Just a Little Further

When I start my run, I am doing well. I mark how far I’ve traveled with stop lights (in Red); Old Concord, the Naval Air Station entrance road, Pat Mell Rd, and Windy Hill Rd (the half way point). Somewhere at that half way point my focus changes. I’m no longer paying attention to how far I’ve traveled; I'm focused on how much further I’ve got to go.

In order to make it back, I set small goals (in Yellow); Rush Truck, Stop Light at Pat Mell Rd, the street my friend lives on, the Naval Air Station entrance road, the dead rat (This was a particularly good goal. Unlike all the other goals, this one you can’t see until your about to step on it. This keeps you very busy looking for the dead rat, because you don’t want to step on it, and keeps your mind off of how tired and crappy you feel.), the big plane outside the Naval Air Station, The German Bakery (the reason I don’t bring a wallet), the Stop Light at Old Concord, the back way back to my house (it takes everything I have, not to turn down this street (sometimes I don’t have anything)), and the last Stop Light at Austell Rd (the end). These small goals makes the return a little more bearable, by breaking it down to “just a little further” sections.

Iron Hill Trail

I had every intention of waking up Saturday, and going for a ride. Alas, the siren song of the couch called to me. I spent most of the day curled up on the couch watching TV, or napping. During one of the watching TV times, I watched the Ironman competition, and the Xterra games (I was getting my exercise through osmosis).

One of the things about the Ironman, Xterra, any Marathon, or even the Tour de France is that they are boring to watch on TV. How exciting is “there is our leader running”, “there is our leader still running”, “there is our leader still running”, and “there is our leader running to the finish” (no wonder I was napping so much). But, what they have done to make it more interesting is to tell stories about the people in the race. The father doing a race with his 13 year old daughter, the 73 year old great grandfather, or the cancer survivor all make you care about the race. It also makes you feel like a pathetic slug for sitting on your couch all day.

Sunday morning, motivated by all the inspirational stories, I went to Red Top Mountain State Park. I had decided to do the Iron Hill Trail; the Iron Hill Trail is a 3.9 mile crushed gravel trail that runs along Lake Altoona. I had decided to make this outing my own little duathlon.

If you have read my blog, you know I ride my bike a couple of times a week (7.5 to 10 miles) at lunch or I run/trail run a couple of times (2.5 to 5 miles) after work. But, I’ve never done both in the same training session. This was adventures for me.



I started out mountain biking the trail. I did this for three laps (just under 12 miles). Mountain biking is a lot different than road cycling; it’s a lot harder, more fun, but a lot harder. By the time I got back to the car I was tired. My knees ached, my legs felt like rubber, and I was cold. This would have been a good time to pack up and go home, but noooo. I had watched the Ironman, and I had to also run the tail. So I changed shoes and shorts and ran (trudged) the same loop that I had just finished riding 3 times.

I don’t know why I thought I had to do this. It didn’t make me an Ironman. Maybe a Tinfoil Man, but definitely not an Ironman.

Outdoorsy

I am an outdoorsy kind of guy. I wasn’t always. I grew up in Brooklyn. The closest I came to the outdoors back then was the tree in front of my house and summers in New Jersey.

I started enjoying the outdoors when I was in the Coast Guard, but that was mostly the beach. I didn’t really become outdoorsy till I moved to Atlanta, which I find funny because I chose Atlanta because it was a real city's city. One with a night life, buildings, museums, and everything else a real city has to offer. Not the outdoors.

I think my current outdoorsyness started many years ago with a 17 ½ inch Brook Trout. My brother-in-law took me trout fishing on the Chattahoochee River and with the catch of my first trout, I became a fan. Although I haven’t been fishing in a while, I have developed a fondness for the creeks and rivers of Georgia.

The second thing that contributed to my outdoorsyness was the adoption of my first dog, Tosi. Tosi and I lived in an apartment and had to walk everyday. This started me walking further and further, till I started hiking. To this day, I still like hiking. I like hiking so much that I became the co-coordinator/leader of the GRRA’s (Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta) hiking group, and have stayed even after the passing of Buddy.

The purchase of a mountain bike was the third event that contributed to my outdoorsyness. I hadn’t ridden a bike since I got my drivers license, but mountain biking had reminded me of the joys of childhood. I have not done anything since becoming an adult that reminded me of childlike fun more than mountain biking. Riding down some tight singletrack reminded me of being a kid (even though I never saw any singletrack in Brooklyn). It is exhilaration at its best.

Trail running is my most recent outdoorsy activity. If you run, you can’t beat trail running. You never have to worry about sucking in diesel fumes in the middle of the woods, like you do when running on the street. Even running the same trails over and over, it is more interesting than running on a treadmill (even with a TV).

Next year I think I’m going to take up Kayaking. Because, if your going to do something new, do something outdoorsy.

Riding Can be Fun

I’ve been riding pretty regular during lunch. I do 3 to 4 laps of a 2.5 mile loop. Because most of it is in an industrial park, the ride can become boring. So, I’ve started a little game to help me through the boredom. I call it “What dead animal will I have to avoid today?” and the supplemental game “How long will the rotting carcass stay on the road?”.

So far the tally is:
4 squirrels - 1 to 2 weeks
1 opossum - 2 week
1 red fox - 1 ½ weeks (I wonder if it was saying “I’m coming for you Elizabeth”)
1 something - was there till in became a red spot.

Riding can be fun.

Cloudland Canyon

I went hiking at Cloudland Canyon last weekend. This was the first time I went there. I didn't go down into the canyon; I just hiked the rims.

The west rim trail is a singletrack rocky trail with some beautiful overlooks of the canyon. The day I went, the leaves were just changing. It was spectacular. Well worth the 2 hour drive from Atlanta.

It Has Been Awhile

I know I haven’t blogged in a while. It’s not because I haven’t had anything to blog about; I just haven’t had time. So, today I will update you about everything that’s going on.

Last month I found one of Allie’s teats swollen. I took her into the vet and they did a mastectomy on her. They also found a nodule on one of her other teats, and removed it. The results came back last Friday, and the swollen teat was benign, but the nodule was malignant. Because the report came back saying the margins are clear and because she is over 12 years old, I’m not going to put her through another surgery now. I will monitor her (we go to the vet once a month anyway) and play it by ear.

But, she is doing well. We walk 7/10th of a mile in the morning before work (she can only do a mile or so, max).

Hockey season started again and I have gone to one game. The Thrashers do not look good, but I don’t care. I enjoy going to the games.

I’ve been hiking a bit. I led 2 GRRA (Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta) hikes, which feels kind of wrong to go on a dog hike without a dog. At the last hike Hal & Allison let me borrow one of their dogs (Beau).

In the month and a half since hiking Panther Creek, I’ve hiked Sweetwater Creek twice (one was a GRRA hike), hiked a new trail at Red Top Mountain, done the GRRA hike at Piedmont Park and hiked Cloudland Canyon (more on this in a future blog).

The Piedmont Park hike kind of sucked because I dropped my phone during it. One of the park people found it and was calling everyone in my address book (basically he wanted someone to come and give him some money for the phone, which I was more than willing to do). When I got home and found out I had lost my phone (it wasn’t hard to figure out, I had 10 messages from my family and friends telling me I lost my phone), I called my number and made arrangements to meet. Unfortunately the person who found my phone didn’t like sitting in one place, and because of this I didn’t get my phone back. The next day I cancelled it and bought a new phone.

I ran the KP Challenge again this year. I was able to run the whole thing whithout walking or stopping, and I didn't hurt my knee this year (altough I still wear a brace when I run because of last year).

I started riding my bike during lunch. I mapped out a 2.5 mile loop that doesn’t have a lot of traffic. I started off just doing two laps (it’s a tough loop and I am fat), but now I’m up to 4 laps (10 miles). I’ve also done a couple of 15+ mile rides on the weekend (the Silver Comet Trail and the Panola Mountain/Arabian Mountain trail are great training rides).

I’ve also steadily increased the amount of miles I run (trudge) a week. I’ve been running the Bell Bomber Loop 2 to 3 times a week, for 2.5 to 3 miles a pop, and because of the switch back to standard time (it’s too dark to run in the woods) I started running on an asphalt trail along Atlanta Road which is 4.5 miles.

Anyone reading this might think I’m in good shape. After all, I walk almost a mile every morning with my dog, I hike 2 to 3 times a month, I ride my bike during lunch (7 to 10 mile a pop, 4 to 5 times a week, depending on meetings) and I run when I get home (2 to 4 miles a pop, 2 to 3 times a week). But, I’m not in good shape (unless you consider round being a good shape). I’m just an active fat bastard.

Panther Creek

Sunday I went for a hike with a friend of mine and his son. We went to Panther Creek, up in North Georgia. I have hiked this trail a couple of times before, and it is a long tiring hike. Especially since I haven’t gone on a real hike since Buddy and I did the Palisades.

Panther Creek trail head starts off of old 441 in Habersham County. It is a single file trail that follows Panther Creek. This hike is not for the faint of heart. It is 3 ½ miles to the falls and the swimming hole (which means it is 3 ½ miles back). The trail is rooty and rocky during most of the hike, with most of it shaded by a large assortment of trees.

The falls and swimming hole is a nice rest spot. We had lunch and went for a swim (the water is cold there). The swimming hole is not too deep, so jumping off the falls is out of the question (unless you don’t mind broken bones (the bottom of the swimming hole is very rocky by the falls)). After climbing on the falls (and slipping all over the place (the falls are slicker than snot)), we dried off and headed back.

The bad thing about the return trip is it is up hill. Sections of the return are steep, and you know you are going up hill, but most of it you are going uphill and you don’t even know it (my Dick Tracy watch said it was a 600 feet of elevation gain). That is why it took us longer to return (gravity is not a fat guys friend).

By the time we got back to the car (about 4 ½ hours) I was tired and my friend looked like he would have stroked out if it was another mile longer. His son said it was a easy hike and that he didn’t want to hike with old people any more (we are to slow), but I did notice that he slept the whole way back to Atlanta (easy my ass).