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!