June, 2002 - Finally got around to measuring my "Federal Hill Rd." loop. It's 9.22 miles. Mind you, it's rather hilly. I've never run it faster than mid-58 minutes for a normal training run. 56 minutes when fartleking. Just for reference, I was racing mid 65 for 1/2 marathons this winter, and running just over an hour for most of my Federal Hill runs. So I guess you don't have to run all that hard in your day-to-day training to perform. I was happy with the way I ran the first four months of this year. April, 2002 - Found a new loop nearby. It's called "Salmon's Hollow" and it's a 0.96 mile loop around a private community just a mile from my house. No traffic except for the people who live there, which is almost nothing since each lot is required to be 2 acres, and some of them are as much as 10 acres. I've measured out a mile for the occasional interval. If I run there, it's 1.02 miles to get there, then 0.96 miles per loop, so if I do one loop, I get exactly three miles. July, 2001 - Know what? Ellen and I really don't care much for Danbury. I stayed here so long (since 1994) because I seemed to be running so well, and it worked for me. We're looking to move at some point, as soon as I get a job or something else happens. The drivers here are aggressive, which is what they are everywhere, but here there's really no place to run except on the roads. No sidewalks or trails anywhere. We've been making the 30 minute commute down to the Westchester County Bike Path, which starts in Mahopac, NY, more and more often these days. I hate driving somewhere to go running. I like to run by hopping right outside my door and hitting the road, but I really look forward to running on the bike path. I didn't know how nice it could be. No cars except for a few crossings, a nice wide shaded asphalt surface. I'm just more willing than most people to put up with a bad situation, which is why I haven't left Danbury (yet). Fortunately I think we have a very nice piece of property for a non-runner (so it should sell). Anyway, some of the loops I run have changed. The loop I usually do is called Federal Hill Rd. It's a hilly 9.5 mile run, and I'm doing really well if I can get under one hour. Another is running to the end of Gage Rd. and returning. It's out and back 7.5 miles and is run entirely on the last part of the Federal Hill Rd. loop. Another longer one is to the end of Old Milltown and back. It's just like the Gage Rd. loop except further, on a dirt road for three miles which is one of the few nice roads to run on around here. It's just shy of 12 miles. All three of these runs finish by running up a hill that takes about 5 minutes to climb. It's the hill that is part of the mountain ridge that defined the NY-CT border when they first drew it, and still remains as the natural border. It's a tough one. December 11, 1999 - I moved to a new address in Danbury, and all my routes will change. The only one that remains the same is the classic "King St." loop. I moved to my first house which I discovered for sale on one of my running loops. It's actually just off the King St. loop I do. The loops below are valid for all my logs up until this date. The loops I do from work are still the same. Summer, 1998 - In reading these logs you'll note I do the same two or three loops most of the time. Recently, Ellen and I purchased an odometer for her bicycle, and we began clocking all the loops. I've checked it out, and I believe this thing be be accurate. Turns out most of them are longer than I though, and I've been running faster than I thought. The loops are as follows:
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