Livestrong 2009

Another Livestrong Ride is in the books!!!

I had the pleasure to once again honor my mother and support my friend Rob D., a cancer survivor. It was a pleasure riding with him over the length of the course, and his booming shouts of "streudal" in a German accent as we were climbing hills lifted my spirits and the spirits of those around us. Rock on Streudal!!!

This year's ride was pretty much like last year's ride, with a few minor changes to the course. The best stop along the course was once again at Landis Store.

I felt that I was in better cardio shape this year for the ride, however, the lack of training rides exceeding 30 miles prior to this century had my butt screaming for mercy. I also took a spill this year. At first I was worried about my knee, which was awfully stiff after getting myself up off the ground. As it turns out, it's my shoulder that I will be seeing the doctor for later this morning.

Up next? Hopefully the Seagull Century in October.

Pinchot Park Camping

This past weekend, the boys and I along with other fathers and/or uncles, spent the weekend camping at Pinchot state park in York County, PA.

It's always nice to pull into a state park, set up a tent, and just relax. The cost is so low that you never have to worry if you're getting your money's worth, and life is reduced to its most simplistic state. It's also a real joy to watch the kids run around unfettered, and not have to worry about them. It reminds me of my childhood 40 years ago when we ran around our neighborhood all the time playing, and not under the supervision of adults.

Activities for the weekend included fishing, shooting BB guns, swimming, exploring the trails, and an owl program/walk. Of course, this was primarily the kid's agenda. The adults pretty much enjoyed the downtime when the kids were playing the latest game they invented. Their creativity is heightened when they are without electronic devices.

Hopefully, we'll get out again before soccer and school get underway in full force.

Lebanon Area Fair 5K

After my success at the beach, and two good weeks of training, I decided to enter the Lebanon Area Fair 5K.

I was hoping to break 19:00 minutes again, but there were two factors working against me: 1) the race was on a rail trail, and 2) it was humid.

I started out well, and hit the 1/2 mile mark at 3:02 and the mile at 6:04. During this time I was challenged by two other runners, but was able to make a successful surge and opened up a 10 meter gap on them. At the two mile mark, I knew I was wilting a little, because my split went to 12:32. I held on for the remainder of the race, and was able to reel in one more runner to move up a place.

Final time: 19:33; 13th place overall (again); 3rd in my age group (40-49)

All in all, this was a great race, and well run. I'll do it again next year if it works out.

Congratulations to my current training partner, Chop Leader, who won the 60-69 age group in 20:30.

Livestrong Philly, 2009

The team "Fish or Cut Bait" is assembling, and we're ready to ride. The date this year is August 23rd, and I/we have begun our fundraising. If you'd care to help us, please visit http://philly09.livestrong.org/fishmagic

Livestrong!!!

Press Coverage

Usain Bolt is not the only one who makes the running news: http://www.capegazette.com/pages/sporunng.html

Rehoboth Beach 2009

It's Monday morning, and I guess vacation is officially over. Well, the vacation within a vacation seeing as how I'm a school teacher, and the summer break is only half over.

We had a great time at Rehoboth Beach. The weather was perfect; I was reminded of the low humidity days of late summer into September. We didn't have a drop of rain, and every day on the beach there was a cool breeze.

We left on Friday the 3rd and stayed the first night in Dover, DE. We have found that this makes for less stress when packing and traveling. The hotel we stay at, Country Inn, has an indoor pool, which the kids love. On Saturday, we can then get up at a leisurely pace and finish the drive to Rehoboth, beating the heaviest traffic.

Our days were eventful, and followed this basic routine: Arise, breakfast, go to the beach, late lunch, Funland/the Boardwalk, supper, then the boardwalk. Of course, nothing was set, and we did vary things, such as going to Jungle Jim's Water Park, and for me, running some races, which I'll report on at the end. Tried doing some fishing, but the croaker weren't in, and ended up getting skunked the one morning that I was out.

It was nice to be down there, Rehoboth is funky and a lot of fun. And, our family had a nice week to bond without the distractions of every day life.

Here are two new finds:

Great Breakfast: The Retro cafe and Grill
Great Mexican Food (try the fish tacos): Dos Locos

And and Old Standby:

One of the best brewpubs in the East: Dogfish Head


Here are some photos:



Race Reports

Jimmy's Grill 5K: 19:17; 18th overall; 2nd in AG.
Seashore Striders 5K: 18:49 (PR); 11th overall; 1st in AG.

The Black Forest Trail

For the past four days, my friend Tim F. and I hiked the Black Forest trail in Northern PA. The last time I completed it was 14-15 years ago. This trail is a 42 mile loop through some of the most remote and beautiful sections of the state. The area also contains some of the best wild trout fishing in the Mid-Atlantic region. We planned and executed our hike to take advantage of the angling opportunities. To be able to fish a different stream each day, we began our hike on Rt. 44 as opposed to Slate Run Road, which is the actual starting point listed in the Black Forest Trail Guide.

Day 1: Rt. 44 to Little Slate Run (23.61 - 35.82)

Began hiking just after 2:00 p.m. Pretty level hiking from Rt. 44 to to the descent into Callahan Run. First tough ascent out of Callahan Run up to Hemlock Mountain. Clear day, great vistas. Began seeing a lot of toads, which would continue to be obvious the rest of the hike. The laurel was past peak, but still blooming at places. Blueberries were just starting to ripen. Tough descent in to Naval Run, then a tough ascent up to the ridge overlooking the Pine Creek Valley and Naval Run. Descent into Little Slate Run, or so we thought. We were tired and didn't realize we had to make another steep climb. Tough going, but then we descended into our camp. Arrived later than expected. Set up camp, made supper and decided to fish in the morning instead of the evening. Fished Little Slate Run in the morning; picked up numerous brook trout on a parachute Adams. A few were pushing the 7"-8" range. Nice fat brookies for a stream of this size. Packed up and began day 2.

Day 2: Little Slate Run to the mouth of Red Run (mile 35.82 - 7.20)

Tough ascent out of Little Slate Run, then fairly level hiking until the descent into Slate Run. This descent was tough, and hard on the quads, but a beautiful section of the trail as it passed cool rock formations. Great vistas overlooking Slate Run. At the bottom, we had a little trouble finding where the trail crossed the road. Had to bushwhack and linked up with the trail again. Continued hiking on the BFT, but made a detour for lunch at the Hotel Manor. Great burgers, and worth the stop. Crossed Slate Run near the Hotel manor and linked back up with the trail. Tough climb out of Slate Run into the Algerine Wild Area. Cool rock formations on the way up to the old slate mines. Hit by our only thunderstorm of the trip. Waited it out under the trees for about a half hour. worst part was hiking through the wet laurel afterwards. Should have brought gators, because of all the water that was channeled down into our boots. Wet feet for the next day. Tough ascent into Red Run, then camped on Slate Run. Again, because of delays, we were unable to fish Slate in the evening. Got up, had breakfast then fished Slate Run. Used a bead-head green weenie and hooked but lost three nice trout including one that was probably pushing 15"-16". After fishing Slate Run, we walked up Red Run to see the mini-glen. Took our rods and caught a few wild brookies. Began day 3.

Day 3: Red/Slate Run to County Line Branch ( mile 7.20- 16.17)

Crossed Morris Run, nice waterfalls here, then a tough ascent out of Slate Run, but gradual. Level hiking the rest of the day. Was able to get brief cell phone reception in the vicinity of mile 11.74 (normally, I would not give a hoot about this, but having two young children has changed my priorities. It was nice to hear that they were doing well.) Stopped at Rt. 44 for lunch, and to dry things out in the sun. Flies were bad, but they were not the biting kind, just annoying. After lunch, gradual ascent into County Line Branch. Made camp early just before BFT crossed the stream and headed up. This is a nice camping area. Two other parties were also in this vicinity. Headed downstream after camp was set up and fished my way upstream. Caught about 20 wild brookies including some really nice 8" fish on a yellow stimulator. I was impressed with this stream and it's trout population. Made supper, and sipped the rest of the scotch that I brought along. Nothing better than a good Scotch cut with mountain water.

Day 4: County Line Branch to Rt. 44 (mile 16.17 - mile 23.61)

Tough ascent out of County Line Branch including a rock scramble near the top. After negotiating the rock scramble, it is level hiking for the most part with the exception of two short but steep climbs. Passed through a really neat high country meadow and a dense stand of Rhododendron, which was still blooming at places. Made it back to the car around 11:15 a.m. Drove into Waterville and had subs at McConnell's Country Store. They were great (A half sub was larger than most places whole sub, tasty, and reasonably priced.) and I was also able to get a Frozen Run Birch Beer , which is a must when in the Pine Creek Valley.

Packing List and Lessons Learned

Pack
Tent (Time brought his Kelty Tarp)
Therma Rest with lounger
Sleeping Bag
Two wicking tees
Two shorts (one pair convertible)
Two pairs of socks
Lycra shorts
Polar fleece
beanie
Food and snacks)(I highly recommend Enertia Trail Food)
Rain suit
Ditty bag with knife, headlamp, rope, 1st aid kit, snake bite kit, lighter Charmin to-go and candle lantern
Fly rod, reel and small chest pack
flip flops
wading shoes
trekking poles

Next time, or future trips: Poncho instead of rain suit, because of versatility; gators are a must because of stinging nettles and in the event of wet vegetation; find a shoe that can double as a wading shoe and camp shoe. Teva Proton might fit the bill, I'll have to test it. One extra pair of socks would have helped. Despite being in shape, more "sport specific" prep is need to strengthen backpacking muscles and toughen up the feet.

All in all, a great trip, relaxing and wild. Enjoy the photos.