Sunday, 5/19/2013 to Saturday, 5/25/2013 - Lilac 10K

I ran 3 times this week, 13.07 miles

I biked 2 times this week, 30.34 miles

Sunday, 5/19/2013: 64F, sunny, calm, 2 runs of 0.6 and 6.26 miles

Chrisine and I got up early ... as usual on the morning of a race. Though soon Christine admitted that she just didn't have the energy and elected to stay home. So I headed out solo at 8AM down to Highland Park for the 9AM start of the Lilac 10K.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Lilac 10K

I didn't have much time so I only got in a 0.6 mile warmup run. My legs felt OK.




Soon I was lined up in my usual spot beside Bill Beyerbach about 10 yards behind the start line. I was quickly up to speed and moved up as I passed some runners. My first mile sped by in 6:28. Then ... the wheels fell off. Bill sped by me shortly after the 1 mile mark on his way to a 10K PR of 44:26! I just had no energy ... I had to walk numerous times. So my splits fell to: 7:21, 7:35, 8:13, 8:15, 7:50. I did appreciate the Fleet Feet cheering section at the corner of Monroe and Elmwood though. I had brief spurts of energy intermixed with walks as I just mailed it in.

Ze start!

Trying to survive until the finish!

I finished in 47:41, 195th out of 1176, link here. I was 12th out of 47 in my M55-59 age group. Others would love to have a 47:41 ... but it's just not up to what I thought I was capable of. I just didn't have it today. It was probably tired legs from the Spring Classic Duathlon that I did the previous day.

Monday, 5/20/2013: 81F, sunny, calm, 16.36 bike, 1:07:31, 14.5 miles, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Biking around the block in Webster

I needed a bike so I took Christine to her therapist appointment out in Webster then biked for an hour. I kind of winged the route. I headed north on Phillips, then west on Lake, south on Bay, then east on Ridge. Ridge was very bumpy and dangerous. In retrospect I should have headed east on Klem back to Phillips.

Tuesday, 5/21/2013: 82F, hot, hazy, humid, 48:21, 7:46 pace, no stops, no pain

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K run around the streets of Irondequoit

I had a case of procrastination that I had to conquer before I finish got out for this run at 6:55 PM. It required  a lot of mental fortitude to get off the couch, put my first foot out the door, take the first running step and continue onward after the first 1/2 mile. But onward I went. I was soaked with sweat by the time I finished. Christine soon had a nice supper fixed up: scallops, baked potato and kale ... mmm!

Wednesday, 5/22/2013 and Thursday, 5/23/2013: Rest days

The first because of the arrival of new tech ... a Lexmark Pinnacle Pro 915 wireless printer that I set up on our laptops. The second because of massive amounts of cuddling ... nice!

Friday, 5/24/2013: Bike 13.98 miles, 1:06:43, 12.6 mph, 52F, partly cloudy, a bit breezy, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Both sides of the Genesee River

I really needed some exercise so I just got on my bike and got out there. An hour later I was done with my usual ride around on both bank of the Genesee River.

Saturday, 5/25/2013: Rest day.

I was a bit bummed this morning. I so wanted to be down at the Letchworth Dam in Mount Morris for the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon. But I was just not trained for it and just not feeling it. I was more than a bit cranky all morning. Results are here and age group results are here. Maybe next year. I did enjoy reading the Facebook posts from happy and triumphant finishers.

Later Christine and I headed out to Newark to my daughter's apartment where we had a picnic with her and my youngest son. First off was starting up us outdoor charcoal grill and hoping that it would get hot ... it did. We had the usual fare of hamburgers and salads along with a cookie cake. It was a bit cool and breezy so we wore jackets. It was a nice time ... something we should do more often.

Sunday, 5/12/2013 to Saturday, 5/18/2013 - Dirt Cheap #2 and Spring Classic Duathalon

I ran 6 times this week, 24.33 miles
I biked 3 times this week, 37.9 miles

Sunday, 5/12/2013: run 12.4 miles, 1:49:50, 8:51 pace, sunny, light rain, lots of wind, sunny, stops for gel and clothing changes

Garmin Connect Activity for Meandering to the Lake and back

I really, really needed a long run after not running since Tuesday. I had trouble motivating myself at 8AM when I saw that the temperature was 41F and heard the howling wind outside. I gave Christine her Mother's Day present along with a cuddle. Then ... I got dressed and got out. I am glad that I picked warm tech because I needed it. I struck up a nice and easy, long distance lope and just kept going. The weather changed a couple of times while I was out there. First sun, then a light rain, then sun along with lots of wind so I took off my jacket once, put it back on for the light rain and then took it back off afterward. I eventually got down to Lake Ontario and back. I was definitely slower on the way back as usual ... but I was glad I went out.

I woke up Christine when I got back and we soon enjoyed our coffee, bagel and the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle as per our usual Sunday habit. Later we ended out to the East Ridge Diner for a Mother Day's day dinner. I had a 1/2 rack of baby back ribs and Christine had steak ... Mmm! We both enjoyed our first visit ... we will be back!

Christine rented Lincoln from Redbox. But we couldn't view it because of tech not working. We tried 4 DVD players. My laptop, Christine's DVD player and both mine and were denied. My laptop had trouble with the sound. Christine's DVD player had blue screens. One of my DVD players still has a DVD stuck in it and the other doesn't recognize any DVD. We are all set if we want to play VHS tape though. Seriously, I think a new Blu-Ray player is in our future as long as it has a component video output for our old TV.

Monday, 5/13/2013: Rest night ... moving on.

Tuesday, 5/14/2013: bike 17.9 miles, 1:28:20, 12.2 mph, 55F, partly cloudy, calm, 1 stop.

Garmin Connect Activity for Both banks of the Genesee River

I needed some exercise. I chose the bike since I have Dirt Cheap #2 tomorrow. I chose my usual bike route on both banks of the Genesee with some additional loops. I went a bit faster and chose to pump up the hills rather than just ride slowly up them. A nice ride! I had a bit of trouble walking after the ride until I got my legs back ... sweet!

Wednesday, 5/15/2013: 2 runs of 1.5 and 5.43 miles, 76F, sunny, windy

What a weird day of Rochester weather! It was 50F when I woke up. A severe thunderstorm moved through at 8:30AM and produced heavy rain, pea sized hail in some areas and high winds. It was 79F and still windy by 3:30PM. So it was a hot Dirt Cheap 2.

Christine and I got out to the new location of Dirt Cheap 2 at the corner of Holt and Lake out in Webster around 5:40PM in plenty of time for the 6:30PM start. This location has plenty of parking so a new course soon ensued. My darling wife went off the Kohls to shop and New Nails for ... well, a new set of shorter nails while I prepped for the race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Dirt Cheap 2

I had enough time for a nice 1.5 mile warmup run at 9:04 pace before the race to get the blood flowing in my legs. I sampled the beginning 0.75 mile and last 0.25 mile of the new course. The last 0.25 mile included a new steep uphill to the finish which is longer and steeper than the uphill finish to Stewart Lodge out at Mendon Ponds Park for the Dirt Cheap Stage Race.



Soon, it was 6:30PM and time to hit the trails with all the men. The women started 8 minutes after us.

I settled into a nice trail pace on the longest race of the Dirt Cheap series. I concentrated on stretching out on the long flats while I kept an eye out for roots, rocks, branches, pricker bushes and logs plus the occasional horse droppings. We entered the creek for about 100 yards at mile 2.5. Its cold ankle deep water washed a bit of trail mud off. I soon found more mud. It was a bit hard to get back up to speed with 2 trail shoes full of water ... it took about a mile. The long part of the race ensued ... I just kept going. I could hear Ellen yelling at the finish from about a mile away but there were more than a few hills in betweeen. Then the last hill was in sight ... I dug up it and broke the finish line at 49:05, 9:03 , done!

Gritting my teeth like usual!

I did OK. I was 71st out of 316, link here. I was 3rd out of 14 in my M55-59 age group, 3 full minutes behind Bill Beyerbach's first place effort. Soon I was chowing down on the usual Dirt Cheap fare ... hot dogs cooked up by Marilee, bananas, cookies, pretzel, carrots and cucumbers. Good post race fuel!

Thursday, 5/16/2013: Rest day.

Friday, 5/17/2013: Prep day before the weekend.

Christine and I stopped off at Fleet Feet in Brighton where I signed up for tomorrow's Spring Classic Duathalon at Mendon Ponds Park. I also bought a Zoots Tri Short. I also bought a Moving Comfort capri pants and a Spibelt with pink stitching for Christine. We also signed up for GRTC's Boilermaker bus. We went to bed early but both of us didn't sleep well. Christine was congested so she snored and I had pre-race jitters.

Saturday, 5/18/2013: Spring Class Duathlon

Saturday morning came early with the alarm going off at 5:50AM ... but I was awake anyway. We had lots of time and got underway at 7:30AM. I did struggle a bit with attaching the bike carrier to the car. No worries ... the race didn't start until 8:30AM. I had plenty of time to get my Trek FX 7.2 into transition, situate my stuff and get my timing chip. I had sighed for the Formula 1 race: 2 miles run, 10 mile bike, 1 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. I was excited ... my first duathlon!

Sean Hendrick directed me into transition and gave me some pointers.

Soon I was off with 63 other duathletes!

I knew I had to pace myself. I did the first two mile trail run in 16:00, a nice 8:00 pace. I spent 1:55 in transition 1 (T1). I had some water and a gel. Christine was standing outside of transition giving me encouragement. I put on my helmet and jacket and ran my bike out of transition to the mount line.

Running my bike out of T1 for my first 10 mile ride.

Off I went on my bike for a 10 mile ride! It went pretty well ... a lot of people passed me though. I soon kept my front gear in the third slot and cycled through the back gears as needed. There were some short ups and some great downs. The first 10 mile bike time was 39:33. I spent 1:40 in T2 while I took my jacket off, had some water and a gel before I ran out for a mile run, 8:45. That was kind of slow but I was sluggish.

Coming down toward transition after the 1 mile run

I spent 1:33 in T3 for some water and my last gel. I was warm so I didn't put on my jacket before I headed back out of my second 10 mile ride. The course was familiar now so I concentrated on going faster on this loop. I caught and passed 2 women on this loop. My bike time was 39:39. I was in T4 for 1:10 before I headed back out for my final 2 mile run. I was feeling pretty good and having fun! I motored at a good run pace and was back in 16:13, 8:07 pace. It was nice to head to a downhill finish!

This pic was taken just minutes after the finish.

Standing next to my trusty stead!

My total time was 2:06:27, 49th out of 64, link here. I was 5th out of 6 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Some mistakes ... I didn't set my Garmin between run and bike. I left it on run for the entire race. I spent too much time in transition but hey ... it was my first time! I wanted to make sure to hydrate and put some nutrition in me before heading back out. All in all, it was a great morning! It was nice to hear Ellen announcing me as I entered and exiting transition. I had fun in a new sport!

Sunday, 5/5/2013 to Saturday, 5/11/2013 - Medved Madness 15 Mile Trail run

I ran 2 times this week, 21.9 miles
I biked 1 time this week, 13.7 miles

Sunday, 5/5/2013: 16.5 miles, 2:52:40, 10:28 pace, 57F, sunny, calm, a beautiful morning!

Christine was feeling poorly so I kissed her goodbye and headed down solo to Hopkins Point at Mendon Ponds Park for the Medved Madness 15 mile Trail run. I got there about 45 minutes before the 8AM start. I didn't go out for a warmup run. I have not had much mojo lately ... I was hoping to find it at this race.



I have run this race in 2009, 2010 and 2012 with a PR in 2010 of 2:28:32. It's basically a three loop race with each loop of 5 miles or so denoted by a different color flag: red, pink and blue. I started out a bit strong and was soon passed by runners that I never saw again. Soon I settled into a groove and just took what the course gave me. I tiptoed straight through the mud so my trail shoes wouldn't get sucked off. I splashed through the pond at the end of Loop 1 and was passed by 5 runners.

These 5 runners passed me like I was standing still!

I took an apple Gel before I headed out for Loop 2, Loop 1 time was 44:03. Loop 2 took us out of long grassy stretches with lots of open field. I took a chocolate Gel before I headed out for Loop 3, Loop 2 time was 32:52. I was slowing down but I managed a good pace ... running the flats and downs. Then after 13.5 miles or so ... I missed a turn on a downhill. So ... instead of just backtracking until I saw a blue flag I walked in circles for 2(!) miles before another guy and I found the missed turn and proceeded onward. By this time, I was hungry and almost out of water ... not good. I just kept on going ... forward until I got done, Loop 3 was 1:39:54. I went straight to the scrumptious catered lunch and soon felt human again.

Personally I think I would have PRed if I can stayed on course. I was running OK. But hey ... for the 16.5 mile race I placed first! Though everyone else had 14.2 or 14.3! I placed 76th out of 89, total time of 2:56:49, link here. Still, it was a beautiful morning, I found my running mojo and I was happy!

I played with my new iPhone while I recovered back at the apartment from Medved Madness. I finally figured out how to transfer my contacts from my personal Casio Commando android. Here is the geeky explanation ... strap in! On my Casio Commando I exported my contacts to my SD card and then emailed them to my Yahoo! account. I extracted the vcf file onto my laptop. I imported the vcf file into my gmail account. Then I set up a OpenDAV account on my iPhone. Voila! It sounds easy ... but it involved many Google searches, some blind alleys and ways that don't work anymore. My darling wife, Christine, suggested more than once that I should just take my phones to Verizon and have them transfer the contacts. But ... what fun would that have been? Success was sweet! Hopefully I can transfer the pictures from the old phone easier.

Monday, 5/6/2013: 13.7 miles on the bike, 1:10:19, 11.7 mph, 70F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Both Banks of the Genesee River

I needed to exercise and chose biking. So I headed out on one of my favorite run routes. I headed up the east side of the Genesee River to O'Rorke Bridge, crossed over and headed back down the west side to the pedestrain bridge. I passed Tom and Amy Butler on the Genesee River trail and stopped to talk with them. They showed me a swan that was nesting about 30 feet away from the walkway. I did learn that your butt can get sore riding and that I should dress a bit warmer when riding my bike. But it was a sweet ride!

Tuesday, 5/7/2013: 5.4 miles, 45:31, 8:46 pace, 73F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect for Speedwork down at Cobbs Hill

I needed to do speedwork so I headed down to Cobbs Hill Park to run the reservoir. I parked at the Riley Lodge and ran a bit of a warmup. Then I set out on 0.4 mile repeats. I ran a bit hard at what I thought was slow but really turned out to be around 6:20 to 6:40 pace for 4 of them. I ran the last run at 7:00 pace. I really felt like I was having trouble holding the pace. I did a cooldown run and headed home. Maybe riding my bike the night before and a 16.5 mile run the day before that dogged me more than I realized.

Wednesday, 5/8/2013 through Saturday, 5/11/2013: Rest days

Coulda and shoulda exercised ... moving on. I thought I had found my exercise mojo ... just as quickly it disappeared.

Sunday, 4/28/2013 to Saturday, 5/4/2013 - Flower City Half Marathon

I ran 3 times this week, 20.1 miles, one was a 1 mile warmup.
I ran 10 times in the month of April, 65.2 miles (less than my goal of 100 miles), 6.5 miles/run
I have run 68 times in 120 days in 2013, 420.9 miles, 6.2 miles/run
I biked twice during the month of April, 18.64 miles

Sunday, 4/28/2013: 2 runs of 1 and 13.1 miles.

Christine and I got up at 5AM. It takes mental fortitude to get out of a nice warm bed with your wife and out the door by 6AM. By 6:15AM we were down in our usual parking spot in the big lot south of the Blue Cross Arena.

I got out for a little 1 mile tuneup run. I decided to ditch my arm warmers, stash 2 Gels and took no water. I just had on my compression shorts, Brooks Racing Team t-shirt, light Brooks gloves, Brooks hat, Ryder sunglasses and a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline 12s (maybe not the best choice of footwear) but my current pair had 490 miles.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Flower City Half - 2013

The prerace ceremony was poignant with a 4-15-13 sign about the Start banner, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and Sweet Caroline.

Soon we were off right on time. I got up to speed pretty quickly. I got boxed in, bided my time and got ahead of the 1:40 pace group by the 1/2 mile mark. The first six miles passed: 7:38, 7:22, 7:34, 7:30, 7:43, 7:49.  I was taking water at each aid station and didn't cough any of it back up.

I remember seeing Laura Church and going over to high five her as I ran past. I saw John Muoio playing bass fiddle on Park Ave. I saw Anne Espositio and Robbie repeatedly on their bikes. I saw Heather Danielson twice as she ran the course backward as a training run (I think). I waved to spectators. I heard three little kids yelling out "Run fast, Runners". I took a Gel just before the mile 6 aid station. Everything was going well.

Then ... came the hills of Highland and the Mount Hope Cemetery. The 1:40 pace group along with Bill Beyerbach passed me going up the South Goodman St hill up to Highland Park. My legs started to feel like crap. I could feel a blister on the bottom of my left foot. A sign comes to mind ... "Blisters are Braille for Awesome". The miles in the Mount Hope Cemetery seemed to drag. I  passed Bill Beyerbach just before we exited the cemetery. Miles 7, 8, 9 and 10 were: 8:19, 8:19, 7:54 and 8:13.

The last 3 miles were just getting it done. They really dragged. I didn't have anything left. I stopped to walk for a minute between mile 11 and 12. My legs were really hurting. I did pick it up from mile 12 on. I knew not to use any kick as we came north on Exchange Blvd. I gritted my teeth as I got to the chute and kicked it in to break 1:45. Hearing Ellen of Fleet Feet call out my name ... priceless. Miles 11, 12 and 13 were: 8:04, 8:57, 8:19.

I did the best I could. I am definitely not in the same shape I was last year. But I did OK. I finished in 1:44:32, 340th out of 2365, link here. I finished 6th out of 64 in my M55-59 age group, link here.

I felt light headed after the race and quickly had some water. I met up with my darling Christine and had some nutrition (pizza, Greek yogurt, cookies and more water). Soon I felt human again. My muscles were really stiff. We came out of the Blue Cross Arena just in time to see Tina finish. She was super excited with her over 3 minute PR!

By 11AM we were home ... drinking coffee, reading the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle and catching up on Facebook. There were many stories, of course. I enjoyed reading them all ... very inspirational.

Some of the memorable signs were "Don't Stop Here ... They Bury You" (in the cemetery), "Don't Stop, Don't Stop (She Said)". A news link from 13wham.com, here.

Monday, 4/29/2013: 5.8 miles on the bike, 63F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Bike Around the Zoo

Chrisine and I got out for a short ride over to the Zoo. I forgot to switch my Garmin over to Bicycle until I was at the Zoo. We headed down to Trout Lake where I went around 3 times, Christine went around once. Christine wants me to find a level ride next time. She got up to 22 mph and I got up to 2.3 mph on the descent to Trout Lake ... sweet! Both of us need to install rear view mirrors and bells on our bikes. Plus I need to adjust her helmet.

Tuesday, 4/30/2013: Rest day ... felt a tightness in my right upper hamstring so I stayed in.

Wednesday, 5/1/2013: 6 miles, 49:38, 8:17 pace, 77F, sunny, calm, no stops, lots of discomfort.

Garmin Connect Activity for 6 miles around the streets of Irondequoit

I headed out at a nice and easy pace. It was a perfect evening for a run ... sunny, warm, no wind and little humidity. I could feel a bit of discomfort below my right big toe but I paid it no mind ... at first. By the time I got 3 miles out the discomfort was much greater so I cut the run a bit short .... but I was not going to walk so I just kept running in more and more discomfort and yes ... pain. Even my right Achilles start to hurt. When I got back I took off my left shoe and saw not one but two blisters. One is below my left big toe and the other is on right side of my left big toe. Ouch! Maybe I should have taken a bike ride instead!

Thursday, 5/2/2013: Rest day ... actually tech day.

I got a new corporate iPhone 5 today. I spent about three hours downloading apps on it plus unsuccessfully  trying to figure out how to put a bluetooth icon on its home screen ... something the Android could be very easily. Ugghhh ... plus my darling Christine was in ... less than usual attire and I paid her no attention. Honeymoon over? Nahhh! Just on tech hiatus!

Friday, 5/4/2013: Another rest day.

I have a slight pull in my left groin so I decided to take it easy. I figured out how to forward all my calls from my calls from my Android Casio Commando with a simple *72 + new number. I still can't figure out how to get my contacts transferred so any calls come in as just as the number. I found an app named Phone Leash which claims to forward all your texts to either another number or email. But it doesn't delete the incoming text after forwarding it even though I have it checked. Nor does it forward a text with a picture. It should be relatively easy ... not!!!

Believe it or not, my youngest son slept through the first three hours of this fire (link here) on East Main St in Palmyra, about 500 feet from his apartment. He does work overnights and catchs sleep when he can.

Saturday, 5/5/2013: Yet another rest day ... I just couldn't find any motivation to get out to do anything. Fail!