Wednesday Jan 31 |
 | Running 50:00 [3] 6.25 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Linden - Poplar - Gregory - Ford St bridge - river (west side) - footbridge - Elmwood - Highland loop. Snow is deep enough now to slow running, particularly uphill or in the drifts, significantly (average depth about ankle+2", drifts up to mid-thigh in a few places). After wind this morning, there is for the first time a slight wind-crust. 23F, SW wind at 12mph, clearing after a brief snow shower. |
Tuesday Jan 30 |
| Running 57:00 [3] 7.13 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Highland - South - E Henrietta - canal - river loop. Snow is a little trodden and uneven, so I've started to prefer the concrete, a sure sign that winter has really arrived. 19F, still, thin high clouds. |
Sunday Jan 28 |
| Note | |
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| Went 'hiking' around Lake Houston Park, formerly Lake Houston SP until Aug 2006 when the state gave it to the city due to maintenance budget shortages. Address: 22031 Baptist Encampment Road, New Caney, TX 77357 - how glorious. Virtually no relief except riparian erosion, so still extremely wet except on formed roadbeds. Beautiful day: still, not a cloud in the sky, 55F dropping to 49F towards sunset. About four hours slowish. |
Saturday Jan 27 |
| Orienteering race 59:20 [3] *** 6.71 km (8:51 / km) +20m 8:43 / km | |
| spiked:21/23c shoes: michael |
| Team TX Score-O, Jones SF, The Woodlands, TX. After three hours of rain 7am-10am, combined with three days of rain earlier in the week, exceptionally wet and muddy. But, at 53-55F, still and overcast, this is not too bad for running. One thing I like about this event is that I've never been close to getting all the controls, so there is a strategy. The deep brush (this is TX) is not so good. And even only two years after they mulched large areas, it's already growing back rapidly, and will be essentially impassable two years from now...
Distance is measured O-style rather than actual distance (up to three times this on some legs). |
| Running warm up/down 8:00 [2] | |
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| To the start. |
Friday Jan 26 |
| Running 1:10:00 [3] 9.03 mi (7:45 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann brutus bach |
| Memorial Park. Partly cloudy, still, 57F dropping to 55F, dp 44F, trails soggy, not to say muddy, after the rain that Houston had earlier in the week. The lower crossings were all under water, so I stuck to the higher trails - beginning of the standard loop to the bayou, across the log, then over to the green trail and out and back along it. |
Thursday Jan 25 |
| Running 51:00 [3] 6.8 mi (7:30 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann brutus bach |
| Houston. Lazy Lane - north bank of Buffalo Bayou as far as the point where the bike path goes under Memorial Dr for 100 yards. Perfect conditions: 61F dropping to 57F, perfectly clear and still, not a cloud in the sky, dp 35F. In Rochester at the same time, 8F, 10mph winds, and consistent snow all day. Needless to say, I was running in shorts, but not in Rochester. |
Tuesday Jan 23 |
| Running 1:01:30 [3] 7.24 mi (8:30 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Highland - South - Redfern - Kendrick - canal - McLean - Highland longish and home. 29F, still, occasional light snow showers, definitely shorts weather. The snow is starting to get deep enough to be irritating (cold legs from kicked-up snow; wet feet reliably). Bright night with fresh snow and overcast skies. |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Sunday Jan 21 |
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| Event: ROC Ski-O at Mendon Ponds Park
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| Orienteering 50:00 [2] ** 7 km (7:09 / km) | |
| spiked:8/8c shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Collecting controls, ROC Ski-O at Mendon. 22F, still, partly sunny (a little hazy). Was prohibited from collecting controls where the trails were in good condition, but actually after the ice storm on Monday, all the thorny plants have their prickles encased in ice still, so it was possible to run across a whole set of brambly fields that normally one wouldn't dare to run across. So score one for running shoes. |
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| C • Ski O 3 |
| Running 45:00 [3] 5.63 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Another lap around the main pond and through some small areas of forest (something like the first few controls from October's event). Got tired of sliding down hills after a while and switched to the trails.
Comic sight for the day: the set of around 1000 geese forlornly sitting on the ice around the one remaining 150 yard diameter area of open water and honking laments about being too lazy to fly south this year. Given the minimum last night was about 6F, they're probably regretting it. |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Saturday Jan 20 |
| Running 1:04:00 [3] 8.0 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Ellison Park to the south part of Tryon Park. Packed snow on the trails; 3-6" loose powder off them. 18F, mostly clear, light breezes at higher elevations, sunset. |
Friday Jan 19 |
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| Went downhill skiing for the first time since January 1992 at Bristol. First 'run' was a bit terrifying for 100 yards, then it came back (such as it ever was). Unfortunately only the green and black runs were open, and every small child in Rochester was on the green runs. I didn't dare the black runs yet. |
Thursday Jan 18 |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Wednesday Jan 17 |
| Running 37:45 [3] 5.1 mi (7:24 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Highland - Elmwood - river - McLean - Highland short loop. Finally caved in and replaced shorts with tights: 19F, although my car thermometer said 16F. Couldn't work out why it was so dark in Highland Park despite the snow reflecting the light back - then looked up and saw stars, for the first time in a long time. It shows Rochester's natural climate when you expect snowy nights to be the best of all running conditions, since both clouds and snow reflect light, and there are always clouds. |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Monday Jan 15 |
| Running 1:42:40 [3] 13.67 mi (7:30 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Highland - South - canal - laps around Genesee Valley Park golf courses - river. Route. 28F, calm, overcast, occasional very light snow. 1/3" ice on most vegetation, but not on trails, and the 1cm of snow on top of everything turned running conditions from slippery / crunchy to excellent. 8:40pm.
It's almost a tradition of mine to go for a long run when the first snow falls, but this time I got the timing a little early and the footing was still excellent.
Definitely still shorts weather. |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Sunday Jan 14 |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Saturday Jan 13 |
| Running 50:00 [3] 6.82 mi (7:19 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Linden - McLean - Ford St - footbridge - Highland Park loop (slightly augmented in the park to get to 50 min). 30F, 1cm snow, overcast, 10mph N wind. Shorts, of course. |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Friday Jan 12 |
| Running 1:02:42 [3] 8.53 mi (7:20 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Route. Slightly longer version of the usual Highland - canal - river loop, via Westerloe and Lac de Ville plus Brighton Town Park. Can't say the additions add much - a little flat and boring. Short sleeves - 48F, overcast, 12mph SSW winds. 'Sunset,' except that we haven't seen the sun today. |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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| Knee tendons are a little sore again. Must be the increased training load. |
Wednesday Jan 10 |
| Running 51:40 [3] 7.13 mi (7:14 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Highland Park - South Ave - E Henrietta - canal path - river - McLean - Highland - South loop. 25F, 15mph WSW winds, 1-2" snow and slightly icy trails in places. Definitely still shorts weather. My aim now is to see if I can make it through the whole winter without ever needing to go to long pants. Obviously not training much helps here. Next week will be the first tricky week (highs around 25 Tues-Wed).
This may be the longest-lasting cold I've ever had. The sinus infection just won't go away, and the coughing is pretty unpleasant and fairly continuous. |
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| C • Coughing 4 |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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| C • Shorts 1 |
Tuesday Jan 9 |
| Flexibility 1 [1] | |
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Monday Jan 8 |
| Running 40:00 [3] 5.8 mi (6:53 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann aloysius bach |
| Highland - UR loop. Still sick, coughing all over the place. |
Wednesday Jan 3 |
| Cross Training 35:00 [3] | |
| shoes: michael |
| 631 cal in 30/14/78. The Economist Christmas issue. Or rather, apparently it's the holiday issue in North America (though I think it's still the Christmas issue in Europe; presumably 'holiday' in the Asian cover too). Hmmm. |
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| C • The Economist 2 |
Tuesday Jan 2 |
| Running 47:00 [2] 5.88 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann brutus bach |
| Memorial Park; SW trails then NW 'island' trails. Felt good for 30 minutes, then increasingly short of energy. Probably not unrelated to the cold (still have a beautifully liquid cough). Not quite as perfect as the last two days, weather-wise, but still pretty damn good: 55F, dp 32F, scattered clouds, very slightly higher air pollution levels, still. |
Monday Jan 1 |
| Running 45:00 [2] 6.18 mi (7:16 / mi) | |
| shoes: johann brutus bach |
| Another absolutely perfect Houston winter day, perhaps even better than yesterday. Therefore, another coughing and spluttering run. Route. 57F, dp 29F, not a cloud in the sky, even clean air after the holiday weekend... perfect running conditions. Pity about the mucus. |