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!
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