A Month Gone By

It's hard to believe it's been almost one month since the last time I've posted anything here but it's been that long. Fear not, though. Just because the postings have been lacking we've been plenty busy. Here's a recap of the month that's gone by...

On 1/1, a couple of HATR folks -- those who weren't sick, out of town, or too hungover -- met at Veteran's Park for the Hamilton Hangover 5 Miler. For a detailed report, check out Charlie's race report.

On 1/2, we cancelled our normal Saturday group run due to the number of folks who were sick and/or out of town.

On 1/9, we got back into the swing of things with a group run at Mercer County Park. After feeling like crap for almost two weeks straight I decided enough was enough and purposely overdressed for the run with the hope of sweating out the last of the bug that had been keeping me indoors for too long. The good news is that it worked. The bad news is that I look like a freak in the group picture that was taken that day. Oh well!

Anyway, as I said before we met at MCP and ran out to the dam and back. I don't recall too much else about the run other than that fact that is was freezing out and that we welcomed yet another new face to the group. Tammy hasn't been back since though. You ladies need to get on that...I think she was scared away by all the guys!

L to R: Bill S., Charlie, Gary, Bill Y., Rob, Tammy

On 1/16, it was amazing what a difference a week made. The week before we had been freezing our you know what off around Lake Mercer but just a week later the temps were 30-40 degrees warmer. The temperature wasn't the only thing that got dialed up that day though. As we gathered for our pre-run push ups at Clayton Park Nate decided to turn up the heat as well, leading the charge up Death Hill not once, not twice, but four times. I think we were all so glad to have such great weather we probably would have done five just to be out there a little longer.

L to R: Brian, Yasi, Bill S., Linda, Butch, Nate, Lisa, Bill Y., Charlie

On 1/23, we again met at Clayton Park in what was planned as a light day. It was light because the group would be heading out to Reading, PA, the next day to participate in the Chilly Cheeks race. All I remember about this group run is feeling like it was more difficult than I had expected it to be. We only ran for about 45 minutes, which is about 20 minutes shorter than normal but for some reason I felt it more than normal. Oh yeah, maybe it was that one sprint of Death Hill that we did! I don't think I ever recovered from that one. So much for a light day.

L to R: Bill Y., Yasi, Nate, Karen, Butch, Linda

On 1/23, the gang made a road trip out to Reading, PA, for Chilly Cheeks. It was with a torn heart, however, that I had to back out of the race this year to stay home and watch my NY Jets play in the AFC Champioship game...yeah...I probably should have just made the trip but hindsight is 20/20. There were seven brave warriors that did make the trip though and as you would expect from any race directed by Ron Horn, they reportedly had a blast. Be sure to check out Yasi's race report.

L to R: Brian, Butch, Linda, Yasi, Nate, Bill S., Frank

Still with me? Good. Because this is where it starts to get serious...

On 1/30, six badasses met at Clayton Park once again. You gotta problem with that? I didn't think so. We ran out the back and hit all the soybean fields and then headed directly into the trails...yeah without stopping because we're bad like that. Then it was uphill both ways into the extra loop which we did backwards. When we exited the extra loop we bushwhacked directly up to the top of the backside of Death Hill until we reached the fence. There we were greeted by a dozen or so horses who were out training because they too are badasses. After taking a second or two to enjoy the view...uh...I mean stare down those damn horses -- who did they think they were anyway -- we bushwhacked back down the hill. At that point, we thought one of the horses yelled something down to us so we again bushwhacked up the same hill just to see what was up. When we got there most of the horses had taken off though so we just headed back down and finished our run. Good thing!

L to R: Charlie, Bill Y., Nate, Brian, Butch, Bill S.

Well, there it is. A month in review. What will February bring, you ask? Well, hopefully, weekly updates because it's a real PITA trying to remember everything that happened over the last month. Many thanks to Charlie and Yasi for letting me cheat and check back on their blogs to fill in the blanks.