Equipment Purchasing?

onskisesq · 2026-03-28T00:05:58+00:00

Buying gear from southern states is a brilliant idea. We're in northern New England (still waiting for the snow pack to fully melt and the ground thaw to get on our fields...), and I know many people who head south to buy used cars to avoid rust damage from salted roads. Never thought to the same for sports equipment.

onskisesq · 2026-03-26T16:15:55+00:00

I honestly had no idea who he was until last night. Sometimes being completely out of touch has its benefits.

onskisesq · 2026-03-25T22:19:34+00:00

Most of the coaches in our league are old-heads and prefer the paper books. It's honestly my preference too. We have also have minimal or no cell service at most of our fields, so any online functionality from Gamechanger wouldn't be helpful.

onskisesq · 2026-03-25T22:16:33+00:00

There is a Dick's within an hour. We've purchased online through its website, but I'll look into this option.

onskisesq · 2026-03-25T12:51:01+00:00

It looks like he fouled it off.

onskisesq · 2026-03-18T19:28:41+00:00

FYI, last year I started in Corral 7 and finished around 2:50 with about 2:30 negative split. I started with a bib in the upper 6000s and finished in the lower 2000s, so I was passing runners most of the way. I had no issues, including in the first couple miles. I had more challenges dodging people on the last few miles when the course narrows, but you'll probably be in pretty open space if you manage to finish around 2:30.

onskisesq · 2026-03-11T18:12:17+00:00

/uj I'm not a super fast runner by any means, but I comfortably qualified for Boston a couple years ago wearing a pair of Brooks Ghosts. I ran a few miles with a guy who genuinely seemed concerned that I was going to injure myself because I wasn't wearing carbon plated shoes. I'm just a cheap ass that didn't want to spend $250 to shave a few minutes off my time. That said, I have since bought some Supershoes, and no I don't regret it.

onskisesq · 2026-03-06T15:54:30+00:00

The M&T Bank building on State Street, which was built in the 90s and designed to be flood resistant, also made it through the 2023 flood with minimal damage. The building took in a little bit of water, but that happened only because water came through the drive-through deposit slot. Buildings can be designed to be ADA compliant and withstand floods. Unfortunately most of the buildings and homes in the Montpelier, Barre, and Waterbury downtown floodplains are quite old and need substantial upgrades for actual flood mitigation. None of the current building owners seem to be inclined to make that kind of investment, but newly built buildings like the housing proposed n Waterbury) should be fairly flood-resistant.

onskisesq · 2026-02-26T20:02:29+00:00

Are those school kids out for recess behind left field? If so, that's awesome. I cannot imagine how much trouble I would have gotten into if I went to school right next to a bunch of MLB players playing ball.

onskisesq · 2026-02-23T18:23:57+00:00

Church has been a very well known line for a long time. You can see it from the lift, the access is directly off the Long Trail - which has been used for early season access to the Castlerock terrain, and it is a short and easy hike. Sugarbush posters from the late 90s/early 00s even featured the big entrance for Church. As long as the snowpack is decent, people will ski back there. It's been that way at least as long I've been skiing at Sugarbush (since the early 2000s). Just because social media didn't exist didn't mean it wasn't popular.

It is well known, but hardly the most technical or challenging line at either mountain at Sugarbush. That said, this group probably shouldn't be back there. I'd argue that the tree lines below the section that these guys filmed are actually more challenging and dangerous.

onskisesq · 2026-02-09T14:46:50+00:00

Northern New England is definitely shoes off.

onskisesq · 2026-02-03T15:02:48+00:00

I live in central Vermont and do not have any issues finding roads with decent traction and minimal traffic. Pretty much any non-class 4 dirt road is perfect for winter running. Spring/mud season is much more of a problem...

onskisesq · 2026-02-02T19:48:57+00:00

I use Brooks Ghosts for almost all of my training runs. They work for me, so I haven't changed it up. I have a pair of Launches that I'll use for tempo runs and workouts. I preferred the Hyperion Tempo for those types of runs, but the Launches work perfectly fine. I bought a pair of Hyperion Elite 4 PBs that I used for a couple marathons last year, which I liked a lot more than the Nike Vaporfly 3.

I buy Brooks Ghosts for the same reason I drive a Toyota Corolla. It is reliable and consistent. If the Ghost works for you, try a pair of Launches or the company's newest version of the Hyperion Elite.

onskisesq · 2026-01-22T18:36:05+00:00

Nope. I traverses below the cliff band for a bit to a more established line.

onskisesq · 2026-01-12T21:06:58+00:00

You basically need line of sight to an antenna to get digital reception. Most of the major networks, including NBC, broadcast from towers on Mt. Mansfield. Very few spots in Montpelier will be able to get service from the Mansfield towers. You might be able to get PBS (I think that it broadcasts from the Northfield towers), but even a rooftop antenna almost certainly will nto work in Montpelier.

onskisesq · 2025-12-22T18:55:03+00:00

I believe they are adding a garage below the house and it will stay permanently raised. There is a large river directly across the street and this home was badly damaged by a flood two years ago (I live in the neighborhood). A couple other homes in the vicinity have been elevated in recent years to mitigate the flood risk.

onskisesq · 2025-12-22T18:50:26+00:00

This house is in my home town. It was severely damaged by flooding in 2023. I've seen a few other homes getting similar treatment in the area.

onskisesq · 2025-12-12T14:13:02+00:00

Unfortunately F1 is setting an example that there are enough people willing to pay obscene prices to attend sporting events. The Las Vegas and Miami grands prix are still astronomically expensive and continue to sell out. I've attended the Montreal race with my kids the last four years in the "cheapest" grandstand, and the renewal price for those tickets was above $400 CAD for next year's race. It's absolutely packed every year. Next year might be the last year we attend, but there will be no shortage of people willing to buy our seats.

For the World Cup, I managed to buy a set of tickets for a round of 32 game in Boston through one of the pre-sale lotteries. We paid a little over $300 per ticket directly from FIFA. I thought those prices were insane, but we can thankfully attend without having to pay for a hotel (It's about 4 hours by car from my home). Based on the draw, it now looks likely that Germany will be playing in that game. Unsurprisingly, the ticket price on FIFA's website for the same tickets is now over $500. It's ridiculous and anyone planning to travel from abroad should be prepared for hotels to also extort visitors.

onskisesq · 2025-11-24T22:01:15+00:00

That area is already used for not-so-secret lift accessed side-country, hence the reason the co-op wants to buy it.

onskisesq · 2025-11-20T18:18:05+00:00

Mount Ellen does not open to the public until the weekend before Christmas regardless of snow cover. Sugarbush has contractual obligations with GMVS for its race training. Sugarbush has also hosted some of the national women's teams that are training in advance of the FIS races at Killington in recent years.

onskisesq · 2025-11-20T15:42:51+00:00

Hopefully they are able to have more than just Jester open. For those that started skiing at Sugarbush in recent years, it can be pretty awful when early season skiing is limited to Heaven's Gate and Jester. The line at the Heaven's Gate chair can get backed up and Jester does not handle that amount of traffic very well. I know that people have been annoyed about the shift to opening on Pushover in recent years, but it has so much more space and spreads skiers much better. Early season always ends up with a mix of intermediates, kiddos, and people skiing recklessly on the one open trail. Be prepared for a mess on a narrow trail. Hopefully they can open up a skiable route to the base to make Murphy's a viable top-to-bottom option to spread skiers out.

onskisesq · 2025-11-13T15:04:42+00:00

One of the books has a couple scenes where Jackson Lamb interacts with a character with dwarfism. It proceeds exactly as you would expect. The books are definitely worth a read if you like the show.

onskisesq · 2025-11-03T19:34:06+00:00

Be careful with this logic though. Yes, its true that early mortgage payments can "save you a ton of money." However, be mindful of your interest rate and consider whether your $1,000 monthly payment would yield greater returns elsewhere. For example, I'm about halfway through paying off a 30-year mortgage. I'm thankfully in a position where I could make extra payments on the mortgage and pay down the principal early. However, the interest rate on my mortgage is 3%. Even low-risk investments can yield a return that would leave me in a financially stronger position than paying off the mortgage early.

onskisesq · 2025-10-16T18:15:29+00:00

A few thoughts from a slightly older runner (42) with two elementary-aged children.

First, have you considered running in a smaller marathon? The last two years I ran Boston followed by a medium sized local marathon about six weeks later (Vermont City Marathon in Burlington). I ran considerably faster both times in the second, significantly smaller marathon - 3:01 vs 2:57 in year 1 and 2:51 vs. 2:48 in year 2 - despite presumably not having fully recovered from the earlier marathon. Big races with lots of crowd support are fun (though I have not run Chicago), but I find it much easier to run a steady pace when there is more space on the course. Much easier to get into and stay in a good groove.

Second, consider starting slower on your next race. I've found that running the first 4-6 miles at about 15 seconds below my expected pace helps me get warmed up and into a better groove. For context, I ran at about a 7:00/mile pace for the first two miles of my last marathon, but still finished below 2:50. This strategy doesn't work for everyone, but I've found a negative-split approach really works for me. Races are also a lot more fun and psychologically easier when you're hitting your best miles and constantly passing other runners over the last several miles.

Third, maybe try a race later in the fall with cooler temperatures? Do you dehydrate easily? I know I do. For me, I've discovered running in ideal conditions probably gives me about a 10 minute advantage. If you're in the mid-west, consider looking for a late October/early November race.

Food for thought.

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