The Loop-ish

Ran a version of the East Falls loop: starting from 30th St, ending at Tuscany's in Rittenhouse. Today felt great--one of those days you wish you could save for a race.

Leif

31min jaunt out to his statue before the madness of NYE (up to 11 crashing at Thornton Manor with SKG in) begins...

Monkton

Biked up Falls Rd up into roadie country, then across on quiet Springtown Rd, up York Road to Monkton Rd, ending at the NCR trailhead where I warmed up with coffee and met Mollie, Tita, Ahmad, and Cato on the tail end of their hike. 30mi on the nose @ 16.5mph avg, 41mph (!) max.

Tour(s) de Balti-More

Biked down to Fells Point and back, via the JHU Medical Center with Ahmad and Clare for delicious almond croissants at Bonaparte. To quote Smokey: mark it eight dude (actually, 8.4mi, thank you cyclocomputer. Heh. I can see how people get numbers obsessed with these things).

Then ran a big loop at dusk through Dru Hill Park, the hills behind the zoo (which thankfully didn't kick my butt as hard as last time), Hampden, JHU Homewood, and the crack/heroin/tranny hooker (no really!) section of Charles St between 24th St and North Ave. 65min. Call it another 8mi.

Gunpowder Falls

Finally made it out to run on the old railroad trail at Gunpowder Falls. Cristie recommended it to me when I was down in Baltimore back in August and I tried to run it then, but was foiled by lack of sunlight. Have been riding around up on the roads near there, and got Tita, Ahmad, Cato, and Clare to come for a sunset walk/run. I did 25min out, 23min back, for somewhere between 6-7mi. Beautiful trail, would be perfect for the high mileage that marathon training demands.

Christmas, Boxing Day

Christmas: rest day, though Clare and Mollie and I did a nice walk from Bolton Hill down to see the lights at the Washington memorial at Mount Vernon. Sliced my hand open during gift opening; here's the report copied from an email to a new friend:

my sister and aunt each gave me cool tools for general and bike-specific fixing-upping. i was using the knife from the first to detach the second from its package when it slipped and the blade went into my palm. everyone, including me, was laughing at my klutziness, then pain came and i looked down and saw that the blade was in sort of deep and there was a fair amount of blood and my aunt muttered something about tetanus shots and i started to worry that it might be serious. then the room closed in and i apparently (i don't remember much past this point) got really pale and announced "i'm passing out!" and mollie, seeing me go pale got woozy too and shouted "hey i'm passing out too!" she was already lying down so didn't actually lose consciousness, but i (apparently) tried to stand up and go over to the other couch but only made it one step before i collapsed. luckily clare and my uncle jumped up when i did and caught me when i fell. i came to about 20 seconds later, lying on the floor with my feet propped up, and my uncle checking me out with his scope. he said everything was fine, but the others were still a little freaked out.

Boxing day: biked down to DC on the Bike Washington club's route. 52.8mi total (which I know, thanks to my new Christmas bike gizmo), most of it at 15-20mph; hit 37mph on one of the downhills. It's not the prettiest route--most of MD is built-up, suburban ugliness--but the bike club does a good job keeping it to quiet roads and East Coast Greenway trails. My quads are really feeling it today.

Steeplechase Country

Did the same ride up Falls Rd as a few days ago, but continued further north. The little roads off the main drag are amazing: tiny, hilly little lanes that wind past 100 year-old horse barns (and McMansions, sigh). I knew I was in the right spot when I saw a mailbox with a "VeloNews" sticker attached. Saw a bunch of roadies out for their Christmas Eve spin; everyone was friendly and said 'hello' or 'Merry Christmas'. Met the crew at Towson mall to catch a ride back to Baltimore.

Not sure of the distance, but 3hrs+ of hard riding; my legs are feeling it now.

Robert E. Lee

...park is beautiful! And while I prefer Philadelphia's US Grant statue, if you're going to go with a confederate general, Lee is not a bad choice (that said, this city must have been crawling with confederate sympathizers 140 years ago--see also the statues of Lee and Stonewall Jackson in Wyman Park!)

Did about 5mi of trails. Reminded me both of Bird Hills Park near Mom's old place in the Deuce, and of the east river loop in Grenoble. No doubt: this is the place to run in Baltimore.

Hills!

Ran an out and back along the road that goes behind the Baltimore Zoo in Druid Hill Park. It's hilly and, on a rainy, overcast day perfect for being out and feeling like you're kicking butt while everyone else is inside staying warm. Threw in a reservoir loop to round out 10km on the nose. After a 3 days of biking, running felt great, although my quads are a little (ok, a lot) worn out.

To the District!

Did a long ride with my other sister, Mollie: Light Rail to Linthicum to the BWI Airport trail, to the B&A trail, through Annapolis, to Riva on a nice country road, then to the DC Metro stop at Largo on a huge, ugly road (with no alternatives). About 43mi according to Google, and Mollie rode them very well. Bonded with sisters over delicous French food and Beaujolais Nouveau at the noisy, fun Bistrot du Coin near Dupont.

Word observations o' the day: my aunt, Tita Mary, says that 'Linthicum' sounds like the place you go to have a soothing balm applied to your nether regions, or maybe the balm itself; we're not sure. Annapolis always makes me want to found a city and call it 'Natepolis'. Ahh, the narcissism of first-borns.

Falls Road Loop

Took advantage of the beautiful, crisp afternoon and did a ~35mi loop up Falls Road out to horse country and back. Unlike Philly, Baltimore actually has some hills in the center, which makes for fun riding. The potholes are less fun and Timonium suuuucks.

Warmed up with coffee (and Xtie) in Hampden on the return.

We made it...

So maybe trying to bike 70-80mi on one of the shortest days of the year wasn't the best idea. We only had ~4 hours of daylight, and didn't move as fast as I thought we would; in the end, we only made it to Baltimore because of the kindness of a MARC conductor who let us catch a free ride (and bring bikes) on an empty train heading back to Charm City. But bottom line: we had a lovely day of biking and are here in the lovely maybe house, and that (along with lovely pub food) makes me happy.

I barely slept 4.5hrs last night so the debrief, and photos, will have to wait for tomorrow.

John B Kelly

Out and back up past my favorite statues: Leif, random bucking bronco dude, US Grant, and John B Kelly, Philly's favorite rower. Back via the Art Museum / Parkway / 22nd. Call it 'more than 7'.

The Loop

Ran the loop with Blitzer on a stomach full of beer and whiskey (hey, carbs right?). Clare came too (!) and finished the whole thing--a little slower, but freaking impressive for someone who doesn't run long often. The weather is unseasonably warm and everyone was out: saw Tom from DB group, Profs Ungar and Weinstein, Kilian and Colin, and I think I saw Kate zoom by on her bike right at the East Falls bridge. The pace was easy for most of it, but he started to fade a bit on the back half so I asked him if he mided if I kicked it up for the last bit. Ran a good 1.5mi stretch in from Columbia to Lloyd Hall, which, after putting 8mi in to start, left me feeling good and worked out.

It feels good to be getting some miles in again. This was my first week with two 10mi+ runs since November and up above 35 for the week.

I'm looking forward to our bike ride to Bal'mer on Tuesday... I'm now the proud owner of this topo map.

Tour de Philly

Took the Raleigh for it's real maiden voyage on an evening spin 'round Philly. Yes, I rode it to Manayunk yesterday, but that was with running shoes on clipless pedals (works OK, but just OK) and without my derailleurs property tuned. This morning I got my shifter housing cut at Bicycle Therapy, put a few more links in the chain to get the length right, and properly tuned all the shifters; and, most importantly, slapped the cleats on my shoes. The thing FLIES.

Our route: up the tow path up Kelly Dr to East Falls, then back down to Washington, around to South St and over to Front St, past the tall ships on Columbus, up to the Ben Franklin, around through the galleries in Old City and by Independence Hall, and finally back down Walnut. Am thinking of biking down to Baltimore for Christmas (or maybe SEPTA to Wilmington, then bike from there).

'Ruck 'n 'Yunk

Clare did her best Klara impersonation to sneak into Pottruck. I did 1.5mi warmup, then 6x400s, then 10min bike to cool down, then brief upper body lift. I felt kind of crappy actually. I guess I should have gone for a slow easy day after yesterday's long run instead of trying to punch up the intensity.

Then we did a sunset ride to Manayunk where I bought a pair of fancy Nike carbon fiber-soled road shoes at a big discount.

The Loop

Ran the drives loop, with Clare, sorta. I wanted to run long so she graciously agreed to bike. We started out together, then she rocketed ahead and did two clockwise laps, while I completed one counter-clockwise loop. It worked out perfectly: I was going slightly slower than 1/2 her speed, so she passed me just before Strawberry Mansion on the west side, right at it on the east side; we reconnoitered for the last time just before the Rocky statue in front of the Art Museum and returned to the G-Ho ensemble on 22nd. Don't know the time and don't really care. Today was fun and I felt like I ran it well. Call the distance 'more than 11mi'.

DNR

Walked Clare all over the city (Italian Market, Reading, Trader Joe's) buying supplies for our dinner party and other generally foodie activities. Then cooked from 4-8pm before eating with TJ, Dubin, Matt, Heidi, Jered, Wendy, Ravi, Shruti, and BCP. Dinner was fun--not raucous enough, but the Thai-themed menu was very tasty and I think people had fun. But I missed my run. Am itching to run long tomorrow. Maybe the loop? Strawberry Mansion? Will have to see what the schedule allows...

John B Kelly

Clare and I were foiled in our attempts to work out together at Pottruck ($20 guest fee), then Hutch (no treadmills), so she did elliptical while I ran across the bridge to the river trail and out to rowing shell. Not sure of the distance from Hutch, so let's call it "more than 6mi".

Clare's expertise in bike tuning (her senior project and job at the end of high school were both at Two Wheel Tango) is coming in handy. Unfortunately it's still not done--while we were adjusting the derailleurs, we discovered that the chain is a few links too long. And having purchased a fancy Shimano chain, I can't break it without fancy reinforced rivets. Sigh. One more trip to the bike shop tomorrow morning for a few of those, and then we should finally be in business.

Catch Up

A few months ago, some friends mentioned that it wasn't good when I stopped blogging--it's their only way of knowing that I'm alive! So, dear reader, in case you were wondering what happened between a post whose last words were 'Beer now' and today, four days later: no, I did not go out on a bender and spend the last 96 hours lying in a Philadelphia gutter / laid up in the hospital / thrown in the slammer after my Knob Creek-tastic Friday night. No, I've been to Michigan and back for my grandmother's 80th.

Saturday: nothing (drove 8.5hrs Philadelphia -> Ann Arbor).

Sunday: ran ~4mi along the basins of the Huron in Gallup Park. It's kind of weird that I don't have a favorite place to run in Ann Arbor. My running loops are a big part of the connections I feel to the places I've lived--Boston, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Grenoble, etc. And it's strange that I don't have that in Ann Arbor.

Monday: woke up at 5am and drove Westland -> Philadelphia; did an evening run with Clare up the river. She ran up to Girard St and I did a little extra leg out to US Grant and caught her on the return leg, then back down 22nd St. Mostly an easy pace, but kicked it up for ~10min in the middle, so felt like I got a good workout.

Also built up my bike! Modulo fiddling witih the shifting, it's ready to ride!! Planning a bike trip around Philly for us tomorrow.

Here's Clare's report of our roadtrip back:

Overall the trip was fairly uneventful. We didn't run out of gas, or get run off the road, hit anything, or have anything hit us. It was smooth and quiet, like Asphalt. We left in the dark of the Detroit suburbs, still lit brightly with extravagant Christmas decor. The lit, sometimes moving, 'deer in the lawn' seem to be the most popular. Other versions of Moose (nice) and polar bear were less trendy, but I appreciated their display. It was so colorful driving through the neighborhoods last night I almost didn't notice when we turned out of the Wayne County Festival of Lights tour and started home. I was bit bleary eyed when we left, but like I said, I "naturally" woke up at 4:15 am was swiftly diagnosed with bronchitis, sent on out with bags of food and hot tea (decaf, what the?).

We made a vow to not stop in Ohio (since Ohio sucks) but later remember that they have cheaper gas, causing a break at the PA border for McDonald's coffee and gas. The real pleasure of Ohio was the vanity license plates. I started to notice them due to the boredom, and then liked interpreting them following it up by checking out the driver and usually being totally surprised.

The winner was a confident plump man in his mid-30s who named himself or his killer Chevy Aero car " STRM FOX". Storm Fox, well that makes it more fun I guess. Runner up was a Cutlass Supreme complete with a hanging rack in the back seat with button up shirts on it. The driver, even larger that STRM FOX, had long balding blond hair, hadn't shaved in a few days, and was wearing glasses from 1989. This was "Bandito". yeah. Honorable mention was really a puzzle, a woman with 3 MDF - we only mention her because we remarked that if you're going to get a vanity license plate, you at least have to make it good. Which is why STRM FOX is the obvious winner.

Good Day

Orals, check. (I thought it was okay, but just okay. But BCP said 'it was truly excellent'. Bottom line, I passed!)

Bike, check!!! (will try to post a photo when I can get my hands on a camera).

Pottruck, check. 4 mi in 28:04, ~12min spin down.

Beer now.

Speed day

2mi warmup in a little under 14min. Then 4x400 at 9.8-10.4mph and a brief cooldown. Only about 3.5mi, but the intervals stretched it out to a 30ish min workout.

Also picked up my bike!!! Still needs to be built up, but the fork, bottom bracket, and cranks are all in. The biggest job that remains is cabling. The final box of parts (clipless pedals, silly finishing things like bottle cages and bar tape) is due to arrive tomorrow. I could be riding by Saturday.

Pottruck

The upper floors at Pottruck are better than the lower ones, but the treadmills downstairs go to 60min. Except for one second from the far left---the one that I always get---that goes 25min. Ran two back-to-back 25min runs: easy 3.33mi for the first one, a little faster for 3.5mi on the second. Man. Last year around this time, I'd hit 3.65 or 3.7 for a 25min run. Gotta work more speed days in.

An easy spin to cool down, then a half-hearted JeRM circuit upstairs.

Kashi crunchy protein and fibre bars are my new favorite things; so much chocolatey-peanuty goodness....

Pottruck

Ran easy 3mi, biked 12, lifted legs (press, curls, hamstrings, lunges, yes/no abductors).

Pottruck

Pushed (for the kind of slow shape I'm in) 3mi in 20:34, then biked for 20ish minutes + change for 12mi. Then did an abbreviated JeRM upper body circuit.

Long Run

Ran the East Falls Loop--out on W River Dri, back on Kelly--in something like 1h35m. A little more than 11mi from my door to Omega at 22nd and South. The running felt good; my first long run in two weeks and infinitely better than the same stretch felt two weeks ago.

I got my last batch of photos from Doug on Friday; here they are, along with a piece of gratuitious Mansard porn just because (and to make an even 6 photos):

Salvage

Running for fun today. No clocks, no distance, just enjoyment. Went up the W River Dr ~3mi and the enjoyment stopped: I suddenly felt nauseous. Maybe the whiskey from last night? Stretched out, regrouped, and put in a solid 2mi to Trader Joe's to buy curry supplies. Making Johanna's red lentil dal tonight with modifications (ginger + butternut squash).

I'm itching to do a long run, but it's hard to motivate in this sudden vacuum of fitness goals. Very well, my goal is to do a long run tomorrow. Done and done (i.e., the goal making part, obviously).

Pottruck

Ran 3mi, biked 13'mi' of rolling 'hills' (i.e., 45min cardio) then lifted legs (press, extensions, hamstrings, yes/no abductors, calves).

Was supposed to get my bike frame back from the shop today with the new headset pressed in, fork cut, and bottom bracket installed, but the bb that EP gave me is Italian threaded and I need English. Now it won't be ready until Thursday.