Pave paradise ...

There’s nothing to it, really. It’s just a random, mostly empty parking lot, in the middle of Ulster County, in New Paltz, home to BOCES and other offices. This parking lot, on the edge of the woods, close to historic Huguenot Street, near the Wallkill River Rail Trail, has become a second home for our cross country team. It has become our go-to for hard Friday workouts on non-race weeks. Recent generations of runners may remember that. Recent graduates will NOT remember THIS: We also hang out in this parking lot on weekends now too. A lot. On Sunday mornings (Saturdays on non-race weeks), we meet at the McCann Center at 8a (yes, 8 o’clock in the morning, on the weekend) and head over to that nondescript parking lot for a flat, soft-surface long run. This Saturday, the River to Ridge trail was added to the repertoire in an effort to incorporate some hills, too. We sometimes see the Army West Point teams out there as well. Yes, it’s worth the trip, even for them (fortunately, our trip is shorter). FYI? We’re going off campus a LOT these days.

The Millbrook Dirt Roads, another preseason staple of training venues, has now spilled into the regular semester as well (a few weeks ago, we were there during a midweek downpour). Maybe we are over-correcting after having to run the same boring road and rail trail loops from campus last school year during the pandemic. Maybe the pent-up demand of awesome off-campus runs burst into a flurry of van trips for training runs. Hey, as long as I have my coffee and a modicum of control of the music in the front, I’m fine with this. The bottom line is, the team is craving it and we are happy to oblige their craving for high-quality training. There are no guarantees in running, just as in life. Will all this quality training translate into improved race performances? That is our hope and that is our belief and that is our desire. Ultimately, we are doing it because it is the right and proper thing to do, a course correction after a school year off course in so many ways. Anyway. For now, if you’re searching around the McCann Center for us on a weekend morning, where you might have used to find us? You might be better off checking out mostly this abandoned parking lot about 25 minutes west of campus.