I had a strange thing happen yesterday during my run... A crazed bee on a mission flew up underneath my sunglasses. I've never had this happen before. I instinctively tossed my glasses off my head and onto the rocky trail. Fortunately I wasn't stung, as I can get a pretty bad reaction to stings. Also fortunate was that my Julbo sunglasses remained in one piece.
My Julbos are an essential part of my running kit and I wear them for almost every single run, even on cloudy days, as my eyes are quite sensitive to light (possibly due to a past illness).
I train mostly in the JulboTrack and Trail models and have found them to be the two best sunglasses that I have ever worn. They are comfortable, super lightweight, anti-fog, very breathable, offer maximum vision, have a lens that darkens/lightens depending on light intensity, and are virtually indestructible as evident by what I have put them through many times. I also use the Instinct and Race but tend to wear them mostly in the winter as they have slightly more coverage for protection from the elements.
Even though they won't necessarily protect you from crazed bees on the trail, I can't recommend Julbo enough and would encourage you to consider them the next time that you are looking for a great pair of sunglasses for running.
Apparently, someones pungent trail running shoes were stinking-up her office and drastic measures were required with a zip-lock bag!
These puppies are staying outside on the porch;)
***Disclaimer: This should in no way be interpreted as a reflection on La Sportiva, as everyone knows that they make the best trail running shoes on the market! ***
Update (08/13/09): Karen M. just sent in a photo of a suggestion that seems to work in their household...
I always thought that trail runners and hikers had a lot of things in common. Both seem to like getting out in the wilderness and enjoying nature. The main difference that I can tell between the two was just that trail runners tend to enjoy their time on the trail just a little bit quicker than hikers do...and can see more during the same amount of time. It never really occurred to me before that there could be any sort of animosity between these two groups, however I have been surprised to notice some recently.
Most of the trails I run on are multi-use recreational trails, snowmobile trails or private trails, so I don’t often share the trails with ‘just’ hikers when I’m trail running. Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to do so with an increased number of runs at Frontenac Provincial Park, in addition to our recent trip to the Adirondacks.
At Frontenac Provincial Park, I very rarely see any hikers on the trails. It seems as though it is more of a place to paddle due to the vast number of small lakes that can be connected by portages. When I do see hikers, I am always quick with a ‘hi’ or making myself heard with a ‘coming up behind’ when about to pass a hiker on the trail. Usually this is met with a friendly response, but not always. Maybe just because I am becoming more aware of it, but I have noticed an increased number of hikers who don’t say anything or even seem to frown upon me as I pass.
The Adirondacks are home to some of the most beautiful trails and mountains I have seen. You have access to many great peaks within relatively short distances. For this reason, the trails in Adirondack Park are very heavily used. During some recent runs I was quite surprised at the number of grumpy hikers on the trail and I’m still unsure why.
On one of my runs I ran to the top of Mount Marcy which is a very popular hike, as it is the highest mountain in the Adirondacks. I had a fairly early start to my run, but because of the distance into Mt. Marcy, I still passed a large number of hikers who had gotten a very early start to their day. While most of the hikers where very pleasant when I passed, there were a few who seemed like they did not want to let me pass them on the trail. I got the impression that since they had an earlier start than I did that they wanted to be the first to see the summit on that day. There were a number of times that I actually had to squeeze around hikers to get by even though they saw me coming up quickly behind them.
The same thing occurred on my way down from the summit. I would be running down the mountain and meet a number of hikers who would just not want to share the trail and practically force me into the trees or rocks off the side.
In fairness, I did meet quite a few hikers with great attitudes and thought it was pretty neat to see someone running up and down a mountain. I found that it tended to be families with young children who were most intrigued by seeing someone running on these trails and would offer words of support or enthusiasm. I felt that this was probably due to the parents who were already setting a good example by taking their kids for a hike and that this was another affirmation that the trails could be enjoyed in another means if the kids so desired, and speed is always of interest to kids. I had a number of kids ask me how long it took me to run to the top and who thought it was a pretty cool way to see the summit. Their enthusiasm was very refreshing.
My impression was that it was the old school hikers, who wanted the trails to themselves and didn’t appreciate something a little different like a runner sharing THEIR trails. It was with these sourpusses that I tried to be extra friendly to and flash my cheesiest smile with a ‘great day on the trails, eh?’. I thought it was especially good to throw some Canadian content into the conversation just to let them be pissed off at those ‘damn Canadian trail runners’, even if they are nice people.
Maybe this phenomenon was just the day and my increased level of awareness in thinking about it during longer trail runs alone recently. Or maybe this is more common and a growing issue with hikers? I’d be interested in knowing what others have found.
Time to finish my coffee now and go terrorize some hikers;)
Congratulations to Charley and Katy who were married on Saturday (yes, I own a tie as proof by the photo!).
It was a wonderful ceremony that we thoroughly enjoyed. I have known Charley, Blake, Matt and Taylor Murphy since I was in high school and would run past their house often while training. I would quite often see four little noses pressed against the window as I ran by and would sometimes be offered water on a hot day. I also had the opportunity to coach all of them when they were in high school and have remained friends since.
.
It was so nice seeing them, Joe T. and everyone else on the weekend and getting caught up. Great to see everyone so happy.
Training Summary: ~ Big week starting off with the end of our vacation in the Adirondacks and finishing with a 5hr run on Sunday. Had a few aches and pains from last weekend in the mountains and the additional hiking involved on top of all the running mileage, but was great training. I fell hard during my run on Thursday as well which caused some hip/glute pain in addition to compensating for a few days. All seems pretty good now, other than a bit of stiffness after yesterday. Great week.
Total # of hours this week: 19:14 Total # of runs this week: 9 2009 total # of hours: 376:27 2009 total # of days: 227 2009 total # of runs: 289 Streak: 7,166 days in a row Training Log Details: click here
This past weekend we headed down to our favourite getaway of the Lake Placid area with Brennan and Heather for a little camping, hiking, climbing, running and fun!
We got away in good time on Saturday morning, but due to the long holiday weekend, were blessed with a long wait at the border. We normally go into the U.S. through Ogdensburg, but needed to pick up a few things in Watertown, so decided to cross at the busy Hill Island border crossing instead. Big mistake as the lineup was back almost as far as highway #401.
After finally getting through customs, and picking up some supplies, it was quick sailing right through to Lake Placid. Our plan was to stay at Heart Lake Campground in the High Peaks Region, but we could only get reservations for Sunday and Monday night, so had to make due with a busy, tourist type campground in Wilmington called the North Pole Campground. It was fine and had many enjoyable features that we took advantage. Sara went for a run up the Whiteface Mountain Trail while the rest of us got in some swimming, ping pong and foosball, after setting up our tents. The next couple of days would involve more rustic, outdoor living, so I must admit that we did enjoy this.
Whiteface Mountain Run (Sunday AM): Running 2:37:00
I got an early start on Sunday morning at the rather ungawdly hour of 5:30am to get a good run in before everyone else was up and ready to start the day. I ran from the North Pole Campsite through private trails trying to find the Whiteface Mt Trail. I ended up getting a little turned around and wasted about 30mins trying to find the proper route. This was strange as I've run this before (?)...must have been the early start and pre-coffee. I eventually found the trail and started running going up. The one thing about the High Peaks Region is that trail running is tough and there don't tend to be many switchbacks. Once you start climbing, it can get very steep. I got up to about 4000ft, before running short on time and deciding to turn around. I did end up getting about 3000ft of climbing in the first 93mins. I came back down to the reservoir trail to Whiteface Auto Road for the final mile to get back quicker. I got some great views in on the run, but knew that the weather looked like it was changing and going to be a wet day. Running wise, I felt quite good though.
Avalanche Pass Hike (Sunday PM): Hiking 4:40
After a quick breakfast, we packed up our gear and headed to Adirondack Loj at Heart Lake. The weather still looked promising at the beginning, but the forcast was calling for rain with a chance of thunderstorms later in the day. We had decided to hike into Avalanche Pass and were glad that we had chosen this route as we didn't want to be up high if the weather turned bad.
Avalanche Pass is a beautiful, but challenging hike that goes into Avalanche Lake. As the name suggests, many avalanches have occurred in this area, with the most recent significant one happening in 1999. The result of this being a massive exposed rockface that is spectacular beyond words. The final mile into Avalanche Lake is the most rugged, with having to scramble over rocks, roots and trees. The view once you arrive is well worth the long hike in with rock climbing straight out of the water on both sides of the lake.
The weather started to turn bad with heavy rain, however we were well sheltered most of the way and the rain did offer a nice cooling affect during our brisk hike. We were continually amazed at how well Brennan and Heather managed the hike and were pushing the pace. They were very eager to get to our destination. We found a rock ledge at the end of the lake and hunkered down for a quick lunch while trying to stay somewhat dry. At this point the rain was coming down in buckets.
After lunch we began our hike back to Heart Lake with trail and weather conditions deteriorating along the way. We were covered in mud, soaked to the skin, but had a wonderful time. The entire route that we did was at least 10miles round trip.
Arriving back at camp, we were fortunate to have reserved a leanto for Sunday night. Leanto's are basically a 3 wall, open air shelter that would provide protection from the weather. Luckily, it looked like it was clearing and the rain was over. It was still nice to be able to hang our wet gear around the leanto and try to dry out for the next day.
After getting cleaned up and into dry clothes, we decided to go into Lake Placid for dinner, as we had all worked up a pretty good appetite. Mike's Pizza is our favourite hangout and certainly didn't disappoint as we polished off enough pizza for twice as many people. It was also nice to do a little shopping in our favourite shops around Lake Placid including Critters, Eastern Mountain Sports, The Fallen Arch, the Bookstore and the Skateboard Shop.
I was pleased with the amount of time on my feet today as I had a combined time of 7:17 for running and hiking.
Mount Marcy Run (Monday AM): Running 4:33:00
With the Haliburton 100miler fast approaching in September, I was looking to take advantage of our vacation to get a good long run in. I had another early start to the day and set out to run up Mount Marcy. Mount Marcy is the highest peak in NY at 5,344 ft. The trail conditions were very muddy and wet, so I had to be careful on the wet rock, especially on the way down. There were a few very deep sections of mud and water to run through that were halfway up to my knees. I took my time up and got to the summit in about 2:10. I spent about 5 minutes at the top to enjoy the view, have some Clif bloks and a gel before starting back down. The view was awesome as it was a pretty clear day, however it was windy and cold so I was ready to get running again.
The run back down should have been quicker, but had to be very careful on the wet rocks. My La Sportiva Crosslites have always been great in mud, but I was quite surprised how well they worked on the rock too. I came back down through South Meadow after reaching Marcy Dam and toured around there to get in some faster paced running. My total amount of uphill running during this run ended up being over 3,300ft including the South Meadow add-on. Even though this was the third time I've run up Mt. Marcy, it is always a run that I thoroughly enjoy.
After getting back to Heart Lake and grabbing another quick breakfast, we headed out to climb Catamount Mountain. Catamount is at 3,165 ft and features about 1,600 ft of climbing. The great thing about this mountain is that it isn't one of the better known or well travelled mountains, so there weren't many people on the mountain. The bad thing is that the trail wasn't as well marked. This didn't prove to b a problem though as we found our way quite easily. The trail finding was the easy part, the climb?...not so easy. This was a great hike/climb that featured a wonderful combination of nice trail, challenging climbs, crazy scrambles and a rocky summit. We got to the south summit having just gotten up some tough sections and thought we were at the top, only to realize that we still had about another 30mins of climbing to go. It was definitely worth it though. We had a great view at the summit on a clear day. Once again, Brennan and Heather just rocked on this climb. Some tired swamp dawgs by the time we got down after two big days, but we had so much fun.
I had another solid day on my feet again today with a combined time of 8:20 for running and hiking on Monday.
Monday night consisted of our final evening at Heart Lake with a huge dinner of campfire favourites including pizza wraps, sweet potatoes, chips and s'mores, all cooked over the open flame. Our appetites were pretty big after the past few days of activity and I'm sure we could have eaten dirt and been content.
The drive home on Tuesday morning was a little sad with the thought of leaving the mountains, but we had some great memories to take back with us.
Training Summary: Total # of hours this week: 14:18 Total # of runs this week: 10 2009 total # of hours: 357:13 2009 total # of days: 220 2009 total # of runs: 280 Streak: 7,159 days in a row Training Log Details: click here
I had a strange thing happen yesterday during my run... A crazed bee on a mission flew up underneath my sunglasses. I've never had this happen before. I instinctively tossed my glasses off my head and onto the rocky trail. Fortunately I wasn't stung, as I can get a pretty bad reaction to stings. Also fortunate was that my Julbo sunglasses remained in one piece.
After getting cleaned up and into dry clothes, we decided to go into Lake Placid for dinner, as we had all worked up a pretty good appetite. Mike's Pizza is our favourite hangout and certainly didn't disappoint as we polished off enough pizza for twice as many people. It was also nice to do a little shopping in our favourite shops around Lake Placid including Critters, Eastern Mountain Sports, The Fallen Arch, the Bookstore and the Skateboard Shop.
The run back down should have been quicker, but had to be very careful on the wet rocks. My La Sportiva Crosslites have always been great in mud, but I was quite surprised how well they worked on the rock too. I came back down through South Meadow after reaching Marcy Dam and toured around there to get in some faster paced running. My total amount of uphill running during this run ended up being over 3,300ft including the South Meadow add-on. Even though this was the third time I've run up Mt. Marcy, it is always a run that I thoroughly enjoy.
I had another solid day on my feet again today with a combined time of 8:20 for running and hiking on Monday.