Sunday, 2/22/2015 - Lake Effect Half Marathon

Sunday, 2/22/2015 - I ran 0.5 mile warmup and 13.24 miles during the Lake Effect Half Marathon, 19F, 92% RH, 7 mph SW wind, wind chill 10F, partly cloudy.

This blog post will be about the Lake Effect Half Marathon (LEHM) in the Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool NY. I had signed up my first running of this race a couple of months ago. I thought it would be nice to be close to the race venue the night before so I booked my darling wife, Christine, and I into the Syracuse Ramada for Saturday night. So the race venue was only 2.7 miles away versus 85.1 miles away. A leisure drive on race morning rather than a "get up way before the crack of dawn, hope you don't forget anything, push, push, hope we get there in time, don't get lost and find a parking spot" drive.

I had set my alarm for 6:30AM and woke up after about 4 hours of sleep. Christine had snored during the night so we had arrived at a unique arrangement that let both of us sleep. The continental breakfast was OK, We packed up, I dressed in my 20F gear, checked out, got going and got to the race venue a bit after 8AM.  The race started at 9:30AM so we got a primo parking spot though it was tough to tell because of all the snow mounds in the parking lots. I got my bib and race tech shirt at the Salt Museum that was opened since for this event. The packet pickup could have been more organized with signs and more room.

My brother Don and I before the race - photo courtesy of Christine

My brother, Don, who lives in Syracuse, met us there. I was surprised. He had never seen me run a race before today. He was quite talkative. Don suggested that I put on my sunglasses and I was glad I did. I did break away when he had to go off to meet someone for breakfast and got in a 0.5 mile warmup run, link here.

I ran around a bit and finally found a free bathroom about 8 minutes before the race start. I rushed back to the start line and then remembered that I had no water or nutrition. I called up Christine and asked her to meet me after my first loop in a hour or so when I came back to the finish after loop 1. I didn't know too many people at this race ... only Steve Levitsky, Joe Ciecierega and Bill Murphy.

Oh, the LEHM course was a double out and back on asphalt inside the Onondaga Lake Park. That means we go out in one direction, come back by the start, go out another direction and come back to the start. We do that twice. The second time we go to the finish line. I didn't know the distance of each out before the race. One of the features of an out and back is that you get to see the leaders running back at you. That can be encouraging or discouraging ... depending on your point of view and how tired you are.

I lined up in my usual spot ... a little bit to the right and about 10 yards from the start line. And ... we were off!

A video from syracuse.com. I cross at about 15 seconds.

The start was like all starts ... a bit congested. I got up to speed and maneuvered around slower runners to get a nice spot to run at my pace. The course for the first two miles was mostly clear with about an inch of snow on the edges so I ran where it was clear like most everyone else. The next mile was snow covered with a bit of slush. The leaders had made the turn and were coming back so I gave them the clear path when they came upon me. The turn was just after mile 3.

One of the three underpasses (the Thruway, Long Branch Rd and John Glenn Blvd) ... clear underneath!

Then it was my turn to see the runners behind me as I ran back to the start. I heard a yell of "DeWeaver" behind me when I passed the start and thought it was Christine. I raised my hand to wave as I continued onward onto a baby loop of 1/2 mile of mainly clear asphalt. Then it was back past the start. It was Christine so we met up very briefly so she could give me my Amphipod pouch with 2 HammerGels in it. My ski mittens were much too bulky to let me carry either hand bottle that she offered me. I slowed to a walk and sucked one down at mile 7. I had a bit of trouble opening it and getting the last bit out so I did the best I could.

Photo courtesy of Tina Pellegrin

Steve Levitsky finished in 47th in 1:41:39 - photo courtesy of Tina Pellegrin

Joe Ciecierega finished 53rd in 1:42:31. He did bring some Hawaiian style to the race!

The second loop was more of the same. Two miles of mostly a clearer path since 555 runners had mushed more of the snow out of the way and then a mile of a still snow covered path before the turn. Then the same back to the start. After the turn I heard someone to my left yell. I looked and it was Don. I was surprised, said "Hi" and continued onward. I saw someone with a chocolate HammerGel at the water stop at mile 10. It was a bit cold so I had a bit of trouble pushing the gel out. I knew there was only 3.1 miles to go so I pushed and didn't stop again. The sun had come out a bit and it was quite bright ... almost nice! I picked up the pace a bit and started picking off runners. Mile 12 (but my Garmin said more than 12.1?)... onward. I could see a crowd of people but I had to pass them by to do the baby loop of 1/2 mile. Mile 13 ... onward. A guy said "Your wife is waiting" ... round the corner ... the clock was under 1:50 ... push ... finish ... LEHM medal around my neck! Done with 13.24 miles in 1:49:39, 8:17 pace!

Christine in her Polar Cat hoodie waiting for me at the finish

Sprinting for the finish - photo courtesy of Christine

A recipient of the LEHM medal - photo courtesy of Christine

I went into the heated(?) tent with Don and Christine. I quickly had a banana, water and chocolate milk. I got chilled and went to the nearby Equinox. I changed out of my wet top layers and put on my coat .. much better! Don, Christine and I talked for a while. I don't think Don will start running at age 62 but he did say that he wants to join a nearby Planet Fitness.

I found the LEHM results posted on the side of a truck ... 7th in my M55-59 age group. So I didn't stick around for the awards. I did notice that the top 3 masters women were all from the Rochester area!

I can usually beat myself up about a race but not today. I ran easy and under control. I wasn't trying to crush this half ... I was just trying to finish. My mental goal was to run sub 1:50 and I did. I was 94th out of 555, link here. I was 7th out of 22 in my M55-59 age group. My splits were: 7:39, 7:57, 8:22, 8:32, 8:02, 8:02, 8:51 (gel), 8:20, 8:16, 9:23 (gel), 8:26, 8:06, 8:01 and 7:18 over the last 0.24 mile. It was my fastest half of the year even with the traction problems on a full 1/3 of the course ... 28 seconds faster than last month's Winter Warrior Half at MCC in Rochester NY. I could have taken my HammerGels faster maybe but that's it. 

Soon we had said "Goodbye" to Don and we were headed back to Rochester via Newark to try to see my two kids who live there. I ended up just seeing my daughter, Karen. I helped her out by shoveling the end of her apartment's driveway so her mother could get her car in and out better. We also stopped at Target in Irondequoit on the way back. I picked up a small gym bag that I will use when I go to LA Fitness. I promise I will start going ... really!!

I fell asleep on the couch but I had set my alarm for midnight so I could wake up to sign up for the Muddy Sneaker 20K on April 18th. The race ended up being sold out in 21 hours. I could have waited to sign up in the morning ... but what fun would have that been?

So ... an epic day for another winter half marathon. The weather on the day before and the day after would have been about 15F colder and windier. It would have been brutal!