Sunday, 8/17/2014 to Saturday, 8/23/2014 - K-9 5K, Dirt Cheap #5 and James Francis 5K

I ran 7 times this week, 16.94 miles.

Sunday, 8/17/2014: 2 runs of 0.6 and K-9 5K of 3.34 miles

I was up and at 'em early for another race, the K-9 5K. This was a Fleet Feet race so I wore my golden bib. I got to Ellison Park around 8AM for the 9AM start. I got my K-9 5K T-shirt and heard that parts of the course were underwater. I had time so I went home and quickly picked up my Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes to wear.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before K-9 5K

I got out for a 0.6 mile warmup run. The weather conditions were: 63F, 77% RH, 7 mph N wind, sunny. My legs and muscles were sore and achy from the 18 miles that I ran yesterday.


Boots explained before the race that the north part of Ellison Park was flooded so the course had been changed to 2 loops inside the park on either road, mud or grass. Since this was a K-9 5K there were 48 dogs among the 119 runners. And ... we were off! I was careful not to get tangled up in any runners or dog or dog leashes for the first 1/2 mile. My legs were sore but it was a 5K so I just kept my legs in gear and ran.

Soon Ellen was calling out to go to the finish chute to the right. And ... done with 3.34 miles, 26.05, 7:47 pace. My splits were good for a cross country 5K: 7:52, 7:37, 8:05 and 7:16 over the last 0.34 mile. I was more than happy to stop though. I was drenched and changed into my K-9 5K T-shirt after I ate a banana and some water. I did OK, link here. I was 9th out of 71 of runners without dogs, 2nd out of 6 in my M50-59 age group.

Later, we headed out to Scottsville for a cookout with my youngest son, David. The backyard of the house where he rents a room was very peaceful. The hamburgers and hot dogs were quite tasty!

Monday, 8/18/2014 and Tuesday, 8/19/2014: Rest days ...

Wednesday, 8/20/2014: 2 runs of 0.7 and Dirt Cheap #5 of 4.8 miles, 75F estimated, sunny

I headed out to Webster for Dirt Cheap #5. I forgot my Garmin Forerunner 310XT so I downloaded Strava onto my Iphone. It took a while since it seemed that the Webster Town Park on Holt Rd has bad data coverage. I noticed that there was standing water in low spots around the lodge when I went out for a short 0.7 mile warmup run, link here. I slipped and had an epic fall onto my left side into a mud puddle ... I was coated with mud! I bounced back up, made sure that all my body parts still moved and ran back ... I now knew that it was slippery and there was going to be lots of mud! I said "Hi" to Andy Frank, Bill Beyerbach, Todd Sappen Sr., Jim Roche, Jim McLaughlin, Joe Ciecierega, Tina Pellegrin, Tom Butler and Andy Ciaio. Some laughed and said it looked like I had already run the race.

Running a muddy Dirt Cheap is just like being a kid again!

Boots gave the pre-race instructions ... it was slippery, muddy, the bridges were very slippery and that he hoped that no one has messed with the flags like last year. I started Strava up on my Iphone ten seconds before Boots yelled "Go"! And ... we were off!

Heading down the first hill after the start ....

and out into the first of many, many, many puddles!

I have run this race enough times to recognize that we were running it backwards from when we ran it three months ago. Soon we were splashing through the mud puddles, dodging pricker bushes, going under low hanging branches, dodging roots, hopping over logs and having a blast! The 100 yard run through the creek was just as wet as ever. It's a bit hard to run with water in your shoes but I managed. I walked a tiny bit but only twice that I remember. I just concentrated on staying up with the runner I was behind.

Heading to the final hill before the finish ...

On and on we ran ... I was beginning to think that more trail was being put in front of me or that Boots was sending us out for a second loop. But ... soon I could hear Ellen calling runners up the hill to the finish. I knew it was the very last hill so I dug down deep and powered up without stopping. And ... done in 50:57 according to Strava. I went to the Cruze for some water. I tried to take a picture of my muddy tech top but my Iphone died. Soon I chowed down on the usual post race food and exchanged mud stories with Tom Butler and Bill Beyerbach. Here is Christopher O'Brien's blogpost, link here.

Officially, I did OK. I finished in 50:50, 42nd out of 241, link here. I was 4th out of 8 (3rd was nine seconds ahead) in my M55-59 age group. Andy Frank finished 3rd in 40:50, Jim McLaughlin finished in 45:52, Andy Ciaio finished in 46:27, Jim Roche finished in 46:43, Bill Beyerbach finished in 47:14 for 1st in out M55-59 age group, Todd Sappen Sr finished in 47:33, Joe Ciecierega finished in 48:23, Tom Butler finished in 1:08:04 and Tina Pellegrin in 1:29:42.

I didn't bring a change of clothes so I had to sit on a towel when I drove home so I wouldn't get the Cruze all mud. Maybe I should pack a change of clothes in the future?

I found a bit more mud than usual!

Christine took a picture when I got home. Then I stripped and took a shower, a bath plus did a load of laundry. All in all, a great Dirt Cheap! A huge thank you to Yellow Jacket Racing!

Thursday, 8/21/2014: Rest day ... time to soothe my aches and pains.

Friday, 8/22/2014: Another rest day the day before a race.

Saturday, 8/23/2014: 3 runs of 2, James Francis 5K and 1.4 miles, 70F, 88% RH, overcast.

My darling wife, Christine, had insomnia all night so I left for the James Francis / Andrea Kofahl 5K (JF/AK 5K) at the Black Creek Park in Chili NY solo. I got there in plenty of time for a nice 2 mile run. My Garmin said "Low Battery" when I turned it on and meant it. It kicked off at 1.16 miles on my warmup run so I guessed 2 miles and 8:45 pace. I was pretty drippy with sweat and cooled down a bit in the 10 minutes before the race. I said "Hi" to the usual crowd: Bill Beyerbach, Wilt Alston, Beth DeCianti and Jim May before the race. I had to use Strava on my Iphone for the race. I am not a fan because I have to start the app and then put the Iphone away just before the start, plus the reported distance of 2.9 miles was certainly off.

The JF/AK 5K cross country course was very well marked with tons of flags: red for mile 1, pink for mile 2 and white for mile 3. After some pre-race announcements ... we were off!


We ran around the pond, up the big hill, down the other side and out the grass paths for mile 1. Bill, Jim, Wilt and Beth were ahead. Wilt stopped to tie his shoes twice but still was ahead. There was a digital clock and timing strip at mile 1, 68th and 7:24 pace, link here. Then it was onto a trail through the woods with white paint painted on any roots in our path. We exited the woods just after the mile 2 mark. Under one mile to go! Across the field and back up the big hill, didn't break to a walk ... I slowed but didn't walk, down the other side and the left turn for the finish! I hit mile 3 and saw a high school girl that I wanted to catch. She heard me coming in the finish chute and sprinted. We sprinted to the line and I edged her according to the results ... nice! OK, so she was 15 years old but I still caught her!

Officially, I did OK, 23:11 (I ran 22:34 last year), 7:29 pace, 62nd out of 217, link here. I finished 7th out of 17 in my wide 50-59 age group, link here. I was 3rd out of 5 in my Rochester Runner Of the Year 55-59 age group, link here. Bill finished in 34th in 21:38; Beth DeCianti finished 40th in 22:05 to win her 50-59 age group, Jim May finished 42nd in 22:12 to win his 60-69 age group, Wilt Alston finished 50th in 22:44. I saw Jeanne Herrick finish 97th in 26:29 to win her 60-69 age group.

I went out with Bill Beyerbach and Bill Clauss for a really nice and easy cooldown run of 1.4 miles at 9:45 pace. I stayed for the awards and the door prizes but went home empty handed. Bill and I are going to carpool to the "Dam" Good Trail Race down at the Mount Morris Dam tomorrow morning.

My darling wife, Christine, had finally fallen asleep by the time I got home. She had made coffee ... so I quietly told her of my exploits and then let her sleep. A nice morning!

Sunday, 8/10/2014 to Saturday, 8/16/2014 - Rochester River Chase

I ran 4 times this week, 43.51 miles.

Sunday, 8/10/2014: 14.4 miles, 2:04:28, 8:38 pace, 61F, 88% RH, 3 mph SW wind, sunny

Prem Kumar told me yesterday that he needed a long run on Sunday. Well so did I. We are both signed up to run the Rochester Marathon in 6 weeks so we made up a plan to run from Fairport to Pittsford and back which is about 14 to 15 miles. I got up early and was getting ready when he chatted on Facebook that he would meet me on the Erie Canal path in Fairport at 8AM. I got there at 7:55AM and was just going to head east to meet up with him when he appeared. He had run from his house and already had 7.7 miles in.

Garmin Connect Activity for Canal path long run

So we headed east on the Erie Canal path at a nice and easy pace ... out for me and back for him. I forgot to turn on my Garmin for 0.3 miles. It was kind of hazy and shady for a while with the sun mostly at our backs. There were a lot of people out. We said "Hi" to most of them, some answered and some didn't. Prem said "Bye" at Schoen Place at mile 5.6 and ran the 1.5 miles back to his house for his 15 miles. I continued onward until my Garmin said 7 miles before I turned around to head back. I picked up my pace a wee bit until my right Achilles started barking. The sun was in my face plus the shade seemed to have disappeared. I was happy to stop at mile 14.4.

A female bicyclist was stopped at a nearby picnic table. I ambled over since I needed to sit down. She had a lot of gear attached to her bike. I stuck up a conversation. I learned that her name was Sheila and that she had started riding east from Washington on June 21 ... about 3000 miles ago. She was riding 80 miles this day to Wolcott and had gotten lost a bit when the Erie Canal path had merged with the Genesee River Trail. Her ultimate destination was Bar Harbor, Maine. Wow ... a coast to coast biker! It kind of makes my 14.4 mile run look a bit tame.

A cross country bicyclist named Sheila stopped in Fairport for a break.

I stopped at the Wegmans in East Rochester for some much needed (OK, maybe desired not needed) donuts on the way home. Soon I woke up my darling wife, Christine, with hot coffee and donuts.

Meanwhile ... the Sodus Point Triathlon was held. In past years I have volunteered for this sprint triathlon (0.45 mile swim, 13.1 mile bike and 3.1 mile run) but not this year. 158 triathletes finished, link here.

Swimmers exiting Sodus Bay

Tim Dwyer ... who has turned 55 and is now in my age group

Barry Cherney

Triathletes that I knew: Tim Dywer finished 10th in 1:10:10 to win his 55-59 age group, Barry Cherney in 1:21:28, Todd Dappen Sr in 1:31:17 and Chuck Traub in 1:34:06.

I watched sports most of the rest of the day. First, the Nascar race from Watkins Glen and next the PGA Open from Valhalla in Louisville KY. Both had lots of drama. The Nascar race had 2 crashes that caused red flags as AJ Allmendinger won, link here. The PGA Open had lots of lead changes until Rory McIlory won by a shot over Phil Mickelson (runner up in a major for the ninth time) in the gathering gloom at 8:43PM, link here.

Monday, 8/11/2014: Rest day ... sure enough!

Tuesday, 8/12/2014: A coulda, shoulda, but didn't day ... got caught up with watching Poirot on PBS and then a thunderstorm moved through.

Wednesday, 8/13/2014: 11 miles, 1:29:23, 8:07 pace, 66F, 83% RH, 10 mph WSW wind, partly cloudy.

I told my darling wife, Christine, that I was going out for a long run ... and did. I dialed in a pace that I would call a bit north of nice and easy but not a lot. I just meandered around my usual 10K route and added in the Chapel Hill Drive hill just for fun. The cool and gusty breeze felt nice and kept me from being totally drenched when I got done. My splits were: 8:04, 7:57, 7:47, 7:54, 8:40 (Chapel Hill Drive hill), 8:04, 8:05, 8:18, 8:07, 8:18 and 8:09. I need to get new tread soon since my Brooks Adrenaline GTS14 shoes have 593 miles on them. But I know I should and getting them are two entirely different things.Plus I have a lot of old shoes to get properly dispose of ... i.e. recycle.

Thursday, 8/14/2014: Rest day ... nothing unusual. I thought about going out for a run ... but not too hard.

Friday, 8/15/2014: Rest day .... before a race along with two loads of laundry.

Saturday, 8/16/2014: 2 runs of 7 and the Rochester River Chase of 11.11 miles.

My darling wife, Christine, has had trouble sleeping of late and this night was no exception. I woke up at 5:45AM and did the dishes and folded the whites from last night. I quietly got ready, kissed Christine bye and was out the door to Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte by 6:45AM and arrived by 7AM. The weather conditions were:

This was my first atttempt at the Rochester River Chase (RRC) put on by GVH at 8AM. This race was a unique idea of seeding the runners so that the slowest start first and the fastest start last so that everyone has a chance of winning depending on how well you run. I was seeded 33rd with a start time of 8:33:33AM.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Rochester River Chase

So ... I had the bright idea of going out for a 5 mile warmup run. I got this idea from Bob Dyjak who planned on running 9 miles to the RRC and then running the RRC. I did see him about 1.4 miles after I started and waved "Hi". I decided to stretch my run out to 3.5 miles instead of 2.5 miles. But .. this had the detriment that I had to rush to get back. I looked at my Garmin and saw that it was 8AM and I still had 2 miles to go! So my "warmup" run of 7 miles was 8:21. My splits were: 8:33, 8:30, 8:24, 8:37, 8:15, 8:03 and 8:09. I saw Tom Butler heading out as I got back.

I had 15 minutes to cooldown, get some water, hit the bathroom and get settled before I headed out. Prem Kumar was scheduled to start 22 seconds behind me and Andy Ciaio was scheduled to start 1 minute or so behind me. Jason "Jmac" McEllorn was to start last since he was the fastest.


The weather conditions had warmed up a bit: 61F, 72% RH, 10 mph SW wind, sunny. And ... off I went! I settled into a kind of fast pace. I followed the cones out and north on Lake Ave and then onto Pattonwood to the O'Rorke Bridge across the Genesee River. Prem passed me just before I got to mile 1.

Thomas Ave just before entering the trail heading up to the Seneca Park Zoo - taken by GVH

Then down Thomas Ave onto the the Zoo trail ... up I ran. Andy Ciaio passed by and then some GVH runners. The run up the Zoo trail to the Seneca Park Zoo and down the pedestrian bridge around mile 5.5 zapped my legs. I thought to myself, "I've almost run a half marathon and I still have 6 miles to go!" After we crossed the Genesee River the course went up the stairs instead of up the ramp ... ugghhh! I walked the stairs and then proceeded south on Maplewood Dr and Lake Ave, past the cemeteries at mile 7, had a Gu at mile 8, into Turning Stone Park, along the river on the Genesee River Trail at mile 9. I said "Hi" to Bob Dyjak and then Tom Butler as I passed them. Jmac whizzed by me, the last runner to start. I was running onward ... getting there surely. Back onto Lake Ave. The GVH volunteers were saying I looked great but I didn't feel so great. I pushed when I got back to Ontario Beach Park. And ... done in 1:35:15, 8:29 pace. I was more than happy to stop after running 18 miles before 11AM in the morning.

Officially, I was 18th overall out of 46 in 1:34:21, link here; 38th in the chase, link here; passed 6 runners and was passed by everyone behind me. My splits were: 8:05, 8:15, 8:18, 8:52, 9:03, 8:55, 8:17, 8:42, 8:35, 8:17, 8:08 and 7:28 over the last 0.11 mile. A long and pleasant race. I have run a very similar route on my "Bridge route" but always in a counter-clockwise direction. It was definitely different to run it in a clockwise direction.

Soon I was back home. I woke up Christine with some coffee. I would have liked to put up my feet for the rest of the day but my Uncle Bud Nevil's 90th birthday party was at 2:30PM at the Williamson Town Park. Uncle Bud married my mother's sister Eleanor VerPlank way back in the late 40s. She just died last year. Christine and I got there around 2:40PM. I met up with my youngest son, David, and my daughter, Karen. My older brother, Don, and my younger sister, Diane, and her husband, Jim, were there ... along with a lot of other people. All of Uncle Bud's four kids were there: Terry (his oldest) and his wife, Linda; Larry (his 2nd oldest) and his wife, Donna; Mary Tack (his 3rd oldest) and her husband, Steve; and Judy Nevil (the youngest). Uncle Elmer (my late mother's brother) and his wife, Aunt Pat, were there and sat with us.

My sister, Karen, and my youngest son, David

My older brother, Don, and my younger sister, Diane DeMent

(l to r) My brother-in-law, Jim DeMent, Uncle Elmer VerPlank, Aunt Pat VerPank and sister, Diane DeMent

The 90 year old birthday man, Uncle Bud Nevil

We said our "Good byes". It had been a long time since so many relatives had been together. I tried to get as many pictures as I could  I was really tired when we got back to Rochester and our cozy 1 bedroom apartment. I was in bed by 7:30PM and asleep by 8PM.

Sunday, 8/3/2014 to Saturday, 8/9/2014 - Young and Wyld 5K & Bergen 5K

I ran 5 times this week, 17.3 miles.

Sunday, 8/3/2014: Rest day ... pure & simple.

The DVR broke so we were forced to watch Netflix with good and bad results. The first movie worked fine, the next two, "Invasion of the Body Snatcher" and "Apollo 18" were interrupted by buffering every minute.

I also crawled the web to find the results of the Cayuga Triathlon down in Ithaca NY. The Intermediate Tri was 1.5K swim, 24.3 mile bike and 10K run with 247 finishers: John Muoio finished in 2:37:50, Barry Cherney broke 3 hours in 2:56:46, Steve Levitsky finished in 3:07:54, Wendy Abbot finished in 3:22:56, Kimberly Levitsky finsihed in 3:32:39. The Short Tri was 750m swim, 14 mile bike and 5K run with 327 finishers: Tom Button was 27th overall and won his M65-59 age group in 1:24:24.

Monday, 8/4/2014: 7.7 miles, 1:02:51, 8:10 pace, 75F, 78% RH, 5 mph ESE wind, mostly cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A sweaty 7.7 mile run

I needed to run I took the day before off and will take the day after off because of a 5K on Wednesday. I struck up my usual nice and easy pace when I headed out. En route I thought about running a 10 mile run but decided to take it easy on my feet and cut it a bit short. When I stopped I was drenched with sweat. It was more than a bit humid!

Tuesday, 8/5/2015: Rest day.

Time Warner replaced the DVR and I occupied myself with two loads of laundry.

Wednesday, 8/6/2014: 2 runs of 1.8 miles along with the Young and Wyld 5K of 3.14 miles, 73%, 44% RH, 5 mph NW wind, sunny.

My darling wife, Christine, and I headed down after I got home from work to Honeoye Falls for something new ... the Young and Wyld 5K. We got there at 6:10PM. Just in time to park 50 feet from the finish line across from the Post Office. The race started at 7PM so I had plenty of time to go out with Bill Sandow and his friend, Jim Werven, for a nice and easy 1.8 miles at 8:42 pace, link here. I said "Hi" to Andy Ciaio and Bob Dyjak before the race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Young and Wyld 5K


I stretched a bit, kissed Christine and waited for the start. And .... we were off! There was no police escort for this race just road marshals. The course is the old PolarCat route and was all right hand turns so we ran with our backs to traffic. Luckily there was not much traffic. I started pretty well and settled in for what I hoped was a fast 5K. There were pockets of cool air in the first mile that felt nice, 6:46 pace. I slowed a bit during mile 2, 7:04 pace. I picked it up a bit on York St as I picked off some younger high school runners, 6:55 pace. I started my sprint as I turned onto W Main St. I heard Christine yell, "Go, Doug!". And into the finish chute ... I was done in 21:36 with a 5:54 pace over the last 0.14 mile.

Taking it easy after the Young and Wyld 5K in beautiful Honeoye Falls!

I recovered with a couple of slices of pizza and a tasty root beer float. Officially, I did pretty well. I was 20th out of 115, link here. I was 2nd out of 6 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Jim Werven finished in 19:41, Andy Ciaio finished with spitting distance of 20 at 20:18, Bill Sandow finished in 20:55 and Bob Dyjak finished in 25:45.

Christine and I finished up our evening out by having a late snack for me and supper for Christine at Salvatore's on East Ridge Rd. An early bedtime soon ensued!

Thursday, 8/7/2014: An unplanned rest day due to lack of communication

Well ... maybe I should tell Christine when I am planning to run so she won't have supper ready and waiting when I come home. I was kind of planning a 10 mile run ... but I ate a nice supper and binge watched "Under the Dome"instead.

Friday, 8/8/2014: Another rest day.

I thought about going out for a run after work but my darling wife, Christine, had other plans ... so I went with them.

Saturday, 8/9/2014: 2 runs of 1.5 and Bergen 5K of 3.16 miles

I woke up early and woke up Christine a bit later. I had wanted to leave at 7AM but didn't leave until 7:24AM for the drive out to Bergen. This was my third Bergen 5K. I ran a 20:31 back in 2011 and a 21:36 last year. I left Christine in the car while I went to get my bib and shirt at registration. I kind of knew the young lady behind the table and she handed me my bib and shirt without my telling her my name. I guess there are a lot of people that know me ... I wish I knew them. I am kind of bad with names.

It was a beautiful morning for a fast 5K. I got out for a nice and easy 1.5 miles at 8:02 pace with the weather conditions: 59F, 88% RH, 4 mph SW wind.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Bergen 5K

I was stretching here ... not trying to kick the sign over as Bob Dyjak suggested on Facebook, lol!

I saw Bill Beyerbach, Jim May, Bob Dyjak and Mark Herberger briefly before the race. I met up with Prem Kumar and lined up with him. I was a bit farther back than I was used to. The Bergen 5K always attracts a very fast group of runners since it is the USATF-Niagara 5K Open and Master Championship so I let them be in front.




And ... we were off! I got caught behind slower runners a bit at the start but I followed Prem's lead and navigated into the clear.

The start - taken by Tim Matthews

The start from the other side - from the Bergen 5K Facebook page

Another view of the start - taken by Tim Matthews

I was behind Prem by 10 feet at the sharp turn from Parkview Dr onto Buffalo Rd. I passed Mark Herberber for a bit and then he passed me back. Mile 1 passed at 6:44 pace. I settled in and kept my position on S Lake Ave, aka Route 19, and on the turn onto Rochester St. Mile 2 passed at 6:47 pace.

Somewhere on S Lake Ave

I wasn't gaining on Mark or Prem but I wasn't losing ground either. I slowed a bit on mile 3, 7:05 pace.

Approaching the finish chute

I sprinted over the last 0.16 mile as I entered the finish chute, 6:10 pace. And ... done in 21:34 according to my Garmin. I congratulated Prem and Mark on their 21:12 and 21:19. Bill Beyerbach finished in 20:26, a 5K PR! Bill May, a very fast 68, finished in 20:15. Bob Dyjak finished in 25:05. Here is a blog post from Road Kill Racing, link here, about how their team results.

"Kip" Tisia finished in 14:44

Hannah Davidson finished in 16:01

Meanwhile ... Kiplangat Tisia of Rochester finished 1st in 14:44. The first 60 runners were under 17:00! Hannah Davidson of Manlius was the first female in 16:01. I did OK. Officially, I finished in 21:32, 147th out of 365, link here. I finished 7th out of 16 in my M55-59 age group.

I had to leave fairly quickly. My father, Bernard J DeWeaver died back on 3/10/2014. His urn was being buried along side my mother's urn at the East Palmyra Cemetery at 11AM. My mother, Doris E DeWeaver died on 1/14/2004. I changed in my daughter's stairwell in Newark since she wasn't home. We made it there in plenty of time. I met up with my older brother, Don, along with my younger sister, Diane, and her husband, Jim DeMent. Uncle Bud Nevil, the husband of my mother's late sister; Pat VerPlank, the wife of my mother's brother, Elmer and their daughter, Lea Ann, also attended the short ceremony. My sister gave a short eulogy and concluded with Dad's signature goodbye ... "See you later".

My father's urn

My parent's gravestone

My older brother, Don, and my younger sister, Diane

My Uncle Bud Nevil. He is the husband of my late mother's late sister Eleanor.

My Aunt Pat VerPlankand her daughter Lea Ann Sawyer. Aunt Pat is the wife of my late mother's brother Elmer. 

I saw my oldest son, Michael, for a bit at his mother's apartment in Newark before we headed back up to Rochester. A lazy and leisurely day ensued.

Tragic news later from Canandaigua ... Tony Stewart hit and killed Kevin Ward Jr in a racing accident at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park, links here and here. I watched the raw video posted on Youtube. Kevin spun out after getting a flat tire after contact with Tony. Kevin got out of his car and walked down the banked track to gesture at Tony as he came around on the caution lap. A couple of cars missed Keven before Tony's car hit and killed him. I think there will be rule changes for Nascar and all other race car series in the future ... don't get out of your car after a crash until directed by safety personnel unless it's on fire.

Sunday, 7/27/2014 to Saturday, 8/2/2014 - Phelps Sauerkraut 20K

I ran 4 times this week, 36.48 miles (one was a warmup of 0.5 miles)

Sunday, 7/27/2014: 12.4 miles, 1:50:43, 8:56 pace, 73F, 83% RH, 9 mph W wind, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for 20K around the bridges

I was up kind of early and got out OK. I wanted to do a long run and thought a bridges run would fit the bill. Everything started out OK. But ... once I got over the O'Rorke bridge everything just started acting up. My left Achilles and right calf started to hurt. I did a run/walk for a bit as I headed south on the Genesee River Trail. When I got back up to Lake Ave I just did a really nice and easy run in to get it done. I had really wanted to do a faster 20K, maybe around 8:20 pace, but it's what I had to give today. My splits were: 8:16, 8:08, 8:01, 8:03, 8:52, 7:58, 9:02, 8:38, 10:34, 10:24, 10:36, 8:58 and 7:59 over the last 0.4 mile. Maybe I should have stayed on the east side of the Genesee River and done some loops. Maybe I had improper hydration and nutrition. Who knows?

Side note: I am starting to get a bit pissed at my Garmin's sometimes inability to know my altitude at times. There was no 150' dip and climb at mile 11!

I relaxed and started to stalk the Ironman.com website to find out the progress of people that I knew that were competing up at Ironman Lake Placid. I learned that a thunderstorm had forced most of the swimmers on their second 1.2 mile lap out of the water. IMLP was still underway though with athletes with either the completion of Swim1 or Swim2 allowed and T1 would be thrown out of the results.

My darling wife, Christine, and I did make it out for a while. My youngest son, David, called with car trouble. It seemed that something had been attracted to his front left tire and he was stranded with a flat on Scottsville Rd between 252 and Scottsville. We headed out to help him out and pay for the flat tire service. The tire was certainly flat with a hole in the sidewall. It took a bit to figure out how to lower the full size spare tire that was underneath his Ford Explorer. When the directions read insert this tool and rotate the tool counter-clockwise ... you really have to jam it in before it engages. Otherwise you can think it's in and nothing happens when you rotate the tool. By then, the auto service guy was there and he took over. I wasn't really dressed to do the job nor did I remember to bring my full size jack.

The results of the people that I knew at IMLP: Dan Giblin (10th in his 50-54 AG) in 10:45:43, Jeff Rose in 13:03:59, Jim McLaughlin (his 11th IM) in 13:05:50, David Kudla in 13:32:40, Krista Aukeman-Englert in 14:33:15, Chuck Traub in 15:4405, Jady Simmons in 15:49:14.

Here is a link to Tina Pellegrin's race report on the PA Grand Canyon Half and Full Marathon in Wellsboro PA. Tina and her boyfriend, Joe Ciecierega ran the half on Saturday (results here, Joe was first in his age group) and the full on Sunday (results here, Joe was 3rd in his age group and set a 10 minute PR!).

Tina and Joe with some well deserved medals!

Monday, 7/28/2014: Rest day ...

Tuedsay, 7/29/2014: 11 miles, 1:31:29, 8:19 pace, 66F, 64% RH, 6 mph WSW wind, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and easy 11 mile run

I got a late start due to my search for the latest thing lost ... this time a Netflix envelope that needed to go back. I couldn't find it so I decided to go for another long run. I stayed on the east side of the Genesee River this week. The result was a kind of boring but ultimately satisfying 11 miles. My feet started to hurt a bit after 9 miles. I think this is because my Brooks Adrenaline GTS14 shoes have about 520 miles on them. My splits were: 8:11, 8:10, 8:09, 8:12, 8:12, 8:31, 8:24, 8:27, 8:31 and 8:36. The last 5 miles were slower probably due to my feets starting to hurt. I guess it's time to pony up for new tread.

Wednesday, 7/30/2014 to Friday, 8/1/2014: Rest days all.

Wednesday was a true rest day. Thursday was a "I coulda run but didn't" rest day and Friday was a true rest day before a long race on Saturday morning.

I did notice that a lots of runners ran the Twilight 5K/10K at the Sonnenberg Gardens out in Canandaigua on Thursday night. 716 ran the 5K and 288 ran the 10K. Maybe next year.

My running stats for July: 24 runs (4 were warmup runs of 1, 1.2, 1.15 and 1.3 miles; 2 were cooldown runs of 2 and 0.5 miles, 136.3 miles, 5.7 miles/run. 12 months in a row of 100 plus running miles per month ... knock on wood. The 2014 stats through the end of July: 131 runs, 804 miles, 6.1 miles/run.

Saturday, 8/2/2014: 2 runs of 0.5 and Phelps Sauerkraut 20K of 12.48 miles, 66F, 88% RH, 6 mph SW wind, sunny.

I was up early at 5:50AM of my sixth run of the Phelps Sauerkraut 20K. I tried to get Christine up but she begged off and went back to sleep. I geared up and was out the door by 6:50AM for the 40 minute drive to Phelps. I honked at early starter Bill Murphy when I saw him heading east on Route 96 as I was driving toward Phelps. I arrived in plenty of time to fix a minor mixup of the Race Director not having my bib ready for packet pickup yesterday at Fleet Feet Armory. I got my day of bib and a nice yellow tech. I chose to wear last year's white tech for the race plus my short Brooks shorts. I stuffed 2 packets of Gu in the side pockets and put on sunscreen. I got out for a really nice and easy 0.5 mile run that included a trip to the car to get a large gulp of water before the race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Phelps Sauerkraut 20K


The start at 8AM was really understated ... no prerace announcements, just a gentle "Go". Some runners weren't ready but off we went! I settled into a nice and easy pace around 8:00 pace. I said "Hi" to Rob Wilder as he passed me in the first 1/2 mile. I saw Andy Ciaio as he pulled away also. My plan was not to carry water, run nice and easy and take water at the water stops. I knew this course with its major hills at miles 5.5 and 7. I tried to run through the water stops but did walk a couple to get all of the water in my cup.  I had 1 Gu just after the hill at mile 7. I felt a bit of pain in my legs because of the 540+ miles on my Brooks Adrenaline GTS14 shoes but it wasn't very bad. The hills in the middle of the course were just as steep if not steeper than in previous years. The cows in the barn on the left at mile 8.6 were just as disinterested as in previous years. It was sunny and humid with not much shade. Running 12.4 miles was a long ways but it passed easily. I just stayed near the group of runners that I was near. Pretty soon it was mile 11 and I picked up my pace a bit. I started to hear footsteps behind me at mile 12 so I started to sprint. And ... done in 1:42:26 according to my Garmin. A woman put a finisher's medal around my neck ... new this year! I talked with Rick Doe briefly as we were resting after the race.

New this year ... Phelps Sauerkraut 20K bling!

A lot of people were leery of running the Phelps Sauerkraut 20K this year. Some of the late finishers were lucky or didn't even get water at the end last year plus there were no hot dogs. This year there still wasn't hot dogs but there was the usual water, bagels, energy bars, prezetels and bananas plus yogurt so it was OK. I chose a banana, an energy bar and 2 bottles of water.

I did OK. I finished in 1:42:27, 8:16 pace, 53rd out of 149, link here. I was 10th out of 24 in my wide M50-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 7:48, 8:05, 8:17, 7:59, 8:22, 9:10, 8:01, 8:56, 7:57, 8:11, 8:21, 8:02 and 6:54 over the last 0.48 mile.

Other finishers that I knew: Jason "Jmac" McElwain finished 4th in 1:21:10, Andy Ciaio finished 1:38:26, Rick Doe finished in 1:58:56 and Bill Murphy finished in 3:28:00. There were 49 runners in the 5k (new this year). The 20K race attracted runners from all over. There weren't many that I knew and I suspect that others were taking a "wait and see" attitude, were not running due to the Cuyuga Tri the next day or maybe were running the Dam Good Trail Race preview run the next day.

Soon I walked back to my car. The finish for this race is in a small park about 1/4 mile from the start. I certainly did not set any record during my slow amble. I journeyed north to Newark and saw my daughter, Karen, at her apartment in Newark. I was very happy that she let me take a shower after we got done catching up. She may not have much water pressure but the water was wet and her shampoo washed the salt and sweat off of me.

I was strangely tired when I got back up to Rochester. Soon I had my feet up and was drinking coffee and eating a bagel. I guess running 12.4 miles will do that to me. A nice and leisurely rest of Saturday soon ensued.

Sunday, 7/20/2014 to Saturday, 7/26/2014 - Karknocker 5K

I ran 4 times this week, 20.9 miles (1 was a warmup of 1.3 miles).

Sunday, 7/20/2014: Rest day

Yes, other runners got up and swam or biked or ran ... or did the last two or all three at the Shoreline Du/Tri out at Hamlin Beach State Park. But ... I slept in and didn't feel too bad about it. Ok ... maybe I did feel like a bit of a slug. But I needed a rest day and I fully enjoyed it. I didn't even leave the apartment. Groceries that needed to be got ... not. My darling wife, Christine, and I made do.

Meanwhile ... out in Hamlin, 103 triathletes completed the Shoreline Tri, link here. John Muoio finished in 1:36:17 for 2nd in his 35-39 age group, Wendy Abbot finished in 1:45:24 for 2nd in her 40-44 age group, Barry Cherney finished in 1:41:55 (after riding 61 miles the day before), Bob Hamilton finished in 1:57:47, Marille Pryor finished in 2:00:52 and won her 55-59 age group, Kathy Reardon finished in 2:05:29 for second in her 50-54 age group.

Another meanwhile, 49 athletes completed the Shoreline Du, link here. Jim Roche was 4th overall in 1:26:30 to win his 50-54 age group and Ed Housel finished in 1:34:28 for 2nd in his 55-59 age group (after running a 1:30 half marathon the day before). Maybe next year ...

Monday, 7/21/2014: 5.5 miles + 1 mile unrecorded, 44:23, 7:53 pace, 79F, 65% RH, 10 mph NE wind, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and easy run around the neighborhood

Christine had roast beef in the crockpot so she said it would be nice if I got out for a run. I needed to see if all my running parts still worked so out I went. I struck up a nice and easy pace around 8 or 8:10 pace for a mile until I remembered to start my Garmin up, link here. I was warmed up by then so I just stuck to that pace. My splits were: 7:51, 7:56, 7;52, 7:54, 7:55, and 7:50 over that last 0.5 mile. It may seem slow or fast to others but to me it was nice and easy. It was deceptively humid and I was drenched with sweat when I stopped.

Soon Christine served up a very nice dinner of roast beef, noodles and peas. Later we had a dessert of shortcake, blueberries and whipped cream ... sweet!

Tuesday, 7/22/2014: Rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, and I treated my son, David, to a 25th birthday dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Henrietta. David had the chicken parm, Christine had the lasagna and I had the Mama Trio (lasagna, chicken parm and mushroom cannelloni). Mine ... it would have been nicer if it had be warmer.

Wednesday, 7/23/2014: 10 miles, 1:09:06, 7:54 pace, 72F, 69% RH, 0 mph WNW wind, overcast.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and easy 10 miles

I realized that the Rochester Marathon is less than 9 weeks away ... I need to get some long runs done. So ... I ripped off a nice 10 mile run. I warmed up quickly and set kept running at a nice and easy pace. I concentrated on short strides and mid foot striking. It felt good so I rolled with it. My splits were: 7:50, 7:52, 7:49, 8:00, 7:53, 7:50, 7:56, 8:06, 7:49 and 7:57. Nice!

Thursday, 7/24/2014: Rest day .. nothing unusual.

Friday, 7/25/2014: 2 runs of 1.3 miles and Karknocker 5K, 73F, 43F, 3 mph NE wind, sunny.

This was my second running of the Karnocker 5K. I ran it a 20:18 back in 2012 (the magical PR year) with 2 mini walk breaks. My darling wife, Christine, and I got there plenty to the East Rochester High School early for the 7PM start. I got out for a real nice and easy 1.3 mile, 8:34 pace, warmup run.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Karknocker 5K


I met up with Bill Beyerbach, Bill Sandow (who will be turning 55 in early September), Tim Dywer and Jim May. Soon .... we were off! Bill Beyerbach broke by me very soon after the start. I tried to stay with him but did keep him in sight about 100 yards ahead for mile 1, 6:39 pace. I couldn't hold my pace and slowed in mile 2, 7:12 pace. Bill Sandow was running about 20 feet in front of me to my right. I had caught up to Bill Beyberbach a bit. He was only 100 feet head. I just held on during mile 3, not stopping to walk but not picking up speed either. Bill Sandow sped up and passed Bill Beyerbach. I did everything could not to walk and succeeded at that during mile 3, 7:07 pace. I ran a 6:10 pace over the last 0.1 mile. And ... done in 21:36 according to my Garmin.

Sprinting for the finish - taken by Christine

Officially, I did OK. I ran a 21:34, 48th out of 218, link here. I was 3rd out of 5 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Tim Dwyer ran a 18:30 for 2nd in his 50-54 age group, Jim May ran a 20:15 to win his M65-59 age group, Bill Sandow ran a 21:00 and Bill Beyerbach ran a 21:13 for 2nd in our M55-59 age group. We all hunged out to cheer each on during the awards. I enjoyed the 2 free tickets that I received for 2 hamburgers.

I guess I have to admit that I am getting slower. It's the kind of the truth that any runner that doesn't want to admit to anyone much less himself. But still another 5K in the books ... the 51st since I started running way back in 2005. I still wish I could break 20:00 in a 5K though! Is it a mental or physical barrier? Personally, I am starting to think it's both.

Saturday, 7/26/2014: Rest day.

I declared a rest day even on a Saturday. I wanted to clean around the apartment and did a little itty tiny bit ... which is better than nothing.