Tag Archives: Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect

I am not a road runner

Posted on February 13, 2009 | 4 Comments

road-runner

After a discussion with Craig Fleming, owner of Haven Shoes in Lock Haven, Pa. and a trail runner, I am opting out of doing the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect. I have written in the past that the intensity of this experience, hiking, walking and a very little bit of running over 5,000 feet of elevation gain was more than equal to a marathon. So even if in distance, I did not complete a marathon, in spirit, I more than accomplished my goal, I wrote.

For some reason, late last year, I told myself that to not complete the “actual” marathon distance would mean I had not completed my goal by the time I was 40. I then began thinking of doing the God’s Country Marathon in Galeton, Pa. and even writing about it here as if I would do it.

However, since then, my motivation has dropped to nil and only yesterday after talking with Craig did I realize a major part of the reason why.

Craig talked about his love of trail running, hiking and organizing an event called the Hyner View Trail Challenge. He talked about assisting people on the course to finish, even though they thought they would be “cut off.” As race director, though, he said he believed the important thing is to finish.

He also talked about helping a group of race directors for another race/hike and suggesting they not be so exclusive to only runners running for times or place finishes.

Craig also mentioned the God’s Country Marathon and how usually the race only has about 150 runners each year, and how competitive it is. The focus is on the medals unlike the Megatransect where every finisher receives a medal just for finishing the grueling course.

All of this also prompted me to think back on the times I was most happy running. It was when I was on local trails and not on roads. On the roads, I feel like I have to stay out of the way of drivers. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder. Plus if I stop and walk, as odd as it sounds, I feel like drivers are watching me and thinking what a failure. “Look, he’s walking.” Of course, that is most likely not the case, especially in the winter, when it is more likely they’re thinking, “What is he doing out here in this?”

I’ve thought about why I prefer trail running to road running. Namely, I can think of three reasons:

  1. softer surface versus of the trail versus pavement
  2. nature versus roads
  3. solitude versus people

Plus pavement bores me. With a trail, usually you don’t know what’s coming and even if you do, conditions change more than on a road. I enjoy not knowing what’s around the next corner.

So to this end, once again I am preparing for the Megatransect. I may do other races along the way, including the Hyner View and other races Craig organizes. But I am not locked into doing something by my 40th birthday. Instead, I am going to celebrating going into 40 and then being 40.

I am at “middle age,” I hope and this is a time not to be sad, but be glad I can do what I can — whatever that is, whether running, hiking, walking or even crawling through a course as tough as the Megatransect. I am just grateful to be here.

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Weekly Geeks 2009-04: Passions beside reading and blogging

Posted on January 31, 2009 | 3 Comments

WG Spock[5]

This week’s questions are (abbreviated):

#1. What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging? Post photos.

#2. Get us involved. Link to anything that will help us learn more about your interest or how to do your hobby.

#3. Visit other Weekly Geeks. Link in your post to other Geeks who’ve peaked your interest in their passion. Or maybe you might find a fellow aficionado among us, link to them.

No. 1: Besides reading and blogging, probably one of the things about which I’m most passionate is running/jogging/walking/hiking. I began running in February 2004 and haven’t looked  back since (well, except for a medical issue along the way that sidelined me and just a lack of enthusiasm recently). The highlight thus far was in September 2007 when I completed a 25-mile trail hike called the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect.

My goal since the beginning was to run a marathon by the time I’m 40. On June 6, 2009, three days before my 40th birthday, I will do that, as I run in the God’s Country Marathon near where I live.

No. 2: A good starting place to learn about running is Runner’s World; hiking, Backpacker; walking, most of us do this anyway, no resource required. ;)

No. 3: I’m not going to lie and say that I’ve found a lot that’s piqued my interest, among my fellow Geeks. I’m not much into crotcheting, knitting or cooking (I like microwave pizzas, does that count? and microwave popcorn).

However, I did find a few others with similar interests to mine: Suey @ It’s All About Books with her family’s interest in geocaching, which incorporates hiking; Angela @ A Cerebal Accumulation with her interest in hiking, among a wide variety of interests, including sewing (not so much, sorry, Angela :) ; and Nymeth @ things mean a lot with her interest in hiking as well, despite not having a lot of trails near where she lives (she ought to come visit us in northcentral Pennsylvania, we have plenty).

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Posted in Books, Mind, Weekly Geeks

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Run for the Prize

Posted on August 20, 2008 | 2 Comments

It is not that I have reached it yet or already have finished my course; but I am racing to grasp the prize if possible since I I have been grasped by Christ. Brothers, I do no think of myself as having reached the finish line. I give no thought to what lies behind, but push on to what is ahead, my entire attention is on the finish line as I run toward the prize to which God calls me — life on high in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are spiritually mature must have this attitude. If you see it another way, God will clarify the difficulty for you. It is important that we continue on course no matter what stages we have reached.

Philippians 3:12-16

Whenever I have thought of this Scripture in the past, I have thought of it not as a metaphor for the Christian walk or run, as the case may be here. Instead, I have thought of it literally in terms of running.

So we as runners are not to think we already have crossed the finish line or expended our energy, in other words. We are not to think either of past performances, but think of future performances.

Today, though, I am seeing this Scripture as a little bit of both. This morning, I didn’t want to get out of bed to run. My wife said to me that if I developed a routine, it would become easier. “It is important that we continue on course no matter what stages we have reached.”

What is it toward which I”m running? To grasp the prize? Which is? That to which God me: life on high in Christ Jesus. Is Paul referring to death here or heaven or the afterlife? I don’t think so. I think he means life on high is attainable now.

So in my running it is that toward which I should be reaching: life on high. That runner’s high that doesn’t fade. If we are mature, we must have this attitude, Paul says, and if we see it another way, God will clarify the difficulty fo ryou. At first, I thought in his saying that, Paul was being a little humorous, as if to say, “If you see it another, God will beat you up side the head with a 2-by-4. However, I now think that the key word here is “clarify.” God will make us see the difficulty that arises from not keeping our eyes on our goal: life on high in Christ Jesus.

So also in terms of my running. I have a goal to reach the finish line of the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect. Not to win it obviously, but to finish it, running (in this case, sometimes walking, sometimes hiking, sometimes crawling) toward the prize of the high of life.

So to bring it full circle, God has shown what happens if I don’t keep my eyes on the prize — the difficulty of not getting up mornings and developing a routine. I won’t reach that life on high physically, mentally and spiritually unless I keep my eyes on that goal, continuing on course no matter my physical, mental and spirtual maturity.

Lord, help me to have this attitude. Amen.

Note: Of course, after writing this, I now see a different translation on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops than the one I had from the Liturgy of the Hours (1970 translation):

It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ (Jesus). Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.

Let us, then, who are “perfectly mature” adopt this attitude. And if you have a different attitude, this too God will reveal to you.Only, with regard to what we have attained, continue on the same course.

With the Scripture worded this way, I could write another whole reflection. Regardless, we have to “Run for the Prize,” as sung by Petra:

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Retooling my running goals

Posted on April 11, 2008 | 1 Comment

Last weekend I went to my college alma mater. While there, Friday night the friend with whom I was staying decided to call up another friend who also was visiting to play basketball. We ended up at the college gym: a total of six men ranging in ages from 20 to 40, playing two games of three-on-three.

Over the course of the night and the next two days, I arrived at a few conclusions. First, I am not as young as I once was. Second, I am not as competitive or as driven as some of those with whom I was playing. Third, and in keeping with the theme of Feetfirst Friday, I am not in good enough shape to hike/run a 15-mile trail hike in what was then three weeks, what is now two weeks.

This winter I allowed a few things to conspire against me:

  1. The weather, which was up and down, warmer and then colder, you could gauge my enthusiasm or lack thereof like a thermometer
  2. Circumstances, car problems, finances — mentally, I was, and still to some extent am, drained
  3. Becoming accustomed to the lack of motivation from those previous two events, becoming stuck in a groove and not a good one either

So now it is April 11, and I am rethinking my running goals (again). I restarted running in 2004 after nearly a 15-year layoff. In late 2005, I set a goal of running in a marathon by the time I was 40. In late 2007, I achieved the equivalence of running a marathon, when I completed a 24.9 mile trail hike called the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect. While 1.3 miles short in actual distance, it was more than equal to the distance in terms of the physical and mental effort exerted. That story can be found here. Now it is time to set new goals: short-term, medium-term and long-term.

Short-term: Run in a couple of 5- and 10Ks, namely three: the 24th Annual Guthrie Gallop (10K) in Sayre, Pa. on May 10; the Bob Bridgman Memorial Run (5K) in Mansfield, Pa. on Memorial Day and the Pennsylvania State Laurel Festival Foot Race (10K) on June 21.

Medium term: Find some trail races from June until October to prepare for my long-term goal for this year.

Long-term (at least for this year): Run in another Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect on Oct. 4, with more running this time than the first time when I hiked much of the course.

Long-term (for the future): I really haven’t thought that far ahead. I mean, yes, I’d like to continue the Megatransect for…well…indefinitely, but beyond that, I don’t know. Maybe the Escarpment, a 30K (18.6 miles) trail run in New York State that has total elevation gains of nearly 10,000 feet. The Megatransect, in comparison, had total elevation gains of nearly 5,000 feet.

Of course, now that I have reset my goals comes the next step: Setting up a plan to get there and then sticking with that. The subject of my next Feetfirst Friday.

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The aftermath of, and footnotes to, the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect

Posted on October 2, 2007 | 1 Comment

The aftermath

It’s now going on the third day since I’ve finished the 2007 Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect and it’s only now beginning to sink in what I and the other 448 finishers, 298 men and 150 women, accomplished Saturday. Wow!

What’s also beginning to sink in is the pain, as on Sunday, it started at the tops of my legs and then yesterday went down to my shins and starting last night worked its way down to the bottom of my feet. Now it’s like the pain is shooting back up through my legs, even with ibuprofen, rest, ice and elevation. I’m not complaining or whining. As my wife says: “I’m just saying.” ;) Actually, I’ve been catching up on TiVoed NASCAR, Eureka, Torchwood and movies from a free Showtime preview weekend this past weekend. So don’t feel too bad for me.

According to the final results posted on the website, I finished in 297th, in 9 hours, 29 minutes and 10 seconds, a 22:46 per mile pace overall. I crossed the 10.2 mile mark at Zindel Park being 3:33:36, or an average 20:56 per mile pace to that point.

Denny finished in 149th in 7:25:19, or a 17:49 per mile pace overall. He got to Zindel Park in 3:03:21, or an average 17:59 per mile pace to that point.

The first person crossed the finish line in 3:59:14, or a 9:33 per mile pace overall. He zoomed to Zindel Park at a similar average 9:50 per mile pace. (The newspaper article I had on the blog yesterday had the winner finishing in 3:49:14. I e-mailed Jeff Stover, one of the organizers of the race, and he informed me — of course — that the race time on the site was the correct one. Either way, Rick Clenandiel Jr. of Lock Haven hammered that course and I, like many others, are in awe.)

Meanwhile, the last person crossed the finished line in 11 hours, 57 minutes and 48 seconds. Like Clenandiel, he should be congratulated for putting that much mileage and elevatation in.

Others whom I mentioned and at my best guess their times: Shaun (Wood): 7:48.27, Susan (Hurrey): 8:55:31, and Maureen (Mignogna): 8:56:11.

Footnotes

  1. I don’t think I mentioned it or really not enough, but the organizers and volunteers — from the registration tables to the emergency personnel on hand to the college and high school students and Boy Scout troop and others at checkpoints out on the course — should be commended for all the hard work they did during this event. As far as I could see and experienced, they all performed outstanding work, under what I’m sure can be, and is, for some of them enormous pressure.I’m sure not making things any better for the organizers was from what I heard was a computer glitch whereby the ages of many of the participants were wrong. Mine was among them. I was listed at 34, but hey, it’s four years younger than I am, so that’s OK, guys.
  2. Unfortunately, what wasn’t OK was that when my wife and I went to check for my name on the print-out after the race, my name wasn’t there! However, after pointing out to the gentleman keeping track of the times where I had finished, he promptly corrected it. For some reason, I was listed as a “turkey” or an unregistered runner. I just wanted to make sure for future generations that my name would be recorded among the annals of those who finished the 2007 Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect (as if I’m sure future generations will even be looking at the Megatransect website in the year 2525, or if they were, even getting as far down as 297).
  3. Photos of me crossing the boulder field, which I or someone in my family (hint, hint, talk quietly amongst yourselves) will be purchasing later, can be found here. I’m 305 and 306! I was so slow that the photographer was able to take two of me. I bet he only has one of that first guy coming up across the field.
  4. If I didn’t mention it before, I have to give a big thanks to Denny and Victoria for giving me use of the trekking poles that Victoria received as a free gift when she purchased a backpack. Although they aren’t the best pair of poles in the world, I’m glad I, at least, had something on this course. Thank you, Denny and Victoria. And, of course, thank you for all the assistance with training and (I can’t believe I’m saying this, introducing me to Mount Tom). Now to get ready for the Hyner View Trail Challenge!

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