Exploring

 I had originally planned to take from the fourth of July to the 15th off from work to ride the Erie Canal.  My knee put an end to that, so I gave back most of my vacation time.  Eric had some time off and was interested in checking out various rail trails, so I kept a long weekend in play and headed to Vermont and New York.  It was a fun time, I got in some biking, fireworks, a bunch of rail trails for runs and many hours of hijinks.  I also ran in a NY town I’d never run in, caught the International Space Station twice in the same day, and checked out a historical cemetery (the Letterbox was no longer there). Runs included the Concord & Sunapee rail trail, Northern rail trail, Ti-Haul rail trail, Shelburne Bay Park trail, Adirondack rail trail (Lake Placid end), Adirondack rail trail (Saranac Lake end), Little Ausable River rail trail (a side rail from the Delaware & Hudson), Plattsburgh Community Path, and the Causeway trail.

 

Depot to State line - Methuen Rail Trail

 I’m hoping to run the Depot to State Line segment (1.25 miles) 500 times this year.  I enjoy running on the Methuen Rail Trail and watching the seasons change.  This time of year is interesting with sunrise getting closer and closer to the time I finish running.  On Tuesday I passed 200 trips over the segment.  This week marks the 20th week of the year and I’ll finish with 211 trips, that puts me on pace for 548 times.  Of course, injuries could hamper this goal (as always).  I’ve yet to grow tired of running that section with zero road crossings and (usually) no one else out there at 4:30 am.

Methuen Rail Trail | Massachusetts Trails | TrailLink

Driving back from Florida

 I left Florida at 415am on Thursday with the plan to finish the drive by noon on Friday.  I was kind of rushing it a bit as I wanted to be back with enough time to stretch my legs and get some sleep before the USATF 15k championship on Saturday.  I'd end up making the 1,400 miles in almost exactly 30 hours.  I only stopped 3 times on Thursday to run and then got to NJ by 11:30 pm.  I slept for a little less than 4 hours and was on the road again on Friday at 3:15 am and stopped another 3 times for runs.

I'd planned out a couple of runs but kept the planning a little looser as I wasn't sure exactly where I would sleep (or how long).  I wanted the first stopped to be after Jacksonville with my hope being I'd be early enough to miss any commuter traffic (I was).  I rolled into Crooked River State Park at 8am and was reluctant to get out of the car as it was pouring rain and 59 degrees.  I had hoped to check out a "tower" but had some trouble finding the correct path and ended up mostly doing a 4 mile run on the road.

Next up was a quick ride to Richmond Hill GA for a run in Fort McAllister state park.  Again my quest was a tower.  It turned out to be a nice trail, but quite muddy.  The tower was just a small observation tower overlooking the marsh.  After the trail I also continued on the road (scenic) out/back to the camp ground.  Nice park!

Now I had a LONG nearly 300 mile drive to Lumberton NC and Britt Park/Lumberton Greenway.  It was quite windy on the raised path along the Lumber River.  My legs were stiff from the driving and my ankle has been giving me grief for a few weeks and has really ratcheted up the pain.

I was thinking I'd run again on the Mount Vernon Trail near Washington DC but it'd be dark by the time I got there and I decided I was done running for the day.  I took a quick gallon jug shower in the park and hit the road.  I cranked up the music and slurped from my 2 liter of Mountain Dew to stay awake as I'd already been going for 12 hours and had another 8 or so to go.  I kept waffling on whether I wanted to stop at the Fennimore rest area in NJ or push on past NYC.  Again, traffic was my concern.  I decided that it'd be pushing things if I went past 11:30 so I ended up setting up shop at Fennimore.  I made a nice nest in the rear seat/trunk and sort of drifted off until 3:15 am.  After chugging more Dew I was on the road.  Three hours later I arrived in Hamden CT for a running on the Farmington Heritage Canal Trail.  I'd parked at this spot last year but this'd be a new run as I was headed north on the trail this time rather than south.  I was greeted with a chilly 40 degrees and a blustery wind.  It really took most of the run to warm-up and get to feeling something like real running. Part of that was probably running in the dark and part from the driving and lack of sleep.

Now with day dawning and me yawning I made my way back to Massachusetts with a stop in Marlborough for a run on the Assabet River Rail Trail.  I'd run on some sections of this trail but not this one, where I did a nice out/back run to Hudson MA.

I continued on to Plaistow NH to finish this 1,400 miles at Jiffy Lube for an overdue oil change.  I got in my final 3 mile run of the day while they worked on the car and had a quick stop at Pinnacle Physical Therapy to say "hi" to the gang.

Driving to Florida - Day 2

 Finishing the drive to Florida (well technically I was in Florida already).  I spent the night in Jacksonville and started the day with a visit to the "Cancer Survivors Park" which has replicas of the 7 "famous" bridges in JAX.

Then it was on the road to get in some running.  I stopped at the Jacksonville-Baldwin rail trail for an out/back 6 mile run as the sun came up.  The trail was very nice and even had a fair amount of shades.

Next up was a drive over to Gainesville for the Gainesville-Hawthorne rail trail.  This was also a very nice trail, I parked at the end which was 15.2 miles from Gainesville.  The trail was kind of quiet even though it was a beautiful weekend morning.

The final run of the day was on the Cross Florida Greenway.  I had run on part of this last year but missed my goal of crossing the Florida land bridge (due to a miscalculation of the distance).  This time I approached from the East and got in a pleasant 3 mile run.

Day 1 - New England to Florida

 Making my annual pilgrimage to Florida.  I came up with some interesting (to me) stops along the way to break up the ride and get in some running.

Rappahannock Canal Path - Fredericksburg VA:  Nice path along the canal, but 43 degrees and pouring rain tested my ability to get out of the car and get running.  It also proved difficult to get feeling back in my hands post-run.

Emporia City VA - County high point: This was a quick stop for the walk up to the highest point in the county.  The rain which dogged me from NJ onward had now lessened to a spotty shower.

Roanoke Canal Path - Weldon NC: Nice path along, over, and through the canal including a cool aqueduct.  A little muddy from all of the rain but temps in the 50s and a "refreshing" breeze.

Wilson NC fire tower:  I parked at the high school and did a short run over to the tower and then back to the track and finished with 2 miles on the new track that was in the process of being built.

Santee Wildlife Preserve - Summerton SC: Final run of the day, got stopped for an hour on the highway for a major accident...so later run than expected.  Nice location, I'd run on the other side of the lake in Santee a few years ago.

Catskills final day

 Day 3

Our plan for Sunday was to climb the final peak in the fire tower challenge, Hunter Mountain a 4,000 footer in the northeastern part of the Catskills.  Pouring rain and temps in the upper 40s had us rethinking that plan.  We decided it would be prudent to just head back towards home and get in a couple of safe runs on various rail trails.

We were out the door at 5:30 a.m. with our first stop in North Chatham NY for the Albany Hudson Electric rail trail.  It was raining but not terrible once we got going.  The trail was a mix of paved and packed dirt surfaces and we both broke out the headlamps as sunrise was still an hour away.  Sore quads made for a shuffling run.

We drove a couple of more hours through some pouring rain and arrived in Westfield as the rain eased.  Our next run would be on the Columbia Greenway rail trail.  I’ve run and biked on this previously but Eric had never been.  It was only a couple of miles off of the highway and there was plenty of parking at the Stop & Shop.  Although I was a bit stiff from sitting in the car, I felt better than the earlier run.  We did another 4 mile run on this paved path, and then we were off to Ludlow.

After dropping Eric at his car we parted ways and I headed for the final run of the day.  I figured I’d go to the four town point in Acton, Concord, Maynard, and Sudbury and hopefully find the Assabet River rail trail.  The approach to the four town marker had me crossing the trail in downtown Maynard.  I got in a nice four mile run with about half being paved and half being dirt.  It was only misty and a comfortable 60 degrees which made for a pleasant stretch of the legs.

My final destination for the day was the aforementioned four town point.  It was only a few minutes drive from the rail trail.  I had maps and an address but it never looks like it does in person.  There was plenty of parking at the senior assistance home which was directly across from the marker.  A 2 minute walk had me there and back.  It was not very scenic with a huge electric substation in the background and the marker was defaced with a lot of graffiti.

 

 

Donut Trail - Day 3 (heading east)

 For the return from Ohio, I'd planned out a route via Ohio and New York with 5 runs spaced out about 2 hours drive apart.  This would hopefully make the ride more enjoyable or at least bearable.

I was out the door at 4am and 160 miles and 2.5 hours later I arrive in Belliville Ohio for a very dark run on the Richland B&O Trail.  I couldn't find the parking lot so I parked on what I hoped was a quiet backroad.  I got my 3 mile run in and was back on the road with an hour more before sunrise.

Next up was 150 miles of driving which got me to Ashtabula OH and the Wester Reserve Greenway.  This was a very nice paved trail which was well maintained.  They were running the leaf blowing machine that morning keeping the trail clear.  I got a "looking strong!" from a kind walker, which made my morning.

Another couple of hours in the car got me to Clarence NY for the aptly named "Clarence Trail".  Another gem!

Then a mere 118 miles and less than 2 hours got me to Weedsport NY for the NY State trail.  This was the first real TRAIL as in dirt and leaves and grass.  It made for a slightly slower run but I was in no rush.

Another 2.5 hours and 165 miles got me to Albany.  The trailhead for the Albany county trail was a little sketchy, not the nicest neighborhood.  I was surprised at how nice the paved bike trail was.  I got in my final 3 mile run of the day as the sun was sinking low in the sky.

Another 190 miles had my road trip over with another 950 mile day and nearly 2100 miles over the three days.  Well worth it!