Oct 2 Run: Blue Slide Park on Beechwood Blvd

This is getting to be too easy for me! I opted to take advantage of the decreasing number of warm mornings and take a single out on the river but the trusty reporters came through with the information you need.


From Virginal Linn (who has a very nice article in the Post Gazette this morning):
We are meeting at Blue Slide Park to do a loop through Frick Park that will take us to Duck Hollow and back through Somerset to Blue Slide Park.

Also, could you send out an alert that sign-ups open on Tuesday for the 2012 Pittsburgh Marathon/Half Marathon (will be held first Sunday in May 2010) and that for Tuesday only the registration fee will be the cheapest ($65) for the half marathon. On Wednesday, those fees jump to $75. Thanks

And from Paula the Brit:

A grand turnout of Great Racers (Racers of Greatness or Racers of the Great Race??)

 

Cheryl and her brother Paul, Keri, Karen, Richard (of yoga), and Wendy gathered at the pre-race sanctuary of Pam and Chris' beautiful, Beechwood Blvd home. Sarah and her husband Jason and Tom were met out on the starting line.

 

A little warm for me but almost perfect conditions reminded us (I hope) that Pittsburgh is a Great city to live in or near, and Squirrel Hill (sorry but I am unashamedly biased) is a Great neighborhood to launch almost 8,000 runners towards their goal of the downtown. Of course if the PAT cuts hadn't been so severe we might simply have been able to take the 61s to the downtown instead of having to run.

 

Results are already up:

 

http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=2949

 

Thanks must go firstly to Pam and Chris for making welcome the random ealry birds who need the loo.

 

Then to all those souls who line the route and cheer, the police and crossing guards who offer enthusiasm not just thinking of the overtime, the college bands, the water stop teams, and those runners who allow slower beings to tag along, dragging them across the finish line - they know who they are.

 

I read an interview once with an Olympic athlete. He was asked what made an athlete as opposed to just a recreational sports person..... those that keep going despite feeling sick, tired, cold etc. he replied. I was delighted to point out to Iain that I am.... ergo.... an athlete, as I feel sick right from the get go but keep going. Iain kindly pointed out that perhaps the Olympian was referring to more than the nausea of unfitness and hitting the 0.01mile wall. Oh no I don't think so....

 

So here's to all those athletes in the EERs (lurkers included)!

Sep 25 Run: Great Race or Common Place

Thank-you to Paula the Brit who is doing a cracking job of documenting the runs while I am off rowing. 

Sunday 25th is the 32nd Great Race - please do cheer on EERs in the race and for those not running TGR there will be the usual meet at The Common Place 7am. In fact you really could do both.....

http://www.rungreatrace.com/10k_run.htm

Weather was perfect (for me at least) cool, a little cloudy. A game troupe assembled at the Hot Metal offices' car park for one of my favourite (today is a British spelling day) runs. Judy Vernick joined us finally. Judy is a long time, not quite "lurker" as she replies to emails about advice but has NEVER run with The Pack. Point of (useful) info - her husband is a notary. And unlike UPMC who wanted to charge $50 PLUS a per page charge PLUS a mileage charge to visit someone in UPMC where this thing (blue badges) must be wickedly common - Lloyd charged the PA legal costs (interestingly nowhere near the UPMC costs) and came to our house. So you now have a notary contact.

Guided deftly by Jonathan we found this week's entrance to the still-under-construction Bates Street intersection with the Jail Trail and The Pack set off at a cracking pace. Judy, Sharon and I followed at triathlon training pace. Pittsburghers are so very lucky with these riverside trails - support them!

http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/

We tried to make it a bit illegal as we hopped over the barriers and ran across the far side of Smithfield bridge. But the traffic stopped and honked in support - "NO you don't get it - we are trying to be naughty!" Ah well....

So back up the Monongahela with lovely sun across the river.  Steady pace, breeze for the virtuous, til we landed home to roost in the car park again. Given that some of us were triathlon training we missed the conversation - erudite as it will have been but off to coffee.

Elaine with new improved arm joined us, and Jan and another Judy (Shimm) which is why I get confused. Conversationturned often to books. The Game of Thrones (again - just give in and read the bloody thing) echoes of the Thomas Covenant which I highly recommend. As our TV package seems to cover just Steelers games and 5 channels of the City Chambers I will not get to see the HBO version until it's Netflix-ed.

http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/

Sep 18 Run: Hot Metal Bridge for S. Side Loop

Cheryl offered to take us on her South Side/Jail Trail Loop to get us ready for the Great Race the following Sunday. Meet at the parking lot just by the Hot Metal Bridge. You enter at Bates Street and head down toward the bridge. There will likely be a run to the run from Squirrel Hill.

I am sure the exotic name (who can resist a beach in Lawrenceville?) was partly responsible for the big turn-out for today's run. We had close to 20 runners, including Sharon returning from an injury, the occasionally seen Michael from Regent Square and a guest Pittsburgh celebrity. The run was worth it - yes we saw a beach of sorts, right by the 40th Street bridge but we also traveled a hidden wooded trail by the river and through some rarely seen Lawrenceville streets. There was much to see: ducks and rowers on the river (yay!), geese flying in V-formation overhead, bright wall murals, sunflowers shooting up in a very small patch of dirt in front of a house, several recommended restaurants and bakeries, open lots that looked like meadows, newly rehabbed houses and more.

We had coffee at Expresso a Mano which could easily be a "sister-shop" to Commonplace - its vibe and dedication to great coffee was very similar. Hopefully our numbers and combined noise did not discourage the regulars.

Run Map from Aimee's iPhone:
Date: Sep 11, 2011
Distance: 4.74 mi
Duration: 50:45
To view 'iMapMyRUN: Sep 11, 2011 8:03 AM', follow the link below: http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_workout?w=743131574262235668

Run Map from Elaine Mormer who created the great run:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=451028

Sep 11 Run: Expresso a Mano for a Laurenceville Beach Run

In my absence Paula the Brit took up the pen with admirable results:

 

Next week will be a Laurenceville Beach Run details to be unveiled and coffee at Espresso a Mano:   between 36th and 37th Streets on Butler.

Today's  (Labor Day) report and route:

 

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/49244928

 

A chipper group assembled in the rain for the holiday run. Remember we have a standard with rain on runs - pointed out Roye - oh no pressure - us against the summer storms. But we held to at least a "soft" rain reminiscent of a British bank holiday - to allow that great British tradition of barbequeing whilst under an umbrella.

 

A flock of young antlered bucks watched us unperturbed in Homewood Cemetery.... clearly the damp, chattering Pack were no threat. Where were the young does we wondered? It seems that young bucks do form groups:

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/white-tailed_deer.htm

 

Jan joined us for coffee along with Paula the Brain, Jonathan and Tom. Topics meandered from "running" wives and husbands a la "work" wives and husbands which led obviously to polygamy to books (Under heaven's banner) to TV (Big Love) to MadMen (yes series 1-4 now on Netflix streaming)

 

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Mad_Men/70136135?trkid=2361637

 

MAKE YOUR NETFLIX DECISION NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO!!!!!!!

 

Hidden costs of food and dietary fads to Boon County West Viginia and The Whites and four laners to Cabelas not Madonna's cult but a monster hunting, shooting and fishing store in Wheeling:

http://www.cabelas.com/ghome.jsp?WT.z_mc_id1=43000000135012751&pcrid=6866394984&WT.srch=1&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=google|Brand+Geo_Wheeling+WV+Misspell|USA&rid=20

 

Makes Dicks look like Tiddlers - but do they have the early fall colour camo outfits which so bring out my eyes I wondered?

Sunday's Report:

Not sure who is doing what to whom etc but here is today's route:

 

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/49100498

 

I'm sure someone else will wax lyrical but some notes from today for someone to use as an aide memoire - a large cheery crowd celebrating the holiday weekend headed out through the roads to do 1/2 the Wendy Bennett and then skipped up onto the golf course to run back up Forbes to particularly wonderful coffee.

 

Overheard on the run were conversations about some online scrabble thing, e-books vs. books, social networks... but here's my thought.... wonderful as FB-ing long lost or distant friends is - what happens to those more local? In the time one might spend in a virtual world of socialising one could see some people in the flesh. Is there a risk of preferring the non face to face? And for what reasons..... whilst claiming we are being "social"? Just a mull.

 

Why do phones need their batteries taken out once a week?

 

Is Costco open tomorrow.... no!

 

Despite it being sticky - how I long for the day one sweats into the run or after as opposed to immediately getting a sweaty sheen as soon as stepping out of the door - it was a nice run in one of our beautiful parks and our beautiful streets. The EERs are really very lucky with all that is on their doorstep.

 

And today's quote:

 

from Elaine "there is tomorrow"

 

indeed there is.