Sunday, 8/31/2014 to Saturday, 9/6/2014 - Summerfest 12K

I ran 5 times this week, 29.48 miles.

Sunday, 8/31/2014: 2 runs of 1.6 and Summerfest 12K of 7.46 miles, 73F, 89% RH, 10 mph SSW wind, overcast, real light mist.

I was up early at 6:30AM for another Summerfest 12K. I could hear a light rain falling but runners run and certainly race in the rain, wind, snow or sleet. This was my 6th consecutive Summerfest. Five have been 12K, one was the 5K in 2012 when I was coming back from my right Achilles. I quietly did the dishes from last night and let my honey, Christine, sleep. She has had really bad ringing in her ears and/or insomnia as of late. I got dressed, geared up, kissed my darling good bye and hit the road for Mendon Ponds Park around 7:50AM. The traffic was light and I got there around 8:10AM.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Summerfest 12K

The weather conditions were: 73F, 89% RH, 10 mph SSW wind, overcast with a real light mist. I had plenty of time to head out for a 1.6 mile warmup run at 8:36 pace with Chris O'Brien, another holder of the Golden Bib. He told me that he had run 22 miles at 8:30 pace the day before ... wow! I ran back to the car to get a drink of water and to ditch my hat. There was still a light mist falling but my hat was making my head too warm. I carried no water or Gu ... in hindsight maybe I should have carried a 10oz hand bottle so I could have run through the water stops.

I got up to the start line about a minute before the race started. I edged up and started next to Chris and close to the birthday boy, Bill Sandow, who just climbed into my (and now our) age group.


And ... we were off! I said "Bye" to Chris within a 1/4 mile as I started out fast with a 7:04 first mile on the way down Douglas Rd to Pond Rd. Then the rolling hills of Mendon began to chew me up.

Just before mile 2 - the intersection of Pond Rd and Pittsford - Mendon Center Rd - taken by Tina Pellegrin

I walked through the water stops at mile 2 and 4. The light mist continued and then stopped for a while. Then it got really humid. I had trouble between miles 4 and 6 with several tiny walk breaks. It was humid and my legs just didn't want to work. Then at mile 6, I looked down at my Garmin and read 47 and change. I thought to myself that if I kick up a notch I might be able to beat my PR of 59:23 from last year. So I did ... one step at a time, no matter how much my legs didn't want me to run ... I ran. There were hills between mile 6 and the finish but I didn't break to a walk again (that I can remember). I just decided that I was going to  run, gritted my teeth and ran. When I got near the finish line I could see 58 and change. I raised my hand in victory and crossed the finish line in 58:47, 7:53 pace. A PR by 36 seconds ... sweet!! Maybe I should practice the Summerfest 12K course before next year's race! My splits were: 7:03, 7:40, 7:40, 7:44, 8:14, 9:07, 7:48 and 7:14 over the last 0.48 mile.

I can't figure out where this was taken. I look like I am not having a good time ... must be running hard - taken by Barb Boutillier

Crossing the finish line in 58:47 ... PR by 36 seconds! - taken by Barb Boutillier

All smiles ... afterward.

I was drenched with sweat and found water as soon as I could. I did pretty well, 33rd out of 221, link here. I was 2nd out of 3 in my 55-59 age group behind Bill Sandow (16th in 55:48) and ahead of Jim Norris (131st in 1:17:52), link here. Others did well: Jim Roche finished 4th in 50:53 to win his 50-54 age group, Prem Kumar finished 22nd in 56:35 to win his 35-39 age group, Chris O'Brien finished 38th in 59:27, Tom Butler finished in 116th in 1:14:20 and Amy Lord finished 198th in 1:38:37. 187 runners ran the Summerfest 5K, link here.

I stuck around for the awards. The incomparable Ellen Brenner announced the 5K and then the 12K awards. Soon I received my 2nd place 55-59 age group glass plaque ... very cool!

Ellen Brenner ... the voice of so many award ceremonies!

The bling!

Sunflowers on Route 65

I was home, telling my honey about my exploits, along with making the coffee and bagels. A lazy afternoon ensued. Later we went out for supper at the East Ridge Diner. Christine had the Baby Beef Liver and I had the Shaved Steak Philly. Christine was sweet enough to give me her bacon ... mmm! We saw a piece on the Time Warner Cable News about Fleet Feet "No Bo" 5K program. Who should run by on the screen but Chris O'Brien and I, link here (you have to log in with your TWC username and password), link here. Nice!

Chris O'Brien had a different take on the Summerfest 12K, link here.

Other races were going on down south. Down in Geneseo NY, 328 runners ran the Oak Tree Half Marathon, results here: "Kip" Tisia won with a course record of 1:08:27, Matthew Roberts was 7th in 1:23:35 to finish 2nd in his 30-34 age group, Tim Dwyer was 9th in 1:26:44 to win his 50-54 age group, Bob Haas was 25th in 1:39:27, Andy Ciaio was 34th in 1:42:52, Wilt Alston was 73rd in 1:50:11 to finish 4th in his 55-59 age group by 6 seconds, Steve Levitsky was 77th in 1:50:50, Bob Lonsberry (sporting the number 1 bib) was 213rd in 2:13:18 and Annette Brenner was 317th in 2:55;12. 380 ran the Oak Tree 5K, link here: Tom Dutton ran a 22:14 to win his 65-59 age group. Down in Virgil NY, 43 runners ran the Monster Marathon and 68 runners ran the Monster Half, both results here. For the Monster Half, Andy Frank was 8th in 2:01:57 and Mark Monachino was 21st in 2:17:57.

The stats for August: I ran 23 times for 120.5 miles (8 were warmup run of 0.5, 1.8, 1.5, 7, 0.6, 0.7, 2, 1, 1.6; 1 was a cooldown run of 1.4), 5.2 miles/run. I ran 9 races during the month: Phelps Sauerkraut 20K, Young and Wyld 5K, Bergen 5K, Rochester River Chase (11 miles), K-9 5K, Dirt Cheap #5 (~5 miles), James Francis / Andrea Kofahl 5K, Dam Good Trail Race (13.34 miles) and Summerfest 12K. I have run 154 times so far in 2014 for 924.49 miles, 6.0 miles/run.

Monday, 9/1/2014: A lazy day of rest.

My darling wife, Christine, and I just lazed around all day. She made pizza and wings for supper around 5PM. They didn't agree with me and I went to bed around 8PM with an unset stomach and then to sleep around 9PM. A rare early bedtime for me.

Tuesday, 9/2/2014: 8 miles, 1:01:45, 7:42 pace, 72F, 93% RH, 9 mph W wind, overcast, light mist at times.

Another lazy day. I had the day off but I didn't do much of anything until the late afternoon. OK, I did watch "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" off of Popcorn Time on my laptop. Disclaimer, it's illegal.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice run in this mist

I got up and saw that it was sprinkling. I hemmed and hawed for a bit but I said I was going to run and I did. I got out there into a light mist but it probably looked worse that it felt. If the wind kicked up when I was underneath a tree I got rained on by water coming off the leaves. Yes, drivers probably thought I was crazy but I saw two other runners so who is crazy? Anyway, I concentrated on leaning forward and running on the midsole rather than heel striking. The result was a pretty fast run. My splits were: 7:51, 7:39, 7:46, 7:48, 7:34, 7:38, 7:47 and 7:40. Maybe I should try swinging my arms a bit too!

I heard sirens in the evening. Soon I found what they were for. They were for Daryl Pierson, a Rochester Police Department officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty by Thomas Jefferson III who was just out of prison on parole for less than 3 weeks, link here.

Wednesday, 9/3/2014: Rest day ... so I rested.

Thursday, 9/4/2014: 6.2 miles, 50:52, 8:12 pace, 84F, 45% RH, 6 mph W wind, hot, hazy and humid.

Garmin Connect Activity for A "What am I doing out here" run

I got home late from work. It was a Thursday ... I knew I should run. Plus I knew that it would be even hotter and more humid tomorrow night. I ate my usual bowl of cereal and almost got sucked into watching one of Christine's shows off the DVR ... but I shook it off during a commercial. I got dressed, told her that I was going out for a run and didn't know how far I was going. So ... I stretched and headed out. I had a real, real hard time starting out. My first mile was real slow, it was hot and humid ... I wanted to turn around but my feet kept going forward so onward I went. I slowly picked it up ... and then I thought about doing a negative split run so I picked it some more. I did cut the run to only a 10K. I was drenched with sweat when I got done but I was glad that I went out. My splits were: 8:43, 8:17, 8:20, 8:12, 8:02, 7:46 and 7:29 over the last 0.2 mile ... very, very close to a negative split run.

Friday, 9/5/2014: Rest day and 5th reunion anniversary

A definite rest day plus today was my darling wife, Christine, and my 5th year reunion anniversary. Here is our history.

I attended Case Western Reserve University way back from September 1975 to May 1978 (yes, I didn't graduate from CWRU). I joined the fraternity Phi Kappa Theta in my sophomore year. We had a party one Saturday night in February 1977 and invited some girls from Ursuline College to attend. Christine attended as a favor to one of her friends. I was tending bar when Christine appeared. I made her a Tequila Sunrise. Later I saw her and showed her fraternity house with the last stop my bedroom. We kissed (that's all). She later said sparks flew and I agreed. We went out until around Christmas 1977 (Christine will correct me if I am wrong) when we broke up. Later, we both had separate marriages which unbeknownst to each other started within a week of each other back in 1980. Hers ended after 10 years, mine after 28 years. I thought about her over the years but forgot how to spell her maiden name Wisniewski (and of course didn't know her new name of Ligas). She found me on Facebook in late August 2009. We chatted, then emailed, then phoned and then 9 days later I drove out to see her in Cleveland after I ran the Summerfest 12K on 9/5/2009. I thought I was crazy as I was crossed the OH line but I continued onward and met her around 4:30PM. I made sure that I kissed her at the bottom and at the top of the stairs of her apartment (she said it made her weak in the knees). Well ... sparks flew! We barely remembered what we did besides being in each others arms for that long Labor Day 2009 weekend. We must have ate, drank and took her dog for a walk or two! We had a long distance relationship for a couple of months and then she moved in with me in Rochester in early November 2009. We got engaged after I ran the Summerfest 12K and Christine had walked the Summerfest 5K on 9/3/2011. We got married at the Rochester City Hall on 11/30/2012. Now she is a DeWeaver. So ... we are still newlyweds and the sparks still fly!

Another sad note. A plane which carried the Glazer's (Larry and Jane) was uncommunicative for hours and just flew south at 25,000 feet for hours until crashing just off of Jamaica, link here.

Saturday, 9/6/2014: 6.2 miles, 48:36, 7:50 pace, 66F, 88%, 11 mph NW wind, overcast

Garmin Connect Activity for A cooler and faster 10K

It was a Saturday. I needed to run so run I did. Yes, it was cooler but just as humid as I went out for a nice and easy 10K. My splits were almost a negative split for each mile: 8:01, 7:51, 7:50, 7:52, 7:48, 7:44 and 7:22 over that last 0.2 mile.

Later I watched "Godzilla"" and "Non-Stop" off of Popcorn Time ... yes, illegal I would think.