Weekend Report

Another great week-end on Long Island. I took Saturday off to rest the legs and got my exercise working in the garden. I have a variety of vegetables slowly growing in the back yard; tomatoes, strawberries, beans, etc. I find that gardening leaves me considerably more tired than the running, probably because I’m not used to the bending and lifting. Still, it feels good to be out there digging in the ground.

Yesterday I set out for a six miler in the nature preserve, only to be thwarted by a locked fence. I was momentarily perturbed, until I realized that at 6:30am on a Sunday morning, the gates were unlikely to be open. I’m seemingly unable to sleep past 6am on the weekends; which is a little annoying, although I guess my body has finally adapted to the early to bed early to rise sleep cycle. It helps when the sun comes up around 5:45am. Despite being shut out from the wonders of the preserve, I still saw a healthy-looking red fox with a big bushy tail trotting across a suburban street about 10 feet in front of where I was running. Nature is adaptable, I guess. I finished the run on the road and felt pretty good. My knee was putting up a mild protest towards the end of the run, but it was nothing like the pain of a few weeks ago. Into the week we go.

A Good Run, and A New Race

Yesterday I had a great seven mile romp through the Muttontown Preserve. The weather was perfect and the vegetation so lush from the rains we’ve been having it was almost like running in a rain forest. I don’t know about you, but clomping through the mud like a racehorse for a few miles is enough to eliminate all the stress from my overworked ass.

I signed up for the Shelter Island 10k, which is taking place on June 19. The race takes place on the aforementioned Shelter Island, a small Island in Long Island Sound a short ferry ride from the tip of the North Fork. It will be my first race since the marathon in November and my first 10k since the Bluemont Fair race last summer. I’m looking forward to both the race, and the opportunity to visit some of the tasting rooms of the numerous Long Island vineyards in the area. I’ll probably do that on the way back.

Back in Action

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. The care and feeding of a blog is a challenge when combined with a busy schedule. Plus, I was sidelined with a number of bizarre injuries I sustained over the last couple of months including a bout of reoccurring strep throat, a rotator cuff problem and a bruised knee. I’m happy to report that all of these ailments have more or less resolved (thank you cortisone)and I’m back on a fairly normal workout schedule, although the upper body workouts have dropped off in deference to my still-recovering left shoulder. Without a goal race to focus on, the training has started to feel a bit stale, although with the great weather we’ve been having I’ve been running more in the woods, which is a lot of fun.

My work took me to Portland Oregon a few weeks back. Portland is a great city for runners and bikers and I took full advantage of the amenities offered, which include dedicated running paths along the Willamette river and bike lanes on almost every street. My meetings ended a day early so I celebrated with a 44 mile bike ride along the “40 Mile Loop”, a trail that connects parks along the Columbia, Sandy, and Willamette Rivers and Johnson Creek. I did it as an out-and-back, hence the additional 4 miles. Fortunately, the hotel I was staying in offered free use of a high quality hybrid bike, so the day cost me nothing other than the price of a turkey avocado sandwich and a bottle of G2.

Hopefully I’ll be posting more frequently as the summer goes on. It keeps me off the streets, anyway.