Monday, 1:40 p.m., the first 5k of the Stockade-athon course, then a mile and half back to Price Chopper, 4 1/2 miles. Some clouds, but mostly blue, windy from the west, 50's.

Tuesday, 11:55 a.m., the last 10k of the Stockade-athon course (actually closer to 7 total miles). Passing clouds, humid, 50's.

OK, I didn't really get "lost." That's not quite the right word for it. "Confused" is more accurate, and it cost me about an extra quarter-mile that I wasn't planning on running. We'll get to that.

On Monday, I started a two-day project to familiarize myself with running the Stockade-athon course. I've lived in Schenectady for over 20 years and know all these streets up and down and sideways, and have run most of them. But never in the Stockade-athon sequence.

After a hard, but short, race on Saturday (that Madison downhill puts a pounding on your joints), my knees and hips were a little cranky, but nothing to complain about. The most challenging thing about the first 5k of the course, which is mostly in Central Park, is the uphill toward Central Park Middle School. It's a pretty tough hill, anyway, but it was more difficult into a headwind. Peeled off at Ellis Hospital and headed down Wendell Avenue and Union Street.

On Tuesday, despite having consulted the course map, I got a little discombobulated after crossing Erie Boulevard on Nott Street, not sure exactly if I was at the head of Front Street. I double-backed twice before settling on the right course, which won't be a problem on race day. There will be hundreds of people to follow.

Running this route at noon on a weekday wasn't the most brilliant move in the world, but I was able to coast across Erie both ways, catching the lights perfectly. Flush with my good fortune, I ran right into a light change on North Broadway and was halfway down the block to Pinhead Susan's before I could cross behind the line of traffic. The same thing happened at Nott Terrace as I was going up the notorious State Street Hill, so the scoreboard reads: Mike 2, Traffic Gnomes 2.

One of the benefits I saw in running the Stockade-athon was it would actually make me a better reporter of the race, and one of the things I noticed going up State Street is how tough the section past Nott Terrace is, before you get to Vale Cemetery. Because of road logistics, we always use Nott Terrace and State as our last update spot before heading back to the park to watch the finish, so there's a gazillion photos of people huffing their way up toward the MVP building, but never any shots of them when they get to the actual top of State Street, well past Nott Terrace. It was a bear for me, even with the breather I got running on flat ground up Nott Terrace and back while searching for a chance to cross.

Took a little breather in Vale in anticipation of the Bradley Boulevard hill, which wasn't that bad, except for the fact that I was on the sidewalk, which is pretty broken up in some places, and had to hop some high curbs that won't be an issue on race day.

My left Achilles started whining a little bit when I got in the park, and I had to remind myself that this was supposed to be sort of a relaxed run to get a look at the course. The rolling hills you encounter on your way to the Duck Pond are actually pretty testing, even the downhills, which are steep and can put a hurt on your knees and hips.

The straightaway on Central Park toward the rose garden entrance is a nice spot for a little surge, because it's dead straight, the trees block the wind, and it's actually ever so slightly downhill, which I didn't realize when I was headed in the other direction on Monday.

I took a little breather on the curved part that takes you to the stone gate, and once I got on that glorious loop around Iroquois Lake, I had a chill up my spine all the way around, even though there was one guy walking on the path and nobody else around. I can't even imagine how cool it must be on race day, with a string of runners stretched out and people cheering. The Curlin Kick is perfectly suited for the length of that loop.

Was puffing mightily when I got done. Strangely, the Achilles stopped complaining when A. I lengthened my stride and went faster, and B. walked off the run.

Day off on Wednesday. I need to get in a long run (8-9 miles) soon, probably Saturday, because I'm covering the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon on Sunday. The following Sunday might be a good opportunity to get out there at 6 a.m. or so and run the full Stockade-athon course, when traffic will be negligible.

In a bit of weird spot right now. Half of me wishes the race was in two months instead of one, so I could keep working on more fitness and speed and everything else. The other half of me wishes the Stockade-athon was in two days, because my feet are holding up great, but who knows how long that will last?

Wildlife Watch: A huge burrito guy covered in a foil cylinder the size of a propane tank on State Street, waving people into Bomber's.
My spit carries the force of Thor's Hammer, judging from how I chased two dozen mallards into the Duck Pond simply by expectorating into the grass. Payback for when I was a kid and a llama disdainfully spit in my face at the Seneca Park Zoo.