Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Sunday, 5/11/2014 to Saturday, 5/17/2014 - Dirt Cheap #2 and NCA 5K

I ran 3 times this week, 9.74 miles.

Sunday, 5/11/2014: Happy Mother's Day

I stayed close and romantic to my darling wife, Christine, most of Mother's Day. We made a chicken salad together for a early supper. Then we watched our latest Netflix DVD (that we have had for 2 months like usual), "Oz The Great And Powerful". Then we watched an OnDemand movie: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug". I did venture forth to procure a pizza from Pizza Hut for a late supper. All in all, a relaxing day.

Meanwhile, 1010 runners and walkers participated in the BCCR Pink Ribbon Run Walk in downtown Rochester on Sunday morning, results here. The Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (BCCR) raised $175K according the Democrat and Chronicle news article here.

And ... a local runner by the name of Bob Dyjak was down in Delaware to run the Delaware Marathon. This was his latest state in his quest to run a marathon in every state. He was 456th out of 517 in 5:42:26, 13:04 pace, results here. He thinks that his relatively poor (by his standards) time was the result of giving blood three weeks before. I did a Google search on "blood donation while running", link here. He is probably right judging from this link here.

Monday, 5/12/2014: 4 miles, 42:52, 10:42 pace, 73F, 41% RH, 5 mph NNE wind, partly cloudy

I attended the calling hours for Michael Shortley III, obituary here, in the morning along with other runners. It's sad that Michael's life, just three years older than I am, was cut short by cancer.

My darling wife, Christine, had supper ready when I got home. I ate a nice helping of beef and baked potato even though I was going to run hills a hour later. I met up with Bill Beyerbach who was training for the Mount Washingon Road Race on 6/21/2014. The running joke about Bill's upcoming race is that "It only has 1 hill".

Garmin Connect Activity for Hills at Cobbs Hill with Bill Beyerbach

Predictably I paid the price for having a full stomach. I was sluggish as I drudged up the first switchback and up and down the V. But I continued onward. The next two got better. We quit after 4 miles at 10:42 pace. I was thinking about a fourth but Bill has a GVH workout tomorrow night, then Dirt Cheap Trail Race #2 on Wednesday night (like I do) and another GVH workout on Thursday night so he needed to conserve his strength and legs. I didn't argue too much.

Tuesday, 5/13/2014: Rest day ... moving on!

Wednesday, 5/14/2014: 2 runs of 0.5 and Dirt Cheap #2, 60F, 71% RH, light NNE wind, overcast, light to heavy rain.

It looked like rain, there were rumbles of thunder and there was a severe thunderstorm watch. But it was a Dirt Cheap Trail Series Wednesday so the Lakeview Lodge in the Webster Town Park on Holt Rd was the place to go!

I got there around 6PM. It was definitely cooler up at Lake Ontario! It had been almost 80F during the day but it was a cool 60F. I debated on wearing gloves!

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Dirt Cheap #2

I got out for a quick 1/2 mile warmup run, 8:41 pace, to warmup my legs and body. I settled in at the start and said "Hi" to Bill Beyerbach, Jim McLaughlin, Jim Roche and Prem Kumar before the start.


A light rain fell when the men started at 6:30PM.






I settled in and tried to hold my position as we splished and splashed through the mud ... lots of it! It started to pour about a mile into the race. I heard Bill behind me for the first two miles. The 100 yards through the creek was at mile 2.3. It washed a bit of the mud off our legs and shoes ... we soon found more! Bill had told me to shorten my stride and increase my turnover when I climbed hills. I tried that and I didn't walk any hills as a result ... sweet! This race is the longest of the three Dirt Cheap trail races. Up and down hills, round corners, slipping and sliding, splashing in and out of mud, keeping up with the guys in front of me, onward!


Eventually I could hear the sounds of the finish line ... only 1/2 mile to go with several hills in between. Up, up the last hill to the finish ... done in 48:36!



I got a drink of water and congratulated Bill and Prem when they came in. A hot dog and banana was a most welcome post race food. Yellow Jacket Racing knows what they are doing! I got a bit chilled so I brushed off most of the mud off my legs with what is now a dirty towel and changed into my dry tech shirt, socks and road shoes.

I did pretty well. I finished 39th out of 323 and was 1st out of 6 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Jim McLaughlin was 7th in 44:42 for 1st in his M40-44 age group, Jim Roche was 12th in 45:53 for 1st in his M50-54 age group, Bill was 63rd in 51:38 for 2nd in his M55-59 age group and Prem was 73rd in 53:08. Prem looked good after running 53.6 miles just three days ago!

Thursday, 5/15/2014 and Friday, 5/16/2014: Rest days ... nothing much happened.

Saturday, 5/17/2014: 2 runs of 0.6 mile and NCA 5K, 46F, 61% RH, 8 mph W wind, wind chill 42F, sunny.

I was up early at 6:40AM. I let my darling wife, Christine, sleep as I got ready for the NCA 5K. The temp was the mid 40s so I chose to wear shorts, Brooks arm warmers, a short sleeve tech shirt, light gloves and my lucky orange Fleet Feet hat. I left at 8:05AM and got down to the Northstar Christian Academy at 8:20AM. I parked next to Prem Kumar and hung out with him before the race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the NCA 5K

We went out for a short 0.6 mile warmup run at 7:38 pace before the race to get our legs warm. I said Hi to Wilt Alston, Erik Juliani and Bob Dyjak before the race as we lined up.


The route was the same as the Freezeroo #1 in December 2013 so I knew what to expect. I started out hot at 6:34 pace for the first mile as we weaved in between buildings and parking lots in Lions Park, out Kentucky Ave and north Long Pond Ave. I tried to hold my position but some young runners passed me, then Prem and Wilt passed me around mile 1. I kept them in sight as I headed down Trolley Blvd to the turnaround. Back I went. I wanted to stop but I wanted to hold my position relative to Wilt and Prem so I continued onward through mile 2 at 6:56 pace and then mile 3 at 6:57 pace. I knew I was going to catch them but no one else caught me as I sprinted at 6:23 pace toward the finish line. Done in 21:23! Wilt caught Prem in the last tenth to finish in 21:03 and Prem finished in 21:06. Erik ran a 5K PR of 20:58 ... nice!

A pint of water tasted really good afterward. I congratulated Prem and Wilt on their races. I did OK. I was 18th out of 153, link here. I was 6th out of 15 in my fast M50-59 age group, link here. All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

Later, I kissed my darling wife goodbye around 2:30PM as she headed out to Ravenna OH to see her father. I thought that her plan was to spend the night at her daughter's house in Lakewood OH. I wanted to spend some time cleaning up the apartment in her absence.

Soon my youngest son, David, called and invited me out to Roncone's for some fine Italian food. He had the gnocchi and I had the chicken parm. A nice early supper! I did get the bathroom cleaned and 3 loads of laundry done before I got a phone call at 11PM that Christine was in Erie PA and headed home. She crawled into bed around 3AM. So ... she did an out and back of her own of 555 miles in about 12 hours.