7/19/2014: Shoreline Half Marathon

7/19/2014: 3 runs of 1.15, 13.23 and 0.5 miles

I was up early at 4:53AM. My darling wife, Christine, had come to bed late and was snoring. Truth be told ... I have been told that I snore too. Anyway ... I got up a bit early. I puttered around a bit, washed last night's dishes and ate my breakfast. I tried to wake Christine up but she wished me a good race and went back to sleep. So ... I geared up quietly.  I put on my Brooks yellow tights and an orange Shoreline tech shirt from 2 years ago. I left around 6:55AM and arrived out at Hamlin Beach State Park at 7:25AM for the Shoreline Half Marathon. The weather conditions (at least according to my Garmin): 61F, 88% RH, calm winds and mostly sunny. It warmed up to around 75F during the morning.

This was my third time running the Shoreline Half. I had run a in 2011 and a 2012. I put on sunscreen and my sunglasses before I headed out for a little warmup run of 1.15 miles, 8:24 pace, link here. I got done about 8 minutes before the race start at 8AM. I carried my 20 ounce hand bottle with a Gu in its pouch. I drank a bit of water as I walked up to the start line. I settled in about 20 feet behind the start. The only person I saw that I knew before the start was Jmac (who probably doesn't know me). It was a relaxed start line so I wasn't too worried about anyone stepping on my heels.

And ... we were off! My plan was to not rabbit at the start and run around a 8 minute pace. I thought I did that with only a 7:24 first mile as we looped on the park road.

The start of the Shoreline Half

Still in the park before mile 1

I caught up to a girl with a brunette ponytail. She said, "Hi, Doug!", as I started to pass her. It turned out to be Stacey Maeir. We talked a bit during the next mile. She said she was still recovering from the Finger Lakes 50 mile run from 2 weeks earlier. I ran with or slightly behind her until mile 5. My mile 2-5 mile splits were: 7:49, 7:49, 7:57 and 8:00. I took a cup of water on the run at mile 5. I gulped a Gu just before the waterstop at mile 6 and took another cup of water on the run. I was happy I didn't cough it back up. When I passed slower runners who had taken advantage of the early start I tried to encourage them all. I said "Hi" to Bill Murphy (3:30:32), Tom Butler (2:48:21) and Courtney Abeln (2:30:36) as I passed them. I heard a rooster at a farm around mile 7. My mile 6-9 mile splits were: 8:03, 8:04, 8:04 and 8:08. I allowed myself a tiny powerwalk of about 100 feet around mile 9. I sprayed some water from my hand bottle into my mouth or took a cup of water at some of the waterstops. My legs were getting tired.  I thought to myself, "It's only a 5K now", as I hit mile 10 on Priem Rd. The miles seemed to be longer and longer plus it had gotten hotter. A left onto Moscow Rd. I knew that we would be turning into the park soon around mile 11. My mile 10 and 11 splits were: 8:11 and 8:00.

Tailing a girl in a skirt as we turned back toward the park just before mile 11 - taken by Brian Hughey

I took my second powerwalk as I went underneath the Parkway overpasses. I passed up the last waterstop and just gutted out the last 1.5 mile. Finally I reached the last mile on the path beside Lake Ontario. It seemed to last forever as it went in and out of the much needed shade. I ran wordless beside another guy too tired to speak ... just running ... trying to hang on until the finish.

Enduring the "endless" mile along Lake Ontario

I couldn't hear the music from the finish line until I was almost there. Eventually I could see it and pushed a bit harder. My mile 12, 13 and last 0.23 mile splits were: 8:14, 8:06 and 7:03. And ... done in 1:45:24, 7:58 pace, according to my Garmin. So nice to hear Ellen Brenner call me into the finish! Officially, I was 62nd out of 341, overall results link here.

I needed water stat so I downed 4 cups pretty quickly. I heard Stacey Maier finish in 1:53:01 as I texted Christine and my kids that I had finished. I checked out the results and noticed that I had finished 2nd out of 14 in my 55-59 age group, link here. So I stuck around for the awards. While I was waiting I ran a really slow and painful cooldown run. It really kind of hurt so I stopped after 0.5 mile, 10:20 pace, link here..

The age group results link is here. Officially, Jason "Jmac" McElwain finished 3rd overall in 1:20:49 for 2nd in his 24-29 age group. Bob Haas finished in 1:35:15 for 3rd in his 50-54 age group. He is 54 so he will be in my age group soon. Ed Housel won my 55-59 age group in 1:30:22, I was a distant second at 1:45:26 and Keith Hadley finished in 1:45:38 (12 seconds behind me) for 3rd in my 55-59 age group. Mark McArdle finished in 1:57:40 to win his 60-64 age group. Bob Dyjak, who was celebrating his 39th wedding anniversary, finished in 2:08:35 for 3rd in his 60-64 age group. Bill Murphy finished in 3:30:32 and won his 65-69 age group.

The well earned bling!

Soon I was home. I woke Christine up and got the coffee on as I put my feet up. Not much happened  the rest of the day. Christine and I just lazed around and enjoyed our Saturday.

A race for the trail runners took place out in Victor, the 0 SPF Trail Half Marathon. I ran this race next year in 2:46 so I knew how hard this race was.

The start of  the 0 SPF Trail Half Marathon - taken from Facebook

The results of 141 runners are here. Lots of runners that I knew ran: Andy Frank in 1:53:24, Liz Matthews in 2:10:43, Mark Monachino in 2:20:43, Andy Ciaio in 2:26:31, Prem Kumar in 2:33:17, Wilt Alston in 2:48:28, Jeanne Herrick in 2:56:23, Tammy Abbe in 2:56:34, Dan Ostrander in 3:13:23, Dave Sek in 3:24:00, Charlie Sabatine in 4:23:39 and Tina Pellegrin in 4:33:09.

Monday, 7/14/2014 to Friday, 7/18/2014

I ran 2 times in 5 days between major races, 13.7 miles

Monday, 7/14/2014: Rest day after the Boilermaker 15K ... nothing unusual.

Tuesday, 7/15/2014: 6.5 miles, 52:29, 8:04 pace, 75F, 44% RH, 17 mph W wind, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill run

I wanted to attend Fleet Feet's 10th year anniversary party but a workout needed to be done first. Well ... Cobbs Hill beckoned me ... "Come run hills!". So I did. I ran over as a warmup, circled the reservoir on the road 5 times and then ran a cooldown back to the Armory. My splits were: 8:45, 7:57, 8:00, 7:51, 7:59, 8:01 and 7:51 over the last 0.5 mile.

There were quite a lot of people there. Ellen Brenner gave a short speech in the community room before we had anniversary cake. It was quite touching.

I don't get down to Fleet Feet as much as I used to. I don't really need to go there to go for a run. I can save money and time by just gearing up and heading out my apartment door for a run. I don't usually run in a group and just easier. I know lots of routes right from my apartment door and I know my way back.

Wednesday, 7/16/2014: Rest day ... again nothing unusual.

Thursday, 7/17/2014: 2 runs of 6.2 and 1 miles, 75F, 39% RH, 8 mph NW wind, mostly cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A fast 10K around the neighborhood

My darling wife, Christine, forgot that I usually ran on Thursdays and had ribs almost done when I got home. But she said they could wait so I changed and got out for a run. I debated on whether to go for a quick 10K or a longer 15K. I struck up a fast pace and just did a quick 10K. I held my pace over the entire run. I tried to concentrate on mid foot striking with a bit shorter strides and leaning a bit forward when I ran. I don't know if it helped but my splits were: 7:39, 7:32, 7:30, 7:34, 7:28, 7:23 and 6:52 over the last 0.2 mile. I felt I needed a cooldown run so I reset my Garmin and did a mile at 8:30 pace, link here.

Friday, 7/18/2014: Rest day ... nothing too unusual.

We watched "300: Rise of an Empire" off of OnDemand. We definitely felt the testosterone flow out of that movie! I went to bed at 10:30AM. Christine came to bed much later. My alarm was set for 5:30AM.

Sunday, 7/13/2014 - Boilermaker 15K

Sunday, 7/13/2014: 9.42 miles at the Boilermaker 15K, 1:14:20, 7:53 pace, 73F, 78% RH, 7 mph S wind, overcast

I think I got 2 hours of sleep before I just gave up and got up at 2:50AM. It was a hot night in the bedroom, probably around 82F. I asked my darling wife, Christine, to move to the couch when she started snoring. It was probably cooler out there too. I woke her up at 3:20AM. She had signed up for the bus yesterday and was heading out to the Boilermaker as a spectator. I was almost all ready since I had packed a small bag yesterday (shorts, dry tech top, wallet, keys, pouch with 2 Gus (forgotten before the race), sunglasses, hand towel, sunscreen, phone battery charger). She took a bath, washed her hair, dumped her purse, resorted her purse, etc. I was out the door at 4:02AM. She was out the door at 4:08AM. She put her shoes on in the car as I drove. Not too many cars were on 104E, I-590S or I-490W for some reason.

We arrived down at the RTS Park'n'Ride in Fairport around 4:20AM ... plenty of time to choose to board GRTC bus #1. Wilt Alston, the outgoing GRTC president, organized this operation like a pro. We left promptly at 4:30AM and proceed east. I checked Facebook at 5:05AM and told him that Boilermaker.com had announced that the post race party was going to shortened to 11AM in anticipation of severe weather moving into Utica in the afternoon. He announced it to the rest of bus ... we were going to continue onward to Utica! I knew some people on the two buses: Frank Quattrone, Tina Pellegrin, Joe Ciecierega, Pat Milligan.

En route on GRTC Bus #1

We arrived around 7AM. The Boilermaker 15K is a point-to-point race. The GRTC buses continued onward to the finish along with Christine. Meanwhile I followed everyone to Packet Pickup. This was my second time at the Boilermaker so I kind of knew where it was ... I followed everyone else. I picked up my tan bib and pinned it on. There was little to do so I tried to stand in a Porta-Potty line that was 40 people deep. I gave up after 20 seconds and found a line of bushes up against a fence to do my business. I was impressed when a woman about 40 feet away squatted and did the same thing.

My tan bib let me into the tan corral ... a lot closer than the blue corral in the back. There was nowhere to run or warm up so I just stood there, rocked to loosen my muscles and waited. 

Looking forward ... the start line about 200 yards away is about a large US flag that is blowing right towards me which is tough to see

I saw a quartet of GVH runners including Mike Reif about 20 feet ahead to my right. I didn't carry any water and had forgotten my pouch with its 2 Gu packets. I had remembered to put on some sunscreen. A bugle played the national anthem. Then the ropes were dropped between the corrals and we moved up about 100 feet.

And ... we were off! It was interesting to see the runners ahead start to walk and then bob as they started running. Then those who were running came closer and closer ... then I was walking ... then shuffling ... then running. I passed the start line about 35 seconds later. Those in the back with blue bibs ... some took 10 minutes to cross the start line.


I ran well in the first 2/3 of the race. Miles 1, 2 and 3 clicked off in 8:16, 8:03 and 8:00 pace as the runners sorted themselves out around me. I took water at mile 3. Then it was a left and a right into the golf course hill. It was a gentle incline but seemed to never end. Mile 4 was at the top of the hill, 8:30 pace. Mile 5 from the golf course was heaven .. a slight downhill, 6:59 pace. I saw 40:10 on the clock at mile 5, 8:01 total pace so far. I had a bit of trouble at the end of mile 6, 7:38 pace. I needed water and couldn't find it for about 1/2 mile. There were 19 water stops but none when I needed one. I took 2 mini walk breaks before I found one. I remember looking to my left and seeing Wilt Alston going by, mile 7 pace was 8:32. I picked it up during mile 8, 7:31 pace. I remember hearing a lot of cattle bells during this mile, dubbed the M&T Bank mile. I was running out of gas during mile 9, 7:55 pace. I knew the finish was soon, I could almost see the slight right hand turn. The slight downhill into the finish was appreciated, 6:58 pace over the last 0.42 miles. And ... done in 1:14:20 according to my Garmin!

After the race.

I started walking and grabbed a couple tubs of fruit and a pint of water as I looked for Christine. She said that she would meet me by the Polish eatery just by the Saranac brewery parking lot. The secondary meeting spot was at the bus across the Family meeting area which is where I found her.

I went by and stood in line to get my meager lunch of energy bars, a bag of chips and a banana. Then I went over to get my second Boilermaker glass ... sweet! I did sample some of the Saranac beer ... I had built up a bit of a thirst. We left for Rochester around 11:30AM. The GRTC Bus #2 had trouble just outside of Utica in Westmoreland. Wilt Alston hopped off our bus and stayed with them. What a man! We got back to Rochester around 2:30PM. The replacement GRTC Bus #2 made it back around 4:30PM.

Overall, I did pretty well. I had a bit of trouble but worked through it. I did better than last year's net time of 1:18:07. My stats were: gun time: 1:14:24, net time: 1:13:41 (a 4:25 course PR), 1396th out of 11985, 60th out of 474 in my 55-59 page group, link here. I think I could do about a minute better if I ran through the water stops where I took water and committed to taking 2 Gus on the run before a few water stops ... but I gave a solid effort. Other Rochester runners did well: Tim Chichester of Mount Morris was 19th in 48:05, Matthew George Roberts finished in 56:34, Charlie Andrews won my 55-59 age group in net 57:09, Mike Reif won his 65-59 age group in net 1:06:41. Pat Milligan finished in net 1:08:56, Frank Quattrone finished in a net 1:11:13, Wilt Alston finished in a net 1:11:28, Joe Ciecierega finsihed in net 1:13:23 and Tina Pellegrin finished in net 1:58:05. There was also a 5K held with 4142 finishers, link here.

I saw a funny sign at mile 0.1. It read, "My wife already finished. She drank all the beer." I laughed ... and hoped it wasn't true! There were other signs but I can't remember them.

Meanwhile ... way out west a little (OK, big) 100 mile trail race called the Hardrock 100 was held, results here. Kilian Jornet obilerated the course record by more than 40 minutes in 22:41:33. The third place finisher, Aaron Heidt, was struck by lightning near the 14,028 foot top of Handies Peak, link here. It took out his headlamp ... he continued onward. Awesome stuff! 

Sunday, 7/6/2014 to Saturday, 7/12/2014 - Dirt Cheap #4

I ran 6 times this week, 32.64 miles, one was a warmup run of 1.2 miles.

Sunday, 7/6/2014: 2 runs of 7.5 and 4.9 miles, 75F, 57% RH, 7 mph SSW wind, sunny

I was up a bit late, 9AM. I geared up and was out by 10:30AM.

Garmin Connect Activity for Winding route to Lake Ontario

I thought about doing a "Bridges" run of about 14 miles as I struck up a nice and easy pace. I ran the first 3.5 miles of my usual 10K route and then headed down into the flats by going down Seneca Park Ave, St Joseph St and back up Van Voorhis Ave. I had a decision to make ... continue up to Thomas Ave and turn left to head to the Rorke Bridge to cross to the west side of the Genesee River or turn right onto Sagamore Drive to head back? I comprised by turning right onto Sagamore Drive and then stretched it by turning left onto St Paul Blvd to head to Lake Ontario for 7.5 miles at 8:08 pace. My splits were: 8:12, 7:57, 7:56, 7:59, 9:11, 8:09, 7:44 and 7:50 over the last 0.5 mile.

Garmin Connect Activity for A tired, nice and easy run back from Lake Ontario

I walked along the tiny beach as I had a Gu and hydrated for about 2 or 3 minutes. I still had to get back so I took the most direct route at a slower nice and easy pace. My splits were: 8:48, 8:42, 10:13, 9:15 and 8:01 over the last 0.9 mile.

I think I earned a bit of downtime the rest of the day after running 12.4 miles. My darling wife, Christine, and I did make it out to Target after a while. We bought a oversized 2.2 cubic foot, 1250W, Panasonic microwave oven since our 10 year old Sharp microwave oven had died. Our coffee mugs are a bit tall so we needed a big microwave oven ... though it's big enough to cook a small turkey. I did notice that Target's price was $35 cheaper than Best Buy.

Monday, 7/7/2014: The usual rest day after a long run ... moving on.

Tuesday, 7/8/2014: A "coulda" run day.

I had to stay at work late because a thunderstorm rolled through at 4:30PM which is when I usually leave work. Then I stayed home while UPS delivered a 1 TB Western Digital Black hard drive that I ordered from newegg.com. I was somewhat dismayed by the really small package that I was handed by the UPS guy. The box was truly maybe only 1 inch larger on all sides that the hard drive! But I unboxed it from its air bubble cushion, installed it and tested it as a data drive in my oldest son's old Blue Orb desktop that he gave me. I built it for him way back in xxx. He gave it back to me since he uses a newer, more powerful laptop. I loaded Windows 7 on it on a 120GB hard drive and it works pretty well. Anyway, It passed the SMART test and the quick and extended tests of Western Digital Life Data Lifeguard Diagnostics. I would have packaged it a bit more cushion if I were shipping a hard drive.

A Western Digital hard drive packed in bubble wrap was in this box with less than 1 inch to spare on each side!

Wednesday, 7/9/2014: 2 runs of 1.2 and Dirt Cheap #4 of 4.54 miles, 70F, 60% RH, 6 mph NNW wind, partly cloudy.

It had rained yesterday and a brief shower moved through in the afternoon but it was a Dirt Cheap Wednesday so I went home, changed and headed down to the Devil's Bathtub section of Mendon Ponds Park for Dirt Cheap #4, aka DC#4. DC#4 was held in time trail fashion where we start going down the stairs in bib order in 5 second intervals. I got there at 5:45PM in plenty of time to snag a close parking spot on the hill. I met up with Prem Kumar and Andy Ciaio before the race. Both had just run the Finger Lakes 50K on Saturday just 4 days ago and looked none the worse for wear.

I got out for a nice 1.2 mile warmup run at 8:15 pace, link here. I had to remind myself that I was warming up and not racing. This is tough for me once I have a race bib on my shorts. I had sweat through my Firecracker 4 tech shirt from Saturday so I changed into my orange Spring Forward 2013 tech shirt before the race. I decided to carry a 10 ounce hand bottle of water which I did use once during the race.

My Golden Bib ... getting dirtier and more tagged with every race!

I started first since I was one of 6 with a Golden Bib and I had the lowest number of 10000. It was kind of nice to see some of the holders of the Golden Bib. Ellen made fun that a "dummy" was being sent off first and then I was being sent at 6:30:05 PM. And ... off I went! Lots of runners were going to be chasing me.


I almost wiped out at the bottom of the stairs ... all of a sudden I saw a photographer plus rocks, roots and a patch of mud. So I put on the brakes, concentrated on my footing and continued onward.

I had a lot of speed at the bottom of the stairs and almost tripped ... 

I was in the lead for a whole 2:44 before another holder of the Golden Bib passed me right at a turn to the right. He almost went straight and was glad that I made the turn. I soon found out that I should have pulled my laces tighter on my Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes as the deep patches of mud tried to suck my shoes off. Yes, there was mud and I went straight through it. Another holder of the Golden Bib named Chris passed me and then I passed him back. This was my sixth DC#4 so I basically knew the course. I walked the steep hills and ran the flats and downs like usual. I knew the bog was toward the end. I had a choice of taking the twisty and turny route through the trees to the left or going straight through the bog. I chose to mostly go straight through and paid the price. I sank thigh deep about 2/3 of the way through the bog and had to balance myself using my hands in the mud as I extracted myself. My shoes thankfully came back out still on my feet and I continued onward. It took me a bit to get back up to speed. Chris passed again with a mile to go and then another holder of the Golden Bib passed me just before we broke into the open meadow with about 3/4 mile to go. I was running OK. I wanted to run faster but I did the best I could. I knew I was close and just concentrated on finishing. And ... I was done in 43:36, 4.54 miles, 9:37 pace. My splits were: 8:02, 9:20, 11:07, 10:48 and 8:04 over the last 0.54 mile. I made my way to where other finishers were hanging out. Everyone had gone through the bog and sank at least knee deep ... nice!

I hung out afterward with Chris and we swapped running stories. I was impressed that he had ran muddy Sehgahunda this year in 6:00:32. A reader of this blog, Abby, introduced herself. She said that she found it when she wanted to find out about the Mendon Mauler. Hmm ... I think I will try to make old races easier to find. It might take a while with over 400 posts. I think I will use blogger's pages to list my races by year, races by race and PRs by race. Again ... it might take a while but I will start ... soon. Other projects, races, life may and probably will get in the way.

Anyway, I ran well. I finished 51st out of 290, link here. I was 3rd out of 8 in my M55-59 series age group, link here. Ed Housel, who is not in the series, came in first at 40:22 in our M55-59 age group. Bill Beyerbach was 2nd at 42:00, 1st in our M55-59 series age group.

Thursday, 7/10/2014: Rest day after a race.

Friday, 7/11/2014: 10 miles, 1:19:40, 7:58 pace, 77F, 44% RH, calm, sunny

Garmin Connect Activity for Prep for the Boilermaker

The couch tried to suck me in but I fought it off to get out for a confidence boosting 15K plus a 0.7 cooldown run on a beautiful Friday evening. The conditions were probably exactly like it will be on Sunday ... hot and a bit humid. I took it out a bit harder than nice and easy and kept the same pace for the entire 15K. Done in 1:13:10 at 7:52 pace. I took a minute to cool down right there on Seneca Ave and then continued onward for a 0.7 mile cooldown run at 9:17 pace to get to 10 miles even. My splits were: 7:53, 7:46, 7:47, 7:49, 7:46, 7:49, 8:09, 8:00, 7:51 and 8:48. I was dripping wet with sweat when I was done ... a well earned sweat!

My darling wife, Christine, soon cooked up an old standby ... pizza for a supper. A runner's staple ... tasty along with chips!

Saturday, 7/12/2014: 4.5 miles, 39:39, 8:48 pace, 72F, 73% RH, calm, sunny

I was up early ... my darling wife's snoring may have been the cause but I'll never tell! Anyway, I saw that Medved's last day of celebrating their 30th anniversary was today. I don't usually run the day before a race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Lemonade run with Medved

Normally I am not a group runner. But I wanted to help support Medved in a small way. An Adidas and New Balance rep were there so on a whim I tried out a pair of the Adidas Glide Boost in size 12.5 for the run. The lead group ran a really nice and easy pace which I appreciated. It got hot and muggy during the run and we were all soaked with sweat by the end of the run. My splits were: 9:16, 9:01, 8:48, 8:37 and 7:52 over the last 0.5 mile. The Glide Boost felt pretty comfortable during the run.

Christine suggested around 2:30PM that we do our laundry so 5 loads of laundry ensued. Trust me ... some of my tech clothes could have walked down to the basement by themselves. I went down to get the last load of laundry around 10:30PM ... when I should have been asleep! The alarm to get up for the Boilermaker 15K was set for 3:20AM!

Sunday, 6/29/2014 to Saturday, 7/5/2014 - Firecracker 4 Mile Race

I ran 5 times this week, 27.54 miles.

Sunday, 6/29/2014: 6.2 miles, 56:01, 9:01 pace, 77F, 61% RH, 9 mph SSW wind, HHH

Garmin Connect Activity for A hot and sweaty 10K

I should have gotten out earlier but just puttered around instead. I took it out nice and easy since it was already 77F. Really a tale of 2 runs just like some of my runs. The first 5K in 26:20, 8:30 pace. The second 5K was in 29:41, 9:34 pace, with lots of mini walk breaks for hydration. My splits were: 8:15, 8:12, 9:07, 9:13, 9:40, 9:50 and 8:27. I really don't like the heat and humidity. I even tried a small, wet bath towel around my neck.

Later, Christine and I headed out to the Waterloo Outlet Mall to see if we could pick up any bargains. My main reason was to get her another pair of sneakers. We looked at the Reebok and Nike stores before she couldn't find any that she liked. We ended up buying her a pair of sandals and earrings at G.H. Bass. I bought a couple of long sleeve dress shirts at Van Heusen. We got there around 5PM so we only got to look at or go past half the stores.

Monday, 6/30/2014: Rest day ... moving on.

Tuesday, 7/1/2014: Another rest day.

I stayed in to watch the US - Portugal World Cup game. I started watching during halftime when it was still scoreless. The keeper, Tim Howard, practically stood on his head to keep it scoreless until extra time. The game was almost all in the US end. He eventually let 2 balls by and the US lost 2-1, link here.

I ran 24 times in the 30 days of July for 105.35 miles, 4.4 miles/run. Sever were warmup runs of 1.1, 0.5, 1.1, 1.2, 0.7, 1 and 1.6 miles. I ran 6 races during July: McMullen Mile, Mendon Mauler 12, Dirt Cheap #3, Medved 5K to Cure ALS, Airport 5K and Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run.

Wednesday, 7/2/2014: 8.1 miles, 1:06:55, 8:15 pace, 84F, 45% RH, 12 mph W wind, HHH

It was hot, hazy and humid but I needed to run so I did. I wore my Brooks split shorts instead of my usual Brooks tights. I asked my darling wife, Christine, to meet me at Salvatore's at 7PM so we could eat our supper in AC instead of our hot apartment.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and sweaty run

I took it out nice and easy and ran pretty well for the first 4 miles. Then I saw the temperature on the St Paul Boulevard Fire Department station sign ... 90F. I gotta stop looking at that sign and just keep my mind in the run. I broke into a run/walk and mentally adjusted my route so I could be at Salvatore's by 7PM. My splits were: 8:02, 8:02, 7:59, 8:19, 8:26, 8:12, 8:56 and 8:12. Maybe I beat myself up about my run/walks too much.

A few guys outside razzed me about my running shorts when I ran up. Christine drove up a minute later. She had brought a bag with my jean shorts, a dry tech top, towel, glasses and wallet. The towel was much needed since I was drenched with sweat once I stopped running. The wallet was needed to pay for our much needed medium pizza for supper. A early bedtime ensued for me. Christine couldn't sleep again and stayed up for a while before she fell asleep. Life without AC ... our bedroom was 86F last night.

Thursday, 7/3/2014: 6.2 miles, 49:19, 7:56 pace, 70F, 83% RH, 9 mph N wind, overcast.

I was early even though I was off on vacation. I can't even sleep in on vacation? So I puttered around for a long while. My darling wife, Christine, got up around 10AM and was out the door to get her nails done at New Nails. It started to rain so I waited. When it stopped I headed out. I don't usually run the day before a race but ... I did.

Garmin Connect Activity for A cooler but still sweaty 10K

It was cooler but still humid so I took up a nice and easy pace. I didn't stretch out at all and just maintained my pace without stopping except for traffic. I didn't look at the St Paul Boulevard Fire Department sign when I went by on my usual 10K route. I didn't go any farther since I do have a race tomorrow. My splits were: 8:13, 7:55, 8:06, 7:59, 7:43, 7:44 and 7:59 over the last 0.2 mile. I was dripping wet with sweat when I stopped but it was a good sweat.

Friday, 7/4/2014: 3 runs of 1, Firecracker 4 and 2 miles, 61F, 77% RH, 10 mph NW wind

I was up at 6AM for another race. I tried to get my darling wife, Christine, awake but she just didn't have the "get up and go" in her. I left early and it was just a short 21 minute drive down in Perinton Park in Perinton. I parked near the finish not near the start since this is almost a point to point race. This race was also a Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race, the Firecracker 4. It's usually the Firecracker 5 but was shortened due to construction. So ... it was "all the hills but none of the flats" according to Ellen of Fleet Feet Rochester.

My Iphone was in B&W mode as I captured a mother duck and eight ducklings (kind of tough to see)

I got out for a nice and easy 1 mile warmup run at 8:47 pace, link here. There were a lot of people at this race. I said "Hi" to Prem Kumar, Andy Ciaio, Bill Beyerbach, Frank Quatronne, Mark Herberger, Wilt Alston, Jim May and Jim Glinsky among others before the start. Prem and Bill will running the Finger Lakes 50s tomorrow morning in Hectory NY. Prem will be running the 50K and Bill will be running the 25K.



I turned around before the start to politely warn those behind me not to trip me. The start was uneventful. I did hear a runner fall behind and to my left at the start.

Boots and the rest of us before the start

A long line of 915 runners

I struck up a nice and fast pace as I started up Whitney Rd which had not one but two hills in the first mile. I quickly remembered why I didn't like the Firecracker 5 when I last ran it. Then a right onto Turk Hill Rd with another hill. Another right onto E Church St with a hill, across Rt 250, onto W Church St. I didn't have much fire in the legs. I was a rabbit again. I had to take 3 mini walk breaks as Prem, Bill, Frank, Wilt and then Mark passed me. I did keep Mark in sight as I ran the best I could down E Church St. At Least W Church St was level or slightly downhill. I concentrated on keeping up with everyone I was around.

Cruising into the uphill finish

Then a final right into Perinton Park for the uphill finish. I passed one or two runners as I headed to the finish. Done ... in 28:40, 7:10 pace. I was beat. I quickly downed 2 pints of water and ate a banana.

I did OK. I gave it the best I could. Lately I have not been running as well as I want. My splits were: 6:51, 7:08, 7:26 and 6:59. I was 108th out of 915, link here. I was 6th out of 40 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I saw some anomalies in the results ... Prem and Mark weren't in them. Prem did get his results posted.

At the finish line after my cooldown run

I headed out the Erie Canal path for a nice out and faster back, link here. The surface of the path was stony and uneven which doesn't bode well for the Rochester Marathon in two and a half months.

Sonn I was home after stopping at the Perinton Wegmans for donuts. I did the usual. I did the dishes, made the coffee and woke my Christine with coffee and donuts. Another beautiful day ensued. Later we watched a couple of DVDs, Men in Black 3 and Snow White and the Huntsman. Not a bad couple of movies.

Oh, lots of running was going on today. The Firecracker 4 had 915 finishers, the Brighton 5K had 629 finishers, the Greece Freedom Run 5K had xx finishers, the Irondequoit 10K had 303 finishers, the Irondequoit 2 mile had 244 finishers and the Sodus Point 5K had 526 finishers. So ... lots of running and runners!

Saturday, 7/5/2014: Rest day after 3 days of running

A beautiful day to run but I sat it out after running 21.24 miles in 3 days in a row

Meanwhile, a lot of the local ultra trail racing community were running the Finger Lakes Fifties down near Hector NY in the Finger Lakes National Forest. There were 3 variations: 25K, 50K and 50 miles. The 25K results of 78 runners are here; Bill Beyerbach in 2:50:32. The 50K results of 99 runners are here; Chris Patterson in 6:00:09, Prem Kumar in 6:23:24, Mark Monachino in 6:39:57, Andy Ciaio in 6:57:28, Wendy Abbot in 7:09:48, Steve Levitsky in 7:27:10. Brian Andrews in 7:37:36, Robbie Ganey in 7:57:57, Kathy Reardon in 8:08:08, Tammy Abbe in 8:12:16, Kim Rapp in 8:34:01 and Tom Butler in 9:37:37. The 50 mile results of 44 runners are here; John Muoio in 10:31:23, Ron Heerkens Jr in 10:33:06 (his blog post here), Stacy Maier in 11:26:27, Anne Esposito in 11:33:38, Rob Wilder in 11:33:39 and Bambi Jasmin in 12:22:18.

(l-r) Charlie Andrews, Bambi Jasmin, Anne Esposito, Robbie Ganey, Steve Levitsky, Rob Wilder, Kathy Reardon, John Muoio, Bill Beyerbach and Wendy Abbott

Sunday, 6/22/2014 to Saturday, 6/28/2014 - Charlie's Old Goat Run

I ran 5 times this week, 28.34 miles (1 warmup run of 1.6 miles)

Sunday, 6/22/2014: 6.2 miles, 51:07: 8:15 pace, 75F, 36% RH, 6 mph wind, sunny.

I had to sleep on my back during the night since my left rib bruise (I hope) prevented me from laying on my left side like I usually do. I got up around 8AM and let my darling wife, Christine, sleep. I puttered around, had a mug of coffee, read the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle and caught up on email and Facebook. I woke Christine up at 12:20AM. Good thing I did since she had a Massage Envy appointment at 1PM. She out the door by 12:43AM and took a quick bath before she did. Wow!

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and healing 10K

So ... I went out for a run. I had to get out to see if my bruises and aches would allow me to run. The first mile was slow ... my left ribs didn't like the bouncing too much. But I kept going and endured the run. My splits were: 8:52, 8:23, 8:13, 8:26 (I had to wait for traffic), 7:49, 7:54 and 7:31 over the last 0.2 mile. All in all, not a bad run.

Later I watched the World Cup match between the US and Portugal. The US fought back from a 0-1 deficit to lead 2-1 going into the final minute of stoppage time. Just like that ... it was a 2-2 draw due to a cross by Ronaldo and a header by a sub named Varela with about 15 seconds to go, link here. Our Time Warner feed for both the TV and internet went down in the second half so I had to watch the rest of the game via my watchESPN app. Time Warner stayed down so I went to bed early ... like 9:15PM early.

Monday, 6/23/2014: Rest day ... moving on.

Tuesday, 6/24/2014: 6.3 miles, 51:12, 8:07 pace, 72F, must have been 100% RH, overcast, calm, sprinkles then heavy rain.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and wet run in the dark

I got home and wanted to run but 5 minutes later a huge thunderstorm moved through and it absolutely poured. So I ate supper and just thought about running. Well ... my darling wife, Christine, was yanking around with the DVR watching her shows that I didn't like so I just up and said "I need to get out of here and run". It was 8:45PM around dusk so I put on my reflectivity belt and headlamp. I was a bit slow at first but I sped up as my joints loosened up. Then ... it started to sprinkle. I turned the cracked face of my Garmin Forerunner 310XT upside down on my wrist so it hopefully wouldn't get wet. Then ... it started to pour around mile 4 or so. I think the lightning flashes sped my pace up a bit too. I started to splash through the puddles on the shoulder along side of Cooper Rd, Titus Ave and Seneca Ave as I headed home. I was soaked, my shoes were soaked ... but it was a really good run. My splits were: 8:49, 8:20, 8:08, 7:51, 7:39, 7:56 and 8:08 over the last 0.3 mile.

It's really something. I can hurt myself running but I still run. My left knee still hurts when I kneel on it and I can't lie on my left side yet because my left rib is still bruised ... but I still run. I grimace when I get out of bed in the morning. I have run in the rain and have ran a few races in the rain. Runners understand this ... non runners maybe not.

Wednesday, 6/25/2014: Rest day ... moving on.

Thursday, 6/26/2014: 7.7 miles, 1:02:29, 8:07 pace, 79F, 48% RH, 6 mph N wind, sunny.

I didn't really want to run but I did. I try not to run on the Friday night before a race on Saturday morning but I didn't want to not run for 4 days either ... so I ran.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and sluggish run

The result was what I thought was a crappy run. I mean I took 5 walking breaks for water for heaven's sake! These were all in the middle of the run after I had run 3.5 miles and before I ran 2.5 miles at the end. So they were all in a 1.7 mile stretch. I have been tired lately so I think it had all caught up with me. But my split were: 7:58, 7:56, 7:43, 8:44, 8:39, 8:04, 7:53 and 7:54 so when I did run I ran kind of fast ... which is why I had a 8:07 pace for the entire run. Unbelievable.

Friday, 6/27/2014: Rest day ... the usual before a Saturday morning race.

My right palm has new skin and my left shoulder no longer needs a bandage. My left rib still hurts when I flex it wrong.

Saturday, 6/28/2014: 2 runs of 1.6 miles and Charlie's Old Goat Train Run of 6.54 miles, 75F, 68% RH, 4 mph SSW wind, sunny.

I was up early due to my darling wife, Christine, coming to bed late at 4:30AM and promptly snoring. So ... I got out of bed at 4:40AM for an early start to the day. Once it got to be 6:45AM I quietly got ready. I bid Christine "Good Bye" and left at 7:22AM for the 26 minute trip down to Victor and the Ganondagan State Historic Site. This would be my fourth running of the Charlie Old Goat Trail Run. I like this race ... it's challenging, not too long and has a good spread of food afterward. I said "Hi" to Tom Butler, Andy Ciaio, Prem Kumar, Bob Dyjak (running his first trail race), Mark Monachino, Bill Beyerbach, Bob Hamilton (up from Lyons) and Wilt Alston. This is a Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race so there was a lot of people I knew.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run

The weather was warm so I took a nice, easy and slow warmup run for 1.6 miles, 9:40 pace. I was dripping wet with sweat when I got back about 20 minutes before the race started. I tried to wrap my head around the fact that it would be a hot race.

Soon enough it was 9AM and we were off! I ran well for the first two miles and then the wheels just fell off. I said "Hi" to the people I knew as they passed me. The route of this race led us through open meadows where the sun beat down on us ... it was hot! I walked a lot of the hills. I tried to get back my mojo and ran when I could. I tried to run the downs and flats.

The race was only 6.5 miles so it was over soon enough. I tried to hold a run as I ran the last of the open meadows until I crossed the finish in 1:09:52. I was beyond drenched with sweat and quite thirsty. I was a bit dazed and downed two bottles of water as soon as I could. A few people that I met asked me "Are you OK?" and told me to eat something so I did. Donuts and cookies tasted good. Soon I felt better and talked a bit with Bill Beyerbach. I didn't win anything at the raffle. My number 41 was bracketed by 40, 42, 43 and 44 ... oh, well!

Soon I was home. So I woke my darling wife, Christine, did the dishes, got the coffee brewing, the bagels toasting and sat down. Whew! Another race done, my 267th. I did kind of OK, 1:09:52, 114th out of 230, 8th out of 14 in my M55-59 age group, link here. The heat just took my body and mind out of the run today. Stuff like that happens.

Here is an interesting blog post by the 2nd place finisher, Joshua Perks, link here. He looks at being 39 and looking forward to not racing against 24 year old runners in the open division when he ages up to 40 and the masters division. Another blog post by Eric Eagan is here. He said "Hi" as he passed me too.