7/18/2015 and 7/19/2015 - Shoreline Half and Du

7/18/2015: I ran 13.1 miles during the Shoreline Half Marathon

I woke up during the night around 4 AM as a severe thunderstorm moved through upstate NY. It produced an intense lightning show with lots of rain and thunder. I got up to close windows ... Christine slept through it. I went back to sleep and woke up just before the alarm at 6 AM. I tied to get Christine up long enough to go with me but ... she wishy-washed and finally chose to go back to sleep ... I just left at 6:55AM for Hamlin State Park for my fourth Shoreline Half (2011, 2012, 2014 and now 2015). So I knew going in that the Shoreline is usually hot, flat and had little shade if it's sunny.

A beautiful sunrise at Hamlin State Park - taken by Barb Boutillier

I go to the park and got in line with every other car that tried to get to the venue at 7:20AM ... lots of cars. The parking lot at lot 4 was 90% full when I got there. I popped open the back of the Equinox and immediately noted that I had forgotten my Garmin Foreunner 310XT .. oh, well. I adapted and overcame. I had Strava on my Droid so I fired that up and also sent my honey a eCrumb, link here, before I hit the starting line with really not much of a warmup. It was hot (around 70F) and humid when I toed the line. The good thing was that the sun was under clouds. I talked to a woman named Brittany who was running her first half and offered her encouragement.

The Shoreline Half course

The start! - taken by Kim Smith

A long line of runners - taken by Barb Boutillier

And ... we were off! I got up to speed quickly and ran the first 2 miles entirely inside the park at a pretty good pace.

Still inside the park - taken by Kim Smith

Brittany got ahead of me ... so I followed her for a while. I went into a run for 2 miles and walk through the aid stations past mile 4. It worked. Some runners would pass me but I would pass them again when I got back up to speed.

On the S curve of Priem Rd - taken by Barb Boutillier

A couple of cute signs

A trio of cute kids cheering their Mom on!

I walked a bit at mile 9 ... then Brittany told me "I could do this" and I just put her behind me. I took a tiny walk at the aid station at mile 10 and then knocked the side of my head, said "reset" and ran for the next 2.5 miles. The sun came out just as I got back to the park at mile 11.

The finish line is somewhere up ahead - taken by Kim Smith

There were 3 women in front of me when I got to the path on the shoreline with 1.1 miles to go ... I put them behind me before I hit the finish in 1:47:04 ... done!

I was drenched with sweat and was approached by volunteers who thought I needed help but I didn't. I downed a few cups of water and was fine. I hit up the post-race grup for a blueberry bagel and a banana. I was 5th in my age group so left before the awards, changed in the Equinox and headed on to my next task.

So ... my next task was helping move my daughter, Karen, from her mother's couch to a studio apartment in Farmington. My ex had picked up a Uhaul 10' truck in Geneva at 9AM and waited for me to arrive around 1PM. Then Karen, my oldest son Michael, the ex and I loaded what was left from her mother's and from mother's storage unit in Newark. It was hot and humid so I got a bit of sweat from my brow onto her stuff as I arranged her stuff in the hot truck. Then I drove the truck to her new place. She has a nice roomy studio with a nice sized kitchen and main area. Michael and I were puzzled for a while trying to put together one of her couches with no instructions before we figured it out correctly. Then I drove the truck to Victor to drop off the Uhaul. The ex drove me back to my Equinox in Newark so I could drive home. So ... another move of one of my kids done. I have really forgotten how many times I have moved each of them ... it does seem like a lot. Did I tell my darling wife, Christine? The answer would be no ... it had to be done so I just did it. I do what I can for my kids. Karen told me that Farmington has a nice bus system and that she wants to get a job in Canandaigua. I hope she does.

I got back up to Rochester by 6PM. I busied myself by taking out the garbage from the patio and putting my Saris bike rack onto the Equinox.  Soon it was time to go to bed early at 10 PM. I had signed up for the Shoreline Du for the first time so tomorrow was another race.

Sunday, 7/19/2015: 1 run of 0.4 mile and the Shoreline Du, 75F, 89% RH, 9 mph WSW wind, mostly sunny.

My wakeup call was 5:30AM this morning ... but I heard Christine's phone sound a notification at 5AM and I was up st 5:15AM ... no matter. I loaded the dishwasher and did the dishes in the sink before I tried to wake Christine ... but she begged off and went back to sleep. I didn't let it bother me and got ready, geared up and got my bike onto the bike rack. I nicked my right forefinger putting the bike onto the rack ... I just put some Kleenex on it and got going out to Hamlin. I was out there by 7:15AM for the 8:15AM start. I got my stuff together and was marked with my 267 bib number on my right hand and right calf as I entered transition. I racked my bike and noted that it was right opposite from the Finish line. I was a bit nervous since I had not done a Du since the Autumn Classic in 2013. I noted that it was a bit warmer (78F) and windier (9 mph WSW wind).

Getting ready to my first Du in 2 years

My trusty steed

I got out for a 0.4 mile warmup run at 7:54 pace, link here. Hey, I got this. It was just a run, bike, run ... right? I tried to start up a eCrumb for my honey but it was rejected just like my Facebook update because of bad cellphone coverage in Hamlin.

I turned my Garmin on at the beginning of Run 1 and just let it go. The result is that it thought that the Du was just one big run. I managed to chop up the TCX file into separate Run, Bike and Run files but ... it was a lot more difficult than I thought. Some Goggling was involved. But I ended up doing it in WordPad. Run 1 and Bike was relatively easy. I had the most trouble with Run 2 since Strava thought for a long time that it was a duplicate of Run 1. But I finally fixed it.


And ... we were off! I got off to a fast start and was 7th for the first mile. Some runners passed me in the second mile before I got to transition for the 16 mile bike. I put on my helmet and gloves, took a swig of water and ran/walked my bike to the mount area. I was on my bike and rolling ... out of the park and onto the course.


It was windy ... from 9 mph from the WSW. So a lot of the ride was into a crosswind or headwind. My bike is just a ordinary bike set up with a straight handlebar, city tires and no aerobars. So .. I heard "On your left", "Left" or nothing at all as rider after rider passed me. I pedaled as best as I could for my third ride of the season and pedaled some more. My butt hurt a bit and I ran out of energy about half way through the 16 mile course. There were slight hills and definitely a headwind on the course ... for sure! Our bike course was even on the Parkway for a couple of miles. I was really tired but I pedaled on and on and on until I got back into the park and to the dismount area. Wow! Did it hurt to walk or try to run again! Ouch! I got into transition, racked my bike, took my helmet and gloves off, toweled my head off and tried to run again.


I groaned quite loudly for the first 5 steps as I left my bike to begin the 4 mile run. There was an aid station right outside of transition and I downed 2 cups of Fluid to get some electrolytes in me. I was tired but it did hit the spot. I got up to a slow run and managed to hold it for most of the first 2 mile loop. I had another 2 cups of Fluid when I got around to begin the second loop. I remember seeing a sign just as I got back that read "Run Bike Run with the first two crossed out. I managed to get up a bit of speed when I crossed the finish line. And ... done in 1:57:59.70!

On the run course - taken by Kim Smith

In the finish chute - taken by Kim Smith

I got my finisher's medal, downed a cup of water and ambled toward the lodge where I gobbled down a banana and a couple of hot dogs. I was drenched with sweat and took a while to just relax. I found that I had finished 24th out of 58 so I stayed for the awards.

Later the results were posted. I was 24th out of 58, link here. I was 6th out of 9 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I did OK: Run 1 of 2 miles was 13:46, 6:51 pace, 12th out of 58; Transition 1 was 1:13; Bike of 16 miles was 1:07:44, 13.9 mph average (23.5 mph max according to my Garmin), 44th out of 58; Transition 2 was 1:09 and Run 2 of 4 miles was 34:13, 8:33 pace, 12th out of 58. So ... I did OK on the run and not so much on the bike. Hey ... it was fun. I got to see a lot of really fast bikes whiz by me!

Lloyd's Ribs ... tasty!

My darling wife, Christine, cooked up my favorite supper ... ribs! Along with french fries and ketchup!

Sweet Shoreline Swag!

All in all ... a great weekend!