A little experiment – My Google Maps and Jank’s Places to Run!

So, I’m updating my Google homepage this morning after a little birdie suggested something, and I come across something called “My Maps”, where you can essentially create map files (.kml files, just like Google Earth uses if you want to get technical) by pointing and clicking on the Google Maps website. So, I did a quick little brain dump, and here, without further adieu, is:

Jank’s Favorite Places to Run!

You’ll notice that most of them are fine, fine, fine places to bike, too.

I’m not completely sure if the link will work; could someone (anyone?) if you’re reading this try it out and post a comment? Thanks.

links for 2007-04-03

Futbol!

Groton Parks and Rec has some absolutely phenomenal programs. Most of what we’ve done through it has been programs for the boys, but this year, they’re running a pickup adult soccer league from now through November. I’m playing.

And, I now have definitive proof that I am:

  1. American
  2. Slow
  3. Way more out of shape than I usually let on

But, man, did I have fun.

Today’s game was up at the Mystic Oral School, an old facility at the top of Cow Hill (Hi, Warren!), just down the road from our house. There were 20-25 guys who showed up, mostly expatriates (getting to use that word not in reference to myself abroad is a treat), and another 5 or 6 locals, mostly transplants like me.

The game was great. I kept getting schooled by an African with golden shoes – no lie, he’d just sit there and kick the ball between my legs when I planted to stop him. I finally took the ball from him once before I split, but I think he felt sorry for me.

Afterward? Man, was I toasted. Three years of running, jogging really, have left me pretty much incapable of anything resembling speed. Not that I was fast in the first place (see above on short, white, and fat). But I dug it, and will be back next week.

Oh, one more bit – I rode my bike there and back. The ride there was great. On the way back, I took the long way just so I could spin out the legs. Still not sure if that was a good idea, but I’m not sore today, so probably it was.

Life Lessons on the trail

This is an absolutely beautiful bit by Fat Cyclist

I wanted to call someone and tell them to come get me, but I kept thinking of people watching the 5 o’clock news and hearing about the ill prepared idiot mountain biker who rode all day by himself, and had to be hauled out by the search and rescue.

I was not going to be that guy.

Well, actually I was that guy, but I got myself into this situation and I was going to do everything I could to get myself out.

I’ve been on his end of many an expedition – it’s a marvelous thing to bite off more than you can chew, ‘specially if you live to talk about it.

Blogged with Flock

Trancen-D’oh-cense

Ah, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages!

I sing the song of spring, of the earth awakening from its slumber.
I sing of soft ground, not wet, but loosened from the icy grip of winter.
I sing the song of the long, fresh light after the equinox.
And I sing the chorus of man and machine, working in unison.

Ah, but what would a story be without a twist?

For, like the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden, there are green snakes with Fangs in the Garden of springtime. I speak, of course of the dreaded thorns, the snaky green menace that runs rampant in the new-growth forest that blankets New England.

So, much like my last ride, I’m going to be fixing a tire tonight.

However, this story is not complete. Hubris will make an appearance, just like any good Greek playwright knows it must.

Unlike last time, where I picked up the thorn late in the ride, and didn’t know I’d bought a tire change until I got home, this time I picked up the thorn early in the ride, while lost… I mean, exploring a new route. Once I found myself and got back on track, I noticed the tire going flat while I was making a wicked fast descent and wondering why the back tire was sliding around. Looked down between trees, and noticed it was flattening.

D’oh. And, what – Me without a tube and pump? Say it isn’t so…

Turned around, and rode gingerly back to the parking lot. By the time I got back, the rear tire was almost completely flat. The tube, I’m sure, is riddled with snakebites now, in addition to the thorn.

Ah, years of road riding, you’ve made me soft.

The ride, my friends, was brilliant though. Couldn’t buy a nicer day even if I could fly myself wherever. Trails were in great shape, legs and lungs felt good, and I cleaned a climb that I’d never made before. The new bike still feels a little bit short, but I’m thinking more and more that I wasn’t fit properly before – I’ve got control and power now that I didn’t think was possible.

So, call me an idiot, poke fun at the boy with the flat tire. I’m digging out my short pump and a tube, and adding them to the kit in the trunk. Who wants to take bets on how long it is until my first “real” mechanical, and the multi-tool gets added?

Seals

Last week was my first double-digit mile week since January. I’m still walking.

I ran from the office at lunch yesterday. The run was good, but chilly. A pair of gloves was all I needed, though.

Huh. Nothing really coming out on the writing front, which is kind of a shame. I had an amazing run about two weeks ago – the first trip back to Arcadia in a long while, and I’ve been musing over it for a while, trying to figure out how to phrase the thoughts.

Essentially, what I’ve been postulating is that adversity is crucial to fully forming a human – that we’ve evolved in such a way that we do not truly function unless we are under stress. The Garden of Eden origin story tends to support this – Adam and Eve living in paradise couldn’t handle life with everything provided for them, and were forced out of the Garden.

But it’s not coming. Sorry. Spring is in the air, and it’s tough to think about adversity when there are daffodils sticking their heads out of the ground.

D’oh – Added later

So, I forgot to mention why this post was titled “Seals”.

As I’m coming back to the office after the run, I meet another runner in the basement shower of my building. We chitchat a bit about the day’s workouts, and he asked me if I saw the seals. “Nope.”

Unbeknownst to me, apparently there’s a gaggle of seals that congregate on some rocks outside of the Navy Station chow hall at low tide. Yesterday, low tide was about 11:30, so I missed the seals. It should be about 12:30 today, so I’m hoping to catch the seals during lunch. It’ll mean extending what should be 3 miles to about 4, but hey – how many people get to see seals during their lunchtime run?

Bluff Point Twilight Trail Race – 18 May, 2007!

Woo Hoo! The next-to-highlight (highlight being the New Haven 20K) of my race year is the Bluff Point Twilight Trail Race. It’s an absolute hoot, 6PM on a Friday evening. It’s on again this year (website is up). Missy and I are getting a babysitter.

One change this year is that they’re staggering the starts of the 5(ish)K and the 7(ish) miler. Which likely will lead to confusion at the finish line, instead of the start. Not sure how I feel about that…

If you’re interested, here’s the 2005 edition, and last year’s (buried towards the end.) And here’s TRCWTOH writing about the 2005 race.