Once or twice a year I go to Latham, NY, near Albany to get my car serviced. (There are reasons for doing this that are not interesting and best saved for another blog.) Typically, I leave a little after 5 a.m. and arrive when they open at 8 a.m., then wait in the "Customer Lounge" and where the Wi-Fi and cappuccino are free, and the seating is cushy. A few hours later, I drive home.
This service visit fell on a day when I was scheduled to run 8 miles, and I am so happy I thought to go running in Latham while waiting for the car. First of all, you can imagine any multi-lane road lined with car dealerships and you can imagine Latham, NY. So it's not attractive for running, one would think. But one would also consult Google maps and learn that the freaking Erie Canal is right there! A mere mile away the scenery changes completely -- pastoral farm fields, a wide and flat river, reedy banks, a beautifully maintained bike path going for miles in all directions.
I ran about 6 miles and stopped at Lock 7. (iPod: "The Takeaway," a new program from WNYC. I'm not sold yet. John Hockenberry needs to shut up and let other people talk.) The worker at Lock 7 (the lockmaster?) taught me all about how the lock operates and let me walk out to the far side of the lock where the dam is. And then lucky enough, a fishing boat came through and I got to see the lock in action.
Let me just say that I had no idea the Erie Canal extended all the way east to the Hudson River. It makes me appreciate what an engineering feat that really was to build it. And second, lock are pretty incredible in themselves. If you haven't seen one in action, plan your next holiday near a river with a lot of boat traffic.
Oh yeah, and then I ran the last 2 miles back to the car dealership.
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