Sunday, 10/12/2014 to Saturday, 10/18/2014 - Finish Strong 15K

I ran 4 times this week, 26.25 miles.

Sunday, 10/12/2014: "Slug" day

Yes, I took a rest day. I relaxed and recharged my batteries. I did read of others exploits on Facebook. Tim Dywer, Chris Patterson and Wendy Abbott ran the Chicago Marathon.

Wendy Abbott - 3:25:43 and Chris Patterson - 2:58:36 (a 41 second PR)  - from Wendy's FB

Tim Dwyer ran a 3:05:23 - taken from Tim's FB.

Christine and I watched the Patriots - Bills game. The Bills were 2-22 versus the Patriots QB, Tom Brady coming in ... and coming out were 2-23. The Bills pass defense was shredded in the 2nd half and the Bills lost 22-37, link here. Yes, the refs sucked (what is a catch and what is pass interference?) but the Bills had their chances and blew them too.

Ron Heerkens Jr and his wife, Elyse - taken from Ron's blog.

Ron Heerkens Jr completed a 100 mile race in 30:33, the Oil Creek 100 down in Oil City PA, results here, link to his blog here, an awesome post.

Monday, 10/13/2014: 9.3 miles, 1:12:xx, 7:48 pace, 54F, 82% RH, 3 mph SSE wind, overcast.

My darling wife, Christine, woke me with her snoring at 4:47AM on a PTO day. Yes, I had the day off and I was up before the crack of dawn. I waited until daylight before getting out for a nice 15K run on my usual route.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice 15K run

I started out a bit slow but kicked it up a bit. I just enjoyed the run. It was overcast, calm and just the perfect temperature. I did wear light gloves and a hat but just shorts and a short sleeve tech otherwise. Sweet!

Tuesday, 10/14/2014: Rest day.

Wednesday, 10/15/2014: Another rest day.

Luckily, I had gone to bed at 9PM last night because I woke up at 4:47AM to this ...

Yes ... that sound you hear is my darling wife, Christine, snoring. I brought my Iphone back to bed to check emails since I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I had the thought to record her snoring for posterity. Now ... did I get up and get out to work out at LA Fitness or go to work early? The answer would be ... no. Yes, I should have done something besides sip coffee, look at email and Facebook ... but I didn't.

Thursday, 10/16/2014: A "coulda, shoulda and didn't" rest day, :-(

Friday, 10/17/2014: 6.2 miles, 48:40, 7:50 pace, 54F, 94% RH, 7 mph SW wind, dark, real light mist.

Garmin Connect Activity for A negative split 10K in the AM

I set my alarm for 5AM ... and got out the door by 5:30AM. I shocked my darling wife, Christine, by getting up, dressed and out the door because I almost never run in the AM darkness. But I did. I started out slow and like usual ... got faster. I turned in a negative split run with splits of: 8:11, 8:09, 7:58, 7:55, 7:37, 7:24 and 7:03 over the last 0.2 mile. Sweet! I hope I still have some kick left in my legs for tomorrow's Finish Strong 15K.

Saturday, 10/18/2014: 2 runs of 1.45 and Finish Strong 15K, 54F, 87% RH, 9 mph W wind, overcast.

I got up at 6:30AM so I could do the dishes from last night. I did my usual pre-race prep: bowl of cereal, got dressed and out the door by 7:45AM. The Finish Strong 15K race venue was the Grace and Truth Sports Park and race start time was 8AM. I got my bib and tried to decide to what to wear. I was wearing shorts, short sleeve tech and calf sleeves. I had brought along my tights, a long sleeve tech, hat and light gloves. I decided on changing into my tights in the Equinox. I decided it was better to be warm when running close to Lake Ontario.

I saw a lot of people that I knew: Prem Kumar, Mark Herberger, Bill Beyerbach, Tom Butler, Beth DiCentis, Wilt Alston, Jason "Jmac" McElwain, Bill Murphy and Bob Dyjak. I got up for a nice 1.45 mile warmup run at 8:26 pace, link here.


I lined up near the front and say "Hi" to everyone I knew. And ... we were off! Jason, Prem, Bill, Mark and Beth all jumped out ahead of me. I had thought of taking easy the first mile ... not so much with a 7:11 mile. I caught Prem around mile 3. I was 100 yards behind Bill and Mark. Running on Edgemere Drive with Lake Ontario on the right and Cranberry Pond on the left during mile 5 was a treat like usual ... a light mist had started to fall and there was a brisk headwind coming off Lake Ontario. I had caught up to Bill but took a walking break at the water station just after mile 5 before I passed him. I was tired but I resolved not to stop again. Mark picked up his pace and I soon lost sight of him. Mile 6, then mile 7, then mile 8, the water stop with only 0.85 mile to go, then the turn back onto N Greece Rd, mile 9. Sprint ... and into the finish chute. I saw that the clock was still below 1:10. And ... done in 1:09:51. My splits were: 7:11, 7:15, 7:27, 7:10, 7:40, 7:34, 7:44, 7:30, 7:39 and 7:07 over the last 0.3 mile. I was winded but I calmed down and got some water in me.

A selfie after the Finish Strong 15K

I met up with Mark (1:06:49), Bill (1:10:49), Wilt (1:15:06) and Prem (1:19:05). We shot the breeze for a while as we ate some of the excellent post-race grub: pulled pork, sausage, mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets and pizza were the highlights. Officially, I finished in 1:09:51, 7:31 pace, my fasted 15K of 2014, 25th out of 87, link here. I was 4th out 9 in my M55-59 age group, link here (behind Kevin Clinefelter in 1:04:32, Bill Sandow in 1:05:25 and Mark Herberger in 1:06:49). There was also a Finish Strong 5K held with 129 finishers, results here. Matthew Roberts won in 16:52. All in all, a nice way to spend a morning!

Soon, I was home. My darling wife, Christine, welcomed me home with a nice mug of coffee along with bagels. Mmm! A lazy day ensued. I did make it out to Wegmans for some supplies. Bedtime was an early 9PM ... I was tired.

Other races went on. The Ossian Mountain Run was held down at Swain, results here. There was also Mendon Zombie Run, results here and the Step Out to Stop Diabetes, results here.