Run around the Point after work;  3.2-miles. 

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #19 for 2023...

"The New Centurions" written by Joseph Wambaugh, first published in 1971.

This was Wambaugh's first published novel.

And from the Archives...

August 30th, 2020 - Nipmuck Trail

Bigelow Hollow to Gurleyville Grist Mill Marathon

Time to Marathon:

Bigelow Hollow to the Gurleyville Grist Mill, through Union, Eastford, Ashford, Willington and Mansfield, Connecticut.

Shuttled cars with Wuzzam, he and the Old Goat would be starting five or six miles away from me.  I hoped to catch them by mile 22 or 23.  This did not happen.

I felt really good until around 17 or 18-miles.  From that point on, I slowed from a 4.5 mph average to a overall 4.3 mph.  Ended up running 6:03:00, with another 5 or so minutes of stopped time to fill up water.  Wuzzam and Karl finished about 7 or 8 minutes before me, doing around 20-miles.  I hit right at 26.2-gps measured miles....  this was marathon #60 all-time for me.

Nipmuck Trail

Found an old map of Windsor State Forest (the Jambs) online, it reminded me that I had at one time thought of trying to find the obscure "west to east" trail that shows up crossing Ridge Road and heading toward what is labeled as Clear Brook Pool and Picnic Area.  I know that I also have some old maps in a file somewhere with "older" trails on them.

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #18 for 2023...

"A Ticket to the Boneyard" written by Lawrence Block, first published in 1990.

This is book eight of the Mathew Scudder Series.

Traveled out to Heath to see if I oould locate the connection on the Burnt Hill Catamount Trail to Catamount State Forest at the 3-Town Boundary Marker.

I didn't have great hope as someone placed a sticker on the Kiosk Map on Flagg Hill Road Trailhead stating that the trail was "under construction" or something similar.

Regardless, once at the marker, I saw nothing heading in the Catamount State Forest direction, so I continued on the path that existed.  Followed it to roughly the 3 mile point, and decided to turn around (it was roughly an hour with the last bit very slow due to downed trees and difficulty finding the trail).

Finalized the miles at 5.6.  Mentally recorded two options for the future, that do exist (old forest roads that hopefully get me somewhere I want to go).  I will be back!

Roadside Effigy at near Gould Road, Route 2

Looking off the first lookout on the Burnt Hills Catamount Trail

Slab underneath that first lookout, extends hundreds of feet

**********

Also, from the archives...

On this day I've finished two marathons...

In 2008, Tippi and I finished Metacomet II, which began at Phelps Road in Suffield, and covered north to Route 57 and south to Route 20.  Running time of 5:32:00.  This was my 39th and Tippi's 13th completed marathon.

In 2009, Wuzzam joined Tippi and I at Tunxis II (South), which meant we ran from Route 219 to Satan's Kingdom, and also north to Roberts Brook I believe.  Our time was 6:04:44.  This was my 44th and Tippi's 15th marathon.

Suffield 5km Course #1 for 2023.

Hot and Sunny (~80-degrees); 29:50. 

First effort of 2023, not much running never mind 'hard" running to this point.  I was dreading this attempt.

Due to the lack of miles and lousy conditioning, I set a reasonable goal of under 36-minutes.  Coming in on the first loop in 14:50 had me encouraged.  I felt the effort, but I thought I could finish the second loop running and I would not have to resort to walking any of it.

The second loop wasn't much worse than the first one, I was only 10-seconds slower so my pace setting was ideal.

Completed the 3.1-miles in 29:50, which surprised me.  Nicer work than expected..

Times for my Race Against Myself (plus official events) at this location:

• #1, 2023 - 29:50 (August 26th, 2023)

___________________________________________

• #5, 2022 - 27:30 (October 1st, 2022)
• #4, 2022 - 26:07 (June 20th, 2022)  Official Event
• #3, 2022 - 25:28 (May 22nd, 2022)
• #2, 2022 - 25:20 (May 7th, 2022)
• #1, 2022 - 27:24 (April 8th, 2022)

___________________________________________

• #7, 2021 - 23:50 (October 30th, 2021)

• #6, 2021 - 24:34 (September 17th, 2021)

• #5, 2021 - 25:10 (September 3rd, 2021)

• #4, 2021 - 25:29 (August 27th, 2021)

• #3, 2021 - 26:48 (August 20th, 2021)

• #2, 2021 - 25:20 (July 9th, 2021)

• #1, 2021 - 27:00 (June 28th, 2021)  Official Event

___________________________________________

• #2, 2019 - 27:46 (July 9th, 2019)

• #1, 2019 - 28:04 (July 2nd, 2019)  Official Event

___________________________________________

Also - depsite missing it, today was Play Music on the Porch Day 2023.

The Primitives record release on Bandcamp.

The Primitives - Get Drunk and Party

3.4-miles in Granville with K2 exploring the Bad Luck Mountain area. 

Visit with the folks, stopped in Plainfield on the return trip to Connecticut and rambled on old and obscure paths for 4.3-miles. 

Canton Land Trust, exploring more of Ratlum Mountain.\

4.6-miles.

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #17 for 2023...

"The Sinaloa Story" written by Barry Gifford, first published in 1998.

2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #9

Granville Reservoir 8 KM (4.9-Miler)

K2 joined me for a run in Granville, at the Reservoir.

I decided that the Ankle, Achilles and Heal are feeling a bit better, at least enough to move a bit better than I have been lately.

Stuck to the forest roads, and the loop measured out at 4.9-miles with 550' of climb, mostly from mile 2 to mile 3.

Completed Granville Reservoir 8Km #1 in 1:05:00 (4.5 mph).  My speed is not impressive, but my right foot felt better than it has in 10 months, and I managed to run the entire way.  It's a start.

To the Tunxis area to run on Canton Conservation Property nearing Ratlum Mountain.

Completed 4.6-miles.

Took a drive with DL to Chicopee to purchase a pair of Redwing Boots because I'm thinking that it's time to treat my feet correctly. 

Pavement's Gary Young passed away at age 70...

My friend the Hillbillage gave me a bunch of albums to listen to back in the very early 2000's by the band Pavement.  Once I listened to the first album, Slanted and Enchanted, it stayed in my rotation for months.  It was that fantastic.

I finally got around to listening the the second record, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain much later on.  It was just as impressive.  But, as I now had two Pavement records in my rotation, which I really thought the world of, I didn't get around to listening to the three final albums for a few years.

You see, I dove into all the early EP's and Singles, and Unreleased Tracks from those first two records instead of moving on to the later recorded output.  I was happy doing so.

Nowadays, I do enjoy their entire output, but those first two were and are magical still.

Which brings me around to announcing the death of  Pavement's Original Drummer Gary Young, who also Produced their first records in his garage studio.

From Wikipedia:  Pavements first EP, Slay Tracks (1933-1969), was recorded at  Gary Young's "Louder Than You Think Studio" with Young contributing drums.  Young would also appear on their next two EPs, Demolition Plot J-7, and Perfect Sound Forever, released in 1990 and 1991, respectively, as well as their 1992 debut album, Slanted and Enchanted. Young began gaining the band a degree of notoriety with his on- and offstage antics. He was noted for greeting the audience at the door, giving out vegetables, such as cabbage, to fans, and for doing headstands.

His last release as a member of the group was the EP Watery, Domestic. He later appeared on two tracks on the Major Leagues EP as a producer.

Young was fired from Pavement in 1993 due to conflicts with the rest of the band. He reunited with the band to play two shows in 2010.

3.4-mile jog in Granville, cool, damp and humid. 

Bands and Live Performances I've been a part of:

#7.

Folk Duo, Adams Aggie Fair, Summer 1981.

Kirk C and I decided to jump into a talent contest at the Adams Aggie Faire around August 1981..

We made an attempt at Hey Hey My My.  

My guitar was a very cheap acoustic with rusty strings and guilty of being out of tune.

We pretty much were awful.  

At the time, once we completed the tune and there was no applause, it seemed a bit embarrassing.  Afterward, in retrospect, it was a pretty punk thing to attempt, as we had no practice or preparation whatsoever.

From the archives...

Mahican Mohawk Marathon
August 15th, 2014
Florida, Savoy & Charlemont, Massachusetts

Mohawk, Savoy, Florida Marathon for Wuzzam and I.

Wuzzam and I ran the Mahican Mohawk Marathon in 6:43:30.  We began and ended at Mohawk Trail State Forest in Charlemont, along the bank of the Cold River.  Our turn-around or midpoint was roughly at North Pond at Savoy Mountain State Forest in Savoy / Florida.

This was my 53rd completed marathon.

Running through Stafford Meadow

 

Red Pine Plantation, set in 1930's..

Up through the Red Pine.

Wuzzam at the first crossing of the Cold River.

Bog Pond, a long-time favorite area of ours..

Burnett Homestead Cemetery in Florida..

Second crossing of the Cold River.

Visited the Folks today, with a stop at Chi's for take-out.

Chi's is housed in the old store named "Kelly's On the Corner" (I think).  Back in the mid to late '70's I recall playing a lot of pinball in there.

On the drive back to CT, I stopped in Plainfield and explored along South Road, completing 3.0-miles into Dubuque State Forest.

Worked a brief shift in the early morning before my adventure.....

4.3-miles along the Metacomet (New England Trail) from Hatchet Hill Road to above the Farmington River at T-Ville.

Managed a 2-hour emergency shift at work afterward.

3.8-miles at Northwest Park, working on remembering the connection towards the Farmington River Park in Bloomfield.

Managed a 3-hour emergency shift at work afterward.

Drove to Northwest Park to complete the 2023 NWP Trail Hike Challenge.  

K2 finished last weekend, and I had three remining trials to execute to call this achieved:

• Rainbow Reservoir Trail
• Softwood Forest Trail
• Conservation Trail

I completed the three trails in 5.8-miles.  It was very hot in the open areas but a bit more cool and shaded in the woods.

Spoke with Jon Evil after completion of the challenge, I believe he began his work today.

Ended up the day with a 5-hour shift at work.

From the archives....

Hallockville Pond Marathon

August 11th, 2005 - Hawley, Massachusetts

Today I completed my 30th marathon.  Locale was Dubuque State Forest and we named the event the "Hallockville Pond" Marathon.  

For company, I had Wuzzam being his norm good sport, and Tippi with her normal determination.  Old Farmer Tom met us along the Notch Trail on bicycle, and enjoyed a few miles with us.

This was Tippi's 4th completed marathon.  Our time ended up at 5:21:16.

I do try to separate work from life, but this week was heavily involved with SCADA, Networking and Remote Communications to the point of working four twelve hour days (or more).  Not much time for any outside activities or thoughts, even. 

Rock & Roll Guitarist Robbie Robertson of "The Band", passed away today.

I am most familiar with the first two Band records, Music from Big Pink and The Band.  While both offer  incredible slabs of Music, the first, Music from Big Pink is my favorite.

Side one

1. "Tears of Rage"                                    

2. "To Kingdom Come"

3. "In a Station"

4. "Caledonia Mission"

5. "The Weight"

Side two

1. "We Can Talk"

2. "Long Black Veil"

3. "Chest Fever"

4. "Lonesome Suzie"

5. "This Wheel's on Fire"

6. "I Shall Be Released"

The Band:

Rick Danko              bass guitar, fiddle, vocals

Levon Helm             drums, tambourine, vocals

Garth Hudson           organ, piano, clavinet, soprano and tenor saxophones

Richard Manuel        piano, organ, vocals

Robbie Robertson     electric and acoustic guitars, vocals

My favorite song by The Band is "The Weight".  It is heavy, and is still remarkable today.

It is too often that musicians are left off of our personal playlist, for all sorts of reasons.  Perhaps, this will be an opportunity to dig a bit deeper into Robbie Robertson's music.