Training Log Archive: bl

Green today - rained and was clear & sunny by am. Botched 3 & 4 considerably. Relocated on 3 150m to SW in clearing with stone wall end. Climbing to 4, did a senior & followed reentrant before wall some 200m SW thinking I was outside wall boundaries & needed to head up the reentrant to find it. When I realized what I'd done, it was a long return trip to wall corner. Was pretty good on the rest of the course.

Attendance at these has been spotty probably due to boat stuff mostly. Reflected on what a nice weekend offer UNO provides. Drove 150 mi to Rockland after. Stopped at a DD for this AP entry & bought a vanilla bean coolata (a first) & got "cold headache" to start with & now the AC's driving me away.

Splits tomorrow, perhaps upon retuning for some hot am coffee.

Green - Splits

Saturday Green - Splits

Event: Pawtuckaway Camping Weekend
 

Camping weekend Night O. Drove over with Beth, she had dinner & went home. Then dark finally came and rain did not - a front & some sprinkles but rain held off til after 10pm. Long road run on first leg separated groups. I led the second group up to the spur on which the first point was - went the wrong way, others followed & then we all converged at the flag after turning around. Was with Jim A and Phil B for most of the first 7 points. Also Misha on & off & Ben Gallup for a few as well. When I saw the leg (& commitment) to #8, I headed off to #11 and "the barn" as it were. Did a good job with 11, lost map contact on 12 but regained when I encountered a rather large, open uncrossable marsh. 95' was plenty and had quite a few surreal moments when alone. Cozy night in the tent when the rain finally came down.

At SPS after work - hot/muggy but ok in shade. Just a take-it-easy walk over to the newly redone all-weather track for some exercises and stretching, 2 laps around and return. Flat legs after yesterday. No compulsion to run every day & that's most likely for the best.

Kayaking on Turee Pond with Beth at sunset (having just missed a classic red descent), with this poem and its imagery in mind:

Out, out upon the smooth dark lake glides my canoe.
And the shadows from the moon,
Which chase here and there upon its placid face,
Are the only things which break
-- Save my own craft’s rippling wake --
The deep, dark color of its blue.

Soft, slow descends the veil of night,
Til the circling shore sinks in its folds.
And the star-lit sky,
And the lake, and I
Are alone with quiet, peaceful night,
Touched gently by the moon’s soft light
While stillness reigns above, behind, before.

The heavens high above the lake arch o’er my boat.
And are reflected from below so true,
They seem both o’er and under my canoe.
Each sky-dome meets the other at the lake,
And so a perfect sphere they seem to make,
And through mid-space, in solitude I float.

“Solitude”, William Dix, 1889.
(scribed 45 years ago)


It captivated me in the late 60s. It was pretty much that way this eve. Near full moon, gentle, warm breeze. No evening star for some reason yet “And now the first star is lit, and I go home” was operative. When we neared the landing, several young people were overly solicitous, presumably because of our perceived age and our coming in from the dark, that it proved a distraction.

And then I rediscovered this other moonlit episode, suitably linked as "fragile memory".
.

Warmup

BHS track about 5:30pm - still a bit hot in sun, track was about 40% shade at start, 60% when I left. 3x200: 53, 48, 49 (100 between); 4x400: 97, 96, 97, 97 (200 between). One last 200 - 43 (expected 41+). Mediocre night's sleep - up at 2:45 to tend to a vomiting dog & really did not get back to sleep.

Have right ham awareness, nothing more. Never quite know whether it’s hypochondriasis or more (spring 2011 it was real). Would like a track workout every 4th running day - at least that’s the way I see it for September.

Between & after walking

Knox Road TF from Robinson Rd end. After work, had no idea where I wanted to go running but talk of gps’ing the new trails there at the recent BOS meeting plus a desire to be just about home when done made it a pleasing solution. Figured I’d go for an hour. Started with Robinson Crescent Tr., then some snow mobile/SVT stuff which took me to Boulder Tr. and White Pine Tr. jct. Then Boulder Tr. back to the power line & home on more unnamed trails. Did not see the cut-off for BBR. A lovely forest with a lot of open woods and interesting contours. Contains Bow’s biggest boulder. It needs mapping!

Kayaking (archiving mostly) with Beth at Stumpfield access in Hopkinton. Got there too late really, about 10:15 but still found some shade and/or breeze to make it quite enjoyable. Paddling in a kayak serves as bonafide salve for the majority of the day's other activity. Got far enough from Rte. 202 that it was almost inaudible. Could see there was a trail along some of the shoreline and spotted two small sandy beaches. Need to explore new places on foot more than I have been.

Spotted another blue heron looking for a snack.

C • Lovely picture! 3

BHS wander - had a T-shower mid-pm (dark as could be) then bright & clear & soon muggy/hot again. Think it was first day of school - fields were full of soccer-playing kids. Stopped by Turee to admire the view, thinking how nice it could be as the sun set & the first star lit, right up until the first bit of skim ice.

Went over to Contoocock with Beth & Z&M to look for a place to launch a kayak on the river and visited Lehtinen park at the end of Runnels Road. Did not succeed in finding a launching site - kayak was at home anyway. Nice series of paths, some along the river with Mast Yard SF on the other bank making for an unspoiled stretch.

Along the way, picture-perfect Penacook Lake but no access permitted.