169 Towns #15: Trumbull

December 14th, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #15: Trumbull

As the weather continues to be disturbingly balmy, I thought I’d find one more nearby race to squeeze in before the holidays, a 5K a half an hour away in Trumbull. At some point it’s going to get a lot harder to knock off these towns, but for now, with less than 10% completed, almost […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #14: Bethlehem

December 6th, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #14: Bethlehem

An excuse to visit every corner of the state is one of the reasons joining this group seemed like a good idea, and I’m definitely getting the chance to see some nice little towns, especially along the Route 8 corridor, like Bethlehem. Eventually I may spend more time in these towns than 45 minutes before […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

LA, Portland

December 5th, 2015 · Comments Off on LA, Portland

Thanks to some thoughtful planning on the part of the FIAF Secretariat, I was able to painlessly combine my already planned trip west for the AMIA Conference in Portland with the somewhat unexpected and definitely financially unforeseen trip to the EC Meeting in Los Angeles, held over the two days prior to AMIA. It was […]

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Tags: Los Angeles · Portland · Travel

Amherst day

November 1st, 2015 · Comments Off on Amherst day

One of the best things about being back on the east coast is the ease with which we can get back to Amherst, less than 90 minutes away. We had planned to go into New York City for the day, but once we realized what else was going on that day, rather than brave the […]

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Tags: Amherst

169 Towns #13: Ellington

October 31st, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #13: Ellington

I headed out early on Halloween morning to reach Ellington, an “elusive” town on the opposite end of the state. It was a chilly morning when I arrived, but it warmed up enough for me to leave behind the long sleeve shirt I’d brought. The race started a bit of the middle of nowhere on […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

Ringo lives

October 26th, 2015 · Comments Off on Ringo lives

Grace’s growing Beatles obsession has spawned many conversations (“Who died first?” “Where is Paul right now?”), including ones about what Paul and Ringo are up to these days. Especially since I went to see Paul in Albany last summer, Grace’s interest in actually seeing one of the real Beatles has been on the rise, and […]

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Tags: Music · New Haven

Blur once more

October 24th, 2015 · Comments Off on Blur once more

In an era when an artist can release an album upon the world without any advance warning, Blur’s “Magic Whip” was a most pleasant surprise. They’d been hinting that a reconciliation was in the works, but I had no idea they were recording, and when the album came out, it was a huge relief and […]

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Tags: Music · New York · Nostalgia · Photos

169 Towns #12: Beacon Falls

October 11th, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #12: Beacon Falls

We took a family trip to the very nearby Beacon Falls (or more accurately, to the parking lot at the high school in Beacon Falls), where the girls enjoyed the complimentary capes, pre-race Zumba routines, and a kids craft table. There was a pretty big 169 contingent today, and I enjoyed the run, despite the […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

Ride part II

October 4th, 2015 · Comments Off on Ride part II

Dinner (salsa verde, of course) at El Pelon and then a concert at the Paradise? It’s 2005 all over again. As great as it was to see Ride for the first time last month, it was an even more memorable experience to see them in one of my favorite venues in the world, the renovated […]

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Tags: Cambridge · Music · Nostalgia · Photos

169 Towns #11: Middlebury

September 28th, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #11: Middlebury

Feeling rejuvenated and possibly on my way to being healed after a month off and some physical therapy, I decided to take on another race this weekend, just up the Route 8 corridor (a drive I’m getting to know well) a half an hour away in Middlebury. It’s a picturesque little town I haven’t visited […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #10: Woodbridge

September 21st, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #10: Woodbridge

We hadn’t yet moved to Woodbridge in time for the 2013 Bagel Run, and I was out of town or out of commission for the 2014 edition, so I was more than ready to check off this easiest of towns this time around. It was a low-stakes way to try my first back-to-back races on […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #9, Deep River

September 19th, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #9, Deep River

The best part of the 169 Towns website is the giant spreadsheet of upcoming races, and towns without frequent races are labeled “elusive.” I hadn’t hit one of these town yet, so I thought I’d hit Deep River, a town whose name I don’t think I’d ever heard, this weekend. It was just past the […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

Ride rides again

September 19th, 2015 · Comments Off on Ride rides again

Over the years, I’ve slowly and steadily chipped away at a long mental to-do list made up of concerts by bands I grew up in Alaska loving, but never had a chance to see live. The Pixies were probably the biggest catch on that last, and their now-endless reunion tour gave me ample opportunity to […]

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Tags: Music · New Haven · Nostalgia · Photos

169 Towns #8, Naugatuck

September 6th, 2015 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #8, Naugatuck

I spent the six weeks after the Somers race trying to take it easy. I didn’t run, but we did walk a lot in Ireland, and I didn’t lay off quite as much as I would like to have, but that’s life. By the time September rolled around, I was getting a little antsy. I’d […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

Seattle

August 25th, 2015 · Comments Off on Seattle

We had a great second trip to Seattle this summer, a long weekend of family, festivities, and multiple Uber rides. We visited the Space Needle and the aquarium, the Chihuly Garden and Glass, and the got to go on the Great Wheel again. Lauren and Andy’s wedding was a wonderful event on the water, and […]

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Tags: Photos · Travel