7/12/2015 - Boilermaker 15K

I ran twice during the Boilermaker 15K, 1.6 miles for warmup and the Boilermaker of 9.45 miles, 63F, 88% RH, calm, sunny.

The alarm went off at 2:45AM but I was already awake due to Christine's snoring. It didn't really bother me ... I probably would have been awake anyway. I figure that I got 3 hours of sleep but no matter. This was my third Boilermaker so I knew the drill. The GRTC Boilermaker charter bus was scheduled to leave from the RTS Park'n'Ride at 4:30AM. So Christine and I got ourselves ready, geared up with our respective gear and headed out at 3:57AM. We arrived around 4:20AM and were practically the last ones to arrive. We had a tense moment when we saw that I-490E was blocked at I-390 and had to exit to I-390S. But my smart wife, Christine, was quick on her LG G2 and had Google Maps tell us to exit at Elmwood Ave just a second before we would have passed it. Crisis averted.

A selfie of us taken on the bus going to Utica

We couldn't sit together but I sat with her in front of me so that we could touch from time to time. The bus trip eastward to Utica was uneventful. The night slowly gave way to day as we passed by Syracuse and then onward to Utica. I had a blueberry bagel for a little energy in my tummy. I thought about and visualized how I wanted to run this Boilermaker. I decided to cut the 15K into 5K chunks: the first 5K (getting up to speed), the second 5K (getting through the golf course, down the hill and out to the 5K start) and the third 5K (hanging on, gutting it out and sprinting into the finish).

I put on my sunscreen and attached my Amphipod with 2 HammerGels in it as we got to Utica. I decided not to carry water since I knew that there were plenty of aid stations on the course. The bus driver took the second exit for the Boilermaker and we were unloaded just before 7AM. I walked up to the bib tent, got my bib, pinned it on and found a porta-potty to do my business. I walked farther up and found that an exit ramp had been closed off for us ... cool!



I used it for a nice 1.6 mile warmup run at 9:56 pace. I am pretty sure that this pace is off but that's what the Garmin said. I found a bush off of the exit ramp to do some more business and then walked up toward the start. I kind of cut it close and had to wade through (excuse me ... excuse me) a LOT of brown and yellow bib runners at the corner of Culver Ave and Dwyer Ave and to get up to my blue bib starting corral farther up Culver Ave.

A pre-race selfie looking forward to the start

I got as far up in my corral as I could comfortably before I found a nice place to stand while a trumpet played the Star Spangled Banner, a prayer was given and the mayor of Utica encouraged us to run well and enjoy "the greatest 15K on Earth".



And ... we were off! Well ... at least the front runners were. I didn't move for another 20 seconds or so and didn't cross the start line until 44 seconds had passed. I remember seeing a guy in the first tenth with the Rolling Stones tongue on all of his back ... he probably was at the Ralph last night for the concert I thought. I slowly got up to speed and began to run the race that I had visualized. I had a cup of water around mile 2 ... taken and sipped on the run ... nice! Mile 3 ... the golf course was in sight. A right hand turn and up I went ... I just ran up with no problem ... nice! Wilt Alston passed me just after the hill. I enjoyed the nearly mile long downhill afterward ... nice!

On Memorial Parkway - A screen capture  from MarathonFOTO.com

I knew about the dearth of water stops around the 10K mark so I knew to have some water around mile 5.5 on the run ... nice! I knew about the long gentle uphill afterward and had a HammerGel at mile 7 ... nice! I stopped for a few steps to gulp my water but didn't lose a position and got quickly back up to speed.

On Burrstone Rd - A screen capture from MarathonFOTO.com

Now is the time that I would have normally had trouble but for some reason I shortened my stride, picked up my turnover and just kept ... on ... going. I actually started to pass people with this shorter stride ... nice! The crowd support picked up the closer I got to the finish. I just put my head down and kept going ... nice! I saw the turn down to the finish line and got up to a sprint soon afterward. I was a bit too far from the finish line when I decided to sprint but tried to hold my speed as I hit the right side of the finish line. And ... done in 1:12:40 according to my Garmin! Christine had told me that she would be on the right side and did see me finish ... nice!

Sprinting into the finish - A screen capture from marathonFOTO.com

Done! - A screen capture from marathonFOTO.com

With the finisher's medallion - A screen capture from marathonFOTO.com

I walked along with everyone else toward the brewery and had a water, chocolate milk and fruit cup enroute. Then it was time to hit the nutrition line and to pick up my third Boilermaker glass before I hit the beer line ... nicely earned! I met up with Christine in the bus. She told me that she went there right after she hit up the Polish concession stand for a plate of polish food. She told that "You can take the Polish girl out of Cleveland but you can't take the Polish out of the girl" ... and I wouldn't want to!

A post race selfie

A word about the totally unauthorized screen captures from marathonFOTO.com. I might buy these pictures if I can get a price break. This is the fastest of my three Boilermakers.

I went back to the Family meeting area and just hung out. I talked with Roger Howe, Bambi Jasmin, Beth Spingar and Amy Lord. Jeff Rose introduced to his wife and son. He said that he invited 15,000 of his closest friends to their 29th anniversary party. LOL! Then I just people watched for a while. It was amazing what you can see when you just look around.

I saw the following t-shirts: Will run for beer; Keep up or I'll drink all the beer; Brew beer, Drink beer and Run it off at www.brewdrinkrun.com; Follow me to the beer; I run because I really like beer; Running is a mental sport and All my friends are Insane; Race starts at 8, Beer starts when you finish; See you at the finish and "Whether you think you can or you think you can't you're right" by Henry Ford.

We left to head back to Rochester pretty much on time. The trip back was uneventful and we arrived back where we started at 2:45PM. I wanted ribs for lunch so we decided to head to the Dinosaur BBQ since we hadn't been there for a couple of years. I had a 1/2 rack of ribs with baked beans and coleslaw as my sides while Christine has the catfish fingers off the appetizer menu. Mmm .... tasty! Then it was time to head home. I snoozed off for a while before I woke up enough to check up on Facebook and such.

I looked at the Leonetiming results, link here. I did pretty well. My Garmin splits were: 8:19, 8:04, 7:58, 8:17, 7:02, 7:22, 7:50, 7:29, 7:26 and 6:21 over the last 0.45 mile. I really can't believe that the last 2.45 miles were sub 7:30 pace. I got up to a 5:01 pace before hitting the finish line at 5:59 pace ... wow!

My third Boilermaker was my fastest with a gun time of 1:12:38 and net time of 1:11:54 (2014: 1:14:24 and 1:13:41 and 2013: 1:19:05 and 1:18:07). I was 1277th out of 11575 and was 45th out of 497 in my M55-59 age group. Wilt said that I passed him on the way to the finish line but he finished 6 seconds before me in 1:12:48 so maybe he thought someone else was me.

All in all, a great day!!!

Monday, 7/13/2015 to Friday, 7/17/2015

I ran twice in these 5 days, 20.2 miles.

Monday, 7/13/2015: Rest day after running the Boilermaker the day before.

Tuesday, 7/14/2015: 9 miles (estimated), 1:15:00 (estimated), 8:10 pace (estimated), 73F, 84% RH, calm, partly sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for No time to taper

It was Tuesday. I run on Tuesdays so I got off the couch, got dressed, got geared up with a 20 ounce water bottle and got out there. My Garmin died at the mile 5.36 mark so I got my estimated mileage, time and pace off of my eCrumb that I sent to Christine. I changed my 15K route at bit to make it more towards 10 miles by continuing all the way on Dewey Ave until Beach Ave instead on continuing right onto Beach Ave but it turned up to be just as long when I mapped it on MapMyRun. I got it done and it felt good ... nuff said.

Wednesday, 7/15/2015: Getting and putting stuff together day

I was in acquistion mode after work. I had researched Weber charcoal grills and patio furniture at Lowes, Home Depot, Target and Walmart during the day. So I went to Lowes and bought a Weber 22" Premium charcoal grill. I used the 10% off Lowes card that I got in my USPS moving kit on its last day ... nice! Then I headed to Walmart to look at their patio furniture. I snapped up the Mainstays Warner Heights 5 piece Patio Dining set when I saw that it was 50% off ... boom! It was a bit of a challenge getting the three boxes (1 for the Weber and 2 for the Patio Dining set) to fit in the Equinox but I managed.

I went home and parked the Equinox close to the back of our townhouse. Then I changed my clothes and went into assembly mode. I tackled the Weber first. I cursed the picturegram instructions a few times when they weren't clear but I got it together. Next I tackled the 4 chairs. They went together very easily with just four screws per chair and then clipped on the cushions. Last was the patio table. I had a bit of difficultly because it was a big table and I was fighting both dusk and mosquitoes. A nice touch was that Mainstays includes the hex driver and wrench. Christine came out to help a bit and to lend support. Later I found out that Christine attracted all of the mosquitoes ... she got 8 bites! I found that the rubber foot of one of the patio table legs was missing so I will have to contact Mainstays. But I got all three items together by 8:45PM ... cutting it kind of close for daylight in mid-July!

Thursday, 7/16/2015: 11.2 miles, 1:33:11, 8:19 pace, 70F, 46% RH, 8 mph ENE wind, partly sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out and back for 11.2 miles on Edgemere

I helped Christine with household chores around the townhouse for a hour but it was Thursday. I run on Thursday so I ran. I needed to get one last long run before the Shoreline Half Marathon on Saturday so I got dressed, geared up with my usual 20 ounce hand bottle and got out there. I just headed out to Edgemere Drive for 5.6 miles and turned around. I found out that the Greece DPW is working on a bridge out that way which constricted the bridge to one lane with a stoplight ... joy! Don't they know that this road is a major running and biking route? Anyway, I took it nice and steady. I felt good and took my water on the run ... nice! I probably could have used a HammerGel but didn't. My splits were: 8:13, 8:15, 8:13, 8:19, 8:12, 8:23, 8:29, 8:33, 8:16 and 8:02 over the last 0.2 miles.

Christine had warmed up the Weber while I was out and soon cooked up some hamburgs for our late supper. Mmm ... tasty!

Friday, 7/17/2015: Rest day.

I should have laid out my clothes and gear for the next day but didn't. Christine and I went to bed early and struggled to get to sleep. Sleep finally came around midnight. My wakeup alarm was set for 6AM.

Sunday, 7/5/2015 to Saturday, 7/11/2015 - Dirt Cheap #4

1 ran 6 times this week, 26.81 miles.
I biked once this week, 18.35 miles.

Sunday, 7/5/2015: A bike in the morning and a trail run in the afternoon, 18.35 and 5.5 miles.

My bike, aka Black Beauty in Strava, was just waiting for me down in the basement so I decided to give it some love. I brought it upstairs, topped its tires with air, geared up and got out there. The weather was 70F, 73% RH, 7 mph SW wind and sunny. I have the Shoreline Du coming up in two weeks so I really needed some saddle time. I basically pedaled around, my average speed was 13.2 mph and top speed was 27.5 mph.


I got Christine's bike all ready but ... her stomach was bothering her and she stayed home. Her bike is now the last one in the townhouse so all she has to do is back it out 10 feet and she can ride it from the front door. I can't do much more. She is the one that has to do it.

I was relaxing with Christine with a bagel and coffee when Bill Beyerbach called about doing some Crescent Trail hill repeats in the afternoon. I readily agreed and we met up on the trailhead on Garnsey Rd at 4PM. The plan was to do 2 or 3 hill repeats for an hour. The weather was a bit sticky: 81F, 48% RH, 4 mph NE wind and sunny.

We topped off our water bottles and headed up. Bill took the lead on the first repeat up to the golf course and I led on the way down. We didn't push at all but we were definitely sweaty after the first repeat. But ... up we went for the second repeat. This time I led all the way up to Woodcliffe Lodge and back down. Kind of nice getting out twice on a Sunday!

I watched the US - Japan final of the Women's World Cup. Wow! The US was up 4-0 after 16 minutes on the strength of Calli Llloyd's hat trick! They won 5-2, links here, here, here, here and here.

Monday, 7/6/2015: 5.5 miles, 45:55, 8:21 pace, 84F, 58% RH, 11 mph S wind, partly sunny

Garmin Connect Activity for A hot and humid loop

I wanted to get out for a long run today and rest on Tuesday because I have Dirt Cheap #4 on Wednesday. Well ... it was really hot and humid so I just did a small loop. I was OK for the first 3 miles ... then it was a sweatfest with tiny walk breaks. My splits were faster than I thought: 8:08, 8:08, 8:11, 9:00, 8:30 and 7:54 over the last 0.5 mile. It felt like I was really going a lot slower.

Tuesday, 7/7/2015: Rest day ... yada, yada, yada.

The weather changed overnight from hot and humid to cool and a bit cool.

Wednesday, 7/8/32015: 3 run of 1.6 miles, Dirt Cheap #4 of 5.26 miles and 1.25 miles, 66F, 56% RH, 4 mph SE wind, overcast

It was a Dirt Cheap kind of Wednesday so I went to the latest venue of Dirt Cheap #4, Webster Town Park. I had packed all my running gear before I left for work so I changed after work and went straight there. I scored a primo parking spot in the first row about a hour before the start time of men's start of 6:30PM. I got out for a nice and easy run of 1.6 miles at 9:17 pace to warm my legs and to check out the trail conditions, link here. I did find mud and slop but nothing unusual.

I got done with my warmup run with 5 minutes to go before my start. No worries since I was parked close. I had time to go hit the head one more time and to get a sip of water. I lined up to the right and a little back from the start.


Ellen warned us to not follow the runner in front of us and Boots warned us of the hazards like prickers and limbs in the trails. And ... we were off.

The start is downhill and then across a meadow before we plunged into single track with the usual combination of mud, roots, water, prickers and overhead branches. The ever young Tom Dutton passed me at mile 1 and Joe Ciecierega passed me around mile 1.5 when I took a couple of breaths on a hill. I passed the single unmanned water stop at mile 2 before we hit the 100 yard stream crossing at mile 2.25. It was a bit hard to get back up to running speed afterward with water sloshing in my trail shoes. I got trapped behind a teenager for at least a mile when we were in single track with nowhere to pass. I bided my time and got by about a half mile to the finish. A couple more hill and then the last uphill to the finish ... and done with 5.26 miles in 49:44! The teenager was actually 11 years old and finished 8 seconds behind me. I was winded and downed a dog as soon as I could. My darling wife, Christine, sneaked up behind me and pinched my ass ... lol! Her left knee was hurting so she left to go home to ice it. I met up with her later after I stuck around for a cooldown run of 1.25 miles with Bill Beyerbach and Todd Dappen Sr, link here.

Thursday, 7/9/2015: Rest day ... resting up for another run on Friday.

Friday, 7/10/2015: Another rest day.

I was starving on the way home so I picked up a free pizza from Papa Johns. Then we vegged out on Star Trek Enterprise from Netflix. Just relaxing.

Saturday, 7/11/2015: 8.2 miles, 1:06:37, 8:07 pace, 68F, 73% RH, 6 mph SW wind, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for Just out to Long Pong and back

Ordinarily I don't run the day before a race but I felt I needed to today to get used to the heat and just to shake things up. I slept on the couch and woke up for good just before 8AM. I set the coffeemaker to have coffee ready when I got back, got dressed, geared up with a 20 ounce water bottle and got out there. I decided to just do a nice and easy out and back to Long Pong Rd ... nothing too hard. My splits were not bad: 8:09, 8:10, 8:05, 8:05, 8:01, 8:19, 8:04, 8:12 and 7:29 over the last 0.2 mile. I felt better for getting out there.

I just lazed the rest of the day. Christine and I tried to get to sleep early since our wakeup alarm was set for 2:45AM. Sleep did not come easily ... we struggled. Tomorrow is my third Boilermaker 15K in Utica NY and the GRTC charter bus is scheduled to leave the RTS Park'n'Ride at SJFC at 4:30AM.

Sunday, 6/28/2015 to Saturday, 7/4/2015 - Irondequoit 10K

1 ran 5 times this week, 35 miles.

Sunday, 6/28/2015: 9.3 miles, 1:15:37, 8:08 pace, 57F, 93% RH, 7 mph E wind, overcast with a real light mist

I woke up around 8:15AM ... later than usual because I wore an eye shade. Yes, it was still drizzling ... it would drizzle the rest of the day. But I got up, dilly-dallied a bit and got out there. It was a bit cool so I wore shorts, a long sleeve tech, light gloves and a hat.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice 15K route

I struck up a nice and easy pace and just ran. I headed up Greenleaf Rd, turned right on Beach Ave and headed toward the Ontario Beach Park boardwalk and then out onto the pier. It was quite foggy plus the waves crashed up and onto the pier ... got my shoes wet! Then it down Lake Ave, out Latta, up Dewey Ave to Beach Ave and back home on Greenleaf Rd. Not a bad route!

My splits weren't bad: 8:03, 7:57, 8:25, 8:20, 8:17, 7:57, 8:04, 7:58, 8:08 and 8:05 over the last 0.3 mile. I stopped to hydrate from my 20 ounce handbottle two or three times.

I wish I could say that the rest of Sunday was as productive ... but you would be wrong. I should have done a lot more ... but I just lazed around. I should have gone downstairs to unbox the basement but didn't. Hopefully I can get off my lazy butt over the long July 4th weekend.

Monday, 6/29/2015: Rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, and I reconnected after work. Then she made a scrumptious pasta dinner ... yum!

Tuesday, 6/30/2015: 9.3 miles, 1:14:38, 8:02 pace, 72F, 78% RH, 6 mph NW wind, sun & rain

What better way to close out the month of June but with a run in the sun ... well it was sunny when I started and when I finished. I just wore shorts, a short sleeve tech, sunglasses and brought my 20 ounce water bottle.

Garmin Connect Activity for A 15K in the sun, rain & sun

I headed on the same route that I ran on Tuesday ... a bit faster this time. It was sunny when I started but I saw dark clouds in the south. When I got to the Ontario Beach Park it started to sprinkle. The sprinkles progressed to a light rain and then a steady rain as I ran on Latta. I thought for a few seconds about turning back onto Greenleaf and cutting my run short to 5 miles but ... what fun would that have been? I was already wet and I could see clearing in the west. So I continued onward. The rain tapered to a sprinkle on Dewey. I saw a rainbow on Beach Ave. I saw steam raise from the road and felt pockets of chilly air as I ran down down Beach Ave ... kind of cool! Then it got warmer again as I climbed a small hill past the Lakeshore Country Club on Greenleaf. The sun was shining now but I was drenched ... nice! My darling wife, Christine, made me strip naked when I got home. She said that she was doing laundry ... sure, lol! She really was actually. My splits were: 8:05, 7:47, 7:34, 8:30, 7:58, 7:48, 7:58, 8:24, 8:11 and 7:54 over the last 0.3 mile.

I ran 21 times during June for 112.2 miles 5.3 miles/run. 7 of these runs were warmups before races. I ran 5 races: McMullen Mile, Webster Trail Classic, Dirt Cheap #3, Medved 5K to Cure ALS and Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run.

Wednesday, 7/1/2015: Rest day.

Gotta have them ... gotta hate them ... maybe I should cross train too ... OK, I know I should cross train.

Thursday, 7/2/2015: 8.2 miles, 1:03:31, 7:45 pace, 72Fm 35% RH, 9 mph NW wind, partly cloudy

Garmin Connect Activity for An out and back - a bit hard

It was Thursday so I ran. I dilly-dallied a wee but, had my pre-run bowl of cereal, got dressed and got out there. I decided to just do an out and back to Long Pong Rd at a not so easy, pedal down pace. My splits were: 7:50, 7:45, 7:46, 7:46, 7:39, 7:46, 7:43, 7:48 and 7:17 over the last 0.2 mile.

Friday, 7/3/2015: Rest day ... the usual before a race the next day.

Saturday, 7/4/2015: 2 runs of 2 mile2 and Irondequoit 10K, 61F, 85% RH, calm, partly sund.

I woke up at 6AM, got ready quietly, kissed Christine goodbye and headed out to my second Irondequoit 10K (a 44:09 in 2012). I got down the Christ the King Elementary School a hour before the 8:15 start time ... no worries. I saw Mark Herberger, Bob Dyjak and Roger Howe before the race. I got out for a really nice and easy warmup run of 2 miles at 8:51 pace, link here.


I lined up near Mark Herberger and positioned myself to the right about 30 feet back from the start line just like I usually do. And ... we were off! I ran next to Mark for the first mile in 6:53 down Kings Highway. This 10K course is deceptively easy for the first downhill 3 miles to Lake Ontario and then heads back uphill for the return to the Irondequoit Town Hall. Mark got ahead of me when I got caught behind some runners on a curve. He stayed there for the rest of the race but I kept him in sight. I got within 30 feet of him on the last small downhill about 1/4 mile from the finish. Mark said he sprinted up the last uphill ... I was really tired and couldn't match him. He was 100 yards ahead by the time I got up to Titus Ave. I tried sprinting after him but couldn't make up any distance. Mark finished in 45:09 and I finished in 45:14. I can't beat myself up about this race ... I didn't take any tiny walk breaks and I did the best I could. It was deceptively humid and I was soaked when I got done. My splits were: 6:53, 7:14, 7:09, 7:51, 7:39, 7:23 and 6:33 over the last 0.17 mile. There were a lot of curves on the course and I took advantage of everyone of them.

A sweaty post race selfie

I stuck around for the awards. Mark won his M60-64 age group and I was 3rd in my M55-59 age group, link here. Roger Howe won his M65-59 age group in 51:04 and Bob Dyjak finished in 55:15.

The Irondequoit 10K age group award - a nice touch

There were 6 races going on today with 2573 finishers in the greater Rochester area. The Brighton 5K had 574 finishers, link here. The Firecracker 4 had 701 finishers, link here. The Town of Greece Freedom Run 5K had 159 finishers, link here. The Sodus Lighthouse 5K with 634 finishers and the Irondequoit 2 mile / 10K.with 219 and 286 finishers, links here and here respectively. The 2 mile started at 7:45AM so I could have ran both ... maybe next year!

Meanwhile ... the trail runners who ran the 25K, 50K or 50M of the Fingerlakes Fifties down in the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector NY contended with epic mud! 81 finished the 25K, link here. 112 finished the 50K, link here. 21 finished the 50M, link here.

I did get downstairs over Friday and Saturday to unbox some boxes in my new "Man Cave" portion in the basement. OK, maybe it could be called a "Computer Cave" right now. More work is needed but it's a good start.

Sunday, 6/21/2015 to Saturday, 6/27/2015 - Medved 5K to Cure ALS and Charlie's Old Goat Run

I ran 5 times this week, 23.6 miles

Sunday, 6/21/2015: 2 runs of 1.3 and 6 miles (Medved 5K plus a cooldown), 72F, 83% RH, 7 mph WSW wind, partly cloudy.

I was up around 6AM for my fourth Medved 5K to Cure ALS. This was a Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race so all the fast kids were there. I dressed quietly, kissed my honey goodbye and got down to Frontier Field around 7:40AM. The race didn't start until 8:30AM so I had plenty of time for a 1.3 mile warmup run at 8:25 pace, link here. It was the sticky kind of muggy.

I met up with the usual runners: Chris and Heather Patterson, Prem Kumar, Kevin Clinefelter, Dave Kudla, Chris O'Brien, Bill Beyerbach, Bob Dyjak and Mark Herberger. I also saw a lot of runners that I knew by sight but not by name. Chris O'Brien had just previewed half of the 100K Twisted Branch yesterday. I lined up in the middle about 30 feet back and waited for the start.

And we were off! I got up to speed quickly with just a bit of trouble squeezing by some slower runners. I ran well for the first mile at 6:35 pace. Bill and Prem were ahead and Mark was behind. Heather said a quiet "Hey" as she passed. Chris passed too. I started to have a bit of trouble with my breathing in mile 2 and took a tiny walk break just after mile 2, 6:49 pace. A guy came by, tapped me on the shoulder and said "You can do it". I got back up to a run and stayed behind him for a long while. Bill was having trouble. I passed him just as we passed by Frontier Field. I could see Prem up ahead.

We entered Frontier Field at the right field warming track, mile 3 was in the middle of the warning track, 7:09 pace. I tried to kick a bit and got up to 5:38 pace as I hit the finish by home plate. Done in 21:38, 6:59 pace!

I later found out that I was 97th out of 555, link here. I was 6th out of 37 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Chris Patterson finished in 17:47, Kevin in 19:16 (a PR), Dave in 20:45, Heather in 21:03, Chris O'Brien in 21:17, Prem in 21:33, Bill in 21:44, Mark in 22:01 and Bob in 26;35. I got out with Bill for a cooldown run of 2.9 miles. I found out during it that I had forgot to start a new segment so the Medved 5K and the cooldown run are the same segment. A rookie mistake!

I got bagels and donut holes for my honey at Wegmans Latta on the way home. I surprised her with bagels, donut holes, coffee and the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle in bed when I got home. We relaxed for a bit.

Then I got out out to Scottsville to see my youngest son, David. He surprised me by hopping in the Equinox and saying "Take me to Newark". We had a lot of conversation to and from Newark as we saw both his sister, Karen, and his brother, Michael. He also wanted me to take a look at a Windows XP laptop that wouldn't boot.

Monday, 6/22/2015: Rest day ... gotta have rest days don't cha know!

Tuesday, 6/23/2015: 8.2 miles, 1:06:09, 8:04 pace, 73F, 53% RH, 17 mph WNW wind, partly sunny.

We got to bed late the night before plus it was windy as a line of thunderstorms moved through plus Christine snored. So ... I was up at 6AM anyway. Work was work.

Garmin Connect Activity for A windy out and back

It was Tuesday so I got up and got out there no matter how tired I was. I chose my "go-to" run ... just an out and back on Beach Ave, Edgemere Drive to Long Pond Rd and back. It was windy so I fought a headwind on the way out but enjoyed the tailwind on the way back. My splits were: 7:56, 8:10, 8:07, 8:25 (directly into the wind), 7:58, 7:55, 7:55, 8:10 and 7:40 over the last 0.2 mile. A sweet run!

Wednesday, 6/24/2015: Rest day

Thursday, 6/25/2015: Another rest day.

I decided to shop at BJ's instead of run. When I got home I just had to unbox a 32" Samsung Smart TV for the master bedroom. It was kind of sweet watching three episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise on Netflix over the wireless network.

Friday, 6/26/2015: Yet another rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, thought that I shouldn't run the night before a race ... so I let her talk me into not running.

Saturday, 6/27/2015: 2 runs of 1.8 and Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run (COGTR) of 6.3 miles,

Today was my fourth Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run. This trail race at Ganondagan in Victor NY is set on a nice 6 mile or so trail mixed with boards, a bit of mud, rolling meadows, a big hill and a stream crossing. My darling wife, Christine, wanted to come so we both got ready and got there around 8:05AM in plenty of time for the 9AM start.

It was a GRTC Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race for the second straight year so all the fast kids showed up but there was still a low key trail race vibe. I said "Hi" to the usual runners: Andy Ciaio, Heather Patterson, Tina Pellegrin, Bob Dyjak, Bill Beyerbach and Mark Herberger (who was running his first trail race). It was a bit cool so I took a long 1.8 mile warmup run at 9:32 pace, link here.

Before the start - courtesy of Tim Matthews

Just after the start - courtesy of Tim Matthews

After a brief greeting and prayer from the manager of Ganondagan ... we were off! There was about 1/3 mile of open meadow trail to sort ourselves out before we hit single trail. Then the usual COGTR ensued ... woods with rolling hills, running on boards, a wee bit of mud, rolling meadow, more woods, a stream crossing, a road crossing, rolling meadow, up a big hill, rolling meadow, down the big hill, rolling meadow, the road crossing, the stream crossing, more woods, more rolling meadow and the finish. Mark passed me at mile 2 but I passed him back on a downhill in a rolling meadow.

Going out - courtesy of Eric Eagan

Coming back - courtesy of Eric Eagan

Getting my feet wet - courtesy of Eric Eagan

 I remember Heather passing me just before the big hill at mile 4. I was still behind her and Andy on the second stream crossing at mile 6. I passed Andy on a uphill coming back to the finish. The cool air did help. I walked a tiny bit of some uphills but ran all the flats and downhill so I can find nothing that I can really beat myself up about in this race. I could see Heather about 100 yards ahead of me as I ran toward the finish ... and done with 6.3 miles in 55:38, 8:50 pace!

I stuck around for a while to eat the excellent post race grub ... a banana, two pieces of pizza, an excellent jelly donut and 2 homemade cookies before I headed back to the Equinox to meet up with Christine. We got out just before the rain started. We hit Wegmans and New Nails in Irondequoit on the way back.

I checked the results when they were posted by Score-This, link here. I did pretty well, 42nd out of 208 and 4th out of 17 in my M55-59 age group. Here are some results of runners that I knew: Jason "Jmac" McElwain in 45:37, Chris Pattererson in 46:53, Liz Matthews in 48:09, Bill Beyerbach in 53:54, Heather Patterson in 55:16, Andy Ciaio in 56:05, Mark Herberger in 56:31, Dave Kudla in 57:45, Mort Nace in 1:00:15, Wilt Alson in 1:01:44, Bob Dyjak in 1:09:04, Jeanne Herrick in 1:09:07, Tom Butler in 1:18:39, Dave Sek in 1:26:23, Amy Lord in 1:26:55, Tina Pellegrin in 1:46:10 and Bill Murphy in 2:28:01.