Training Log Archive: JanetT

Event: Run the Rotary NRE (EMPO)
 

To park and around neighborhood, with Glen, in very light showers. About 70F

A wander on rocky trails on Lehigh property below Mountaintop Campus while Glen ran.

Saw a female Baltimore oriole; and a pair of indigo buntings (m/f), or so I assumed as they were hanging out together.

Wanting a ride but not the potentially muddy trails closer to home due to the heavy rain Friday-Saturday, we drove up to West End Regional Park, most of whose trails are almost always dry...and the ones I rode on were. Temp was in the low 70s, some breeze, and sunny.

First of the season ride on Roller Coaster which I did in the opposite direction I've usually done it. There are slopes I have to walk up on Roller Coaster, no matter which direction I take. Also did part of Extra Credit across the road, before returning and riding Fun Stuff twice. Rode the entire length of the tree-skinny on the second try!

Legs aren't too sore; left ankle is a bit creaky. I forgot to note my wildlife sightings yesterday...

While in the woods between JB1 and JD, I saw a fox cross my path and run off; one deer (I'm sure others in the woods had scared off more); and on the drive home shortly after leaving the park we saw an eagle soaring overhead. A lot of birds were enjoying the gorge yesterday too.

C • Eagle 2

The sky has been cloud-free all day...a beautiful blue (and much drier than the weekend; we had 3.25" of rain Friday and Saturday), so I *needed* to get out. Went looking for shade of which there's not a lot yet because some trees haven't leafed out. Maples are out, oaks just coming. Nice breeze kept me cool despite the 70° temp.

Event: 2022 Billygoat
 

From parking to start of Letchworth State Park (west side; starting from the Trailside Lodge). Day started out near freezing but warmed up to about 48F by the rime we walked downhill to that race start near Inspiration Point which overlooks two waterfalls to the south (upstream).

Kid Goat, nominally 6.0 km, 220m climb; we were allowed one skip. Of the people finishing it, 10 skipped one control and the rest visited them all.

Started off running down the trail from Inspiration Point amidst (mostly behind) most everyone else, when I decided to skip #1 saving a bit of distance and a 5 contour drop to a hilltop overlooking the gorge with a subsequent climb back up. In hindsight, I wish I'd skipped #9 instead...the climb out of #8 was much more gradual late in the race than the one out of #9. I suppose I could have gone to them all, too, like several others did.

When I decided to skip #1 I headed NNE to run on the road towards #2 (I never made it as far as the start triangle that way). I managed to trip somewhere on the way, but no damage. Caught up to Judy K who'd run the parallel trail instead and we were together for #2 and #3, then she took a different route to #4 and I never saw her again until near the end. I headed toward the trail along the top of the gorge, ran a ways down the road, cut across the big field and then over the spur E of 5, then headed W on the south side of the stream so I could see what #5's large rootstock looked like while I headed to #4 which was beyond it. The area for the return trip between 4 and 5 looked pretty marshy so I swung wide N on my way back to #5 from #4. I saw Janet F heading to #5 as I was passing by heading to #4. Saw Nancy D when I was closer to #4; she was also ahead of me. At around this point I also saw Robbie G, Greg A, and Danny Riley (or was it Joe?) so I knew they were the lead pack at that time.

To #6 I stayed N of the out of bounds. By #7 I got my (collapsed) hiking pole ready because the course was entering the steeper area and hillsides were muddy. In fact, just getting to #7 was pretty dicey and I was happy to have my pole along.

Then I managed to overshoot 8 drifting too low; same on #9 but not by as much. AP gives me almost 9:00 of error on these two. Finally the slog mostly straight up the hill to the big trail (Andis, speedy [Vadim Masalkov], and Wyatt passed me here), and then easy navigation to 10-11 and the downhill finish. Cold sandwiches and hot soup were available after the race.

The design for the BG shirts is fabulous, three goats standing on a bridge over a river while a troll sits beneath it holding a control flag, with some goat skulls on the opposite bank. Those of us not earning shirts received a copy of the logo design printed on heavy photo-type paper, about 8" square. It's also printed much smaller on the face of the map. :-)

Clare D ran her first Billygoat and finished in time for the shirt...yay! Sharon C and Sam Levitin were last finishers within the time period; a number of others were overtime or didn't find the proper number of controls.

Kid Goat - Splits