 226 this morning and since I missed breakfast and didn't bring lunch, relegated myself to celery, peanut butter, and cookies all day. I had an Apple and Orange right next to me but I was so busy, I didn't eat them. Poor excuse as I found time for the cookies. Hopefully it won't affect me too much. Tomorrow is rest and then back on schedule. I really have to focus on not pushing too much too soon because I keep feeling I could go farther & faster...

Day 4.5 - Tired, sub 10-min mile

Pretty tired today even though Brennan only woke up twice in the night. Didn't really notice it until I was running and my eyes started tearing. Today was 10 minute runs followed by a 1 minute walk and ending w/ an 8 minute run. I timed & counted laps for each of the 10-minute runs and surprisingly, I ran miles at 9:35, and even faster the 2nd time at 9:30, even though the 2nd run felt like it was taking forever. It was a beautiful day outside and I could have run outdoors if I'd wanted to, but I'll do that tomorrow - it's supposed to rain which is my favorite way to run! The Saucony's were even better this time around and we'll see how they do on the roads tomorrow.

So looking at my 1-mile times, 9:35 per mile equates to a 4 hour & 9 minute marathon time. Remember back in 1993 when I ran 2 miles in 13:45?? That was my best Army time ever. Not sure if I'll ever get close to that again, but at least I'm running. The Boilermaker is 15K which is 9.3 miles so at a 10-minute mile pace that's 90 minutes which is 1.5 hours! Actually, that's about the pace I was running back in 1998 when I was running 8 miles per run in Rome. At least I haven't gotten significantly worse since then :-)

3.2 - off schedule, but back on track

This is off schedule, I know, but I ran today. It was supposed to be a walk day but hey, I hadn't run since Saturday and I was itching to get back into it. I used my New Balance 1224's and they were great as expected. Why did I ever try Under Armour????

The cycle today was 5 repeats of run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute. I ran just under a 10 minute mile consistently throughout the workout. As I recall, this is the same sort of pace I was running back in the early 2000's - I used to run 8 miles at a time, ya' know. My weight is steadily improving and I'm happy to say I'm at 225.4 this morning - I think yesterday was 224.8 so no big deal and actually, pretty good since I hadn't exercised in so long. Sleep is definitely key. Brennan wasn't very good last night, but I went to bed early enough that I overcame it.

Today, a bagle w/ cottage cheese for breakfast w/ 8 oz of apple juice. At work I've been snacking on 4 x Polly-O 2% cheese sticks, some 100% whole grain wheat thins and an orange. I've got another orange and a pint of strawberries for later / lunch.

The schedule has me running the same cycle tomorrow. My shins didn't bother me this morning and I only felt them a few times so hopefully this won't be a problem.

Day 9

Yeah - I followed the program for the 9th day in a row. Big props to Annie who had to get up at 6am w/ the kids this morning while I was still at the gym. When I accomplish any of my goals, it will be in large part thanks to her efforts & support.

It was a tough run today - (3 minute run, 1 minute walk) x 7 followed by a 2 minute run for a total of 30 minutes. I can't even remember the last time I ran three full minutes without stopping. It felt good to be doing it, but it also left me a bit drained. I may have run harder than I should have because I actually put on 2 lbs between yesterday & this morning. Could it be the 1/16th piece of mint pie I had on Monday night? Maybe it was the spaghetti or the Wheat Thins from yesterday. At any rate, it was a bummer and I just have to keep plugging away. I have been very good w/ my eating lately - no eating out, no sugar (except for that little piece of pie), and lots of fruit and celery so I expect my efforts will yield results as my running intensity increases. Tomorrow is a walk and then on Friday & Saturday I do 30 minutes of 4min run + 1 min walk. Should be fun!

Initial Entry - My First Blog

Yeah! Day 2 of week 2 of the Runner's World 8-Week Beginning Runner's Training Program (http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-380-381-386-9397-0,00.html). It seems sort of silly given that I've been running on & off since I joined the Army in 1992. But given my recent weight gain (230 lbs!) and my ankle injury, I'm thinking it's best to take it slow. The baby has been good about sleeping well (finally!) and my wife has been a cheer leader even though it interferes with her sleep sometimes (I run in the morning). At this point, everything is going better than I expected. I'm still getting shin splints a bit, but hopefully stretching and the rest days will take care of that. My ankle bugged me last night for the first time in quite a while - maybe because I sprinted a bit on the track?