News, Links and Other Musings

CA & NZ running in Manila

With the limitations of running in urban Manila, I spent some quality time in the excellent gym at the Peninsula. There I was transported across the globe and ran in both Monterey and New Zealand…at least according to the visual cues from the Life Fitness treadmill.  This was my first run on a digitally connected treadmill.

Running “in” Monterey, CA…while in a gym in Manila.

Monterey was the first course I ran on the treadmill. Given that it was on a relatively flat road, it felt quite natural. I enjoyed the natural beauty of I place i was acquainted with and the motivation of passing virtual personas of other runners doing the same course around the globe. The virtual personas displayed their login name, real location and distance from me.

My trail run in New Zealand was not as good. For this second run, I downloaded the LF app and logged in. The terrain was stunning, but that was part of the problem…with every step, I felt like I needed to be adjusting my stride or landing as in a real trail run. But ultimately I was only maintaining the uniform pace on a monotonous treadmill. As I finished, I worried that this was negative training, setting me up to be less careful and aware the next time I hit a real trail. One of my colleagues at the hotel, also a trail runner, had similar thoughts.

NZ South Island Running…note the nice pool in the background. 22m, nice for lap swimming.

And there weren’t any other virtual runners on the NZ route…had I signed in incorrectly or failed to adjust the settings? Or were folks staying away from South Island at the time I ran?

As you can see in the photos, the Peninsula has a great pool….22m and well-suited for lap swimming…but the purpose of this blog isn’t NP2S.

As I finished up I felt like the LF treadmill with the virtual interface had not yet achieved its full potential.

For a runner, the combination of new scenery and the social (albeit limited) interaction with other runners was a big draw…maybe better than the workout class focus on the new Peleton treadmill. But to reach its full potential, it should:

—-Display the virtual personas of other and their pace…a challenge to keep up or avoid being passing.

—-Allow some simple touchscreen communication to other personas on your route: Good job!” “Let’s go!” “Looking good.”

—-The app also hasn’t reached it full potential…why not record and identify the virtual locations where you’ve run? Award badges as you hit milestones in new regions or around the globe? Add some gamification to motivate runners stuck indoors. Incentivize folks to seek out Life Fitness treadmills and find NP2R!

Around the Globe

Manila Makati March 2018

1 Comment

This week I find myself at the Peninsula Hotel in the Makati area of Manila, Philippines, a pleasant location.  The hotel is a superb place to relax and a great venue for a gathering.  The people in the Philippines are friendly and good food is easy to find.  But the urban running…not so good.

Traffic, noise and smog…even at sunrise.
Urban single track (and it gets worse).

I did my usual early morning run, right before sunrise.  A quick 5k loop around the Urdaneta neighborhood.  It was a combination of urban single track (broken sidewalks, narrow walkways, intrusive trees and branches), busy traffic (even before sunrise…noisy honking, loud engines and smelly smog), half awake laborers filling the walkways, and some stray dogs and cats.  One of the least enjoyable runs I’ve done.

Ayala Triangle Park…a pleasant spot to run in the Makati neighborhood, but only for a short loop.

The Ayala Triangle Gardens park was a welcome respite from the oppressive urban run route, but it’s short and has ongoing construction around its north vertice which is reducing its size.

Sultan Kundarat Monument

Continue reading Manila Makati March 2018 →

Around the Globe

Riga, Latvia, Fall 2016

The day I left Riga, I decided to run the Daugawa River and see what was outside of the old city and central area.

It was a cloudy but pleasant morning and the river and landmarks made navigation easy.  Overall the run was just short of 6.5 miles.

One of the biggest TV towers in Europe…a navigational aid for runners and a motivational goal for my run.

The turnaround point of my run was the Riga Radio and TV tower…the tallest TV tower in the European Union…and third tallest in Europe…15th in the world.  1207 feet tall or 368m.  Construction was funded by the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989.  The tower is isolated on the Zakusala island in the middle of the river.

Interesting history behind this statue.

On the way down to the tower, the terrain transitioned from urban to rural and I ran thru a large park area which was empty in the early morning but seemingly quite pleasant.  I also came across a fascinating monument which I didn’t fully appreciate at the time…I could see that it was Russian, but that was the extent of my understanding.  Today, thanks to Wikipedia and Google Translate, I can see that it’s the Monument to the Defenders of the Island Lutsavsala.  Russian Wikipedia link here.  In 1701, 400 Russian grenadiers defended the river crossing to the last man against the Swedes during the Great Northern War.  The monument was renovated in 2001 and serves as a reminder of a era when the Russian presence was more appreciated.

Views of one of my favorite buildings I’ve ever encountered in person.

As I approached my hotel at the end of the run, I circled one of most striking buildings I have ever seen.  On my arrival a few days earlier, I had seen it at night, bathed in lights.  It looked like a sci-fi battleship sailing up the river.  It’s actually the Latvian National Library and every angle of the building is magnificent.   According to Lonely Planet, it represents “the Castle of Light,” a feature of many Latvian fairy tales. The architect, Gunnars Bikkerts, passed away in 2017 after a remarkable career.

 

 

News, Links and Other Musings

News and musings, February 19, 2018

It’s Olympic season and there isn’t a lot of running happening in Pyeongchang…but there’s plenty of endurance sports action.  I caught the end of this Men’s 15k mass start cross country race on TV.  At first I thought it was no big deal that a Norwegian was winning the race…and then I heard it was his first ever Olympic race…and that he fell down at the beginning of the race, broke a pole and was at the very back of the pack.  A great example of persistence and a never quit mentality.  Here’s the story from the Washington Post.

The Norwegian have more than just mad winter skills…they also know a bit about team dynamics and team building.  Here’s the story from the New York Times:

An Op-Ed in today’s Sunday Times has some thoughtful comments good for runners, travelers, and everyone else.  Here’s a quote:

“Embracing inconvenience may sound odd, but we already do it without thinking of it as such. As if to mask the issue, we give other names to our inconvenient choices: We call them hobbies, avocations, callings, passions. These are the noninstrumental activities that help to define us. They reward us with character because they involve an encounter with meaningful resistance — with nature’s laws, with the limits of our own bodies — as in carving wood, melding raw ingredients, fixing a broken appliance, writing code, timing waves or facing the point when the runner’s legs and lungs begin to rebel against him.”   Good summary of why I like running and travel so much.

Lastly, last week’s Sunday Times had some recommendations for staying in shape during travel…all good ideas, but why not also find a NP2R, especially early in the morning:

Continue reading News and musings, February 19, 2018 →

Around the Globe

Tokyo, the day after Christmas 2017

Catching the Imperial Palace at sunrise.

My first run in Japan came after a night of Christmas karaoke with the family we were visiting.  My expert runner friend recommended his standard Tokyo run…leave the house, run up Roppongi street and around the Imperial Palace grounds.  A couple of days before, we had walked through the East Gardens and seen the runners.  Very orderly and all running counter-clockwise around the palace.

I had planned to do an Orangetheory Fitness workout at the Tokyo gym later in the morning, but my jet-lagged induced internal alarm clock spurred me to put on my running shoes and head out right before sunrise.  As much as I enjoy OTF, I’m glad I experienced this run instead.

The weather was pleasantly cool as I headed northeast up Roppongi Dori (street).  Early morning Tokyo is not the same as workday Tokyo which can be bustling and frenetic.  And urban environments aren’t usually the most scenic places to run, but I enjoyed the varied architecture and signage as well as running under the elevated highway on the way to the park.

As I approached the park, I was unsure if runners were allowed inside the first gate that I came upon…so I followed the handful of  local runners I saw.

A view to the East from palace grounds…modern Tokyo.

The southeast side of the grounds is a large open public park, the Imperial Palace Outer Gardens.  Wide pathways, interesting trees and a view of downtown Tokyo gleaming as the sun rises.  Once you enter the complex, the route is simple…just keep the moat on your left as your circle the compound.

As I ran the perimeter of the grounds and was warmed by the rising sun and the increasing elevation, I also noticed that the path was marked with tiles describing the flowers of Japan…and I collected a few snaps along the way.  I think they reflect the trees/plants/flowers of each prefecture in Japan, but that’s just a guess.

On the western side of the grounds, I encountered some modern sculpture in Chidorigafuchi Park.  Apparently the cherry blossoms are quite spectacular in this area, but, alas, I did this run in late December…months too early to witness the beauty.  On this side of the grounds I also encountered the National Theater building, another example of Tokyo and Japan’s impressive architecture.

Nice art on the western side of the loop.

On the southwest side, I ran into the North Gardens on the front side of the National Diet, the home of Japan’s legislative branch.  A informative brochure on the National Diet with info on the building, the government and history, and views of the interior here.

The home of Japan’s legislative branch.

There’s a clock tower and reflecting pool in the gardens, supposedly representing the Separation of Powers, but I couldn’t find much online describing its provenance.  As I also discovered in Kyoto, the history of everything in Japan is not yet fully documented in English on Google.

Here’s the map of my NP2R Tokyo:

 

 

 

 

Local Discoveries

Wakefield and Accotink

Even after four years in the Northern Virginia area, I’m still finding NP2R…some even near my house.  This area still amazes me for the number of trail running opportunities you can find in places of high urban and residential density.

Lake Accotink.

A few weeks ago I wanted to get a quick trail run on a weekend morning, so I parked at Wakefield Park and went south from the parking lot.  I was already familiar with the northern loop thru Wakefield Park.  What I discovered on the southern side was that the trail connects to another favorite location of mine, Lake Accotink Park.  These two parks are part of the Fairfax County Park Authority and the connecting trail is part of the Cross Country Trail, a 40 mile route that spans the entire Fairfax County.

A view of the old (closed) railroad trestle from across the icy lake.

The route was a pleasant, gently rolling mix of paved and dirt trails with scenic views of Lake Accotink (still with some ice on that day in January) and the dam and old, closed railroad trestle on the southern side.  Find a nice description of the history of Accotink here.

I’ll post a map of my run of a following page, but you can also access the black and white county map here.

Around the Globe

Hiroshima- my favorite run in Japan

Hope after adversity…a Statue in Hiroshima Central Park.

As was my habit, I woke just before sunrise and snuck out of the hotel room as my teenage kids continued to snooze.  I generally prefer “old-school” navigation and had done a map recon the night before.  Today I was glad to have a modern digital backup.  As I took off from our hotel at Hiroshima station, I made my way to the closest river crossing that I had selected the night before, I found it had no pedestrian path, at least none that I could see in the pre-dawn light.  I found an alternate crossing after running through some urban commercial blocks that were just showing the initial signs of daily life.  I was very happy to have the combination of my iPhone, Goggle Maps and a wifi hub (something I’ll blog about later).  After crossing the river I arrived at Hiroshima Castle and ran around the east and north sides.

Hiroshima Castle

All around Hiroshima, I found “then and now” markers, describing the destruction at each local from August 1945.  The castle today is a replica built in 1958.  I continued on thru the Chuo Park, past the one of the many monuments in the city that convey both Remembrance and Hope.  I discovered a lower trail, along the Ota River.

Ota River Trail.

The water was calm and peaceful.  As I approached the Atomic Bomb Dome, I gained a new perspective from below the historic ruins near the epicenter of the detonation.

Atomic Bomb Dome from the terminus of the trail on the Eastern side of the Ota River Trail.

All along the way I discovered many more memorials that we missed late afternoon walk the day before.

I turned east on the Promenade of Peace/ Peace Boulevard, with many more monuments.

I was especially struck by the stark Hiroshima Medical Doctors Association monument and the description of their sacrifice and selfless service after the bombing.

I crossed the bridge on the Enko River and ran up the Hill into Central Park.

I enjoyed a break from the urban environment in this hilly and nicely wooded home to the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, a funky looking Skywalk, and other attractions.

The Museum was closed for some combination of renovations and the holiday season, but there were plenty many interesting statues, both new and old, on the open grounds.  Around the museum, I discovered my favorite view overlooking the city with a marker showing the view from August 1945.

How far this city as come since August 1945.

As I headed out of the park, I came upon a nice elderly lady walking a Shiba Inu…she graciously allowed me to take a photo of her dog for my daughter.

Shibu Inu on a morning walk.

I ran past the Hiroshima Manga Library, down a steep and winding hill, past a shrine and ran back to the south side of Hiroshima Station.

I like the ornate manhole covers of Japan…here’s one in Hiroshima.

For the lessons in history and the new perspectives on a remarkably resilient and vibrant small city, this was my favorite run (among three very good ones) in Japan.

Here’s the map of a NP2R Hiroshima:

The transition to EVs & travel & running