Roadie: Glacier Bay National Park

In the background, the Mendenhall Glacier. (7/1/2019)

Don't ever become so jaded that you begin to think that you can see too much incredible natural scenery. After 3+ hours whale watching, we took a quick bus trip to Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve, an American national park located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau. The park is also part of the Tongass National Forest, a fact which offers a sense as to the size and scope of Tongass--our earlier stop in Ketchikan took us to a different corner of the same rainforest! Still feeling the natural high from the wind, waves and humpback whales, vibing with the glacier and waterfall from a distance was still easy to do.

Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls both of which empty into
Mendenhall Lake. (7/1/2019)

Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve is yet another wonderful
national park. (7/1/2019)

The Mendenhall Glacier... catch it now before its gone. (7/1/2019)

There is a trail that takes one to the base of Nugget Falls, and closer to the Mendenhall Glacier. Given the short amount of time we had in the park--and that those we were traveling with being too tired to take the 2 mile trek, Anne and I opted to view from afar with our family. Like all the national parks and sites we have visited there were many smaller things, in this case lichen and birds, that were as interesting to observe as the park's headliner, the Mendenhall Glacier.

Nugget Falls to the immediate right of the Mendenhall Glacier. (7/1/2019)

My brother-in-law and my brother. (7/1/2019)

(7/1/2019)

The "Tern Stop" was a pick-up/drop-off point for visitors as well
as an indicator of things to come. (7/1/2019)

Arctic tern sitting on its nest with a friend. (7/1/2019)

Arctic tern offering a friendly reminder. (7/1/2019)

(7/1/2019)

2016 Running Reflections

My twin brother, son, Jack, and I following the 2016 Utica Boilermaker 15k in July.

During the build up to New Year's Day tomorrow, many of my friends on Facebook and Twitter have been posting some pretty impressive annual running accomplishments. Whether cumulative mileage (1900 miles!) or number of competitive races, I continue to be impressed by the dedication and training acumen of those within my local running community. While I have always had an awareness of the commitment of local runners, the quantifying of performance that comes with year-end reflections makes concrete that which I have always suspected.

My wife, Anne, and I immediately

following the 2016 Winter Warrior

Half Marathon.

My own numbers for 2016 are less impressive, but I remain very proud of the small achievements I have accomplished. My cumulative mileage (including training and "racing") comes to just over 427 miles, the majority of which were accrued during roughly 30 weeks of training. I ran in only six races this year, covering a wide range of distances ranging from a 5k to two half marathons. It is interesting to note that I started the year with the 2016 Winter Warrior Half Marathon in January and concluded with the Reindeer Run 5k just three weeks ago. In between I revisited a few old favorites (such as my fourth Utica Boilermaker 15k) and found some challenges to embrace, like my first Phelps Sauerkraut 20k.

Although there was a lack of PR (Personal Records) performances for me in 2016, it was the most enjoyable year running I have had in many years. Having the opportunity to go to events with members of my family made the race experience much more satisfying. Whether spectating or running it was motivational to know I had someone with whom to celebrate the finish with.

In 2017, I'm looking forward to continuing the "something old/something new" balance struck in 2016. I will be returning to give the Winter Warrior another go (with slightly slower expectations) next weekend, and Jack and I have signed up to run a new (to us) half marathon together. After 10+ years, I am still learning more about running. The challenge of refining my training in light of other responsibilities (teaching, coaching, falling) has me excited to try some new things this year with a more intentionally consistent approach.

My stepson, Gregory, and I prior to the 2016 Webster Turkey Trot.

Scoutin' Routes: Phelps 20k

The "folk art" official Phelps 20k course map (left) and another made using Mapmyrun.com.

Four weeks ago, my son, Jack, and I ran the 2016 Utica Boilermaker. I had been coming off a four month layoff from training, so prepared in 2 1/2 weeks with a goal of finishing the race by using a run-walk training plan and strategy for completing the 15k run. In training long runs  as well as the race itself, I adhered to a pattern of 3 minutes running followed by 1 minute walking and repeat until completed. Following this approach I did ultimately cross the finish line in 1:26.31 for a mile pace of 9:17. The following Tuesday, Jack and I registered for the Phelps Sauerkraut 20k. For Jack, Saturday's race is just another run building to what will be his first full marathon in mid-September and for me it provides the opportunity for me to both challenge myself and to (briefly) run with my son.

To train, I continued running four days a week (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), running complete shorter distances Tuesday and Thursday from 4-6 miles at a moderate pace, while committing to longer runs (7-10 miles) using a run-walk ratio of 5 minutes to 1 minute. Sundays were for easy 3-4 mile recoveries, often on a treadmill. On "off days" I would walk for 45-60 minutes early in the morning. While not the most rigorous training approach, given a variety of factors (aches, pains, wear-and-tear), I am hopeful it will be enough to put in me the position to finish the 20k in two hours.

As a runner, I rely on visualization to help me get through longer races... and for me at 48 with many miles under my belt, 20k is long. So, when possible, I travel to courses in advance of running hem to get a sense as to what to expect. Last week, Jack and I went on a short roadie to Phelps to scout the race route. At that point, the potential challenges became clear: not the course, but the weather conditions. Though it would be unfair to label the terrain as a whole "hilly," there are a few interesting features. In addition to a few manageable rolling hills, there are 2 extreme, short inclines. The primary possible challenge, just as was the case at Utica, will be the weather. The temps in July at the Boilermaker actually turned out to be fairly favorable this year, and the race organizers did a tremendous job having a myriad hydration stations along the course. The Phelps 20k course is also very open, with zero shading from the sunlight during the course of the race. With a start time of 8 a.m., barring a change in weather projections, the entire race will be run in direct (rising) sun, with a strong likelihood of high humidity.

Here's what Jack and I saw, with a few caveats: the picture quality is somewhat inconsistent as it is difficult to take shots from a (mostly) moving vehicle through the windshield, and distances noted in the captions are my estimates based on reviewing the maps.

Race starts at (roughly) the corner of Main St. and William St.,
in the image above, the start goes to the left.

Other than a quick pass through town, the first 2 miles is fairly flat and open road.

At m the 2.5 mile point the course continue straight, though you veer to the left in the
"fork" where Rt 96 turns to 13.

Flat country roads take you past Midlakes High School on the left.

The first turn, at 3.6 miles, comes after a pass through residential Clifton-Springs
at the corner of Main St. and Pearl.

Continue south, passing through the town of Hopewell, until Pearl ends. To the
right is Taylor Rd., but take the sharp turn right onto Waddell Rd. onto...

The first incline of the day at almost exactly the 5.5 mile mark.

The course flattens again following the ascent and one mile later the
course crosses 488 and Waddell becomes Railroad Ave. for less than a quarter mile.
Over half way to finish!

You'll pass a small-ish water tower on your left and shortly come to the end of Railroad
Ave. Turn left at County Road 23 and onto...

The second "major" hill of the race, starting exactly at the 7 mile mark.
Warning: this one is a long one.

At approximately the 7.3 mile mark, take a left onto Wheat Rd. where
you'll be for just about 2 miles.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'... on Wheat Rd. where you'll come across fields
with bales of... wheat. Really beautiful scenery throughout!

At Case Rd. take a right. This is nearly the 9 mile mark... it's all downhill from here!

Case Rd.

At Toll Rd. take a left, where you'll be on this road for a cup-of-coffee;
 you've made it 9.5 miles, hang in there!

Time for a right onto Griffith Rd. Halfway down, just past the
intersection with Melvin Hill Rd., you'll hit the 11 mile mark!

This left on Fort Hill Rd. means you have less than one mile to go;
you can probably hear the cheers!

Back into Phelps and a little downhill. Fort Hill Rd will turn into S. Wayne Street as
you move into the residential area...

You'll take one final left onto Park St. leaving only about 200 meters to go! 

As you approach the finish on Park St. the gazebo above will appear to the left.
The finish is parallel it on the street.

At the very least we'll be running through some beautiful, classic, Western New York country.
Ideally, the weather on Saturday will be very much like the day we went out to Phelps: overcast. At least in the morning. For the sake of the 50th Phelps Sauerkraut Festival, I hope it's super sunny and pleasant after the race for the remainder of the weekend.

Simpler Poké-times

My stepson Gregory's Poké-binder from 2004 unearthed at last!

Recently, I came across my stepson Gregory's binder containing his Pokémon card collection. The front page consists of a handwritten Table of Contents on which he listed the organization of the cards (by "type" of course). It is in a protective plastic sleeve, as are all of the cards. When I first saw the binder, I thought to myself "Now, here's something to blog about" and began noodling through the possibilities of just what cards to scan and post. I had completely forgotten just how many types of Pokémon there are, and this was back in 2004. It is a very safe bet that the Poké-stable is even more extensive now.

Fire Pokémon circa 2004.

While at a high school graduation party for one of my former students last weekend, talk turned to PokemonGO. At a party of twenty recent high school grads, nearly everyone had an opinion, and most were either glowing in their support ("it's already made more people healthy than Michelle Obama!") or at the very least respectful ("pretty impressive... Pokémon has been out forever!"). For these students, that thinking is not just hyperbole, it is fact. Surprisingly, Pokémon has been a phenomenon for much longer than most suspect, having been part of our cultural zeitgeist since before most of the teens with whom I was celebrating that day were born.

Water Pokémon.

As a forty-seven year old comic book collector, I have had a fairly long association with Poké-stuff, having read translations of the original manga to the extremely fortunate twist-of-fate that had me taking my son and his friend to see Pokémon: The First Movie-Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998). My son's "friend", later became my stepson as I met and fell in love with his mother. (The boys were in pre-school together.) In a weird way, I suppose I owe a significant portion of my awesome life to the desires of two goofy boys to see the frist Pokémon movie on the day it opened (when that concept really meant something).

Grass Pokémon.

My appreciation of these goofy pocket monsters runs deep, but not so deep that I every actually took the time to learn how to "play" with them. For the most part, my kids and I bought the cards because of the cute pictures, shiny colors and the need to "Catch 'Em All". Even now, reviewing the plastic sleeves which speak of "Melting Power", "Energy Jumps", and "Form Changes", I marvel at the mythology these creations are part of (beyond even the Ash-centric television program) and at how little I really know about how these things engage in combat. At our house, Poké-cards rarely fought, just sparked imaginary adventures to be played out in the minds of my children.

Ground Pokémon.

It strikes me that in the not-too-distant future, today's young adults will talk about Pokémon cards the way my father talked about comicbooks. Growing up, he woudl frequently remind my brother and I that "I had the very first issue of Spider-man/Batman when I was in the Army... I wish I'd held onto it!" Some aging hipster will operate under the misconception that her son's college can be fully financed with a mint condition rare Cubone variant or "Special Collector's Item" foil Lugia. Truth is, it is likely at that point that she'll realize the value in the card is not in the monetary reward, but in the memories special one's may evoke.

Psychic Pokémon.

Image with various Pokemon that accompanied my Twitter post!

2016 Utica Boilermaker 15k

Post-race party at Saranac Brewery in full swing. (7/10/16)

Weather: Showers followed by clearing, 65°F, 90% Humidity, Wind: W @ 8 mph.
Route: Utica Boilermaker 15k
Time (Pace): 1:26.31 (official), 9:17 min/mile.

Pre-Race Observations: Heading out very early this morning to participate in my fourth(!) Utica Boilermaker 15k. Despite being the fourth time I've run the course, and the second consecutive year, I come into this run with my lowest personal expectations. As previously shared, I committed two weeks ago to following through with running it "with" my son. While my son, Jack, has been diligent in training toward this race (as part of a larger effort to complete this first marathon in September), after too many weeks away from formal training, I needed to choose an alternate path to competition.

I have in the past two weeks followed through on my "get fit(-ish) quick" scheme consisting of multiple run-walk "workouts" ranging in distance from 3 to 8 miles with the occasional 3 to 4 mile ez runs mixed in for good measure. As one might expect, there are some challenges with run-walk, th most significant being the necessity of disciplining oneself to adhere to the 3 minute run-1 minute walk schedule, even when feeling as though you could continue on through the entire thing at the run pace after suitably warming up. The need to honor my plan, while maintaining my breathing and mantra has been challenging to do when running alone, and will be even more difficult in the context of 11,000 other folks running the race. I am embracing both the challenge of the new race plan (whcih means accepting a slower finishing time than in years past) and finding the joy in simply participating with my son (who will only be held back if he chooses to stay with me).

An unanticipated added benefit is that my brother happened to be in town this weekend (he lives and teaches in Monterrey, Mexico) and will be making the two-hour drive to Utica with us...

Post-Run Reflections: This was the fourth Boilermaker I have "run," and despite being the slowest time I have put forth, it was the best one I have been part of. Beyond my finishing the course it was great to have have my son run the course for his first time (and doing well) and to have my brother make the trip with us. The logistics of meeting up aside  (FYI: it is not easy to find one person among 13,000 of your closest friends at the post-race party!), celebrating having finished with your family is definitely the way to go.

While waiting in our assigned pre-race starting coral, my son and I talked quite a bit about how incredibly well organized the Boilermaker weekend is. The Utica community once again did a fantastic job making what could have been a nightmare (and what I have experienced as a hug pain in the butt in races of significantly smaller scale), very easy. From parking at the finish to picking up post-race swag, the entire experience was very smooth... and dare I say it, enjoyable!

My run-walk approach, at a ratio of 3 minutes running followed by 1 minute walk, worked well. I did vary slightly at the beginning however. Given the 11,000+ participants, I did need to run the first two miles at a pace of about 8:50--to stop to walk would have been much too disruptive to those around me. By about two miles in, it was much easier to find my way to the outside lane without impeding others. from that point forward I faithfully fell into my desired pattern. (My son, ever the optimist, suggested at the beginning that I could run the whole thing; while true, I reminded him that I needed to "trust my process" despite the impulse to attempt to hang on.) I did need to ficus while walking to resist the cheers from spectators to "keep going, you can do it!" because I sensed to do so woudl result in my ultimately having to walk at the end. In the end, I finished 3,670th of 11,359 15k finishers, which was good enough for 216 of 562 in my 45-49 Male age group, with an official time of 1:26:31 (9:17 min/mile).

Complete results for all Boilermaker Weekend events are searchable HERE.

Kiosk of Discarded Cemetery Mementos

Took my mother to visit both my father, grandfather, and grandmother's graves today at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery this morning. In addition to regularly planting flowers at the family stones twice a year, on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, we visit to replace the small American flags placed there. (Both my father and grandfather are veteran's.) Despite clearly posted grave do's and don'ts regarding decorating sites, I am always surprised by how many place artificial flowers and knick-knacks in memory of their dearly departed. I hadn't given it too much thought, but it does beg the question: what happens to these code violations once they're discovered by the proprietors?

While exiting the cemetery following our visit today we passed what looked to be a small kiosk of discarded items, much like a lost-and-found. Curious, we pulled into the small parking area, and I walked out to find a display of items left behind. Signs encouraged visitors to take things they had left behind back with them, with the caution that they would once again be removed if left again.