Training Log Archive: dlevine

With Phil Payne.

Both of us were rusty during Game 1. I led 7-6 before pulling away to win 15-6.

Game 2, I fell behind 2-7, led 14-10, won 15-13.

Game 3: 11-2; 'nuff said.

Singles with Steve K.

Game 1: I sort of overcame my "slow start" tendencies, but this was irrelevant as Steve was getting to shots he never reaches and his drop shot was nearly perfect. He had me doubled the whole way and won 11-21.

Game 2: VERY close the whole way with eight ties, including at 18. Alas, he took the last three, including the final one which hit me in the heel as I was turning to play it off the back wall. 18-21.

Game 3: Steve definitely wanted to play the third, consolation game, but he shouldn't have. I won 15-2.

In the "moral" victory category, the final evening score was 44-44.

With equipment. Wow, was that hard! I took too long off!

Two laps of the river trail. Went faster than the time indicates because "rush hour" traffic really did cost a couple of minutes per lap.

First day of classes meant late arrival (but can't stay late) and crowds. Very fast circuit with lots of "breaks".

Cutthroat with Steve B. and Jerry. Trying to "play down" to get back my rhythm.

Game 1: Jerry wasn't there yet, so Steve and I started singles. He led 0-7 before I woke up. It was 4-7 when Jerry arrived.

Game 2: Fell behind 0-8-2; came back to win 21-12-9
Game 3: Fell behind 1-6-5 and 4-12-10; fought back to win 21-19-17
Game 4: Won 21-4-8
Game 5: Won 21-15-4
Game 6: Won 21-9-5

Freshmen Fun Run/Walk on the campus loop of the Allegheny River Trail.

Ran out with a pack of young men who were too fast for me. They dropped me after 1/4 mile and took off. I was then passed by a pair of young men who blew by me at 1/2 mile and a young woman shortly thereafter. I caught both, but the guys got annoyed and soon passed me again. At the 1.4 mile mark, I caught them again and passed them for good. At 1.5, I passed the "early walkers" who started cheering for "first woman" so I knew there was someone on my tail. I spied two of the early pack guys walking ahead and passed them (and dispensed some grief) at about the 2-mile mark. Kept waiting for the woman to pass me, but she finished about fifteen seconds back, saying that the last hill (60 m long and very gentle) caught her by surprise and spoiled any ideas she had.

[Time and distance are VERY approximate.]

Chestnut Ridge Map Hike - park at Casino

S->7: Down road, but cut in too soon and searched smaller reentrant SE of control for a bit. 5:53

7->10: Out to road and N to bridge, then in at bend in road. Hugged the fence a bit too much, but the stream was easy to see. 9:40

10->11: SW to trail/fence junction, then trail until it almost hit the circle. 5:32

11->18: Second try at 18 after a hurried (and unsuccessful) attempt in July. Trail to right fork, across stream and up hill a bit before cutting in. Marker was where I expected, but much higher up than I thought to look before. The base of the tree is a few feet above the streambed and the marker is five feet further up that tree, so... 5:34

18->6: NE to trail and gate to Rte. 277. As I was crossing 277, there was another guy running down the road with a map. Wow! It's Gregg Hyatt. He's headed for #6 also. We chatted and headed in, finding the marker with little trouble. 14:51

6->4: E to road and cut across the stream by the bend. We had separated a bit, but there was only one stream crossing. We climbed up at different places, but neither of us found the marker. We both walked the length of the stream without success. On his second pass, Gregg found the control almost where the tributary hits the main stream and it was on the resulting spur, not at all in the reentrant. Off by quite a bit, really. 11:28

4->5: Greg was headed to #3, but I was headed to #5. Strangely, we both went to the triangular 40-way on the road at which point he decided to join my plan. Straight in to it, keeping the edge of the earthbank as a handrail. Walking now. 6:51

5->3: Found the "chimney" with little trouble, but couldn't find the marker. Gregg eventually found it on a tree a good distance away, FACING THE WRONG DIRECTION so that it was not visible from the chimney at all. 6:27

3->2: Through the disc golf course, down the road, across the field and in.

2->1: I already had #1, but Gregg didn't so I accompanied him through the ravine, past the first green of the disc golf course and down.

1->F: Greg was headed across the street to #2 so I ran up (part of) the hill to my car.


[Plan had been to drive S and then run in to #24, but Gregg had said that he had been there on Sunday and it wasn't there. "Gossip" at the club picnic later confirmed this fact.]

BFLO Club picnic "Half O"

Twenty circles on the map. Only ten have flags with pin punches. 30-minute time limit.

Made my plan to sweep the course and was set.

Out of start, ran on road past #4, looking back and verifying its non-existence. Ditto with 3 as I passed it. A bit slow through the green to #16, but did okay. All alone. 3:08

Past 20 (no flag) and headed to #7. (Original plan was to go to #15, but I forgot.) Again no flag, but turned right and soon saw #8 on the thicket. 1:57

Across to 9 and in on an unmapped trail near the stone wall. To the main trail, turn left and see it.

S on trail to bridge, see Mike Lyons looking real hard for a flag that is obviously not there. Up hill to #12 where the map shows one gully, but I see two. So, carefully verify the lack of a control. Across the road and parking lot to an obvious flag at #6. 4:07

Forgot #5 and headed up to #18 where I could see two folks leaving. Went to wrong boulder first, but got it. 1:10

Over to 17, but no flag, out to road and in to look for 10. No go. Things looked funny and I spent time, but that's the way it is. Gave up and went to the obvious flag at #11. 5:23

Realized that I had two problems. The first was that I am short flags based upon the remaining sites and the second is that #11 was too close. Realized that I had made a parallel error of sorts a moment ago. Headed much further down the road to the trail, and the flag at #10.

Out to edge of ravine and took the trail up hill past 13 and 14 (no flags - a real problem as I have only seven punches and only two sites to go!) Past building and around reentrant to flag at #1. 4:07

Quick "dash" up hill (and through gunk - unnecessarily) to #2. 0:56

Down the hill and in, chased by Gregg and two others. Oh well, I'll beat the other 9-pointers.

Mike Lyons was already there having swept the course with a real good strategy. He pointed out that I had skipped #5 and #15. Took fourth which is fine for a fun run like this, but annoying. Second place was ripe for the plucking.

Cutthroat (discounted) with Steve K. and Lucas. Again I was out of it, but it was better near the end.

Game 1: Lucas started strong and led 0-4-8. Then he took a mental break and we came back. Progress was steady and Steve won, 12-21-19.

Game 2: I started strong taking the first four points, but then Lucas asserted himself, playing well even by his standards. 8-0-21.

Game 3: Lucas was still on fire. 11-14-21.

Allegany State Park, Art Roscoe area

Out main trail to Christian Hollow, around it clockwise to cut-over to Leonard's Run; around that clockwise and out to main trail, then around Sweetwater counter-clockwise. On the latter saw two sets of hikers. Closed with a side trip up the Fire Tower loop; one more set of hikers at the end.

Emery Park Map Hike

Parked next to the softball field.

S->10: Across Emery Road past disc golf hole towards site. Spent time searching, but eventually found it further up the reentrant than I expected based upon driveways across the street. 7:25

10->1: Road to parking lot through hedge, across parking lot that is no longer there to road bend to site. 4:00

1->2: E to driveway to maintenance area to power line to bend to marker. 4:16

2->3: Back to power line to road to four-way; brief stop for friendly man with overly friendly (but not aggressive) dogs to T junction past shelter across stream to fence. 4:27

3->4: Straight to traffic circle to clearing to site. 3:19

4->7?: Traffic circle to left at next junction, cutting in at edge of white woods with clearing in site. Out to spur; no marker. Searched NE, but there was no other spur; went SW to ruined fence. Back to the road and in via the clearing; SW and NE again and then down to the stream. Up stream and down stream. Back up to the trail NE of the site and one more careful sweep along the top of the steep bank. No split

7?->5: Along edge of hill to road to trail to area of spur. Couldn't find it and had to do a second sweep before I found it. 36:45

5->6: Out to road, in through rough field to new road. In at clearing, but came in upstream of marker. 9:21

6->8: Out to road and then along trail at crest of hill looking across for "help" with #7. Learned nothing. All the way on trail to road and then across field and straight at it. 9:36

8->9: Road to edge of field and in when I thought was right, but I went a bit early and a bit too far in. Quick recovery, though. 4:32

9->12: Out to Emery Road. Went W and then cut in at what looked like trail based upon start and distance from power lines. Went in too soon, though and had tough going up to cross trail. Then went to correct trail and overshot (on purpose) just a little. Then had to cut in through truly gross stuff. 8:49

12->13: Back to trail, then NE through field into woods. Through nice stuff to marker. 6:02

13->14: Across stream then NE to cross reentrant near power line, then in. No split.

14->15: E to corner and then along top of hill to flag. Actually searched one spur too soon. No split.

15->16: Down spur and then into tributary stream to main creek. Climbed out too soon and climbed too soon. Came out about 75m W of site, but went W. Found area with four new huge (3-6m high) rootstocks blocking what should have been the knoll (based upon the depression NW of "site"), Gave up when I realized that the reentrant was wrong and I hadn't seen trail up from creek. Went downhill (towards 17) and found marker easily. 24:14

16->17: Down spur to the right of line (cleaner woods) before turning in. 3:59

17->18: Along fence line to reentrant system E of control. Turned in and saw marker before I saw the boulder. 3:33

18->22?: Through "gunk" and past reentrant system by the "8" in "18", around the next system and straight to where I thought it should be. Never did find it, climbing through all of the nearby reentrants, spending time on the hill at the SE edge of the circle and re-attacking from the trail bend. No split.

22?->23?: W to trail; backwards along the disc golf fairway to road junction, around stream and then in. Found fence, followed to apparent end at top of ridge, but no marker. Was able to find more fence lower, but still no marker. Back to other end of fence (in case hung at wrong end) and then all the way along it without finding it again. 28:24

23?->25: Out to road, across T-bar, up the southernmost slope to knoll and in. 3:47

25->21: Planning on heading to 24... Back to T-bar and started up road. Realized that going for 21 first made more sense and cut in, but too low. Got to stream and had to head upstream to marker. 8:34

21->24: Out to road, up hill to clearing and in. Explored a smaller depression downhill from the real one before finding marker. No split.

24>20: More or less straight across to it, but was concentrating on a safe descent into the streambed and missed the marker. Searched up and down and didn't find it; went out to road and came back in without seeing it. Went 80m downstream, got in stream and began walking uphill until I eventually found it. No split, but elapsed time now over my 3 - hour limit so the remaining two markers (19 and 11) would wait for another day with the three others that I couldn't find.

20->F: NW to road and then across the softball field to the car. 19:25

Singles vs. Lucas

Neither of us was on, but I was in a fog. I had to think about where each of his shots was going - instead of just reacting - and it was as if my arm was two inches shorter (or longer) than I thought so most of my hits were off the side of my hand. Very weird.

Game 1: Trailed 0-7, improved a bit and lost 9-21
Game 2: Trailed 9-10 and 9-16 before going on a serving run and leading 19-16 before losing 16-21.
Game 3: Lost 5-15 in a game where the score says it all.

Two laps of the River Trail.

Cutthroat with Syed and Lucas. Match played out much as expected with Lucas outpointing me regularly, but allowing me to go on some runs and Syed taking up the rear. Lucas kept undercounting his score. "Official" results first, independent observer results second...

Game 1: I went on a late run and won six in a row to win the game 21-9-18 (21-7-20)

Game 2: Lucas wanted to assert himself and did. 11-8-21 (12-8-23)

Game 3: Lucas did not want me to win two out of three, but left the door open; alas, I couldn't slip through. 18-12-21 (18-8-22)

Sprague Brook Map Hike (Round 1 - the higher numbered controls)

Parked at main parking lot by western driveway.

S->24: Up road to bike trails to auxiliary parking lot on Foote Road and then to trail in. Attacked from bend in trail and then had a bit of trouble identifying top of hill. Eventually found the marker after I got into the mental mind set of how they are hung. 13;30

24->22: SE to trail and around, counting junctions and streams. Right in. 6:22

22->21: NE working to avoid worst of downfall. Came out at junction, went a bit north and then cut in, but I was still more south of the depression than I expected to be. 4:42

21->19: Couldn't decide whether 19 or 20 was a better next choice. Extra climb or extra distance? Chose climb as I knew that the streambed could be treacherous going, particularly upstream. Took trail to just above the terrace, then slid down and went right to the correct spur. Again, I couldn't find the marker as I was facing the wrong way a few feet from it. 7:37

19>20: NE up bank where it seemed least steep. Through the white(ish) woods. Came out at bend and went straight up the trail to it. 5:38

20->16: N down the hill to the trail past the orchard to the stream down towards it. General grodiness of the area confirmed my order choice as well as my route choice. Had a bit of trouble finding the marker as well. 9:07

16->15: Tried to go upstream to the trail junction. Succeeded, but the going was slow. Went up the trail to the flats, then across them until I saw the terrace below and down to it. Paralleled stream until I got to a clearing with a hill on the near side. Up the hill, but no luck. ???? Went through field to try to find stream and trail, but found another hill and field beyond it. Was I off the map? No marker on this hill either. Went in to field and this time I saw the trail beyond. Worked my way back to the hill, but still no marker. Headed back to other hill when I realized that hill was too far from the trail. Back to second hill again, and this time found the marker. 17:28

The map is questionable here and the green slash is tricky. The real way to attack this is from the trail to the north.

15->14: N to trail through field. Trail is not well delineated. It's a bike trail through a field that hasn't been ridden in a while. The markings are pretty good, though, even if the going is slow. Continue to trail junction NE of the control and then head in to it. Marsh is tricky to define during this dry summer, but I found the marker with less trouble than anticipated. 7:52

14->13: NW to trail. Took "southern" fork through woods instead of field and cut over in the circle. Marker was just where I expected it. 7:46

13->12: S on bike trail to junction and down the poorly defined on the ground, but well marked on the trees, side trail, Cut in a bit soon, but there aren't many root stocks near here, so it wasn't so bad.

12->11: Back down the secondary bike trail until I saw the bend with the rootstock. Then rough bearing in; the tree is VERY distinct. 10:49 (from #13)

11->17: Out to trail, but I went SE instead of E and came out between the two cut-ins. Was confused for a bit, and then took the parallel trail N and then E before cutting towards the swamp as the stream crossed the trickle. Aimed off the edge of the swamp a bit, but the clear area is larger than I expected and I missed right. Turned back towards the swamp and saw the rootstock. As I approached, something that never happens occured. I saw THE BACK OF THE MARKER from a distance.

17->18: Meant to go SSW to trail, but went more due S and hit the rim trail. Took it around and approached marker from the S. 19:57 (from 12)

18->23: Down the stream (very grody) to the flats W of Sprague Brook. Took the abandoned road until across from the marker. Ended up climbing out of the brook a bit N of the marker and then working down to it. Yet another one I didn't see so well. 10:53

23->25: Across Sprague Brook once again until near the circle. Crossed back over and couldn't see the knoll. There were a couple of minor bumps but nothing clear even though I was at the edge of the field. Checked out the field to see if there was a knoll in the growth before returning to the edge and finding the marker a bit further from Sprague Brook than I expected.

25->F: Had to head in to make my Buffalo appointment. SW to campground and then road to car. Was actually motivated to run as the guy walking down the road in front of me was smoking a stinky cigar (is there any other kind?) and I wanted to pass him. Then, as I turned the bend and could see the west, I wanted to beat the rain. (I did.) 23:11 (from 23)

All in all, a bit slow, but basically clean other than #15. Heat was no fun, and the trail from 13 to 15 wasn't much more of a win than bushwhacking the field (which was a disappointment), but at least I have a well defined loop for the other ten when I return.

...tougher when you're the leader...

Two laps of the river trail

Cutthroat with Steve K. and Lucas

A bizarrely even match. We played for just over an hour "real" time, but could only get in one and a half games as the receivers of serve dominated forcing the score to stagnate.

Game 1: I took the first three then none of the next twenty points before it all evened out over the (very) long run. 15-19-21

Game 2: Had to cut it short due to the Y preparing to close. 10-15-11

Singles vs. Lucas as our third for cutthroat didn't show.

Game 1: Had no flow, fell behind 1-9, lost 11-21
Game 2: Nip and tuck the whole way, I lost 19-21, but afterwards, the independent observer who was watching (Jerry) said that we had a scoring error and it was really 19-18 my favor.
Game 3: More like game 2. Lost 13-15, but the observer said it was 13-16.

Last Thursday's storm dropped two trees near the stream. Sunday I chainsawed them down, but today I had to liberate the rootstock. Given the state of my axe/adze combo, this was easily my toughest workout in months.