Tues: Beaudry Park hills (50 min)
Cranked it up to 3 hill sets (18 hills) at Beaudry Park this week.
Wed: Tower Road (9.6 mi)
The standard route: Pendleton St. to Tower Rd. and up to the tower, then down Page Green Rd.
Thurs: Beaudry Park hills and high school trails (1 hr)
One hill set (6 hills) at the park, 15 minutes on the high school trails, and another hill set. I timed myself on the hills for the first time- just under 10 min per set with some fairly hard running.
Fri: rest
Sat: Trail run in Kennedy S.F. (16.2 mi, 3:10)
This was a pretty satisfying route I put together using the Finger Lakes Trail and some side loops. Parking on Bleck Road, I ran an out-and-back on the FLT to Bud Brook (between Daisy Hollow and Lake Roads), with a detour on the Swedish Loop on the way out and Spanish Loop on the way back.
This run filled in one of my only small gaps on the FLT in Cortland County, and now the only piece missing is a tiny segment in the middle of Cuyler Hill S.F. – not my favorite area, but maybe I’ll try to knock it off this fall when the trail is less overgrown.
The run was unspectacular but nice, and the trail was in fine condition (i.e. dry) the entire way. The descent to Daisy Hollow from the west featured some great downhill running on narrow, winding single track through open forest. The first portion of the Spanish Loop Trail, climbing out of Daisy Hollow, was also enjoyable, but the segment that follows Owego Hill Road back to the FLT was very hot as it passed through some open fields.
I passed a huge group of hikers between Daisy Hollow and Babcock Hollow on the way back and found that they had set up a very well-stocked aid station, manned by a friendly woman, at Babcock Hollow Rd. This was lucky for me, because I was running low on fluids at this point, and I gratefully accepted her offer to let me fill up my bottle. Not having to worry about hydration, I ran hard back to the car, almost sprinting the last little uphills.
Sun: Lake Erie beach run (~1 hr)
I headed out to Portland Bay, NY to visit my family at our cottage on Lake Erie and took advantage of the location by going for a morning run on the beach. This ended up being a very cool run, and I only wish I could so this type of thing more often.
From the cottage, which sits on a bluff above the lake, I took a path and stairs down to the beach, then ran west until I hit some cliffs that come right down to the water. The beach is always changing, and on this day it was a mix of sand and pebbles, with the best footing being found right at the water’s edge.
I turned around and ran as far as I could in the other direction until the beach again ended and cliffs began. Because the water at the base of the cliffs was only knee deep in most places, I continued, mostly wading but also running along cliff ledges where possible then launching back into the water. This was a really fun and interesting way to run, and the lakes and rocks were absolutely beautiful.
After about 15 minutes of this, I came to a large cove where Corell Creek flows out of a little gorge and into the lake, and right at the mouth stands the Pirate Rock. This is a 20-foot tall chunk of cliff that was separated by erosion from the main bluff and now stands alone in the lake- the most prominent feature of this section of Lake Erie shoreline. After admiring the rock, I turned and ran up the creek to the bridge where Route 5 crosses it. The flat shale creek bed made for some nice running.
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| Bird's eye view of mouth of Corell Creek and the pirate rock (from bing.com) |
I retraced my steps down the creek and past the cliffs, and then wrapped things up with an extremely refreshing swim. I do a lot of running and enjoy almost all of it, but it was fantastic to go on such a unique run and get a reminder of how special the Lake Erie shoreline is.
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| My route along the shore. |
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