Sunday, May 24th to Saturday, May 30th

Sunday, May 24th to Saturday, May 30th

I ran 4 times this week, 25.3 miles

Sun: 5.3 miles, 43:43, run around Longmeadow MA, 60F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain. A nice run around a house I was visiting for the weekend. I arrived on Friday night and promptly got detoured on I-91S. Luckily I got some excellent directions over my cell and found my way to my destination ... in a roundabout way.

I visited the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield MA on Sunday afternoon. I had a blast shooting some hoops, looking at all the exhibits. I have a vertical leap(?) of 15 inches and can grab a rebound at 9' 6". The drive home was long and uneventful. For some reason, the MassPike did not collect tolls on Memorial Day weekend. The great state of NY was more than happy to take my Thruway toll money.

Tue: 6.8 miles, 53:24, 7:51 pace, Fleet Feet Cobb's Hill run, 55F, cloudy, misty, 2 tiny stops, no pain. I ran kind of hard, needed to clear my head. The Ice Cream Social at Fleet Feet afterward was sweet! The Cavs lost and are down 1-3 to the Magic.

Wed: The Lakers won and are up 3-2 to the Nuggets.

I actually went clothes shopping. It started off by trying to order jeans from the JC Penney catalog. I thought I would order a slim fit 34-36, it will fit ... not! So I took them back and ended up buying 2 pair of Original Fit 34-36 jeans and 2 pair of 34-36 Dockers (quite rare to find them in my size). They were on sale too!

Thu: 6 miles, 48:55, 8:09 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Pond-Collinwood-Seneca, 65F, cloudy, rainy, no stops, no pain. I ran easy, keeping an eye on the sky. Then it started raining while I was running around the zoo and once around the pond.

The MVP, LeBron, made sure the Cavs didn't lose at home. 32 straight points went through him as either a basket or an assist during the last stages of the game. An awesome performance.

Fri: I thought I was going somewhere but ended up going nowhere. The Lakers took care of business by 27 against the Nuggets and punched their ticket to the NBA Finals. I repaired one of my computers and loaded Windows 7 RC on it. The OS works pretty well even on a 2 GHz system with 1 GB RAM.

Sat: 7.2 miles, 58:11, 8:04 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-St Paul-Ridge, 65F, sunny, a bit windy, 1 big stop, no pain. I felt sluggish after 5 miles and had to walk for a bit. I didn't try to push through it. I did try a bit of interval training by speeding up a bit between some streets. A perfect example of a run that I had to do to feel better. Just sitting on the couch doesn't accomplish anything. An hour of running is good for me at least ... though my knees may disagree sometimes.

I watched Memoirs of a Geisha from NetFlix. Meanwhile, the Magic beat the Cavs to win their series 4-2 and earn the right to play the Lakers in the NBA finals. Go Lakers!

The usual mini-rants: people who smoke, people who take the elevator to go down, people who say they will call but don't, people who blow through No Turn on Red signs when you are in the crosswalk.

Oh, I signed up the Power Bar 9 mile Trail Run on June 6th. I signed up for it down at Fleet Feet and avoided the $3.25(!) Active.com fee. I last did this race in 2007.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, May 17th to Saturday, May 23rd

Sunday, May 17th to Saturday, May 23rd

I ran 2 times this week, 14 miles plus a walk of 4 miles

Sun: Drove down to Ithaca College to see Michael graduate. We were stuck in traffic at 8:20AM on the only access road up to IC for about 30 minutes. But I was patient, had plenty of time. The graduation was held at the football stadium at 10AM. It was chilly (45F) and windy. We ended up going inside and watching it in Ford Hall in the Whelan Music Center. He graduated summa cum laude in Music Theory and Trumpet Performance. He still has a semester to go though. After a reception and some picture taking we carted him and the rest of his stuff home.

I stopped off to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. His right hand is swollen for some reason.

I watched Taken from NetFlix. A good movie about a "preventer" getting his daughter back after she is kidnapped.

Mon: 8 miles, 63:42, 7:58 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul to Thomas-back to Ridge, 55F, sunny, a little bit windy, 1 tiny water stop, 1 tiny stop to smell the lilacs, no pain. Sweet run! I am finding that I must wear my IT Band wrap on both knees to have no pain.

Tue: Cross-trained. Went for a 4 mile walk (at least) with a friend from high school.

Wed: 6 miles, 53:24, 8:54 pace, Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Trail Race #2, 75F, sunny, calm, walking stops on some hills, no pain. Overall results here, age group results here, I finished 88th out of 184. The second race was up in Webster Park, 6 miles of some mud and a long creek experience. I thought ahead and brought a change of shoes and shirt. The usual good food and friends afterward. Note to self: wear the amber shades next time instead of the dark shads ... might have seen the branches I ran into. I saw a beautiful sunset along Lake Rd on the way back.

I watched Wanted from NetFlix.

Life got in the way of running the rest of the week. One thing I learned ... there are people in this world who have had a lot more drama in their life than I have had.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, May 10th to Saturday, May 16th

Sunday, May 10th to Saturday, May 16th

I ran 4 times this week, 24.7 miles

Sun: 6 miles, 52:00, 8:40 pace, Mendon Ponds trails, real easy, some rest stops, left knee pain. I ran with the normal crew at Mendon Ponds on Sunday morning. Some left ankle pain initially, then some left knee pain late. A nice easy run with a bit of mud to either dodge (at first) or just go through (later). I didn't go up Cardiac Hill near the end, got separated, then got lost when I came out onto a road. I turned left instead of right and was walking out the park on Hoptkins Point. Luckily a fellow runner who was leaving saw me and gave me a ride back to the beach parking lot.

Watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds from NetFlix. Tippi Hedren was Hitchcock's blond in this movie. One of my favorite movies when I was growing up!

Tue: 6.2 miles, 50:12, 8:06 pace, Fleet Feet Cobb's Hill run, 60F, sunny, calm, 3 loops, carried hand bottle of water, sweet! A perfect night for a pretty near perfect hill run. Powered up and down the hill as usual. I must look like the intense runner with my two IT Band wraps and my Ryder Aero sunglasses ... lol!

Wed: "Watched" Spirit of the Marathon from NetFlix.

Thu: 6 miles, N/A, N/A, Seneca Park trails, 68F, really easy, no pain. I ran with Medved Thursday night group up past the Seneca Park Zoo. You can go all the way to the lake if you want!

Fri: 6.2 miles, 45:44, 7:23 pace, Appleblossom 10K, 60F, cloudy, calm, no stops, no pain. I was 14th out of 68, 1st in my age group for the second year in a row. I really kicked butt! Perfect conditions, I kept up with some teenaged guys until mile 4, didn't let anyone pass me. Results here.

Sat: Busy day. Got my haircut, headed down to Ithaca College to schlep my oldest son's stuff back to Newark. I ran into the same line of thunderstorms three times! It caught me first when I got my haircut in Newark, waited for it to pass. Then I caught up to it on the way down to IC and passed through it. That was the heaviest rain and wind that I have ever driven in ... 30 mph, wipers going double time, flashers on and looking for the funnel cloud. Then after loading up at IC, I drove through it on the way back!

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, May 3rd to Saturday, May 9th

Sunday, May 3rd to Saturday, May 9th

Flights at work (24 steps/flight)
Mon: 21, Tue: 11, Wed: 16, Thu: 12, Fri: 12

Steps:
Sun: , Mon: forgot, Tue: 12768, Wed: , Thu: 8090(?), Fri: 6266(?)

I ran 4 times this week, 35 miles

I am going to stop recording my stairs and steps. My $5 pedometer from Wal-Mart doesn't always give good results. I take the stairs all the time at work and walk a lot because of what I do at work. Don't get me started by all the people that press the down button on the elevator!

Sun: 15 miles, 2:30:09, 10:00 pace, Medved Madness 15 Mile Trail Run, 50-60F, sunny, calm, usual walking stops for hills, no pain. Just the usual trail run in Mendon Ponds ... just a lot longer with logs of mud and lots of fun! Legs 1 and 2 were good, Leg 3 was the killer. Overall results here, age group results here. But all in all, it was long, muddy and fun! The catered meal afterward was good ... half a chicken, pasta, salt potatoes, macaroni salad and salad. I would have loved to sit and laze around longer.
But ... after a quick shower, went out to Ithaca College to see my oldest son's ochestra concert. A long drive, to and from, as usual. I am going to have to do it twice in a couple weeks to get his stuff back to Newark and to see him graduate (even though he won't actually graduate until December).

Mon: Rest day.

Tue: 6 miles, 47:29, 7:55 pace, 60F, cloudy, calm, bottom of the hill stops, 3 loops, no pain. I decided to mix things up a bit by stopping for a bit at the bottom of the hill between loops. Then I tried to run harder on the entire loop (up and down both sides).

Wed: Rest day.

Thu: 7 miles, 58:07, 8:18 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-2xPond-St Paul-Ridge, 62F, sunny, calm, 4 water stops, no pain. A nice run trying to get used to running in the heat. I carried a hand bottle of water, gotta figure out how to hydrate on the run without stopping, lost too much time walking and drinking water.

Fri: Rest day. My left knee and hip hurt.

Sat: 7 miles, N/A, felt like 8:10ish pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-2xPond-St Paul-Ridge, 72F, sunny, a bit windy, 3 water stops, no pain. A nice run in the morning. I am getting a bit more used to running in the heat. I carried the hand bottle of water and did figure out how to drink on the run. I felt better on this run than the last. I am glad that I got out before the cold front came barreling through around 2PM.

As I ran, I thought about the Rochester runners who were running in the Allegany Adventure Run 22K. I am beginning to like trail running. It is quite peaceful running out in the woods rather than on the roads.

Keeping active, Doug