2012 Review

I caught a bad cold that lasted too long (the last 10 days of the year), so I ended up doing far less exercise the last week or so. But 2012 was a great year for me, full of outdoor activity. I don't care about running races anymore, but enjoyed a few. I found peace and inspiration in nature by combining my trail running and hiking in ways I'd never tried before, and loved it. I'm getting to the point where I don't care about numbers anymore, but I will probably still keep rough track of my activity out of curiosity. So here are some rough 2012 numbers:

622+ hours of combined trail running and hiking, with over 260,000 feet of climb/descent. After August, I didn't try to keep track of time spent running vs hiking, but by then had run for 215 hours. After that I did less running and more hiking, so I think something just under 300 hours of running. It was a very good year, and I doubt that I spent that much time moving on my feet since I was a kid. So that's it, on to a new year! Some data on my 2012 Activity.

Here's a few pix from the last week of 2012.

My one run-hike last week was on 2-4 inches of wet/slushy snow

My new Montrail Mountain Masochist 2 Outdry (with gaiters and Kahtoola microspikes) handled the wet really well, and my feet were warm and dry, which is important when you have a cold.

First one up to the lake after the storm...

This is actually from first day of 2013:  Coyote track in virgin snow on the back side of the lake

Tribute to Koreans!

Ok, I know it's not representative of true Korean culture, but about 10 years ago I happened to see a Korean drama on TV. At first I didn't watch for long, but would look for a few minutes at the subtitled drama on the WMBC broadcast when channel surfing. (For those who don't watch much TV, us channel surfers are people who like to see what's on almost every channel, at least when there are commercials during the show we're watching). Unlike the American dramas, most Korean dramas I saw would end after so many episodes, which was nice, and they were faster moving (if that can be said about dramas). Slowly but surely over a couple of years I would watch a little more, at least partly because they had no commercials, but also because it was well done drama, if very tame G-rated stuff. I got hooked over time. Those were VCR days, and I started recording the Korean drama every night to my VCR. I found it a very relaxing half hour, a good way to de-stress, and a nice alternative to over-done American TV.

In more recent years I've found there are many Korean movies and dramas on Netflix, and a new one starts on TV every 6 months or so. Movies and dramas do not a culture make, but cultural art reflects to some extent the culture it arises from, and one starts to learn a little more over time. I think I'd have a hard time with some types of Korean food, and have tried eating at Korean restaurants, but the more I learn about the Korean people, the more I hold them up as a model culture to be admired, a blend of east and west really; a modern culture with a positive hard-working attitude toward life, or so it seems to this observer. Of all peoples in this world, I admire the Korean people the most.

As a nature lover and outdoor enthusiast, I've been hiking and trail running for many years, enjoying the nature parks to the fullest extent possible in recent years as I've had a little more time. Who do I see out there enjoying nature the most besides me?  I see lots of Korean hikers, in large and small groups, exploring the far outer trails where I normally don't see many other people, as well as on the more traveled trails. So I know some Koreans seem to enjoy nature, and they certainly take advantage of the great parks we have around here in the New York area. I want to pay tribute to my fellow hikers, Koreans in particular! 

Outdoor Week Ending 12/23/12

10 hours and 30 minutes, 3200 feet of climb, mixed hiking and trail running. Caught a cold later in the week, but it's been a great outdoor year and I've overall gotten much stronger and healthier.

The gas line cut often sees deer feeding

Winter storm "Draco" was rain around here, swelling creeks more than "Sandy" even

Outdoor Week Ending 12/16/12

Time 15:43, 4970' climb, 70% hiking with some hard trail running in there. Another good week!

Good news: Google upped the free picasa space to 5 gb!  So I can add more pix without paying. (I always seem to ponder before paying up on these types of things, so that's why no pictures recently)

My local lake

 Carefree Buck

 Strange tree

 Woods road in Harriman

 Nice sky and moon on black trail

 Southern New York snow early Dec

 Blustery day at Sky Top (Mohonk)

 A very active Harriman Beaver

Deer feeding at dusk at the gas line cut

 The Key

20 Hour Week: Make Time, Peace in Nature

Nature can heal and inspire any time, but if you can make more time to experience it's various moods -- the major and subtle changes of the seasons and weather and the activities of the animals and plants -- the more you can become a part of it.

I've had 20 hour weeks outdoors before, but not in many years. This week I was outside on trails for probably about 25 hours total, but I like to count moving time, to keep a rough idea about my "volume". This tracking comes from my trail running days when I was mostly about training, but now I don't think of training, just movement in nature. Unnecessarily but by habit, I still keep track of overall moving time, the amount of climb, and some measure of effort. So this week came in at 20:39 with about 6200 feet of climb, effort not compiled carefully, but a mix of vigorous hiking (probably 40%), easy hiking (about 35%) and trail running (~25%).

My main point this week though is MAKE TIME if you can to be out there longer, and most importantly, make a chunk of that time for stopping/experiencing nature or exploring. For me this week that was about 5 hours of sitting at various inspiring spots, often writing but sometimes just enjoying, with some exploring side areas and side trails, or listening to and watching wildlife. Over the past summer my main personal lesson learned was the run-hike: freely mixing trail running and easy hiking for a whole new experience that was the best of both worlds. Now though I've realized that stopping and observing and little side explorations enrich the experience even more, but it only really works if you make extra time for it up front and don't "have to be back" for something. I make this point because even if we can make more time for the things we love doing, often we don't do so as a result of following our regular life patterns too blindly.

My second point this week is suggested in the title above: peace with nature and it's elements. This week had a cold rainy day, a windy chilly days, a foggy cool serenely still day, and some sun as well. I realized the best day in some ways was the day I didn't want to go out at first. Doing an errand before the outing I was cold as it was about 35 degrees and raining, with a bone-chilling dampness that seemed to go right through my clothes. But after 20 minutes hiking up the hill, I was warmed up and I started to enjoy it more; the air was still, and only a foggy drizzle remained.

The more time you spend outside in all seasons, the more your body adjusts naturally and is able to stoke it's own heating. In sedentary people (or even sometimes in people who rush outside for an hour or so of exercise throughout the winter), the body loses it's ability to regulate it's temperature properly. I see so many people hiking with what look to me like heavy coats, when I rarely have on more than two thin layers. I don't see sweat on their brow, as I would on me if I were so dressed, which makes me conclude that they've lost the ability to self-regulate temperature. Over time your body can regain it's responses to and place in nature, but only if you're able to relax out there.

Outdoor Fun Week Ending 12/2/12

Just over 11 hours, about 3600 feet of climb, mostly hiking but some good technical trail running mixed in there. A bit of a snowstorm had me resting on Tuesday, and it stayed cold enough to stick around most of the week in Harriman. With the colder weather and shorter days the temptation is to get it over with faster, but the beauty is in taking your time when possible and enjoying every aspect of the season. That can mean dodging dusk and carrying a headlamp, judging whether you can do a certain route with snow and ice cover, or just making peace with the coolness that you craved all summer, now here, giving the woods over to you, with plant and and animal life in reprieve...

Outdoor Fun Week ending 11/25/12

11:58, 4150 feet of climb, much more hiking than running.

 After feeling mediocre at best early in the week, for some reason light on sleep, I did much more hiking than running, but we did manage a four mile walk on thanksgiving before the big feast. But after that first piece of pie it was surfing for the rest of the day on big waves of sugar. Friday I was ready to burn some of it off, but I was sluggish for the first hour of my 3 hour run-hike. It became progressively more intense and I was feeling very good at the end.


Haha!  Seems I'm out of space for pictures here, so I'll have to consider my options. Bummer.

Recent Fall Pix

Outdoor Weeks Through 11/18/12

Week ending 11/18/12:  14:27, 5300' climb, more hiking than running

With the shorter days and colder temps time on the trails will be more limited, but I was able to get out more than I expected this week and it's been fun out there. Had to use the headlamp a few times, and plan to keep it in my pack from now on.

Week ending 11/11/12:  13:29, 6230' climb, more hiking than running

Got back to a slightly more normal schedule and continued clearing what I could from outer trails as I got to them, and did more running, but November and December will be light and easy so probably much more hiking than normal and running only when I feel inspired.

Week ending 11/4/12:  12:56, 4280' climb, mostly hiking

Power out for 3 days after Sandy struck, but didn't have it bad -- last year hurricane Irene flooded my stuff. Street walking only the two days of the storm, before the wind got too bad on Monday, and after things died down enough on Tuesday. Power lines down all over the neighborhood and dangerous to walk too far. Started back out on trails again Wednesday and started clearing trails of small blow-down and anything I could lift, but downed trees everywhere and major trail blockages in many places. (I will post pix of some of the downed trees I saw later). The trails were pretty empty as people dealt with no power, gas lines, and the like, but there were some people out hiking.

Week ending 10/28/12:  8:43, 3750' climb, mostly hiking

Recovery week after 50k race, took a few days off, then eased back into things. Then after I got back home, did some preparation for Hurricane Sandy.

Bradbury Mountain 50 km Race Report

My whole approach to running has changed in the last year. As I wrote about on my blog, I started doing almost every outing as a mixture of trail running and easy hiking. Normal trail running involves hiking, but because the mindset is to move at a steady effort akin to a run, a trail run for most probably doesn't involve easy hiking or hiking for extended periods; at least that's how it was for me when I saw myself as a trail runner. No, the run-hike is a different sport, and I've fallen in love with hiking all over again. I will never look at hiking or trail running the same again, but I will still do some races for fun.

Bradbury was good, if another race in rain/pea soup fog can be good!  Two laps, interesting course and terrain, with a mix of surfaces. First lap was smooth and fun; second lap grew into a struggle, but I didn't hit the wall as hard as some, though I did fade. 6:46 3300' on GPS, so not a lot of climb, but it was probably 3500'. Given that I did no long runs after Escarpment in July, mostly just my 2 hour-ish run-hikes, I'm happy with the result. After, I just chilled out in Maine for a few days.

I normally ignore heart rate but sometimes record my route on GPS to look at later. This time I kind of watched my heart rate and tried to keep it in the 150s. That helped me pace, and I ended up about 155, a bit conservative for the distance, because if really well trained I should be able to manage about 160 for a 50k.

The race was well organized plenty of food, gym to duck out of the rain and eat good hot food. Hose with hot water to rinse off the mud. I'd do it again probably, but I'd try to do more long runs to prepare. I don't look at my outings as training anymore; special preparation for events sometimes maybe, but my goal is to go out and enjoy the wilderness.