End/decline of summer runs this coming weekend: 7AM on Sunday, 9/5, meet at the tennis courts on Braddock Ave. for an Edgewood run. Bring a few extra $ if you want to eat breakfast afterwards at the Square Cafe (highly recommended). Sleep in on Labor Day - meet at 7:30AM at the Common Place Coffee shop in Squill for a runners' choice route.
We had a pleasant summery run up (and it is UP) to the top of Oakland to visit the park and water tower that looks out over what seems to be all of Pittsburgh. Because of the trees, it was not possible to see as much detail as in past visits, but the view clearly illustrates why Pittsburgh is a green city. The neighborhoods look so different from above, like you had been plopped down in another city, making it fun to guess what you are looking at. Our run down once again took us past places I had not seen before - so typical of Pittsburgh where you can take 5 different routes to get to the same place, each taking you past something interesting!
We welcomed back Janet, who seamlessly joined in as if she had never been gone - a true virtue of this group, you can move in and out with ease.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Aug 29 Run: Phipps for a run up to the water tower in Oakland
On the last Sunday of August 2010 (!) meet at Phipps Conservatory for a run up, up, up to the water tower on Heron Hill with the 360 degree views of Pittsburgh. I am hoping it is an uneventful run so I don't have to write so much....
Dr. Murray Pulls Out Another Corker*
With pamphlets in hand but with no particular route planned, Pam Murray led us on another rewarding Pittsburgh neighborhood discovery tour, this one in Homestead/ Munhall. We began on the always favored Waterfront trail with stops at the Pump-house and the Labyrinth (where people traveled the paths discussing cell phone plans - not sure this constituted meditation). These were once destinations in of themselves but today were only appetizers.
Crossing the rail-road tracks and climbing barriers we headed up into Homestead, which according to Wikipedia is comprised of the boroughs of Homestead, Munhall and West Homestead - thus the source of the Homestead vs. Munhall confusion - it was both Homestead AND Munhall. We were all surprised at the beautiful Victorian mansions perched on the hill overlooking the river where likely all those mill managers lived to escape the polluted air. While some are slightly (well, more than slightly) shabby there are a number that have been kept up and are surrounded by colorful gardens and ornate iron fences. Of course we paid to visit the beautiful Carnegie Library which is finding new life as a concert venue and still houses a swim club - an odd combination.
Then onto churches and funeral homes - on one street there were 3 funeral homes and I think 3 churches - one of which was/still is? a synagogue. Around the corner we stopped to admire St. Nicholas Orthodox Church and a deacon who was on his way in told us it was open. Of course we took this as an invitation to go in. The church was in beautiful condition, all glowing blue and gold murals of patron saints and other religious scenes. Feeling inappropriately dressed and quite sweaty we were creeping out when what I think must have been the pastor dressed in robes that were equally stunningly blue and gold came to speak with us. He told us about the church itself (75 years old, 500 parishioners, the history of the orthodox religion and gave us a short lesson on the source of light in the icons painted on the back of the church. What a serendipitous encounter!
The run did not end there - we checked out the stores on Eighth Ave including the The Annex, once located in Shadyside and its companion vegetarian restaurant. Then it really was back to the stacks with a short stop at Blue Dust which Pam called a "gastro pub" - great beer, good food.
There was too much fun on the run so coffee hour was very limited. But here is the link to Slow Food Pittsburgh:
http://www.slowfoodpgh.com/aboutus.html for those who would like to get on their mailing list ad find out about their events which are open to all - well worth it!
* I don't plan on making a habit of appending titles but this one was well deserved
Dr. Murray Pulls Out Another Corker*
With pamphlets in hand but with no particular route planned, Pam Murray led us on another rewarding Pittsburgh neighborhood discovery tour, this one in Homestead/ Munhall. We began on the always favored Waterfront trail with stops at the Pump-house and the Labyrinth (where people traveled the paths discussing cell phone plans - not sure this constituted meditation). These were once destinations in of themselves but today were only appetizers.
Crossing the rail-road tracks and climbing barriers we headed up into Homestead, which according to Wikipedia is comprised of the boroughs of Homestead, Munhall and West Homestead - thus the source of the Homestead vs. Munhall confusion - it was both Homestead AND Munhall. We were all surprised at the beautiful Victorian mansions perched on the hill overlooking the river where likely all those mill managers lived to escape the polluted air. While some are slightly (well, more than slightly) shabby there are a number that have been kept up and are surrounded by colorful gardens and ornate iron fences. Of course we paid to visit the beautiful Carnegie Library which is finding new life as a concert venue and still houses a swim club - an odd combination.
Then onto churches and funeral homes - on one street there were 3 funeral homes and I think 3 churches - one of which was/still is? a synagogue. Around the corner we stopped to admire St. Nicholas Orthodox Church and a deacon who was on his way in told us it was open. Of course we took this as an invitation to go in. The church was in beautiful condition, all glowing blue and gold murals of patron saints and other religious scenes. Feeling inappropriately dressed and quite sweaty we were creeping out when what I think must have been the pastor dressed in robes that were equally stunningly blue and gold came to speak with us. He told us about the church itself (75 years old, 500 parishioners, the history of the orthodox religion and gave us a short lesson on the source of light in the icons painted on the back of the church. What a serendipitous encounter!
The run did not end there - we checked out the stores on Eighth Ave including the The Annex, once located in Shadyside and its companion vegetarian restaurant. Then it really was back to the stacks with a short stop at Blue Dust which Pam called a "gastro pub" - great beer, good food.
There was too much fun on the run so coffee hour was very limited. But here is the link to Slow Food Pittsburgh:
http://www.slowfoodpgh.com/aboutus.html for those who would like to get on their mailing list ad find out about their events which are open to all - well worth it!
* I don't plan on making a habit of appending titles but this one was well deserved
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Aug 22 run: Waterfront for some kind of a run
Meet at the big stacks at the Waterfront (lots of easy parking) for either a Homestead run by Pam Murray or a Duck Hollow/Glenwood Bridge run by those of us who can remember what we did last time.
Vacation in Your Home Town
This morning Cheryl took us on a stellar tour of Mount Washington and although there were quite a few more hills than were originally advertised, they were worth it. We ran through sections of Mount Washington that most of us had never seen before: a quaint looking business district, that included a working grocery store and an cozy family-owned breakfast place; tidy streets of sedate brick homes next to architectural digest worthy new ones and best of all Grandview Park with its lush greenery , "California without the eucalyptus." We ended the run with the classic Grandview Ave tour where we learned there will soon be a new restaurant and hotel complex. Of course we were accompanied all along our route by the sky-high views of our beautiful city and its rivers - sometimes a sneak-peak through a gap between houses, sometimes the full-on blast of a meant to be looked at view enjoyed by pricey residences sitting next too more modest ones (thousand dollar houses, million dollar views).
As if this was not enough, Cheryl provided us with coffee AND breakfast where we had the luxury of staying later than usual to discuss all manner of interesting things (at least to us).
Here is a nice story about Grandview Park: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09271/1001344-53.stm
Vacation in Your Home Town
This morning Cheryl took us on a stellar tour of Mount Washington and although there were quite a few more hills than were originally advertised, they were worth it. We ran through sections of Mount Washington that most of us had never seen before: a quaint looking business district, that included a working grocery store and an cozy family-owned breakfast place; tidy streets of sedate brick homes next to architectural digest worthy new ones and best of all Grandview Park with its lush greenery , "California without the eucalyptus." We ended the run with the classic Grandview Ave tour where we learned there will soon be a new restaurant and hotel complex. Of course we were accompanied all along our route by the sky-high views of our beautiful city and its rivers - sometimes a sneak-peak through a gap between houses, sometimes the full-on blast of a meant to be looked at view enjoyed by pricey residences sitting next too more modest ones (thousand dollar houses, million dollar views).
As if this was not enough, Cheryl provided us with coffee AND breakfast where we had the luxury of staying later than usual to discuss all manner of interesting things (at least to us).
Here is a nice story about Grandview Park: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09271/1001344-53.stm
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Aug 15 Run: Chatham Village for a Mt. Washington Run
Cheryl Levin generously offered to lead us on a running tour of Mt. Washington and give us coffee afterwards at her lovely apartment in Chatham Village this coming Sunday! Meet in the vicinity of Little's Shoes at 6:40 AM to car pool to the run.
It was a perfect mid/late summer morning for a run - cool but bright, streets very quiet thanks to vacations and schools still out on break. We took a dive into the greenness of Schenley park, running to the pond (wittily observing the No Skating signs), across the tracks, past the soccer fields and into the bottom of Greenfield. True to its Italian roots, there were squash, corn and tomatoes growing along the streets. Defying the "Steps Closed"sign we scaled the very steep stairs next to what I think is St John Chrysostom Byzantine Church (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_Chrysostom_Byzantine_Catholic_Church_(Pittsburgh)), which included quite a few gaps and wobbly steps, up into Greenfield proper. I think this is the third time we have done this climb, but I am always amazed at how far down the bottom is once arriving at the top. From there is was back to the start over the Greenfield bridge and on to a raucous coffee gathering.
It appears we have officially made the switch to the "new" coffee place, Commonplace Coffee, at least for Sunday gatherings. We had a guest on today's run, one of Wendy and Max's wonderful set of friends from school, who was given the full immersion treatment in the running group's coffee conversation extravaganzas. As always topics were diverse but somehow veered into body hair and odor which made for some spicy conversation. To off set the frivolous nature of that thread, Roye gave us a glowing recommendation for the book Cloud Atlas (http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281300965&sr=1-1) by David Mitchell.
It was a perfect mid/late summer morning for a run - cool but bright, streets very quiet thanks to vacations and schools still out on break. We took a dive into the greenness of Schenley park, running to the pond (wittily observing the No Skating signs), across the tracks, past the soccer fields and into the bottom of Greenfield. True to its Italian roots, there were squash, corn and tomatoes growing along the streets. Defying the "Steps Closed"sign we scaled the very steep stairs next to what I think is St John Chrysostom Byzantine Church (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_Chrysostom_Byzantine_Catholic_Church_(Pittsburgh)), which included quite a few gaps and wobbly steps, up into Greenfield proper. I think this is the third time we have done this climb, but I am always amazed at how far down the bottom is once arriving at the top. From there is was back to the start over the Greenfield bridge and on to a raucous coffee gathering.
It appears we have officially made the switch to the "new" coffee place, Commonplace Coffee, at least for Sunday gatherings. We had a guest on today's run, one of Wendy and Max's wonderful set of friends from school, who was given the full immersion treatment in the running group's coffee conversation extravaganzas. As always topics were diverse but somehow veered into body hair and odor which made for some spicy conversation. To off set the frivolous nature of that thread, Roye gave us a glowing recommendation for the book Cloud Atlas (http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281300965&sr=1-1) by David Mitchell.
Monday, August 02, 2010
August 8 run: Wendy Bennett Trailhead/Schenley Park
Next Sunday's run will meet at the Wendy Bennett Trailhead at Schenley Park, but will surprise you by NOT taking the usual route, courtesy of Elaine.
Yesterday's run traversed a leafy and somewhat dusty Frick Park, and Karen thoughtfully devised a route that was somehow almost all downhill. We were delighted to be joined by celebrity alum, Janet, and marveled at how our conversations over the years have spanned magnet school and career choices, often for the SAME kid. Post-run, we find ourselves now ineluctably drawn toward Commonplace Coffee; and I've let too much time go by to remember our conversational gems, but we continue to add to our list of recommended workpeople (take that, Angie's list!), Pittsburgh's wedding venues can involve large retired Steelers, and there were mixed reviews of the Megabus, but you can't beat a $15 roundtrip ticket to NYC.
Yesterday's run traversed a leafy and somewhat dusty Frick Park, and Karen thoughtfully devised a route that was somehow almost all downhill. We were delighted to be joined by celebrity alum, Janet, and marveled at how our conversations over the years have spanned magnet school and career choices, often for the SAME kid. Post-run, we find ourselves now ineluctably drawn toward Commonplace Coffee; and I've let too much time go by to remember our conversational gems, but we continue to add to our list of recommended workpeople (take that, Angie's list!), Pittsburgh's wedding venues can involve large retired Steelers, and there were mixed reviews of the Megabus, but you can't beat a $15 roundtrip ticket to NYC.
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