Sunday, May 9th to Saturday, May 15th

I ran 2 times this week, 13 miles.

Sun & Mon: Rest days.

Tue: 6.8 miles, 54:03, 7:57 pace, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, 48F, cloudy, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, 3 Ys and Highland back

Just your average Cobbs Hill run tonight. I ran easy to a bit hard, concentrated on my form as much as I could. Sweet!

Wed & Thu: Rest days. I could have run on Thu but decided against it since I was running a 10K on Fri.

The NBA playoffs are going somewhat true to form. The Lakers and the Suns are waiting to play in the West Conference finals. The Celtics just bounced King James and the one-dimensional Cavaliers out of the East semis and now face the 8-0 Magic in the East Conference finals. Should be interesting.

Fri: 6.2 miles, 46:22, 7:29 pace, Williamson Apple Blossom 10K, 62F, sunny, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

CJ and I headed out to Williamson. I ran the 10K, CJ walked/ran the 5K. I did the first 5K in 22:34, the second 5K in 23:48. Basically, I ran behind the same guy the whole race. He pulled a bit away at the end. I finished 18th overall, results here and did not place in my age group ... tough crowd.

CJ walked/ran the 5K in 59:02, results here. She is out there doing it! She ran across the finish line ... someone else finished last this time!

The start
During the race
The after race exhaustion with bling!
Sat: A well deserved rest day after racing on Fri night. CJ and I went grocery shopping in the morning. Some of the people pushing those grocery carts make Nascar drivers look tame! Now I remember why I like shopping later in the evening. Later, I found that my Sharp DVD/VCR player won't play DVDs ... it just ejects them without even trying to play them.

Monday, May 3rd to Saturday, May 8th

I ran 3 times this week, 19.9 miles.

Mon: Rest day. I could hardly move today ... but to work I went. Grimacing and groaning at times.

Tue: 5.8 miles, FF Cobbs Hill run, no stops, no pain.

It is true that trail is easier on my body than road. Last week on Tuesday after the Flower City Half, I could not run ... actually hardly walk. Tonight on Tuesday after the Medved Madness 15 mile Trail Race I could run. I ran easy, just 2 Ys and took Highland Ave back.

Wed & Thu: Rest days. I could have run on Thu but I plan on running on Fri and Sat.

I learned that you don't really want to take a 99 Grand Am with 238K to Pep Boys for an overdue inspection. They went over it with a fine tooth comb and found: the license plate light was hanging (OK, I believe that), the right sideview mirror was not fastened correctly (???) and the serpentine belt was frayed. They wanted $306 to fix it all. By the time I calmed down and rescued my car (now without an inspection sticker), they had thought they had seen compression fittings on my brake lines (???). I will take the car to my mechanic, Russ, this weekend. I do believe he will charge me less. CJ is letting me use her car as she has for the past month ... thank goodness. In retrospect ... would it have been better to get another used car? I think not ... but it's a close call.

Fri: 4.1 miles, 30:54, 7:32 pace, FF Happy Hour run, 52F, cloudy, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Fleet Feet Happy Hour run

A very quick run. I started out a bit slow but still a 7:36, then 7:50, 7:30 and a 7:17. I didn't slow in the hills past Highland ... just kept the pedal down all the way. CJ fixed the usual pasta dinner ... angel hair along with mild Italian sausage, ymmm!

Sat: 10 miles, 2:19:39, Ellison Park Wetlands, multiple stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Ellison Park Wetlands - 10 miles

I met BB out at trailhead at 8AM. We were out there for around 3 hours. The first loop was just the white with the blue out and white back. I had trouble getting in the trail groove. But after a couple of gels I got my mojo. The second loop we did the white out, then the yellow, salmon, pink, red along with the white back.

Later, I went out to Newark to take CJ to her nail appointment, see my kids, pick up my father's mail. Then off to Lyons to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. On the way back, we stopped at the Macedon Wal-Mart to do some shopping. We also picked up my Grand Am from my mechanic, Russ. I paid only $80 versus PepBoys estimate of $307. Now, to get it inspected.
Keeping active, Doug

Medved Madness 15 mile Trail Run, May 2nd

Sun: 14.2 miles (according to my Garmin), 2:28:32, 10:30 pace, Medved Madness 15 mile Trail Race, 65F, cloudy, a bit windy and humid, walking up some hills, some late pain in my left quad.

A gorgeous morning to test my trail conditioning and see some trail buddies! Lots of mud was found along with a forced water crossing on Loop 1. A bit easier Loop 2. I forgot to put on BodyGlide so I had to take my shirt off early in Loop 2. A bit longer Loop 3 along with Cardiac Hill (aptly named) just before the finish. It turns out that I ran about 90 seconds faster than last year! I finished in 2:28:18, overall results here. I finished 7th out of 13 in my 50-59 age group, overall age group results here.

Pre race
Exiting the woods on Loop 1
Heading around the lilly on loop 1
Exiting the water on loop 1
A bit sweaty and tired ... post race
The catered feast afterward was nice. I was a bit sore afterward. After we got back to the apartment I iced down where I had my hernia surgery in December and my left quad down by my knee. I definitely took it easier the rest of the day.

Thanks to Medved for putting on a great event. Many thanks to CJ for her support during the day.

All in all, a great day!

Keeping active, Doug

Monday, April 26th to Saturday, May 1st

Month of April: 87.2 miles, 13 runs in 30 days, 6.7 miles/run
I ran 2 times, 9.6 miles.

Mon & Tue: Rest days. I thought about running on Tuesday but my aching knees and ankles told me differently.

Wed: Went down to Fleet Feet to buy new trail shoes. I ended up buying a pair of size 12.5 Salomon XT Wings 2. Sweet!

Thu: 5.45 miles, Ellison Park Wetlands, 60F, sunny, calm, some walking up hills, no pain.

Ellison Park Wetlands - White trail

I tried out my new pair of Salomon XT Wings 2 with the Fleet Feet crew out at Ellison Park wetlands. We went out the white trail and back. Nice!

Fri: 4.15 miles, 33:01, 7:56 pace, FF Happy Hour run, 74F, sunny, calm, 1 traffic stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Fleet Feet Happy Hour run - reverse

We did the run in reverse in honor of Becky, the cupcake girl, leaving for PA. A sweet run made a bit harder by the reverse and the heat! I signed up for my first trail marathon, the Sehgahunda on May 29th. It will definitely be a severe test of my body.

Sat: Rest day. A long, lazy day. I went to out to Newark to see my sons. My youngest needed my help trying to get his wireless working. Alas, my PCMCIA card wireless won't fit in his PC Express slot. He needs to buy an USB wireless dongle unless he can get his internal wireless card to work. The oldest was ensconced in his room with allergies.

I went down to Medved to pick up my packet for the Medved Madness 15 mile trail run tomorrow morning. I am locked and loaded!

Keeping active, Doug

Flower City Half Marathon, April 25th

Sun: 13.1 miles, 1:46:43, 8:09 pace, Flower City Half Marathon, 51F, cloudy, light sprinkles at the start, overcast, stops at the water stops and a couple hills, some right quad pain after mile 10.

I ran pretty well. My Garmin would not turn on before the race so I ran 'naked' without pace info. Sometimes I think I run faster when I don't wear my Garmin. The first 5 miles were uneventful. I bonked a bit out at 6 miles going up the hill into Highland Park. I picked up a gel but couldn't take it until mile 8 going into the Mt. Hope Cemetery. The miles in the cemetery included about 100 yards of cobblestone, then some up and down, twists and turns by many mausoleums. By mile 10, we were just about out of the cemetery. I had some right quad pain and just gutted out the 5K to the finish. The people yelling at the end were tonic to my legs as I sprinted across the finish line!

Flower City Half Marathon course

All in all, I ran very well, a PR by 4 minutes! My previous PR was the Cat's Half out in the rolling hills of Mendon way back in April 2007. I finished 278th out of 1290, overall results here. I finished 21th out of 75 in my age group, age group results here.

CJ took my chip off the finish and took some pics of me. She worked very hard at the finish taking chips off runners from both the 5K and half marathon.

Crossing the finish line
The bling!
The cool walk to the car!

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, April 18th to Saturday, April 24th

I ran 4 times, 21.9 miles.

Sun: 6.2 miles, 50:40, 8:11 pace, Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul out to Cooper-Ridge run, 42F, sunny, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul out to Cooper-Ridge run

I got out around 10:15AM for a sweet training run for the Flower City Half. A bit shorter than the run on Friday night. I am starting to get excited! A link to the course is here, today's Democrat and Chronicle article is here.

Mon: 2.57 miles, 49:47, 19:20 pace, Seneca up to Titus walk, 58F, sunny, calm, ns, np.

Garmin Connect Activity for Seneca up to Titus walk

CJ and I went out for a nice Monday evening walk before a nice supper of fish, rice, corn and salad.

Tue: 6.9 miles, 55:08, 7:59 pace, FF Cobbs Hill run, 60F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobbs Hill run, 3 Ys, back on Highland

A very sweet run! I ran a little hard, concentrated on my running form, and did 3 Ys in under 8:00 pace! CJ walked her first complete Y, 4.5 miles, 16:40 pace! Yahoo! She's a keeper!

Wed: 4.55 miles, 43:09, 9:29 pace, FF Dirt Cheap #1, 65F, sunny, calm, walking on some hills, no pain until afterward.

Dirt Cheap #1 was held in the Devil's Bathtub of Mendon Ponds. We found gnarly roots and mud. I did OK but I must have pulled a groin muscle coming up the steps because it hurts. CJ and everyone is advising RICE, ibuprofen and bed. It got cool after the sun started going down.

I placed 73rd out of 206, overall results here. I placed 6th out of 18 in my age group, results here. Overall, a pretty good first trail run of the year. By the end, I was just in a tired zone of running, one foot in front of the other, just trying to keep up with the person in front of me, thinking that the trail would never end. Yet I knew it would end because I could hear Ellen on the PA urging us on at the finish. Thanks also to Boots for urging me to "dig to the finish". I surely wasn't going to walk into the finish. We surely needed the urging due to the uphill finish on the Devil's Bathtub stairs.

Thu: Rest day. CJ and I had a nice supper of rotisserie chicken, rice, peas and salad.

Fri: 4.2 miles, 32:20, 7:42 pace, FF Happy Hour run, 58F, sunny, calm, 1 tiny stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Happy Hour run

I really tried to run easy ... yeah, right! I did start out easy but kept on going faster. My splits were: 7:41, 8:05, 7:56, 7:15, last 0.2 in 6:45. I was flying down Monroe Ave barely keeping pace with another guy who must have heard my footsteps. CJ walked the 3 mile loop. Afterward, CJ and I had our post-run usual pasta dinner and salad.

Sat: Rest day. CJ and I went out to Newark to get my haircut and get my father's mail, then off to Lyons to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home and his new single room. While I was getting my haircut at Mason's Barber Shop CJ was getting a French Manicure nailtips at Ellas Nail Salon & Spa. Her nails look great! She cured my headache when we got back up to Rochester. Early to bed, long day tomorrow at the Flower City Half Marathon.

Saturday's YNN article, link here.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, April 11th to Saturday, April 17th

I ran 2 times, 15.9 miles.

Sun: CJ arrived around 10AM via Amtrak from Cleveland. She liked the train. She saw a wild turkey and several deer from the window on the way. She ate off real plates in the dining car. I picked her up at the train station downtown which is only 10 minutes from our apartment.

After a nice reunion I took my daughter back down to Houghton College. She only has 3 more weeks of class and will be quite busy.

Mon: Rest day.

CJ did a walking exploration of the area around our apartment. She opened an account at ESL and found a place that will do her nails. We watched Black Snake Moan ... mmmm!

Tue: 7.2 miles, 59:16, 8:14 pace, FF Cobbs Hill run, 55F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobbs Hill run, 4 Y's

I ran kind of hard, did not 3, but 4 Y's tonight. CJ walked 1 Y. A pleasant night for a run. We had the usual pasta dinner after a run. Sweet!!

Wed: Rest day.

CJ fixed pot roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. Dessert was cherry pie. An excellent supper and night.

Thu: Rest day. Today I had the last dentist appointment at Q Dental that I can afford this year. I have had 2 root canals down on #10 and #11 over the past month or so. I have blown through my dental benefits for 2010. Everything is done except for the crowns. I guess I will have to wait until 2011.

Fri: 8.7 miles, 70:15, 8:04 pace, Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul out to Thendara and back-Ridge run, 56F, cloudy, real light mist to start, 1 stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul out to Thendara and back-Ridge run

A simply awesome run!! It has to rank as the best long run that I have run since the Summerfest 12K last Labor Day. I ran the first 4.2 out in 32:40, 7:47 pace, walked and hydrated for 50 sec, then ran 4.5 miles back in 36:45, 8:10 pace. I was definitely in the zone! The Flower City Half is next week ... yea, baby!!!

Sat: Rest day! CJ and I cocooned for most of the day, 5 for 7. We made it out to BJ's, where we scoped out the vastness of the BJ's in Greece. Afterward, we went to Red Lobster for a late bite to eat. The only glitch was that her ATM cards were declined ... but they were both perfectly accepted at the credit union across the street! Then we watched The Golden Compass before we retired for the evening.

Sunday, April 4th to Saturday, April 10th

I ran 4 times for 26.9 miles.

Sun: Still out in Cleveland with CJ. We went to Easter Mass at St Stanislaus Church in the Slavic Village, then out to see her father, brother, his wife, his kids and her kids in Revenna. I was back in Rochester by 10:45 PM. A long day.

Mon: 6.3 miles, 49:50, 7:55 pace, Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul-Ridge run, 66F, sunny, calm, 1 stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect for Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul-Ridge run

I had a choice between doing laundry or going for a run ... it wasn't really a choice. I got out around 6:30PM. A tale of two runs: a tempo 5K at 23:12, 7:29 pace, I walked and hydrated for a minute, then an ordinary 5K at 24:36, 8:30 pace. A very sweet run!

Tue: 6.3 miles, 52:59, 8:24 pace, FF Cobbs Hill run, 62F, cloudy, humid, 4 stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobb's Hill run, 2.5 Y's, back on Highland

A warm front came through just before I went down to Fleet Feet. It was warmer and humid. There was actually a bit of really light fog up on Cobb's Hill ... or maybe it was just my sunglasses were fogging over. I did 2.5 Y's and took Highland back. I was drenched in sweat when I got done. I stopped to hydrate 4 times. I am still trying to get used to the warmer temperatures. Still a sweet run!

Wed: Rest day.

A workout at work, 16 flights of stairs and lots of walking. After work I did 3 loads of laundry: whites, darks, sheets and towels.

Thu: Rest day.

I went to work early so I could go to a dentist appointment. The dentist was running a hour late so I rescheduled for next week, same time.

Fri: 4.2 miles, 33:15, 7:55 pace, FF Happy Hour run, 36F, cool, windy, light snow pellets at times, 1 stop, 1 stop for traffic, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Happy Hour run

The weather took a turn for late winter over the two days. But I made it down to Fleet Feet for the Friday night Happy Hour run. Why? Because it's what I do on Friday nights at 6PM. I had to dig out my cold weather gear that I had put in a box. What was I thinking? It's still early April in upstate NY. I guess the couple of days in the 80s went to my head.

I signed up for the Flower City Half in two weeks. I think I will throw in some long runs the next two weekends. A long run down to Lake Ontario and back sounds like a good idea!

Sat: 10.1 miles, 89:11, 8:49 pace, Seneca-Collingwood-Zoo Trail out to Rourke bridge-St Paul-Ridge run, 46F, sunny, a bit windy, 1 stop for 2 GUs, 2 stops for water, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Seneca-Collingwood-Zoo Trail out to Rourke bridge-St Paul-Ridge run

I got out around noon for a nice long run on the zoo trail out to the Rourke bridge. I was able to dial in an economic pace, get into the zone and just cruise. I think I would have been a bit faster on the road but still a sweet long run.

CJ will be back from Cleveland via Amtrak at 9:50AM tomorrow morning. A sweet reunion will most definitely occur!

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, March 28th to Saturday, April 3rd

Month of March: 75 miles, 12 runs, 6.3 miles/run
I ran 3 times this week, 19 miles.

Sun: 9.3 miles, 77:05, 8:17 pace, Spring Forward 15K, 42F, cloudy, a bit windy, walked in the water stops and up a few hills, no IT band wrap, no pain.

During a flat portion
After conquering the rolling hills of Mendon
I thought I did pretty well. My miles were: 7:37, 8:08, 7:54, 8:10, 8:00, 8:33, 8:34, 9:02, 8:13. I took water at every stop, walked some hills, bonked a wee bit, tried to find zen around the 10K mark, motored on, finished well. I finished 181st out of 439, results here. I finished 17th out of 33 in my age group, results here. Overall, a sweet run and a great way to spend a morning!

After some downtime, I went out to the ex's where I learned that my youngest son is just up and moving to Florida for several months. He had not given any explanation about where he will be, what he will be doing, who he will be staying up, where he will be working. I hope he makes good decisions ... bad decisions that far from home can have bad consequences.

Mon: A typical Monday at work: busy with 24 flights of stairs and lots of walking.

Tue: 5.8 miles, 50:01, 8:37 pace, FF Cobb's Hill run, 43F, cloudy, a bit windy, 2 stops to mess with my jacket, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobbs Hill run, 2 Y's, long way back

I felt a bit flat ... probably from running 9.3 miles on Sunday. I took it easy and only did 2 Y's. But I did take Highland Ave back so it's all good. It felt warmer than 43F. I overheated a bit and ended up taking my jacket off. My two tech tops (1 ls, 1 ss) were plenty warm enough.

Wed: 5.6 miles, 45:31, 8:08 pace, run around the neighborhood, 52F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

I got out for the last run of March. I did a nice route: Seneca-Titus-Winona-St Paul-Ridge. I took it easy but didn't dawdle. A sweet run ... in shorts, 2 tech tops (1 ls and 1 ss) and gloves.

Thu: Rest day. I went down to Houghton College to take my daughter home to my ex for Easter break. My ex had her car totaled by my youngest son who has arrived safely down in Florida ... somewhere, which is another story.

My youngest son, almost 21, just up and decided that he needed to go down to Florida. No word to my ex or me about the usual questions that parents ask ... like where is he going, how long he will be there, where he will be staying, where he will work, who he will be staying with, etc. I just hope he makes good decisions ... because bad decisions can produce bad consequences especially if you are far from home.

My ex's father is the hospital. He needed 3 pints of blood. He is anemic ... no word yet on why. He will be staying overnight while he undergoes tests.

Fri: 4.1 miles, FF Friday night fun run, 78F, cloudy, calm, 5 water stops, no pain.

I have been really thirsty lately so I drank a couple of tall glasses of water before, took it nice, easy, with at least 5 walking water stops. It will be tough to get used to warmer weather so early.

Sat: Rest day.

I went out to Newark to see my daughter and son, then out to Lyons to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. I made a spur of the moment decision on the way back up to the apartment to go see CJ in Cleveland. So I went to Target to buy some essentials: a 3-pack of navy dress socks and a dress belt (needed both), gassed up, made a lunch, packed a bit and motored. I didn't text her that I was coming until I had just crossed over into Ohio, about an hour out. She was pleasantly surprised. I figured that it wouldn't be nice for either one of us to spend Easter alone.

Actually, my ex father-in-law needed 5 pints of blood before he was discharged. He needs some more tests next week.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, March 21st to Saturday, March 27th

I ran 2 times this week, 12.6 miles.

Sun: Still out in Cleveland helping CJ pack her stuff. Drove back from Cleveland, arrived back around 9PM. I will be driving CJ's car this week. My car, a 99 Grand Am with 237K miles, is having more and more problems. The inspection is due next month. It has front brakes that are starting to grind, a caliber is probably dragging, the Check Engine Soon light is on, and an exhaust pipe has needed replacing since before September of last year.

Mon: Laundry night ... 3 loads, how exciting! It was a cold, windy, rainy night ... no chance of running.

Tue: 6.2 miles, 52:13, 8:25 pace, FF Cobb's Hill run, 36F, cold, misty, damp, 1 tiny water stop, no pain.

Just your usual cold, misty, damp run up and down Cobb's Hill 3 times. Non-runners would wonder why ... runners would understand. I do it because it's what I do on Tuesday nights.

Wed: Rest night. The usual workout at work: 12 flights, lots of walking through 2 buildings. I spent some quality time doing my amended 2006 return ... don't ask.

Thu: Life gets in the way of running ... again. Grocery shopped then watched SU lose to Butler by 4 in the Sweet Sixteen.

Fri: 6.4 miles, 56:36, 8:51 pace, Seneca Park Zoo trail run, 45F, sunny, calm, 3 stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Seneca Park Zoo trail run

I had a dentist appointment at 4. He finished the root canal on 11. Next is the crowns on 10 and 11. Since I was out at 4:50, I decided to take a run before I went to Cleveland to see CJ. Sweet and easy run ... except for the severe toothache after the run! I took a nap for a hour and it went away. Then I motored out to Cleveland to see CJ and give her moral support as she goes through her stuff. I arrived around 1AM.

Sat: More moral support for CJ ... back to Rochester at 10PM. I wasn't in Cleveland for an entire day, 267 miles one way. Busy day.

Keeping active, Doug