Sunday, 10/20/2013 to Saturday, 10/26/2013 - Pumpkins in the Park 5K

I ran 6 times this week, 35.16 miles.

Sunday, 10/20/2013, 2 runs of 12.7 and 3.63 miles

12.7 miles, 2:16:00, 10:43 pace, 45F, 81% RH, sunny, breezy.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park, 2 loop plus extra

I got up early like runners usually do on weekend. I got down to Mendon Ponds Park by 8:30AM. I needed to run trail again and I headed out on my usual 2 loops of the Blue and Green trails that I know so well. I saw a bunch of other runner that I knew: Amy Lords, Bambi Jasmin and Becky Honecker. When I got down 12.7 miles later, I saw Jim Roche in the parking lot. I headed home quickly because I had more running to do.

After a quick shower, coffee, lunch and uploading my running data I was back out by 2PM to the Victorie Belgian Bar & Bistro for the Brooks Customer Appreciation run.

Boots, Ellen  & Barb

I met up with Ellen, Boots and the rest of the Brooks Racing team for a lot of fun. We got separated into teams, got handed a bag of clues, then set forth across downtown Rochester to solve the clues by taking pics to prove that our team solved the clues. Our team solved the clues as best we could before we left and thus were the last team to set out. 

We ran out to St Mary's Church (where Ellen and Boots got married), the Strong Museum of Play, Bausch & Lomb, Blue Cross Arena, the Erie Canal Aqueduct by Blue Cross Arena, Sister Cities bridge, High Falls, George Selden's plaque (who had a vicious patent battle with Henry Ford for the automobile patent. Our team ended up running 3.63 miles. We were the first team back around 3:30 PM.

Planning our strategy

Bausch & Lomb

St. Mary's Church where Boots and Ellen got married.

Strong Museum of Play

Where the Flower City Challenge Half Marathon starts

Old Erie Canal Aqueduct 

Aqueduct Park

A wider shot of Aqueduct Park

Sister Cites Pedestrian Bridge

Abraham Lincoln spoke here on February 18, 1861

Racing on the bridge overlooking High Falls

The High Falls of the Genesee River

What we thought was George Seldon's house

First ones back ... we didn't win but we had a good time!

The party afterward was great. We got a glass and free drink ticket. There were lot (and I mean a lot) of hors d'oeuvres in a separate room. They were epic ... regular hors d 'oeuvres, sliders and crab cakes. I stayed for a couple of hours before I left with a couple of doggie boxes for my darling Christine who loved the contents.

A beer was well deserved!

Sean Hendrick's new Can Lakes 31.069 tat below his Sehgahunda 26.3 tat.

Monday, 10/21/2013: Rest day ... totally needed.

Tuesday, 10/22/2013: 8.2 miles, 1:08:01, 8:17 pace, 48F, 50% RH, dusk, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for 8.2 miles - 10K plus 6 Chapel Hill Drive repeats

I did a bit of prerun warmup before but I did get out. I needed to do some hills so I took it nice and easy on my usual 10K route and then went up and down the Chapel Hill Drive hill 6 times before I headed back. It was dark when I came back. My darling Christine cooked up a marvelous supper of chicken over rice when I got back. Excellent postrun food ... yummy!

Wednesday, 10/23/2013: Rest day.

Thursday, 10/24/2013: 6.3 miles, 0:51:38, 8:11 pace, 45F, night, light mist to light rain, windy

Garmin Connect Activity for 6.3 miles in the rain

I dilly dallied ... the couch almost won but I was stronger. I got out around 6:30PM ... into the night and a light mist. I took it nice and easy. The light mist turned into a light rain. I got wetter and wetter. I had thoughts of heading out for 10 miles but I brought it home after 6.3 miles because I was cold and drenched. I stripped as soon as I got in and put on my sweats. I am sure that every driver thought I was beyond crazy.

Friday, 10/25/2013: Rest day.

Saturday, 10/26/2013: 2 runs of 1.2 and Pumpkins in the Park 5K, 43F, 52% RH, overcast, a bit windy.

I got up early like usual. My darling Christine just rolled over and said "Have a good race" and went back to sleep. I dressed quietly and headed out to Cobbs Hill. I arrived at 8:06AM and waited in the car until 8:30AM before I headed out for a really nice and easy warmup run of 1.2 miles, 8:35 pace.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Pumpkins in the Park 5K



Ellen Brenner, the CFO of Fleet Feet Sports, and race announcer extraordinaire, had been telling of a huge new announcement before the race for three days. The hype was ... huge to say the least. She delivered the announcement just before the race that Fleet Feet Brighton was going to move from their cramped store on Monroe Ave to the Culver Street Armory in February with twice the space, lots of parking and Cobbs Hill as their playground, news link here. The racers roared with approval and ... we were off!

Ellen had told us that the course was "2 miles up and 1 mile down". Well, she was right. Fleet Feet had 1 mile and 2 mile split strips down. My mile 1 split was 7:01, rank: 57. I slowed a bit as we turned and went up up to the Cobbs Hill reservoir.The mile 2 split was at the top, 7:48, rank 62, which meant that 5 runners passed me between mile 1 and 2. I sped up as we came back down, turned onto Monroe Ave and Culver Ave. I broke into a sprint when I saw the familiar finish line. Time to finish was 7:19, 6:39 pace, rank 58. I finished in a gun time of 22:10, 58th out of 862, link here. I was first out of 13 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. I won a $15 gift certificate to Fleet Feet and a jar of Organic Once Again creamy peanut butter.

The overall male and female got ... a skull!

The swag!

Later, I ventured forth to do some car maintenance on our 2000 Chevy Cavalier: I bought and installed an air filter, got the oil changed at Firestone and washed the car at Deltasonic. The vast majority of the red clay that stuck to the car when we went out to Cleveland last month is gone.

My darling and I were enjoying a nice evening when it took an ugly turn. I don't like airing dirty laundry so I will take the high road and keep the details private. After all, this blog is mostly about my running. Maybe I toot my horn a bit ... OK. I'm a 56 year old runner who has found that he can run OK for his age. I really enjoy running. I enjoy racing ... running as fast as I can and other times as long as I can.

Sunday, 10/13/2013 to Saturday, 10/19/2013 - Finish Strong 5K

1 ran 5 times this week, 22.7 miles

Sunday, 10/13/2013: 11.1 miles, 1:58:28, 10:40 pace, 64F, 68% RH, sunny, a nice breeze.

I was up early like usual but it was too dark at 6:45 AM to run plus my stomach didn't feel very well. I surfed the web and saw the Chicago Marathon start at 8:30 AM. I knew I needed to run trail. I had just signed for the Dirt Cheap Stage Race plus I am still thinking of running the Mendon Trails 50K.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park - 2 loops

I told Christine that I was heading out for a long trail run and headed down to Mendon Ponds Park. I couldn't park in the Beach parking lot since it was full. I had forgotten that the Breast Cancer 5K and Ride was on Sunday. So there were a lot of bicycles being unloaded and being rode around. But I had some trails to run so I geared up and headed out. My plan was to head out on my usual Blue and Green trails for two or three loops. I settled into a nice and easy trail pace and just ran. It had warmed up and the sun was out so it got a bit hot on the trails. I was a bit tired by the end of the first loop. I had a gel and walked for a bit before I got back up to a run. I discovered that I may be in road running shape but I was not in what I consider to be trail running shape. The ups and downs were tiring. I decided to quit after two loops and two hours of running. I need to find some hills and do some hill repeats.

I was hungry when I got home so my darling Christine and I had our usual coffee and bagel. I watched the Buffalo Bills play the Cincinnati Bengals at the Ralph. The Bills battled back from 2 TDs down to force OT but lost 27-24, link here.

Monday, 11/14/2013: Rest day ...

Tuesday, 11/15/2013: 6.2 miles, 48:39, 7:50 pace, 66F, 64% RH, dusk, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Nice Negative Split 10K in Irondequoit

I needed to run and knew it. I dilly dallied around, had some cereal, read the paper but I did get up and out by about 6:20 PM. I wore my reflective vest and carried my headlamp until I needed it. I took it out nice and easy and just built my speed up. My paces were: 8:17, 8:09, 7:59, 7:45, 7:32, 7:31 and over 7:04 the last 0.2 mile. Negative splits baby!

Wednesday, 11/16/2013: Rest day ...

Christine and I both got dressed to go to LA Fitness but just couldn't get out the door ... FAIL! Next time, we will just turn off the TV, get up off the couch and go! I also got a refurbished Nook Simple Touch from 1sale.com in the mail that I monkeyed with for a while. I had waited for it for a month. I plan on rooting it and seeing if I can make it into a cheap, dirty, slow and B&W tablet that runs Android 2.1. OK ... so it's just a geeky way to spend an evening.

Thursday, 11/17/2013: Another rest day ...

This coulda and shoulda been a run but my darling Christine was cooking up spaghetti with home made sauce so I didn't go out, stayed in and had a marvelous supper. Christine has been on a cooking tear lately ... yum! Now I just need to run more. I think getting up early and hitting LA Fitness would be good too!

Friday, 11/18/2013: Yet another rest day ...

A guy I knew told me at the Finish Strong 5K on Saturday so ... I went down to the Grace and Truth Sports Park to sign up. I needed to race.

Saturday, 11/19/2013: 3 runs of 1.3, Finish Strong 5K and 1 miles, 54F, 62% RH, overcast, a bit breezy.

I woke up early. My darling Christine groaned and said "Have a good race", turned over and went back to sleep. I headed out and got to the race start in plenty of time. I headed out for a 1.3 mile warmup run.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Finish Strong 5K



I got to the start line about 10 minutes before the race. The start was uneventful. I settled up into a fast pace with a first mile pace at 6:22. I felt good. But I started feeling a bit out of breath. I slowed to a second mile pace at 6:56. I slowed to a short walk three times in the last mile. Some runners passed me. I just didn't have the mental toughness to continue. I knew the race was almost over. My third mile pace was 7:13. I did my best to get up to a full sprint and closed to the finish line at 6:16 pace. I crossed the finish line at 21:22. I was exhausted and got a quick 2 cups of water. I got out for a nice and slow cooldown run afterward on the way to the post race grub ... which was epic! A spread of 4 types of pizza, 4 types of pasta, sausage, pulled pork or chicken and Gatorade, water or coffee.

Garmin Connect Activity for Cooldown after the Finish Strong 5K

I did OK. I finished 20th out of 196, link here. I finished 2nd out of 9 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I think I know what happened. I finished my warmup about 10 minutes before the race. Then I didn't do any strides before the race and allowed my heart rate to calm down. The race started up and I was unable to handle the stress of 6.30 mile pace, thus the 3 walks during mile 3. That's my take. Next time, I will try it differently and see what happens.

Christine and I lazed around the rest of the day. We just watched shows off the DVR ... nothing too exciting.

Sunday, 10/6/2013 to Saturday, 10/12/2013 - Autumn Class Duathlon & Safe Journey Scarecrow 5K

I ran 4 times this week, 18.7 miles.
I biked 2 times this week, 20 miles

Sunday, 10/6/2013: Autumn Classic Duathlon, 2:13:38, 63F, 94% RH, overcast, calm.

Another day, another race this weekend. I got up early at 6 AM again, did the last night's dishes and tried to wake up Christine. She begged off again with knee pain and went back to sleep. I caught up on Facebook where I learned of some local runners doing the Wineglass Marathon down in Corning. I dressed quietly and headed out. I made it down to Mendon Ponds Park at 7:40AM for the 8:30AM start. I unloaded my bike, got my bib, situated my bike in transition and waited.

My Trek FX 7.2 at rest in transition

All smile before the race

I was racing the Formula 1 which was a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. The runs were on trail and the bike course was a loop of right hand turns around the park.



Soon we were off. The trails were muddy and the roads were wet. Run1 went well. I ran it in  16:13, 8:07 pace for the 2 miles. About a 1/4 mile from transition I was tapped on the shoulder. I took me a couple of looks before I realized it was Ron Lillis. I hadn't seen him in a while. He had moved to Texas and then had just had a bike accident about 4 months ago where he broke 6 ribs and crushed his collarbone. We ran into transition together ... then I didn't see him until afterward since he was a really fast bike.

Ron Lillis and I running down into transition on Run1

I went out a bit hot and was a bit tired, Transition (T) 1 took 51 seconds. Then I was out for Bike1. Bike1 went well. I was passed by a lot of bikers like usual. I don't have a speedy bike nor do I have aero bars. But I went as quick as I could, 37:04. I almost took a spill when I got off the bike at the dismount line into transition. T2 took 1:08. I was a bit confused on Run2. I thought Run2 was 1 mile not 2 mile. I ran Run2 in 17:50, 8:55 pace. T3 was 1:24.

Bike2 was where the race got real. I was a bit tired and hungry. It started to sprinkle lightly and then it poured for 10 minutes ... which is a bit interesting when you are riding a bike between 10 to 30+ mph. But it was quite fun actually. I saw two bikers on the side of the road replacing their tires. I was drenched when I got back to transition. I stopped completely before I got off the bike this time. T4 was 2:16. I was tired but only 2 miles to go. I ran Run3 in 17:02, 8:30 pace.

I was done! Officially, I was done in 2:13:38, good for 52nd out of 78, link here. I was 6th out of 6 in my M 50-59 age group, link here. I ambled up to the Stewart Lodge for some grub. This race was catered by Tom Wahl's. I had a huge hamburg, mac'n'cheese and a root beer ... tasty!  I swapped some stories before I left to go home. I ran into more rain twice before I got home. So much was trying to keep my bike dry! I went to take a shower as soon as I got home since I was wet and cold. So a hot shower felt really good!

I caught up on Facebook with all the stories of the Wineglass Marathon and Half Marathon. Christine and I lazed around for hours with coffee, a bagel and the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle before we headed out to Salvatore's for some well deserved supper. It was quite nice seeing the end of the Cowboys - Broncos game, link here. The game was quite exciting, the Broncos won 51-48. Peyton Manning threw for 414 yards and 4 TDs while Tony Romo threw for 504 yards and 5 TDs. A late interception gave the Broncos the win.

Monday, 10/7/2013: A well deserved rest day.

Tuesday, 10/8/2013: 7.6 miles, 58:58, 7:45 pace, 59F, 55% RH, dusk, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for 7.6 miles at sunset in Irondequoit

I really needed to get out for a run. I dilly dallied around until 6:15 PM. I slipped on my reflective vest. My darling Christine wanted me to wear my headlamp. I said, "Yeah, yeah" ... but I did slip it into my hand before I left the apartment. I headed out nice and easy ... which for me is around 8:00 pace. I ran my usual 10K route but did throw in Chapel Hill Drive just for a hill. I turned 7:53, 7:49, 7:38, 7:37, 8:10, 7:39, 7:41 and 7:30 paces over the miles. I just concentrated on pumping my arms and enjoying the run. The headlamp? I used for the last 2 miles and was glad that I brought it.

Wednesday, 10/9/2013: Rest day.

Thursday, 10/10/2013: Another rest day.

I thought about going out for a run but my darling Christine seduced with bacon hamburgers ... who was I to argue? A bit burnt but still yummy!

Friday, 10/11/2013: Yet another rest day ... starting to get restless.

Saturday, 10/12/2013: Safe Journey Scarecrow 5K, 50F, 94% RH, brilliant sunshine, calm.

My darling Christine said her knee hurt so she stayed home. I quietly got ready and headed out to Fairport for the Safe Journey Scarecrow 5K. This was my 6th time running this race. I just like the course. I knew to park a bit away from the race start in the Fairport Village Landing Mall. I got there in plenty of time for a long and somewhat slow warmup run of 2 miles, 8:14 pace, along the canal.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Scarecrow 5K



I got back about 5 minutes before the start. I peeled down my armwarmups and took off my light gloves. The start was uneventful, my 40th of the year. I settled in as we headed south on 250 and turned left onto 31F. The course then hopped over the Erie Canal on Turk Hill Rd and then right onto Cobbs Lane. Mile 1 was soon afterward, 6:25. The course then hopped onto the Erie Canal. The turnaround was at mile 1.65. I slowed a bit but stayed under 7 for miles 2 and 3, 6:54 and 6:51. I was running as hard as I could and hit 5:39 pace in the sprint for the line when I saw that it still read 20 something.

The Scarecrow 5K course map

Elvis was there!

Batgirl was too!

I finished in 20:55 and felt totally spent. I was 45th out of 603, link here. I was 1st out of 22 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. 

My light green lunch kit

I received a light green lunch bag with a $15 Fleet Feet gift certificate inside for winning my age group. There was a farmer's market going on so I picked up a grape pie and a loaf of zucchini bread ... yummy! A beautiful way to spend a morning!

Later, Christine and I made it out to Home Depot to buy new lamps for our bedroom along with some 3-way CFL lights. They do look a lot better than my old ratty looking lamps ... which were promptly trashed.

Meanwhile, I checked out Facebook and the Yellow Jacket Racing results to see how the Can Lakes 50K and 50 mile runners were doing. The 50K with 63 finishers: Kathy Reardon and John Muoio, 6:09:26, Sean Hendrick, 6:57:06; Courtney Abeln and Chuck Traub, 7:22:49; Tina Pellegrin, 9:11:43. The 50 Mile with 90 finishers: Chris Washburn, 9:17:40 and Tom Butler, 12:52:58. Here are some pictures from Heather Bailey Ostrander's aid station.

John Muoio and Kathy Reardon

Sean Hendrick

Courtney Abeln and Chuck Traub

Chris Washburn

Tom Butler

Tina Pellegrin

A long day of running a road ultra for all these runners for sure!