Hello, all. As one former Red Fox Harrier used to say ... What is GOOD?
It just dawned on me that I have not posted on this fancy blog in a whole week. Sorry for the lack of posts, but honestly this is a quiet time in the world of Marist Running.
The student-athletes are in Finals Week. We are in a lull in competition. Everyone that is healthy is just cranking mileage and doing some strength-based workouts -- fartleks, accelerators, some track stuff but nothing speed oriented. That short period of time between the end of xc and the beginning of the New Year is an odd time, indeed, but it can be a great time to reignite base building.
In truth, everyone is having a lot of FUN. There was a group of men that did Tower on Saturday. For some reason, we did not work a Tower day into the entire cross country training paradigm this fall. But now Tower is a welcome addition to any training week.
I wasn't there at McCann when the boys returned today, but Chuck reported to me that a few dopey freshmen -- Flint, Jensen -- came back all giddy because they had set what is believed to be a course record on Fab 9 (which is not quite 9 miles, but you know ...). I think Chuck said they ran 48:30. Or something. Whatever. Good for them. I hope they had fun. It was crazy warm and windy today, and they just rolled with it. No workout for THEM on Tuesday!
It's pretty cool that loops, courses and training venues get handed down from generation to generation of Marist runners.
Now that xc is over and the majority of distance runs are on the road, the Bridge Loops seem to be the most popular.
For those that do not know, the Walkway Over the Hudson (the rusty old Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge) is on target to open sometime in the fall of 2009. As a result, a year from now this will open up a new world of Bridge Runs, or Double Bridge Runs, even.
Well, there you go. A post about nothing really. I hope this satiates the avid alumni (and other) blog followers. I will try to think of other nothings to write about in the coming weeks as we eagerly await the beginning, in earnest, of indoor track season in 2009.
I read this whole post waiting for the punch line, which I thought would be "Ahh! Of course!"
ReplyDeleteFirst-time commenter...
ReplyDeleteThere were a whole bunch of runs that went through the old Psych Center when I was there between '97 and '01. From what I have heard, though, it sounds like that area is off-limits. Those were some good runs, as bridge runs were not too common since the bridge was under construction many of those years.
As one of the original creators of Fab 9, which is 8.5 miles really it doesn't count unless they ran it the actual way because all records are going first down to mariners and then up through highland then over 9w and back. During my 5th year I had to reteach people the correct direction bc if you run the the light first and then come down it is much easier. I think Prinz or I hold the record in 53 min.
ReplyDeleteSide story, we named it fab 9 because there were only 4 freshmen in my class (Mike Schab, Sean Prinz, Tim Ciazza, and me). We called ourselves the fab 4 (stupid but whatever) and we enjoyed running in highland much more than running through Po-town. We did the run and asked Pete about how far and he said it was about 9 miles. Schab had a gps thing and it actually measures 8.5 miles.
There is also Fab 11, which is more like 9.5 miles where as you come up River Rd. from mariners into highland you make a sharp left onto Maple Hill Dr. and then make a right onto Bell Dr., go up hill and veer right. Bell Dr. circles around and then you backtrack onto River Rd. (Fab 9) and through highland. More hills=more fun.
For an added treat to any Culinary Haircut run, throw in Mile Hill road at Mile 9-ish and finish your run then from 44/55. More hills = more fun.
ReplyDeleteOrr...try Tower and then do the same add on. More hills = more fun.