Wednesday, July 31, 2013
2013 Escarpment Trail Run Report
I posted my race report in my new blog: A Run in the Catskills. Or click the 2013 tab above to read it here in this blog.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
2013 Preparation
I'm signed up again for this year, so I've extended my running more than usual. The main thing I'll try to do is to get in at least one big hill training session in early July. Even if you don't have time for a great deal of specific training or very long runs, if you do one big session within a month of the race that includes a lot of steep downhill running, you can condition your quads to take the pounding. The eccentric contractions necessary for downhill running can be very damaging to the muscles, but research has found that even one big session can condition your legs to lessen such damage in the race. If you don't do some such training, your quads will give out in the race.
Update 7/16: I've been too busy to train this year, but I've been doing what I can. Friday the 12th I was able to go out for 5 1/2 hours of: 24 mins biking, 2:37 trail running and the rest hiking. I figured about 2700 feet of elevation. From here until the race I'll do minimal effort, but might stay out there for 2 to 3 hours once or twice.Looking forward to seeing many familiar and also new faces at the race this year.
Update 7/16: I've been too busy to train this year, but I've been doing what I can. Friday the 12th I was able to go out for 5 1/2 hours of: 24 mins biking, 2:37 trail running and the rest hiking. I figured about 2700 feet of elevation. From here until the race I'll do minimal effort, but might stay out there for 2 to 3 hours once or twice.Looking forward to seeing many familiar and also new faces at the race this year.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
New: Stabilized Video from the 2010 Race
Updated for 2012: I have now uploaded all 1 hour and 28 minutes of the footage I took while running the 2010 race, and ran the video through the YouTube stabilizer software. It's a bit more watchable now, but after a while will still make you dizzy. The playlists below show all the action. Watch in full screen and HD.
If you want to start with the best part, the last 40 minutes of the race:
Or, here is the full 1:28:
Last year [in 2010] I brought my little Panasonic Lumix ZS3 along with me running the escarpment trail. I sawed off the top of a hiking pole with a camera mount on it and added weights to the bottom, creating a kind of cheap steadycam (see image at bottom). The Lumix, like many newer small point-and-shoot cameras, captures HD video that isn't bad. I tried to process that video last year but it was in a difficult format, my computer at the time was too slow, and I soon got very busy, so it had to wait until a somewhat more inspired run for me this year to finally post some of it.
I started shooting video when nearing the top of Blackhead Mountain, about halfway into the course, and continued filming all the way down to Dutcher Notch several miles later. That video is about 48 minutes total. Then, after changing to a new memory card and battery at the aid station on Stoppell Mountain, I began filming again just before North Point, and continued all the way to the finish.
The year before I had worn a GoHero headband cam to capture video and photos, but somehow the seal didn't work and it got soaked and only a certain amount of still photos survived. I realized though that the helmet/headband cam was quite jerky, and of course only looked where I looked or in a fixed relation to where I looked. More often than not that meant the camera only captured what was right in front of me -- the trail, and when I was following others, their backside and butt. It was very uninteresting, and I thought not fair to the runner in front of me: very few would want images of their butt show as part of a photo gallery of a race or in videos.
The above is what led me to try using a handheld camera mount, so I could direct where the camera was pointing easily, avoid filming people for the most part, and try to steady the image somewhat by adding weights on the bottom of the mount. I think it worked pretty well, considering that I was mostly running on a pretty nasty trail most of the time. But the footage can still make you ill when watching on an HDTV. [Now it's much more watchable having run it through the YouTube stabilizer].
This is the makeshift steadycam. The camera and mount were about 3 pounds, which I had in my pack for the first half of the race, then carried in my hand(s) for the last 2.5 hours, filming about 1.5 hours:
If you want to start with the best part, the last 40 minutes of the race:
Or, here is the full 1:28:
Last year [in 2010] I brought my little Panasonic Lumix ZS3 along with me running the escarpment trail. I sawed off the top of a hiking pole with a camera mount on it and added weights to the bottom, creating a kind of cheap steadycam (see image at bottom). The Lumix, like many newer small point-and-shoot cameras, captures HD video that isn't bad. I tried to process that video last year but it was in a difficult format, my computer at the time was too slow, and I soon got very busy, so it had to wait until a somewhat more inspired run for me this year to finally post some of it.
I started shooting video when nearing the top of Blackhead Mountain, about halfway into the course, and continued filming all the way down to Dutcher Notch several miles later. That video is about 48 minutes total. Then, after changing to a new memory card and battery at the aid station on Stoppell Mountain, I began filming again just before North Point, and continued all the way to the finish.
The year before I had worn a GoHero headband cam to capture video and photos, but somehow the seal didn't work and it got soaked and only a certain amount of still photos survived. I realized though that the helmet/headband cam was quite jerky, and of course only looked where I looked or in a fixed relation to where I looked. More often than not that meant the camera only captured what was right in front of me -- the trail, and when I was following others, their backside and butt. It was very uninteresting, and I thought not fair to the runner in front of me: very few would want images of their butt show as part of a photo gallery of a race or in videos.
The above is what led me to try using a handheld camera mount, so I could direct where the camera was pointing easily, avoid filming people for the most part, and try to steady the image somewhat by adding weights on the bottom of the mount. I think it worked pretty well, considering that I was mostly running on a pretty nasty trail most of the time. But the footage can still make you ill when watching on an HDTV. [Now it's much more watchable having run it through the YouTube stabilizer].
This is the makeshift steadycam. The camera and mount were about 3 pounds, which I had in my pack for the first half of the race, then carried in my hand(s) for the last 2.5 hours, filming about 1.5 hours:
Thursday, August 4, 2011
2011 Race Video
This year I had a good enjoyable run, despite not being in great shape. If you want to read my race report, it's posted on my outings blog, or click on the 2011 tab above.
My girlfriend was hiking around the last part of the course and took some video clips of the runners, which I spliced together here in a short clip. If you're one of the runners captured, please let me know any thoughts you have about it. To watch in HD, Click Here to Watch in YouTube, or watch below:
My girlfriend was hiking around the last part of the course and took some video clips of the runners, which I spliced together here in a short clip. If you're one of the runners captured, please let me know any thoughts you have about it. To watch in HD, Click Here to Watch in YouTube, or watch below:
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