Ten Feet Square

Into the Unknown...

Into the Unknown
blog migration

Into the Unknown

TL; DR: I’m in the process of migrating old posts from my three existing blogs into this blog. I’m also starting to write again.


I’ve been searching for a blogging platform that fits my needs for the better part of a decade. I started off on Blogger, now Blogspot, which worked, but was clunky. From there, I checked out a variety of other solutions, eventually settling on Ghost. Ghost wasn’t perfect, though, and I wanted a solution where I could write and publish straight from my computer. I tried out Wordpress, which integrates with Word, but writing posts in Word isn’t really where my heart is.

  • Doug Harple
Daniels Road State Forest and Surrounding Lands - 3 Mar 2019 and 23 Feb 2019
Daniels Road State Forest

Daniels Road State Forest and Surrounding Lands - 3 Mar 2019 and 23 Feb 2019

My last two weekend long runs were at Daniels Road State Forest. On February 23rd, I decided to drive in to the trailhead, which was a mistake. The road was two rutted tracks, 6 inches deep, and slippery the entire way. If I had needed to pull off to let another car pass, I would have been stuck. Amazingly, one other car was parked at the trailhead: another Subaru.

  • Doug Harple
Book of Days

Day 12

Today was the final race of the Saratoga Stryders’ 2018 Trail Series.  Each race is 5K, held on the same course at Camp Saratoga, now called the Wilton Wildlife Preserve and Park.  The race has a mass start, with 80-100 runners starting on top of a hill, converging almost immediately into double track.  Right after the start, runners pass through what was once a place for Scouts to gather and listen to stories near the fire.  We then run past one of my old troop’s traditional camping spots, on the right, and a barely visible trail on the left, leading to a bridge across the brook and then up to a concrete lean-to.  We used to play “Russian Spy” in these woods, a combination of “Hide and Seek” and “Tag”.  Today the understory has returned, and most of the traces of the Scout camp are gone.  Our old camping area looks like it has always been woods, and the bridge I just mentioned had almost completely rotted away the last time I checked.

  • Doug Harple
Weekly Review - 3 Jul 2016
weekly review

Weekly Review - 3 Jul 2016

Monday: The first of the Camp Saratoga 5K series, run by the Saratoga Stryders. I didn’t feel like I had a ton of push today, so I aimed my HR around 150, and then on the final kilometer I started cutting loose and passing people.

Wednesday: My family had intended on heading up to Heart Lake today, but a medical emergency dictated otherwise. I did manage to get out for a run tonight, and I heard a ton of night calls, including a bullfrog. I can’t recall the last time I heard one, but it struck me now how much like a bull they actually sound.

  • Doug Harple
Weekly Review - 5 Jun 2016
weekly review

Weekly Review - 5 Jun 2016

Monday: Still exhausted. I actually took a nap today, which usually only happens when I’m dealing with a flu.

I caught a third wind around 9 PM, so I decided to grab a short run as soon as it was feasible. While out on the run, I realized that a large part of the reason why my right knee has been hurting on these runs is because of the crown of the road; I played around with various parts of the road surface and confirmed it.

  • Doug Harple
weekly review

Weekly Review - 22 May 2016

Tuesday: Ran the third race of the 2016 AdiRUNdack Trail Series

Wednesday: Light floor work: yoga, stretching, PT exercises (quads), push-ups.

Thursday: 1.8mi at an aerobic pace. Knee was hurting toward the end. I wonder if it’s the shoes?

Friday: Bleeeeerch

Saturday: Yard work

Sunday: 5 miles in Skidmore’s North Woods. I needed a hill, and didn’t feel like driving all the way up to Moreau. I contemplated another go at Lincoln Mountain State Forest, but then I remembered that it’s spring turkey hunting season, and it’s highly likely that numerous people would be hunting up there.

  • Doug Harple
AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #3 - 17 May 2016
AdiRUNdack Trail Series

AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #3 - 17 May 2016

Before I get in to tonight’s report, I have a proposition for you all. A few of us were talking after the race, and someone suggested that we run the loop in reverse for the 5th race of the series. What do you think? Leave a comment on the Facebook post in the Adirondack Runners’ group, because this blogging platform doesn’t support comments. If enough people are interested, maybe we can convince Rebecca to do it.

  • Doug Harple
AdiRUNdack Trail Series

AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #2 - 10 May 2016

I didn’t get a chance to write up a report for last week’s race, so here’s a report on both. I ran in the Adirondack Runner’s AdiRUNdack Trail Race Series at Cole’s Woods these past two weeks, along with at least 100 others each night.

Rebecca Smith, the RD, mentioned the first week that this was the 10th year of the Trail Series. It’s a wonderful event, and I hope it continues on for at least another 10 years. Rebecca and her crew do an excellent job, and I look forward to the races each year.

  • Doug Harple
Weekly Review - 25 Apr 2016
weekly review

Weekly Review - 25 Apr 2016

Monday: Back in the saddle. 30 minutes around MAF target heart rate, on a beautiful but chilly night. Inspired by Boston and a post I stumbled across about running just to run, I forced myself out the door.

Thursday: I really didn’t want to go out again, but I did. Another 30 minutes near MAF target heart rate. I ran from one development into another, and the moment I crossed in to the other development, I started feeling precipitation. Nothing significant, just little wispy drops; we call it “spitting”. The moment I left that neighborhood, it stopped. Odd.

  • Doug Harple
Walking upon the Turtle's Back - 14 June 2015
Shawangunks

Walking upon the Turtle's Back - 14 June 2015

Earlier this month, my friend Ken and I headed down to check out more of the section of the Shawangunk Ridge that had been burned. I had gone for a short hike two weeks before, and I was curious to see more of this transitional landscape. We parked off of Ferguson road, at a small parking lot for Wurtsboro Ridge State Forest, then headed out on the little used, yellow-blazed, connector trail to the Long Path. The trail meandered for a while, leading us past a rather unexpectedly large waterfall in the middle of nowhere, until we finally made our way over to the rocky remains of an old road. This lead us to the Long Path/Shawangunk Ridge Trail [LP/SRT], and then we started climbing back up to Ferguson Road.

  • Doug Harple
The Desolation of Smaug - 01 June 2015
Shawangunks

The Desolation of Smaug - 01 June 2015

I had planned on heading down to check out Shawangunk State Forest on Sunday, but as luck would have it a work emergency came up. My boss was kind enough to OK a personal day for Monday, and my wife was kind enough to take care of my familial responsibilities, so, off I went. It took a bit of luck to find the trail I was aiming for, a yellow-blazed connector to the Shawangunk Ridge Trail / Long Path (henceforth SRT and LP) off of NY 52 east out of Ellenville, NY. I actually pulled in to the parking lot I should have parked in: a small, uncompleted lot just up the road from the yellow trailhead, but I saw no markings whatsoever, and so I went back the way I had come. I pulled in to the first parking area I had seen, in a fancy brick-paved spot, and noticed a sign that read “30 minute parking” directly to the left of my window. In frustration, I drove a short way further up the road, to a larger turn-off, and parked there. As it turns out, this is the northernmost “P” in the Shawangunk State Forest, as shown on the SRT trail map provided by the NYNJTC. (I’ll cover parking in more detail at the end.)

  • Doug Harple
AdiRUNdack Trail Series

AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #4 - 26 May 2015

Well, the 2015 AdiRUNdack Trail Series has come to a finish. Thank you, Rebecca Smith, for another wonderful year! Heidi Underwood won the fourth and final 5K for the women’s race, and Alex Benway once again won it for the men’s race. Overall, Sue Thompson won the 20K women’s race, with an average 5K finish time of 22:33, followed by Justine Trybendis with 22:46, and Angie Thomas with 23:57. For the men, Alex Benway finished the 20K with an average 5K time of 16:50, Max Selleck was next, with an average of 19:59, and Matthew Haley came in third, with 20:25. Congrats to the winners, and congrats to everyone who participated.

  • Doug Harple
AdiRUNdack Trail Series

AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #3 - 19 May 2015

Looking at the forecast this morning, I had expected to be running in the rain today. Instead, we were treated to abundant sunshine, slightly softer earth, and our dear friends, heat and humidity. Current series leader on the men’s side, Alex Benway, ran a full two minutes slower, while last year’s champion, Kevin Emblidge, won his first race of this series by two seconds. Kevin will have to run almost a full 3 minutes faster than Alex in the final race, though, if he wants the title this year. Alex is currently at 51:18 minutes total, and Kevin is at 54:01 total. Currently in third place is Max Selleck, at 60:18, and behind him is Matthew Haley at 61:27.

  • Doug Harple
AdiRUNdack Trail Series

AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #2 - 12 May 2015

Week two of the 2015 AdiRUNdack Trail Series is in the book. The weather was noticeably cooler than it has been, and it was windy, but the trees did a good job of sheltering us from the wind. I had thought, earlier in the day, that the trail would be muddy mess, since heavy showers were making their way through the area. As it was, the ground was still firm and fast through most of the course. Alex Benway once again won the men’s race, running 16:09 (almost a full minute faster than last week), and Tyra Wynn once again won the women’s race, running 20:51 (almost a full 30 seconds faster than last week).

  • Doug Harple
AdiRUNdack Trail Series

AdiRUNdack Trail Series - Race #1 - 5 May 2015

Last night was the first night of the AdiRUNdack Trail Series, a series of four mid-week 5K races, put on by the Adirondack Runners, a friendly running club that operates in the Glens Falls, NY area. Rebecca Smith does an excellent job of directing the race. The field was much larger than last year, with 146 people running in the first race. Alex Benway won it for the men’s field, in 17:03, and Tyra Wynn won it for the women’s field, coming in at 21:20.

  • Doug Harple
race report

Savoy Mountain Trail Race - 17 Aug 2014

When I look back on this race, 3 months later, the only word that comes to mind is: broken.

I felt myself burning out in the run-up to this race, and I scaled back my training to try and compensate. It didn’t help; I felt undertrained in the race, and broken afterwards. It was somewhere around 15.2 miles in length, and the only flat parts were on the last mile or so. Everything else was rolling, so that coming down off of the mountain was as brutal as going up. Not that any portion of it was truly brutal, but it was way more than I was expecting. There was a touch of technical stuff near the summit, but nothing terrible. There was a guy running with what appeared to be running crutches, and he managed to get through the technical stuff, and beat me by at least an hour.

  • Doug Harple
race report

Snowshoe Races - Feb 2015

Camp Saratoga 8K - 15 Feb 2015

Today’s race was a shock. First, and foremost, it was cold. Normally when you start any winter activity, a hike, a run, whatever, you want to start off a bit cold, because your body will warm up. Today, through, I found myself wishing I had worn my balaclava, and a thicker pair of socks. My toes were so cold as we waited around for the race to start that I was clenching and releasing them just to keep blood circulating. I was punching my fists together, too, for the same reason. (Sometimes being an armchair mountaineer pays off.)

  • Doug Harple
geek

Garmin Woes

I’ve had this problem a few times now: I’ll record an activity on my 310XT, go to upload it later, and the sync agent fails to pull the activity. My suspicion is that there is a bad block in the flash memory on the watch, and the watch hardware is old enough where it can’t work around it. I had this problem with the old Garmin ANT+ Agent under OS/X, and I just experienced it under Linux, with Garmin Forerunner 610 Extractor, a Python script that does a similar job to the ANT+ Agent. What’s interesting is that the new script always downloads all of the activity data, so I’ve been keeping the old activities around, and I now know that the error occurs somewhere between 540k-584k of memory usage, and that the value equates to 24% of the watch’s memory, based on what the watch says. So it’s a good guess that the watch has about 2 megs of memory on board.

  • Doug Harple