Sunday, 9/2/12: 5.82 miles, 48:27, 10:08, 83F, sunny, calm, right Achilles ache.
Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park - Green Trail
Christine had a massage appointment at 3:30PM at Massage Envy. She asked me if I wanted to go run down at Mendon Ponds Park. I was thinking about the same thing and jumped at the chance. She urged me to run just 3.1 miles ... so I ran 5.82 miles. I didn't know any trails that short ... that I wanted to run. Well, I suppose I could have run the Blue trail two or three times but that would have been boring so I just the Green trail backwards. I tried to run nice and easy. My right Achilles started to ache around mile 2.5 and I slowed down. It ached worse but I continued onward. Yes, it hurt to run but it's what I do.
Christine called for me to pick me up as soon as I got to the car so I headed back to Massage Envy to pick her up. Then we had a bite to eat up at Vic and Irv's up in Sea Breeze. I was limping so we didn't walk around much. We tuned to TCM and watched the 1964 Cold War classic, Fail Safe, with Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman.
Monday, 9/3/12: Labor and rest day.
Christine and I just lazed around most of the day. We did make it out to Wegmans for some supplies and to rent The Hunger Games from the Redbox. I am sure that some people like this movie but we were unimpressed. It's OK.
Tuesday, 9/4/12: 3.1 miles, 25:04, 8:04, 75F, cloudy, calm, humid, no stops, right achilles ache.
Garmin Connect Activity for Around the block in Irondequoit
I took a rare day off of work and just relaxed the whole day. I got up and out around 8:30AM for a really nice and easy run around the block. I wanted to run 5K so that I could make my right Achilles a bit sore for my doctor's appointment at 11AM. Yes, Christine finally got me to take my right Achilles to the doctor. He is a biker and a runner so he knows about athletes. He said that I had an inflamed right Achilles and referred me to the physical therapists at URMC Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Clinton Crossings. Then I took Christine back to Nu Nails so she could get a new nail color that wasn't pink like she got last week ... neither of us liked that color. Her color is now ... Be Still My Heart!
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| Christine styling her nails over a pot of 16 bean soup! |
What was left of Hurricane Isaac finally made its way to upstate NY. It poured for about three hours in the afternoon. I can't imagine what it did down in the south of the US.
Wednesday, 9/5/12: Rest day.
Well, I have a physical therapist appointment on Tuesday, 9/11/12 at 8AM. I guess I should have seen the doctor right away. Who knew that a right achilles wouldn't fix itself!
Thursday, 9/6/12: Rest day.
Not much happened. Christine and I have been on a "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" kick off of the trusty DVR.
Friday, 9/7/12: Rest day.
I did more walking than usual today, 10,214 steps. When I first start walking during work, I was stiff and my right achilles hurt. Then it loosens up and I walk OK ... but I still feel my right achilles. So ... I contemplated running the Summerfest 5K on Saturday. It that smart? Who knows?
Saturday, 9/8/12: 3.1 (actually 2.926) miles, 22:02, 7:40 pace, 72F, cloudy, humid, no stops.
I went to bed thinking that I would make a race day decision about running the Summerfest 5K. While Christine and I lay in bed in the morning it started to pour for about 5 minutes. A nice day for a race!
Well, we got up and out, out to Mendon Ponds Park ... our home away from home. We got there around 8:25AM, behind a slowpoke. I did a raceday registration and got ready. I hoped that my right achilles would hold up.
Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Summerfest 5K
While I went out for a bit of a warmup it started to pour and blow, I got drenched. I decided to wear my hat during the race just in case. The rain moved through just before the start of the 12K up on Douglas Road.
We lined up just ahead of the start in the muddy dirt road about a hundred yards from Stewart Lodge. Our start up the dirt road was a bit unexpected. I settled into a hard but easy pace as we got to Douglas Road and turned left. I really didn't know how my body would react but I ran onward. We crossed Canfield Road out to the horse farm and went to the turnaround by the NYS Thruway. My first mile was 7:14 As we passed the horses again, they started running like they wanted to run with us. I was running good, about 9th or so. We went into the woods to the left for about 0.5 mile or so of trail running. I slowed down due to the mud and crab apples, second mile was 7:55. We came back on Canfield Road for a bit and then turned left back onto Douglas Road. I was hurting a bit but held on and finished strong, third mile in 6:51. Christine cheered me into the finish. My Garmin had the race a bit light at 2.926 miles.
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| The muddy start! |
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| Gritting my teeth for the finish ... like usual! |
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| Getting the tag ripped off ... |
I finished 10th out of 228 in 22:02. Overall results, link here. Age group results, link here. Christine and I cheered in the 5k runners and then both the 12k and 5k runners as they came streaming into the finish. We stuck around for the awards. Ellen went quickly through the 12k award and then the 5k awards. I won my M50-54 age group but also ran faster than anyone over 40. Ok ... all the other fast M50-54 runners were running the 12k. But ... I still had to run the race. I got the dose of endorphins that I so needed ... missed all during the month of August.
Somehow after the awards Christine and I lost touch with each other for a bit. I stayed in the lodge while Christine went up to the car. A rain and wind storm came in just when I was thinking of heading up to the car. Christine drove down to the lodge while I got drenched getting to her. We drove home while I tried to warm up and dry off.
The rest of the day and night was spent just lazing around after I took a warm shower, had lunch and took a nap. It was amazing how my mood improved after a race. Racing ... how I missed you!!!
