Showing posts with label mountain biking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mountain biking. Show all posts

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Bunnies, bikers, planes and hills at Stillwell

Low flying craft over the Field of Dreams
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.75 miles

It was off to Stillwell Woods for me this morning. I had a great time there a few weeks ago with SIOR and wanted a shady route a this sunny day. I managed to get my gear in gear and hit the trail before 8:00 AM. Conditions were cool (70°) and felt even cooler in the canopied woods.

My one negative about Stillwell Woods is that some mountain bikers ride aggressively without regard to what may be around the bend. I've had my share of encounters, near misses and resentful riders who acted like the bikers owned the trail. Today was different. There were numerous bikers and everyone was careful and respectful for my safety.

Also in abundance today were cottontail bunnies. I stopped counting after ten. Some of them were as big as raccoons. There was a lot of stuff to look at besides the fauna, including a group of glider enthusiasts who had assembled in the center of the big field. These gliders have wingspans of 10' or more and they look huge as they float above you while you run.

I took a couple of detours off my normal loop, one of which put me in front of a very steep climb. I managed it well, and I'll give much credit to my Brooks Cascadias for getting me over that hill. My detours took me through some rough winding paths that had so many sharp edged rocks it felt like I was running over a herd of stegosauruses. That's one of the reasons I love Stillwell. If you want scenic, hard packed trails, there are plenty to choose from. If you want extremely technical terrain, be careful what you wish for.

Forty feet to the top
The Emerging Runner family Skyped with Adventure Girl later in the day. She and a friend had spent their afternoon running trails up a 6,000 foot mountain outside Missoula, Montana. Adventure Girl got bitten twice by a dog during that run.  As wild as that all sounds, it was just a typical Sunday for her. My run up a 40 foot rock covered hill at Stillwell can't compare with that, but in the moment it felt like a mountain.

I'm glad I got away from the neighborhood for today's run and it felt good to be challenged with some difficult terrain. If the summer is as hot as it's supposed to be, I think I'll be spending a lot of weekends in those woods.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Wishing for an Independence day from mountain bikers

Welcome to Stillwell - but beware
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.75 miles

I often feel that trail runners get less respect than hikers and mountain bikers. Most articles I read about trail activities emphasize hiking and biking and rarely, if ever, mention running. Last year I donated to the Rails to Trails Conservancy which (I've concluded) spends most of its budget sending emails and letters to patrons asking for more money. Whenever RtTC writes about trail usage, it's only about cycling.

My town has a great Preserve called Stillwell Woods. Described on the nassaucounty.gov website as: "A 270-acre preserve and multiple-use area, Stillwell Woods offers a blend of old field and oak barrens communities, the latter of which includes plants and animals that are more typical of habitats farther east on Long Island." It also mentions (I've bolded relevant text): "The Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail for hikers runs through the preserve; there are also bicycle trails and equestrian trails."    

So why does mentioning or not mentioning running matter? It matters because of the mindset of the people who use the Preserve. 270 acres is a large area and there are many paths to travel. There should be plenty of room for everyone on the trails and everyone should acknowledge that. But, except in rare occasions, bikers ride the trails with abandon with little regard for anyone making their way around on two feet. I've had enough encounters with mountain bikers to sense the resentment that many have for trail runners.

I arrived at Stillwell around 8:00 AM this morning for my Independence Day run and saw a few people preparing their bikes. It seemed less crowded than usual and I assumed I'd have a nice peaceful run. I did not. Almost from the start, I was in conflict with mountain bikers. My first turn off the trail head was partially blocked by two stationary riders who were chatting until I'd passed them to enter a side trail. 30 seconds later, these riders came up from behind, forcing me off the narrow single track so they could get by.

I had a few other encounters with bikers after that. In each case I would hear someone just seconds before I saw them. The bikers didn't slow down, apologize for making me jump off the path or bother to warn me that more riders were coming up right behind them. In one case, a second rider appeared so suddenly that I had to leap out of the way to avoid them. I snagged my foot on a root and it almost took me down.

My body whipped around exactly like it did a few months ago when I tripped on broken sidewalk during a run. I wrenched my back when that happened and the resulting pain was so bad my wife had to come get me. I didn't run again for three full weeks. Today was a different story. Once I righted myself, I expected the sharp pain that I'd experienced from my ruptured disc. Besides feeling slightly shaken up, I was fine, with no discomfort whatsoever.

Looks a lot more peaceful from this height
I carefully made my way out of the woods after that and continued running past the trail head for another half mile. Stillwell is always an experience. The continuously changing terrain provides an interesting and challenging workout. I'm planning for a Runsketeer rendezvous at Beg Hog (my new name for Bethpage) tomorrow and I'm happy that I'll be able to get a fourth run in on Monday. I will be dealing with cyclists on the bike trail, but they seem to be a more thoughtful breed than those at Stillwell.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Conditions not ideal at Stillwell Woods

Tough going along the big muddy
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.25

After a string of indoor workouts, I was ready for an outside run today. The news stations were predicting heavy rains starting mid to late morning and that helped get me out the door early. I quickly dismissed a run around the neighborhood (too dull of a route on an already gray day) and decided to visit the trails at Stillwell instead.

Stillwell's lot was fairly empty when I arrived, and I thought that people might be avoiding the woods and the fields due to the imminent rainstorm. I'm always happy to have the trails to myself and felt excitement as I headed toward my favorite route. Once I took a left off the initial trail that leads to the black trail, I saw that my usually well-groomed paths were frozen and muddy. The packed single track was scored and deeply rutted by mountain bikes.

Due to these conditions, I needed to constantly switch from one trail edge to another because the thawed sections of mud were too unstable. I'm always concerned about tripping on a trail, but in this case it could have resulted in a face full of mud or an injury from the frozen terrain. As I made my way north, I started to think about which section might be free of mud and followed a trail that is usually covered in leaves.

That trail was much more stable, and while it gives way to a sandy section, that was preferable to mud. I was surprised to see some hikers on the trail, as well well as mountain bikers. I was the only runner as far as I could see. I didn't do my usual two loops because the thought of repeating that first muddy mile was unappealing. That gave me the opportunity to follow some different trails that I've somehow avoided over the past year.

Even the better trails had mud and ruts, so after three miles I decided to head back. I'd originally planned another loop around the open field that would have added another mile. When I got close to the trail head, I saw a group of ten mountain bikers coming into the woods. One of them told me that I was very visible (I was wearing my bright orange long sleeve jersey) and I called back, "That's the idea!" As peaceful as it is to run in Stillwell, the danger of being mowed down by a biker is always there.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Choosing the difficult path

The trail rarely taken
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.5 miles

I went to Stillwell Woods this morning for a change of pace and the opportunity to run in shade. The clouds have moved out and the humidity (and dew point!) is higher than yesterday. Even though Stillwell offers a nice break from my neighborhood streets, I don't feel like I've taken full advantage of its breadth of choices. Nowadays, I tend to follow the same few trails, but I decided to change that today.

When I arrived at Stillwell Park, I saw an open tent with mountain bikes set up by Santa Cruz, a bike manufacturer. A few months ago Scott bikes did the same thing, offering people the opportunity to test their bikes on Stillwell's trails. Due to that, I was a little concerned that I'd get over-run by mountain bikers on the trails. It turned out that I only encountered a few groups of riders who shared the path nicely.

Unlike the route I normally follow, I turned left on a path marked "most difficult." In the past, I would take on Stillwell's hardest technical trails. Over time, I've found myself running the same, less challenging loop. The trees were doing a nice job of blocking the sun as I made my way through the ups, downs and root covered paths. After a couple of miles, I started to feel fatigued and I needed to take a minute to rest before continuing.

It turned out to be a more difficult run than I'd intended. The upside was getting through a good workout with scenery far more interesting than my neighborhood streets.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Trail fun (times two) at Stillwell Woods

Mountain biking is Scott to be fun
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.4 mile + 4.5 mile hike

I returned to the trails in a big way today. This morning I went over to Stillwell for a run, and saw that Scott Sports was there, hosting an event. Scott, who also has a line of running shoes, was providing people with the opportunity to test their mountain bikes on Stillwell's trails. The Scott folks offered me the chance to try a bike, but I really wanted to get my run in.

I was concerned that the trails would be packed with novice riders, but that wasn't the case. I saw more bikers than usual, but most were skilled and courteous. Last night I noticed that the Fitbit had recorded over 10,000 steps, but only three staircase equivalents. My son and I decided to knock out a bunch of stair climbs, so we did another 26.

Despite some concern that I'd pushed too hard last night, I had no trouble taking on Stillwell's steep sections today. I ended up covering 4.4 miles and appreciated the change of surface after so many recent runs either on the treadmill or on pavement.

Choosing the difficult path
Later, my son and I returned to Stillwell for another hike. Our goal was to take on Stillwell's toughest trails and to find the elusive Ewok Forest. At every fork, we took the "more difficult" option. We found ourselves so far east that we intersected with the Trailview path toward Cold Spring Harbor. We doubled back from there, taking a circuitous route that involved a few side paths. We finally decided that we'd covered enough ground and headed back to the trail head.

One of Stillwell's sharp drops
When we returned to the car, I checked the Fitbit and saw that we'd covered 4.5 miles, which worked out to 10,200 steps and 23 staircase equivalents. We saw new trails and I introduced my son to the junked car that I always pass as part of my regular running route. We didn't end up taking advantage of the Scott event, but we certainly had a Stillwell workout. Today, that went double for me.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

D'oh, a deer!

Rainy conditions on Stillwell's trails
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4 miles

Yesterday's workout was focused on speed and intensity so I thought I'd go for an easier run today. It's been a while since I've visited Stillwell Woods and a trail run sounded like a good idea. Just for fun, I downloaded a podcast from 3nonjoggers.com. This is a trio of trail runners who record a weekly hour-long running-related program. I read about them in the April issue of TrailRunner magazine.

I have not run with a music player in years, but, with my new pocket-rich running shorts, I thought I might today. I'm glad I did, as the podcast was funny and interesting and I certainly recommend it. While I feel that listening to music or podcasts is dangerous on the road, at least I won't see any cars on the trail. Mountain bikes, yes. Deer, yes. But no cars.

I mention deer because I had a close encounter with one this morning. I was moving along nicely on a twisty section of singletrack, when my eyes caught a flash of beige about five yards ahead. Apparently I had surprised a large deer grazing in the woods. The deer jumped onto the path in front of me and took off very quickly. I literally said "What the @#$%!" when I saw it. Although I'd seen deer on my runs in the past, I'd never seen one at Stillwell.

Besides the deer sighting, there wasn't much happening on the trails this morning. It was raining lightly when I started and the rain intensified for a while during my run. The canopy overhead protected me, but I still got fairly wet. My only company besides the deer were three bikers who passed me on my way up a steep rise. The tables got turned when they sputtered out before reaching the top and I just kept going. To their credit they cheered me when I went by.

Ready for future recovery
Later in the day I returned some Adidas recovery slides that my wife bought to surprise me. It turned out that she ordered the wrong size, simply because she listened to what I told her. They are Adidas Superstars with a very comfortable foot bed. I look forward to wearing them after my next run.

Tomorrow morning we'll be at the Memorial Day parade to watch my son march with the school band. That will preclude a long morning run, but I'll probably do a treadmill workout as I begin my taper week. I've had some interesting experiences on the road, track and trail this weekend. Might as well add the treadmill to the mix.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Star Treks - biking and running at Stillwell Woods

Twin Treks - two times the fun
Today's workout (Stillwell Woods): 6.5 miles (bike), 3.15 miles (run)

I'm no longer plagued with noticeable knee pain but the problem hasn't fully disappeared. I'm looking at lower impact workouts to help facilitate recovery. One way to do this is to incorporate more elliptical workouts and to do some biking. This morning KWL came by at 7:00 AM and put on a bike repair clinic, making me and my wife's (15 year old) Trek hybrids trail-worthy in less than 30 minutes. KWL rode one of the Treks instead of his high end Scott mountain bike to keep things even.

Once we made the 5 minute drive to Stillwell we unloaded the bikes and it was strange being one of the "bike guys" rather than solely a trail runner. After a couple of last minute adjustments we headed into the woods with my Garmin 210 and KWL's Garmin 800 recording our progress via GPS. It's been years since I've done more than a cursory bike ride around the neighborhood so after finding myself on hilly and rooty single-track I was a little bit nervous. I was surprised how well I was able to move along and quickly gained the confidence to pick up my speed. The trails at Stillwell were whizzing by, much different from the way it looks when I run them.

KWL demonstrated techniques for navigating rough sections and he taught me optimal body position and when it was best to rise from my seat. This helped a lot when we were going over roots, rocks and other obstructions. KWL also guided me on what gears I should use when going up a rise or negotiating a steep descent. We followed my standard running route that is mostly packed dirt but there is one section that's a mix of sand and gravel and two consecutive gravel and sand covered hills that required a lot of speed on run-up, lest you fall back or stop.

We rode for about 50 minutes and then quickly changed to running gear and headed back into the woods for a 5K trail run. It seemed much different running those trails after flying along them minutes before. I felt as though I was running in slow motion but we actually covered the first mile in under 10 minutes. By mile two the hard work of the ride was catching up with me and I looked forward to finishing. We came around for our last loop and my right quad was complaining loudly. I told KWL that I felt the same as I did at the end of the half marathon. He completed a 120 mile ride last Sunday with 102 miles done during the GrandFondo challenge and had no problems with our ride but he also felt the run.

I'm finally able to upload my activities on the Garmin to both Connect and Training Center and I've enjoyed the mountain of data that you can analyze. One feature that I like about Training Center is the capability to overlay two runs and directly compare progress via two small circles that move along the path relative to their speed on the course. It's me vs. me. I like those odds.

I loved this morning's bike-and-run combo and I know I made progress on my fitness. Mountain biking is a blast, even when you're riding on a bike that weighs twice as much as its modern day equivalent.
 

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