The Batona Trail

My original attempt at the Batona Trail, a 50 mile trail through the Pine Barrens here in New Jersey, was in the summer of 2009.  I hadn't brought a tent that year, and the mosquitoes and not giving myself enough time to complete it forced me to turn back early.

My next attempt came with my then girlfriend Kathleen in 2010, but we cut the hike short at mile 32 when she started to suffer from heat exhaustion and blisters.

I am pleased to say that on my third attempt, I finally finished the trail.

At the end of the trail

Lugging the matching, obnoxiously orange, exterior frame packs that my parents bought in the seventies, Stevie and I started out on a gorgeous April morning last Thursday.  Hiking in April meant we wouldn't have to deal with the heat or ticks that one encounters in the summer.

We took in two fire towers, crossed lonely backwoods roads, followed the pink blazes, and even stopped for a few beers at a piney bar.

Unfortunately Stevie also started to suffer from blisters, and we ended up setting up our tent in the middle of nowhere 16 miles in rather than making it to the first campsite.  In the morning, we walked back to one of the fire towers where Stevie's friend was able to drive in and pick her up, and I continued on the trail on my own.

Spent the night again in the middle of nowhere rather than a designated campsite:

Good morning from the Pine Barrens

And this afternoon I finally finished the trail I first attempted so long ago.

I love the Pine Barrens, I really do, but after three days in the woods without showering, sleeping on the ground in 30 degree temps, and walking 50 miles with a full pack, I was more than ready to get back to Collingswood.

Windy city

Another five miler this afternoon.  Feels good to be upping the mileage again.

But I could seriously do without the wind in my face for forty consecutive minutes.  It's been awful this week, but I guess it's just that time of year when I could run in circles and still have gusts of wind hitting me the entire time.

Gotta suck it up and build some character.

Five Miles

• Five miles tonight.  Most I've done in a long time.  But I have a Tough Mudder coming up June 1st and I want to do really well with it.
• It's nice to finally be training for something again instead of just aimlessly heading out on runs.
• I almost saw a cat die tonight.  It ran out into the street and tried to make a leap ahead of the front tire of a passing car.  Instead the cat hit the side of it and bounced off of it and ran back in the direction it had come.
• I keep forgetting the basic fact that a Garmin needs to be charged, so I keep bringing my regular watch on runs.
• In honor of April Fool's Day, I told Stevie I had spontaneously hired a German oompah band for our wedding.  She didn't buy it.  She knows me well.

It's so hard to say goodbye

I keep thinking how I should replace my running shoes, but then every time I get dressed to go running, I choose this pair again and tell myself I can get just one more run out of them.

Alas, the day of departure draws on apace...

Florida vs. New Jersey: A Case Study

How to dress yourself for a 30 minute run in 50 degree weather, state by state.

Specimen A, hailing from New Jersey where winter isn't exactly a hardship but can nevertheless be felt, he is comfortable conducting his exercise regimen with a simple addition of a long sleeve shirt for extra warmth.

Specimen B, hailing from the subtropical state of Florida, will differ in her approach to a chilly evening run from that of Specimen A.  Taken out of her natural habitat, Specimen B will shield herself from the assailing elements, defending herself against certain frostbite, wind burn and hypothermia by any means necessary.

Specimen A will insist on taking a picture for the greater scientific community, whereupon specimen B will begrudgingly oblige.

Saturday Cooper River Run

Sunset run along the Cooper River tonight.  Roughly 4.5 miles.  Every time I finish I feel great, and I wish I could up the mileage.  It's been ages since I've done more than 5 miles.

I'm averaging just two runs a week right now, almost exclusively on the weekends.

Up the mileage.  Increase the frequency of runs.  Shouldn't be too hard once the cold weather abates, no?

Movie Monday: Philly RnR Half

Every once in awhile I'll look for videos of races in Philly on YouTube.  And every once in awhile I'll find a decent one that I care to share.

Here's a video that does a nice job of capturing not just the thrill of race day, but the City of Brotherly Love itself.  It focuses on the 2012 Philadelphia Rock n' Roll Half Marathon from last September.  Looked for myself in the video but didn't see myself.

Registration is already open at: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/philadelphia.  So watch the video, get inspired, and I'll see you in September.

Running in New York

I'm in New York for the weekend with Stevie to see some friends and take in a show.  Naturally I brought my running clothes with me so I could go running on a frigid St. Patty's Day morning in Astoria.

Running across the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City

Someone get me a modeling contract ASAP.

It was 33 degrees, and to pack light I only brought one long sleeved shirt and no pants, so it was rather frigid while crossing the bridge and back this morning.  All in a day's work.

Then we went to see "Nice Work If You Can Get It" on Broadway, an old-school screwball musical comedy that was supposed to star Matthew Broderick, but we only got to see his understudy.

Finally on to the Molly Wee, my favorite bar in Manhattan (probably because it's the only Manhattan bar I've been to more than once), for some St. Patty's Day festivities.

Paul, Stevie and me at the Molly Wee

Every time I come to Manhattan I marvel at how I live an easy 1.5 hour busride from one of the greatest cities on earth, and yet I rarely make the trip up, and every time I do make the trip, I vow to come up more often.  We're already planning on coming back up during my spring break in a few weeks to see another show.

Remind me to bring another layer of clothes.

A conversation about the Tough Mudder

Talking with Ben recently about the Tough Mudder.

Ben: Have you signed up for it?
Me: Yeah, just signed up.
Ben: I know some other guys who want to sign up.  Maybe we could do it as a relay.
Me: Um... I don't think they let you do it as a relay.
Ben: Yeah, but it's 12 miles.
Me: Ben, it's called the Tough Mudder, not the Wuss Mudder.

You could argue that relay teams would allow more people to experience the thrill of a big event like the Tough Mudder, just like marathon relays.

But I would argue that if you want to participate in the event, then you put in the time and train for it and earn the experience.

Saturday run

Gorgeous run today around the Cooper River.  Not a cloud in the sky and temps in the fifties.  First time in months that I could run in just short sleeves.

4.5 miles.  Certain bodyparts were still sore from dodgeball the other night.  Worth it.

In the living room after my run

Dodgeball Results

First and foremost, our school raised over $8,000 for Babe's Kids, a division of The Canuso Foundation, which raises money for cancer research and provides support and assistance to those affected by cancer.

The tournament consisted of 22 teams playing three minute long games on two courts, pausing intermittently for speeches and raffle awards.

Team Ballsheviks in action

Team names included more ball-related puns than I could count, including "All Dodge and No Balls," "Balls of Fury" and "The Ballsheviks," and those are just the ones that made it through the administrative censors.

The balls on one court were blue, and when some went missing in the stands at the end of one game, the student MC announced, "if you've got blue balls, we need them.  Anyone here have blue balls?"

My team, unfortunately, didn't fare as well as I'd hoped.  In our first game we went up against half the football team.  We worked them to a draw with me as the last guy standing on my team, but then lost in sudden death over time.  In our second game we drew a team with slightly less gunpower, but still lost. It was a double elimination tournament, so that was it.  We were out.  We drew considerably easier teams for our two consolation games and managed to win them both, but unfortunately our dreams of dodgeball domination had been dashed.

The other teachers on my team and me.  That's a sword deflating a dodgeball on our shirts.

As a former athlete, my competitive side was coming out, and it was super frustrating to lose our first two games, but I still had - dare I say it - a ball, and I can't wait for next year's tournament.

Movie Monday: Tough Mudder

I've been meaning to do this for years, and I finally registered for the 2013 Tough Mudder in Pennsylvania. It's on June 1st, and I am beyond excited.

I signed up for the first wave at 8am because I've set the ambitious goal of running fast enough to qualify for the World's Toughest Mudder the following December.  At the very least, I hope to see if it lives up to all the hype.  

And this:

I would hardly call marathon running boring.  I'll be interested to see how the Tough Mudder compares.

And in case you're unfamiliar with the Tough Mudder, here is a promotional video:

Dodgeball tourney

One of the greatest benefits of working at a high school is getting to participate in things like dance contests and... dodgeball tournaments.  

Yes, a dodgeball tournament.

The students formed teams and were allowed to invite teachers, and I'm on a team with two other teachers and several sophomores.  

I can't wait to raise some hell next week.

Movie Monday: Mo Farah interview

Remember this guy?

He won two Olympic gold medals last summer for Great Britain, and then went on to inspire the hilarious meme, "Mo Farah running away from things."

He just won the New Orleans Half Marathon yesterday in 1:00:59, and for his efforts was submitted to a live interview by the wonderfully inept reporter LaTonya Norton.  Not only does she insist on reporting that he won the marathon instead of the half marathon, but she seems to have no idea she's speaking to a two-time Olympic gold medalist.  Awkwardness ensues.

I thought they said pizza...

Stevie has joked that this blog is turning from running blog into foodie blog.

And by that you know I made another pizza.  The pizza kick I'm on right now continues with this creation:

I found the idea for this in a pizza book at Barnes and Noble the other day.

• Homemade bechamel sauce.
• gouda, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.
• ham steak chopped and fried.
• frozen peas.
• half wheat, half white crust.
• sprinkled with garlic powder.

Might seem like a strange combination of ingredients but they really do blend nicely.

Saturday night run

Spend a lot of time running at night, and before long you will end up scaring someone half to death.  Turns out people don't like the sensation of being snuck up on in the dark.

I ran by a woman in her driveway unpacking groceries.  Not only did she scream so loudly that she startled me, but she dropped an entire bag of groceries.  She laughed it off, though.

I also hate it when I feel like I'm running super fast, and then check my watch at the end and realize I ran a full 20 seconds slower than the day before.

Then I came home and found the gals getting ready for Abby's birthday dinner.

Time for some Indian food.

No school 4 miler

Post run

Day off from school today.  Temps in the 40's without a cloud in sight.  4 mile run in 32 minutes.  I'm not as much training for something at the moment as I am just trying to keep myself in the game.  But I hope to sign up for some spring races very soon.

New goatee, snot leaking all over me, and a busted eye.  Pretty sure I was scaring small children by the end of the run.

Wedding invitations

Guess who's (probably not) coming to our wedding...

Bitch, please

Historians and scholars of I Thought They Said Rum will recall that before Stevie, I lived in this same apartment with a guy I found on Craigslist.  Amongst his friends, he was the most stereotypical skinny gay white boy you've ever met (slugging girly cocktails, wearing pink briefs, constantly blasting bad trance music, and yes, calling everyone bitch), yet around me he was painfully shy and awkward.  I've accepted that I won't click with everyone I meet in life, and this was one of those occasions.

He had a modest collection of wine bottles prominently displayed in the kitchen, the centerfold of which was a bottle with the singular word "bitch" on the front.

Guess what Stevie found at the liquor store today.

(He also left behind two pint glasses labeled "slut" and "hooker" when he moved out, prompting interesting conversations with uninitiated guests that ask for drinks.  My ex-rommate is the gift that keeps on giving.)

Disco Scott

My wedding is this April.  We're not hiring a DJ, but instead are just making our own playlist that will be played on camp's sound system.

Disco Pogo is going to make a cameo.