AM: Hapeville, Georgia. After a very late arrival in Georgia the night before and not getting to our final hotel until 3:30am, I slept in and then needed a de-stressing run. I won't write a long rant about the unpleasant and unacceptable experience (I already did so in a complaint to Hilton), but I will share a very short and funny quip:
Upon being picked up from our booked and prepaid hotel (but unable to check in) at 2:08am by our Uber driver, Kenneth, and upon him seeing that our destination at this crazy hour was yet another hotel in the city, Kenneth asked us: "Did you all just get kicked out of that hotel?" Fair question, actually! But no.
Anyway, I can't remember why exactly, but Matthew and I went out for separate runs. I did my best to preselect and load a route to my watch, and it turned out not a bad one for such a busy area right at the Atlanta airport. The first half-mile was rough on the cement sidewalks (ugh) on a very busy road, but after that I turned onto an airport perimeter road with very light traffic, and then neighborhood roads so quiet I could just run down the middle of the road. Was it a scenic run? No, except for seeing a 747 on the side of the road (nostalgia about flying on those in the 2nd floor to Asia back in the 90s) and watching planes take off and land. But it wasn't bad, either.
PM: Atlanta, Georgia. 1 mile walking with Mark and Matthew at Centennial Olympic Park (site of the 1996 Summer Olympics), after visiting the Georgia Aquarium. The aquarium was very nice, albeit just a tad on the crowded side today. For lunch at the Aquarium, I had my first and last Beyond Meat burger. Not only did it taste terrible, but these things are much worse for you than a traditional veggie burger like a black bean patty.
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| Cool fish at the Georgia Aquarium |
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| Centennial Olympic Park |
Topped out the day with dinner with my brother Scott and his family near Augusta before renting a moving truck and packing back up Mark's possessions which we had dropped off 2 1/2 weeks prior.
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| My younger brother Scott, me, and my two sons, with Scott's son Ward hiding behind Mark |
Tuesday: 7
Columbia County, Georgia. Got an early start (6:30am) with Matthew, before a busy day of driving and moving to get Mark situated in his new apartment in Atlanta. Having run here just a few weeks before, this time I was very familiar with the parking, trails, and navigation. Ran 3.5 miles out on the Augusta Canal Path and then turned around.
Just before my turn-around, I noticed a fast looking kid running towards me. After my turn-around, I noticed the same kid stopped and re-tying his shoes, so I just went past him. Shortly thereafter, Matthew was running towards me on his way out, presumably to also turn around shortly. Soon, I could "feel" someone coming up behind me. I figured it was the kid and he would go past me. No, he just hung right behind me. Progressively picked up the pace the last three miles from 7:05 to 6:23, but whoever it was, they had just latched on to me. Maybe it's Matthew? No, he would have said something and would have come up next to me, I'm pretty sure. This is weird. Just before finishing, I came to a full stop and took a short break at the Savannah River Rapids. Turned around and sure enough it was the kid. I figured he would come up to say hi to me and talk, which I would have welcomed, but no. He turned around and walked a short distance away, and then a took break himself.
Maybe it was my smell? Whatever. There were plenty of other runners and walkers on the past that said hi or "Good morning" to me. Other than a great cooked-to-order breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn, the rest of the day was unremarkable. Was glad to unload the truck and return it, and despite plans to hike at Stone Mountain, unfortunately that didn't materialize due to timing and planning issues. Another time. Something to return for.
Wednesday: 4
Westerly, RI. Another reasonably fast fun run in 18:29.
Thursday: 8
AM: Westerly, RI. 2 miles with Brady from Wahaneeta. Deerflies were so horrendous that I just threw in the towel. 13 DFKs in 2 miles is just ridiculous.
PM: Westerly, RI. 6 miles from Bradford Preserve with Nick and Matt. I came prepared for the deerflies with a deerfly patch on my hat, which of course meant there were no deerflies at all this time. Go figure. We stopped and plotted out a course for Pumpkins (we have to replace the 8K course due to wetlands issues preventing us from racing there). This new course came pretty close to 10K, but we had to stop, adjust, figure out where we were and wanted to go, so we'll add a little more and then come back real soon to map it all out start to finish.
Friday: 6
Charlestown, RI. Ninigret with Matthew and Brady. I just had nothing today. Felt weak and lethargic. I was certainly holding back Matthew. I'd blame it on the 90% humidity, but I know it was just me not having a good day. They can't all be.
Drove up to Wilmington, NY in the afternoon.
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| Stayed in a cabin the first night, tent the second, just based on what was available. |
Saturday: 8 run, 6 hike
AM: Wilmington, NY. Earliest run likely all year for me, with a 5:39am start. I mapped out a 9-mile route and got up and going with Brady. I needed to be back for a planned 7:25am departure to bring Matthew to the start of his Whiteface Mountain Race. I figured that was plenty of time, but I was wrong. While part of it was due to me missing a turn that added 0.4 miles, most of it was I underestimated the amount of time it would take me for the initial climb. We started out with a 3-mile continuous climb. The elevation gain over those three miles was only 1,700', but 800' of that came in the last 1/2 mile of the climb. I ran it, but needed a few quick breaks and I was very slow on that part. I realized about 6 miles in that I wasn't going to make it back in time, and that's certainly not fair to Matthew. So I deviated course to head to the road and run the last 1.75 miles on road straight back instead of the planned trail. Tough on the roads with trail shoes, but overall still a good run.
PM: Adirondack Park (near the village of Lake Placid), NY. Family hike of Cascade and Porter Mountains, with Jana, Matthew, and Brady. Total elevation gain of about 2,300'. Quite a few people out hiking today. Best views were from Cascade Mountain, which had a big open summit.
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| Summit of Cascade Mountain |
Sunday: 10
Adirondack Park (near Saranac Lake), NY. Three miles roads, two miles rolling trail, 1.2 mile reasonably steep climb with 1,200' gain up to Haystack Mountain, two miles of fun downhill trail (6:09 fastest split for me), and then a couple of miles easy and flat trail. So where did I fall and bash my knee bloody? On the flat part of course, and right in front of a hiking group coming towards me. Geez. Almost the entire trail was runnable, save for a few very steep short sections towards the top of Haystack Mountain.
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| Summit of Haystack Mountain |
About 4 miles into the run I notice my groin area is soaking wet. Did I pee myself? No, the water is just running out of hydration pack bladder. The valve at the end of the drinking tube is missing. I "tied the tubes" to stem the flow, but fortunately Matthew found the valve in leaves on the side of the trail. Great save!
Before leaving, we went for an awesome swim in the Ausable Chasm River. Deep pools and small falls made it fun. Very refreshing.
Weekly mileage total: 49 run, 1 walk, 6 hike
Weekly synopsis: Quite the varied run week with runs in Rhode Island, Georgia, and New York. Didn't hit my weekly mileage goal for the first time in a while, but that's OK. Fun and busy week.
Weekly highlight: Cascade Mountain hike.
Weekly lowlight: Only that I didn't get more miles in.
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