Showing posts with label cyclists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cyclists. Show all posts

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Near witness to the Pauli Exclusion Principle

Today's run (Bethpage trails): 5 miles

This morning I was reading Trail Runner magazine's trail shoe review and decided, that's it - I'm going to run on a trail today. Although it was early, I wasn't sure whether Stillwell's lot would be packed with cars, due to the dozens of soccer games that are played there on Sunday. I was also concerned about taking on too much technical terrain after yesterday's basketball hoop assembly.

I seemed to have avoided damage from putting so much pressure on my lower back yesterday, although I felt slight discomfort in my upper hamstring during today's run. It was nothing that would limit me, more like a message from my body reminding me to be more careful.

Since I wasn't looking to do a full trail run this morning, a hybrid of trail and pavement would be a good combination. The best place I could think of to do that was the Bethpage trail just north of the park. I headed over to Runsketeer base camp (sadly with no other Runsketeers today) to park near Haypath Road.

Dirt path going north, paved trail going back
I quickly got a signal on my Garmin and ran over to the eastern trail head off of Haypath to begin the first half of my run. The dirt trail parallels the paved bike path, but it feels like you're in the middle of the woods most of the time. The path is largely straight and it reminded me of Trailview in that respect. But Trailview is more technical, while this trail was mostly packed dirt. I encountered some gnarly roots that jolted me momentarily, but I didn't come close to actually tripping.

I followed the dirt trails all the way to Washington Ave., jumping over to the bike path only to cross Old Bethpage and Old Country roads. Once on Washington, I ran to the 495 underpass that leads to the part of the bike trail that runs parallel to the Sunnyside Boulevard exit. I turned around at that point and followed the bike trail back.

There were lots of cyclists and walkers on the path, but not that many runners. I encountered some trail bikers on the wooded path. They appreciated that I moved over for them and each rider told me how many others were behind them as they passed by from the opposite direction.

On my way back, I ran into perfect conditions for an accident. A group of women walking together (and blocking most of the bike trail) were 20 feet ahead of me. I saw two cyclists heading toward them at a high rate of speed and another biker coming up from behind. I could tell the single biker planned to thread the needle to the left of the women. What he couldn't see because of the curve of the trail, were the two other cyclists who were planning to pass through the same gap from the other side.

The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that no two identical particles can occupy the same space at the same time. I expected to see that theorem tangibly proven all over the Bethpage trail. Through some miracle, the two riders coming from the south got through about ten seconds before the rider who was behind me got there. I was astounded by this. The women were blissfully unaware that they came very close to becoming a 7-10 human split.

The rest of my run was happily drama free. I completed five miles, satisfied that I got in some good trail time. With Wednesday's elliptical session and three decent runs, I'm pleased with my progress this week. I'll aim for another weekday workout next week, perhaps an afternoon neighborhood run. There aren't that may spring days left and I'd like to take advantage of them as much as I can.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Six miles on the BBT

Today's run (Bethpage Bike Trail): 6.2 miles

Now that I'm back to daily commuting, weekends have become more essential. My consulting schedule provided a lot of time flexibility during the week, but I now need to use Saturday and Sunday for most personal tasks. Included in this is running. At this point, I'm cramming in all my week's running between Friday and Sunday so I have to make every run count.

I debated this morning whether to run the trails at Stillwell, or return to Bethpage (for the first time since Brooklyn) to run the bike path. I'm anxious to try out my new Cascadias, but I was was concerned that Stillwell's parking lot would be overrun with cars because of all the Saturday soccer games. So Bethpage was the better choice.

I parked along Colonial Road and got onto the path just north of Haypath. It was 63° and sunny with low humidity. I headed north and immediately encountered a number of cyclists coming from the other direction. There was a pronounced wind coming from the north that made progress difficult on hills. I reminded myself that the wind would work to my advantage after I reached my turn around point.

Although the bike trail goes all the way to Woodbury Road, I usually turn back at the LIE underpass. This gets me to 4.5 miles before I pass by the spot where I usually park. That was the case today and I continued south until I'd covered most of the northern trail. The run itself was very pleasant and I moved along well through it all. Unlike most times, cyclists far outnumbered runners. In fact there were so many bikers, I though there might be a cycling event happening.

I ran by feel today and was once again puzzled by my pace. I'm confident that I could have matched last year's pace for a 6 mile training run had I'd pushed harder. However, what seemed like something I once could do with a normal effort now requires a race day mentality. Still, I was happy with today's performance and I really enjoyed being outside on such a beautiful spring morning. I'm still thinking Stillwell for tomorrow. I hope this great weather continues.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Bethpage is better, but some bikers are bozos

The new, improved Bethpage trails
Today's run (Bethpage State Park): 6.4 miles

It's a beautiful day on Long Island, sunny and a little cooler than yesterday. Today is Cinco de Mayo but we're not doing anything related to that. Tequila lost its appeal many years ago, but by dinner time I may be persuaded to go out for Mexican food. Today is also the day of the Long Island Marathon, Half and 10K. I feel slightly guilty for not participating this year, but I'm glad that I didn't need to run 13.1 miles this morning.

It's been at least six weeks since I ran at Bethpage and I've missed it. The last time I was there, me and KWL did an early morning run and covered six miles. I haven't done too many runs greater than five miles this year, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to renew my Empire Passport and run the bike trail. 

After getting my sticker, I drove to the lot and saw that much work had been done to the trails since I last saw them. The entrance to the north trail was now open, and a small structure had been put up next to the trail head off the parking lot. There was fresh paint marking the newly paved sections, and a new sidewalk was added along the main driveway.

When I reached the northern trail entrance I noticed more improvements. I saw some new access points to the dirt trails and some decorative fencing around rest areas. They'd also stenciled distances in tenth of a mile increments in bold white numbers. Even though I wear a Garmin, I still found that to be extremely helpful during my run.

I felt good at the start and had no trouble with the rolling trail as I moved north. I wanted to go six miles to get a little more base conditioning and my energy level seemed to support that. A year ago I was at Bethpage every weekend doing progressively longer runs as I trained for the half marathon. I thought about the LI Marathon and Half that was going on as I ran. I did feel strong, but I don't think I could have managed a half today.

I crossed Haypath without a problem and then Old Bethpage Rd. Neither had much traffic. I wondered if I'd reach my projected turnaround point of 3.1 miles before I hit Old Country Road. I preferred not to cross that busy street if I could avoid it. I was about a quarter mile short of my halfway mark, so I needed to keep going. There was a traffic light and crosswalk, so I had no safety issues except for the bozo on a bike who cut me off when I reached the other side.

There were many walkers and cyclists on the path today, along with a smaller number of other runners. I had another bike incident, when a cyclist riding in the same direction that I was running, passed me with an inch to spare. She was busy talking to her two friends and wasn't being careful. I yelled "hey!" but she didn't react (or apologize). Most cyclists are courteous and careful, but it was amateur hour this morning.

I covered the second half of my run faster than the first. I had no trouble getting past the two short but steep hills located a mile from the trail entrance. For some reason I began feeling stronger on that last mile, so I picked up the pace. That helped get my overall time into my "acceptable range." When I got back to the lot, I saw what looked like a clown car convention. It was actually a Mini Cooper show taking place at the park. Unfortunately it attracted some losers who decided to tear around the parking lot in their cars (not Mini Coopers BTW) before exiting at a high rate of speed.

I was very happy with my run today, especially for the fact that I haven't done a six miler in a while. Now that I have my new Passport, I look forward to visiting Bethpage and the other state parks without needing to pay an entrance fee.
 

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