Feb 7 Run: Entrance to Frick Park at S. Homewood and Reynolds

Roye will lead us around and/or through Frick Park depending on the weather - which will be gorgeous.

Despite several suggestions to skip the run and just have coffee we ventured out into the crispy cold morning and in the end were glad of it. The sun was rising and the mostly full moon (96%) was still large and luminous as we traveled over the snow covered river path at the Waterfront. We found the labyrinth and walked some of its path. It is perfectly placed framed by a rail road bridge with the old Carrie Furnace hulking in the distance - well worth a visit. On our way back we chased a barge down the river. It was cold but it was worth it.

Over a cozy coffee session we discussed anaerobic vs aerobic exercise (excuse the use of Wikipedia it was the most targeted reference I found) as well as the new art exhibit at the Frick Art museum, 1934, which was highly recommended by Wendy and David. You can find a nice article about it in today's Post Gazette. We also welcomed back Aimee!!

Jan 30 Run: Starbucks at the Waterfront for a Find the Labyrinth Run

Elaine will lead us on a run to have a look at the Labyrinth that was build at the Waterfront sometime last year. Meet at the Starbucks at the Waterfront at 7AM. Here is some pre-run reading: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09165/977328-437.stm

Those who want to run to the run meet at Colfax School at 6:20 AM - this assumes running down Beechwood which is 3.3 miles to the Waterfront and allowing a little fudge factor. It could be less if Sommerset is still passable. Comments on this are welcome.

I will drive and probably arrive 20 mins earlier to get in a bit more of a run. Please let the group know if you are going to drive so we can be sure there are enough cars.

Our run through North Point Breeze turned up some surprises as always. We managed to find East End Brewing (http://www.eastendbrewing.com/) whose business model does not include advertising its location and investigated the new site of Burg Bee's apiary which is just across the street (http://www.burghbees.com/index.php). We ran on some back streets in Homewood and on a great land bridge over the busway checking out a little bit of suburbia built just by the busway.

But the highlight of the run was a coffee and knitting session at Terri's. Terri generously provided not only coffee but breakfast too!! While we sat chatting Roye gave knitting lessons - what a wonderful way to spend a gray morning in Pittsburgh!

Jan 23 Run: Linden School for an East End run really

Meet at Linden School (on Linden Ave just up from Beechwood). This time we will run through the East End past sites like Westinghouse Park, East End Brewery, Construction Junction etc. Last time we planned this it was just too tempting to run through Frick Park and if the weather does a complete change about we could do so again but looking at the forecast that seems unlikely.

Our run today continues to be one of my favorites - it is mostly flat, has spectacular views, travels near water, touches on downtown and ends up with warm pastries at La Prima - what could be better! The view from the 31st Bridge was just breathtaking this morning - the river was calm, reflecting the banks, the city seemed to appear out of the water in a amethyst haze. We had a good size group and practically took over La Prima. Cheryl graciously fed the group on out of the oven pastries hand delivered from Enrico's - yum!

Here is a map of the route: http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=176126373825950664

Roye, Paula The Brit and Iain had a longer than I would expect (but I obviously underestimate hedgehogs) conversation about hedgehogs while running and PtB sent the following link so all of us can learn about them too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog

I've never eaten hedgehog but the crisps (chips) were good.....

Finally watch your email for details of a EE Runners cross-country trip on Saturday, Jan 30 (if there is snow).

Jan 17 Run: Parking Lot @ 21rst and Liberty for a Strip/downtown run

Meet in the parking lot at 21rst street and Liberty Ave (I think it is called Liberty Commons) for a loop around the Strip/Washington's Landing/Northside/Downtown and back - perhaps coffee and pastry after at La Prima, so bring some $$.

We could carpool from the Coffee Tree in Squirrel Hill if people felt so inclined. Send email if you are willing to drive down.

Since our luck with out of neighborhood runs has not been good lately, please check your email on Saturday evening if the conditions look dicey.

Amazingly 12 runners turned up for a very wintry run this morning. Despite the frigid temperatures we headed into Frick Park, which was snowy and empty. The sun was rising as we ran along the trails and it almost was as if we were cross country skiing - until we hit the long uphill to the Nature Center. But at least it warmed us up!

It felt like we took over the Coffee Tree especially when Iain and Paula joined us. As we sat big fat flakes of snow began to fall covering up the dirty slushy bits and making the walk home just a little magical.

Jan 10 Run: Linden School for an East End Run

We did not talk about a run for next week but sticking with the "close to home" theme how about a run on Meade Street and its environs? Let's meet at Linden School (on Linden Ave, just up from Beechwood). People can choose to run directly back to the Coffee Tree or Linden School to pick up cars. If someone has a grander idea, just let me know.

A solid number of people turned out this morning including a new runner (welcome Jean!), despite it being 8 degrees not counting wind chill! Roye provided a very applicable saying: "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing" - I hope I got that right. I confess I was more focused on my footing than the scenery as we picked our way through the semi-icy roads in the cemetery. There were no deer or fox sitings but it was peaceful as always.

Coffee was particularly welcomed this morning with the cold making it difficult to leave. Food played a big part in the conversations with strong recommendations for buying meat at the East Liberty Farmer's Market - the one by Home Depot that runs year round.

It was requested that I add a link on the blog for eBook recommendations - it is now in the list of the links to the right of the main page. Here is the direct link: http://eastendrunners.blogspot.com/2010/01/ebook-recommendations.html You can add recommendations via comments. I admit I almost called it Books on Tape Recommendations but luckily caught my now-obsolete reference.

eBook Recommendations

This is a placeholder for recommendations for books on some electronic format

EE Runers at the 11/1 Half Marathon

Crossing the Line at the 11/1/09 Pgh Half Marathon
L to R Wendy, Sharon and Teri