Gettysburg to DC Relay

Last weekend I was part of a 12 runner team that took part in the American Odyssey Relay. I was part of the "Whalen Good Time" team. It was a family team mostly made up of Whalen's. A couple extras filled out the roster. The Whalen's had been athletic and on their track teams in their high school days. For some that was 30 years ago. There were 3 Whalen teenagers who were now on teams. Nobody had done this type of event before. The furthest anybody else had run was a half marathon. It was a family event, not a race.
The start was according to our reported previous 10k times. Slowest teams started first. We were #35 of 105 to start.
The morning was cool and a bit overcast, just nice for running. I was the #4 runner. I had legs 4, 16, and 28. Each leg was around 6 miles. Some were easier or harder. The race handbook had ranked the legs for difficulty to allow the team captain to place runners in the appropriate slot.
We had 2 vans, 6 runners each. Van 1 took off, meeting runners at change points and sending out the new runner. Van 2 had the morning to kill and met us at point 7, where their man took over. Then we, van 1, went to eat and get some rest.
The course was mostly on secondary paved roads. It went through the Gettysburg battlefield and Antietam. This area is great for running. It is mostly rolling with enough short steep parts to make it interesting. I noticed how the grass was more grown and the trees were more leaved out than at home. It is only a couple hundred miles south, but must be 3 weeks ahead of us.
Van 2 carried on through the afternoon into the dark. We met them at the Boonsboro high school. This was a major transition point and arrangements had been made to open the school gymn and showers for us. It looked like a disaster center with people wandering around, sleeping on the gymn floor, talking on cell phones.
I had an out and back leg here. I ran from the parking lot to the edge of town and back. The 2 runners following me in rotation did similar loops. When we turned it over to van 2, we went to the Amtietam Battlefield Visitor Center. We got some sleep here and soon it was our turn again.
In a couple legs, we were on the C and O Canal path. This historic path led us more directly toward DC. It was gently downhill and packed dirt. My section was well shaded. I was grateful because the day was warming fast. Van 1 turned over to van 2 around noon. It was well into the 80's and humid, quite nasty for running.
After loading up on pizza, we headed to Washington to the finish area to wait. I hadn't been there in many years. I'm glad someone in our crew knew their way around the expressways. We went to the national mall, a grassy area on the Potomac river within sight of the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson monuments. We drove around and were fortunate to get a parking place within sight of the finish line. We lay in the shade and watched and cheered other teams as they finished. A couple more family members joined us to see the finish. Soon our runners came along. They had run in the hottest part of the day and were quite beat. We all joined in for the run under the banner. Pictures and medals were in order. Then we loaded up and out for a needed meal together.
This was my first relay race. The format is quite different than a trail run. The run, get stiff and then run again, is quite a change. Also, the legs were short to me. I'm used to 40 or 50 or 100 miles at a stretch and I pace myself accordingly. 6 miles is a sprint to me. The others on the team found that very funny. They are used to a 10k as a whole race.
These relay races are apparently popular and numerous. I think this group may run another one. Some members won't run again, some family members had commitments this time.
In all, I had fun and would do another one.

Rail Trail Ride

The Venture Crew wanted to do an interesting event and needed a fund raiser. They came up with the idea of a bike-a-thon. The logical place was the Pine Creek Rail Trail. It is 65 miles of fine scenic riding through the Pa. Grand Canyon and is known as one of the best rides in the east.
We loaded up Saturday morning and headed to the north end at Wellsboro.
We rode about 30 miles to our campsite. There are campsites along the trail. They are basic with fire rings and picnic tables. This one was between the trail and Pine Creek. We had the place to ourselves.
We had a parent drive a truck with our camp gear, so we carried it into the campsite and set up in relative comfort. We had coolers of food, camp chairs and cooking gear.
The Crew members had energy enough to play frisbee and run around before supper. Nobody stayed up late, though.
Breakfast was cooked by volunteers who got up at 6:00. When else do teenagers get up that early on Sunday? They made pancakes and bacon and scrambled eggs to order. We had a youth led Scouts Own Service since it was Sunday.
Then on the bikes again. Only 35 miles to go. The group I was with stopped for ice cream at 11:00. We need to keep our energy levels up to pedal.
The group had set a finish time of 4:00 pm. Be at a road crossing then to be picked up. Since some were getting donations based on mileage, everybody wanted to ride as far as possible. I followed the last rider in to the south parking lot at 3:40. The first few had arrived at 2:00 or so.
We all had sore butts and were pleased with the weekend. We stopped on the way home for pizza and recounted the trip. Another fine adventure.

Strategic Planning

I decided to withdraw from the McNaughton race. I iced my knee for a couple of days and it felt better. I ran gently on it Sunday and Tuesday. I just don't dare subject it to 150 hard miles right now. I don't want to risk the whole season being lost to an injury. I have too much at stake here to blow up now.
That means I will get a decent training week in and be able to ride with the Venture Crew on their bike-a-thon next weekend. They want to ride on the Pine Creek Rail Trail as a campout and fund raiser. We will start Saturday morning at Wellsboro Junction and ride to our campsite below Blackwell. We'll camp overnight and Sunday everybody will ride as far as they are able. Some might do all 65 miles. Some probably won't. We have lots of adults going along and it should be a lot of fun. I have encouraged them to get on their bikes and get some miles on. I don't think anybody has. I have not ridden since last fall either.

More Spring

Things are looking better. There are more signs of the new season. Local folks are making maple syrup. I heard turkeys gobbling this week and saw a gobbler puffed up and showing off one day. I saw a bear when I was coming back from class one night. The ospreys are back to their nest at the high school. A pair have nested there for 7 or 8 years now. Their nest is on a pole a few feet off the track.
I have been running well the last couple weeks. I have a road run that is 26 miles with almost 2,000 feet of climbing in it. There are a couple of stores where I can get something to eat and drink. Doing this twice a weekend is good training. Combined with weekday morning track work, I'm aiming at 80 mile weeks. I have started doing some speedy laps in the mornings. If I can keep this up and not injure myself any more, I'll be ready for the season.
I did smack a knee a month ago on a jackhammer I was using. It was pretty well settled down, but I bashed it again today in the shop. I'm taking the afternoon off and icing it. I need that knee for McNaughton. I think it will be OK. I'll decide by Tuesday. No sense tearing it up this early in the most important running season of my life.
My Badwater crew has a new member, Niki. She has done some interesting outdoor adventures and will fit right in.
Gotta go tend my knee now.

It Has Sprung!!

Spring is actually here. I have seen robins. They are spread out taking territories, no longer in flocks. I saw woodchucks out, that is a local sign of spring when they come from hibernation and move above ground. Coming home from class the other night, I saw a bear crossing the road ahead of me.
The days are nicer for running. Fifty degrees is nice weather to run in. I have gotten out the last couple of weekends both days. I have a 26 mile road run that has around 2,000 feet of climbing. Four and a half to five easy hours with a couple of stops in stores for water and snacks is good training.
My running season starts April 10th. I have a 150 miler in Pekin, Il. It's time to back off and rest for that effort. I had hoped to have more miles in by now, but a nasty cold and life in general has happened. I'll go with what I have got. It will be my longest run ever. I have run several 100's. I'm not taking this lightly. Illinois is not all flat, and there are a couple small stream crossings each lap. The course can be muddy if there is much rain in the week before. Last year, there was horrendous mud conditions and cold snow flurries in the air. I'm hoping that is out of the way and this year is going to be better.
I have a huge running year planned and want to get off to a good start.

Like In The Good Old Days

My internet connection went down last Wednesday.
I don't know exactly what happened, but Verizon has been very good about doing what they could to get things back up. I spoke with technical support people who were native English speakers. They were patient and checked actual repair orders and verified that repairs were happening at 1:00 am. Right now they have arranged me a dial up connection at no cost so I can at least check email and keep in touch.
I have been adrift for almost a week. I don't count myself a techie by any means, but I get most of my news and weather forecasts from the internet. I don't have a television nor do I listen to radio much at all. I'm certainly not anti-social nor unsociable. I'm self employed and have no employees. I don't hang out in the coffee shop.
I remember buying my first computer. I can't remember the technical specifications, but now a microwave has more computer inside. At the time, I thought the kids would like to use it for homework assignments. The first one used 3.5 inch floppy discs. They were much better than the 5 inch ones. Soon came CD's. Who imagined DVD's full of information and entertainment? I remember when internet service was first offered here. I was one of the first couple dozen in town to sign up.
And the internet? It was touted as a way to swap recipes and to chat to family. Who predicted billions of dollars changing hands on E-bay?
I have benefited from the growth and evolution of the computer and internet. I can research and make better business and personal decisions. I can research and make better buying choices, both personal and business related.
One experience; I was arranging T-shirts for the Venture Crew. I phoned Stacie at the embroidery shop. She was making similar shirts for the Scout troop. While we were on the phone, she emailed me a couple of designs. I looked at them and chose the fish design, in green. She said OK, I'll make them. Elapsed time, 3 minutes. Once upon a time, I would have had to drive 40 miles, look at a book of designs, pick one, and drive home. Two hours spent, gasoline burned, etc.
In the last week, I didn't have a weather forecast. I went out for a run Saturday and got rained on. Just a brief shower. I missed an email saying a Scout meeting had been canceled.
I hadn't thought about how comfortable I've become with all this communication and information at hand. But I am glad to have it. Even as I wonder how much more can be coming and where will it end.

Another Good Weekend

I drove up to Maine to visit my son last weekend. He lives near Portland. I drove briskly up on Thursday, taking 9 hours. He had invited me to attend his Aikido class. I study Hakkoryu Jujitsu and wanted to see what Aikido was like. Mike earned a black belt, which is "Master" or teacher, level in karate in college. When he moved to Maine, he visited several dojos or training schools to find one that he liked to continue training. He wasn't impressed with the first several schools he checked and pretty well gave up his search. He happened to find this school and has been pleased.
I got to Mike's just before he got home from work and we headed to class. I found a clean, spacious, well lit practice area with a huge mat room. Mats on the floor make for nicer throws and rolls. I took part in two classes that evening and we went back Saturday for more. A regular class plus a sword class. I had never done any weapons training and was pretty clumsy with the wooden sword.
I found the fundamentals the same in Aikido as Hakkoryu. Both are purely defensive arts using off-balancing techniques for throws. The names, in Japanese, for the techniques are different. The teaching methods are different. But the two arts are very similar.
Mike is a cyclist and cross country skier. He loves Maine because of the snow they get there. The country around Portland is rolling hills and is great for cycling as well. He has helped me with some of my runs as a crew member and pacer. He hated running in high school and wasn't sure he wanted to do any more. I'm glad he gave it an honest try in order to help me out. I'm also glad he has decided maybe it's not as bad as it was. Trail running is very different than fast track sprints. He has a dog that needs exercise and running in the woods is a good way to do that.
We got out to run together Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday. Mike told me he found a steep hill to run on. No kidding!!! Saco Mountain is the higest point in York county, with 800 feet of climbing in a little over a mile. It is topped with two radio towers. There is a paved road that leads to the towers. It leads through a stone quarry where we can see the layers of granite they are blasting off. We drove over to the quarry gate and ran up and down twice on Saturday. That is a real killer hill. We ran from home to the mountain and back Sunday. That made a 15 mile run with a thousand feet of climbing. We ran it at an easy pace in 2 1/2 hours, just a nice run.
It surprises me how few wildlife I see in Maine. The area is old farm land with scattered houses. Swamps and wooded areas outnumber the fields. We saw 2 deer this time and a dozen turkeys, the first I've seen there. There are reports of moose in the area, but we've never seen one. The big score, however, was a bobcat we saw on Saco Mountain on Saturday. He crossed the paved road about a hundred yards away. When I said "Look!" the cat turned around and ran back across into the woods. He was a pretty reddish color, not the tawny I have seen. Imagine the odds of seeing 2 bobcats in 2 states in the same week.
I intended to drive home Monday. Monday had other ideas. We woke to a foot of heavy wet snow and no power and things pretty well shut down. I had told Mike he ought to have his camping stove there instead of leaving it at my house. "You just never know" We fired it up on top of the kitchen range and cooked breakfast. We had the woodstove for heat, so we were just fine. The family that owns the house Mike is in, came up from their house next door. We cooked for them and we all shoveled the driveway. Around noon, the power was restored. The folks in Maine are used to this and it was no big deal.
It got colder through the day Monday, into the low teens that night. That froze the new, wet snow and made for some fine skiing conditions Tuesday. The farm Mike goes to had groomed the trails Monday afternoon and made them smooth and fast. I'm not a skiier, but can make forward progress, mostly upright. We had a good time in the morning. Trail conditions were super, nobody else was around and the weather was about perfect.
In all, another fine weekend.