Training Log Archive: bl

Back to Chadwick easement with Ken, searching for red blazes on trees in woods might be about as close to orienteering as I'll get this weekend.

West Point weekend...guess I've pushed it out of my mind, perhaps deliberately. Certainly a long, long hx of traveling there early in the year, cold and hot, rain, snow & sleet, driving into Buckner, being by Popolopen & its geese, camping somewhere or Central Valley motel, maybe visiting the campus and, of course, doing one's damnedest in the challenging, rocky terrain with good & bad days.

And lastly, last years $245 moving violation ticket ($150+95 "surcharge") around Danbury when I failed to give a stopped police car a full lane's clearance - 2 busy lanes on a Friday pm...gave him half a lane which was $245 too little! So far, so good.

C • Full lane 3

OLLI O class coming up 5/7 so I went to Nottingcook for ideas inn addition to a white course. Interesting to find flash stick (not hard) not used for 3 or so years with pertinent maps & course files, fire up old Parallels and OCAD 10 and eventually remind myself how to make changes and export desired size/scale to print. Good start to alleviate any concern re preparation.
Met up with a nice painted turtle.

Hammond Nature Preserve with Beth & Mocha, a long walk for M. Looked for the proposed Eagle Scout project trail but did not see any streamers. Thought I could wing it but some home work was required. NW windy. Admirable drop off from the field to the swamp through quite nice woods. HNP field is Bow's most scenic.

A raw, mostly gray day. Stopped by BHS track to see what activity there might be, mostly kids running hills, then went to the Y.

Pre-op surgical clearance visit at CH today. 0600 Tu for the next surgical
"adventure". Throw the dice, results have been in my favor, back to '77.
"All the king's horses and all the king's men...". I wonder when.

C • Best of luck 6

Stress echo on treadmill @ CH. Got HR to 126, allowable stopping point, with considerable effort. Mitral valve was OK on resting ECHO. Have vascular surgery Tuesday. Haven't thought about it much. High time to.

Walked some of perimeter of Chadwick easement with Ken.

Boston marathon day. Drove to Wellesley (13.1 mi mark) for easy access, change of venue from downtown and the fact that I wanted to visit Walden after. Got there about 25’ before the elite women came thru. Spectators were thin at first. Better later, lots of cheering & spirit. At the east end of town, there was loud beat music that was perfect to lift weary spirits. I was amazed to see how thinly dressed so many were: not a few women elites with bare mid-riff, shoulders, arms; many runners without gloves or head cover. I counted 5 shirtless men. Temp was around 40 with occasional downpours. There was a strong east wind higher in the trees but Wellesley seemed protected in that regard tho the flags occasionally flapped with vigor.

The runners came as a trickle, then a rivulet, small stream, large stream and finally a river, and still flowing strong when I left after 4.5 hours in town. And then all to reverse, return to a trickle and dry up. There were the particularly inspiring participants - running on prosthetic limbs and visually impaired come to mind. Some were wired with their own sound systems. Being in town, I didn’t need the umbrella I brought for half the time as the stores had awnings. There was a handy bagel shop for coffee etc, too. Nothing was jammed with people as has been the case near the finish. I did not see any Wellesley gauntlet if that is something the students still do. It was a bit hard depart but I was cold and time had run out. Just a block away, it was silent. That flowing river of humanity continued of course but one wouldn’t know that from such a short distance away. An incredibly trying day and the slower the runner, the longer the trial.

I didn’t think of it for awhile but today marked the 50th anniversary of my first Boston (’68) and the 40th (’78) of my last. I headed off to Walden after, stopping at Regis College in Weston, a place I occasionally used as a staging point for long runs in the late 70s. There was a lacrosse practice going on. It was raining as hard as I'd seen all day.

Elite women leaders

Half-way...

C • Boston 3

Five years ago, Beth and I arrived at Walden having left the marathon finish area 75 minutes before to learn of the bombing. Walden was deserted today. Parking seemed to offer no choice: pay $15 for a non-MA parking ticket or worry about the consequence! So it made the visit all the more dear. Stopped at Thoreau’s cabin site to pay my respects. Some 170 years ago, we might have had a chat had I been there. Saw one man fishing for trout. Was ready for the car heater & heading home by the time the barn (car) was in sight. Strava shut off for some reason. Perimeter trail was 1.7 and another 0.3 for parking.

Strava had other ideas re time/distance.

Thoreau cabin site

Walden from far end
Last time I was at Walden was to swim the length in full moon light some 5-6 years ago on an August night. Started near here.

Cold, gray day, lo 30s, light snow cover. Tough on the emerging green shoots. Saw a lot of robins in spite. Not much inspiration.