9/20/2015 - Rochester Half Marathon

Today was the Rochester Half Marathon, link here. This was my 7th half of 2015 and 45th race so far in 2015. I am signed up for 13 more races right now with more to come.

I woke up at 5 AM. My alarm was set for 5:20 AM. I used the extra time to make up a bagel for myself and brew the coffee for my lovely wife, Christine. I let here sleep for a bit more. I never drink coffee on race mornings since it makes me pee too much.

I dressed in what I laid out the night before: Brooks short tights with the light green stripes (I can't find the ones with the yellow stripe) and last year's Rochester Marathon short sleeve tech. I gently woke up Christine. She had signed up for volunteer duty in the food court. She reminded me to put on BodyGlide. put on my race bib and to bring my arm warmers and calf sleeves in case I needed them. I told her where to drop me on Lake Ave. The new version of the Rochester Marathon course was a point to point course, the half is here, the full course is here. The start was at the Maplewood Tennis Courts. The end was at Frontier Field. We left a bit after 6:30 AM. As we went south on Lake Ave we could see police flashers on the east side of Lake Ave at various spots. She turned right onto Seneca Parkway to drop me off. I put on my calf sleeves, kissed her goodbye and away she went onward toward Frontier Field. I didn't carry water and had 2 HammerGels in an Amphipod on my waist. I realized that I had forgotten to take off my glasses seconds after she left ... oh well. I ran with them.

I walked across Lake Ave and down to the Maplewood tennis courts where I could see lots of runners congregating around. A lot were queued up by the potta-potties ... so I got in line too. I did my business and then hung around. I met up with a few runners: Todd Dappen Sr, Andy Ciaio, Jeff Rose, Bill Sandow and Jim McLaughlin. Jim was pacing the 1:45 half pace group so I was lined up just in front of him near the front. I thought about joining his group but didn't. I got out for a really brief and fast 0.2 mile run at 7:30 pace just minutes before the start at 7:30 AM, link here.

Heading out for my warmup run - courtesy of Gameface

The start of the 2015 of the Rochester Marathon - courtesy of Gameface

Another shot of the start - courtesy of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

And ... we were off! I felt the usual surge of adrenaline at the start and ran with it. I always run too fast at the start. Sometimes I can hold back and sometimes not. The course went out Maplewood Drive to Bridge View Drive and back to Maplewood Drive before heading north on Lake Ave.

You can see the top of my head in this pic on Bridge View Drive - photo courtesy of Jim Strowe

The firemen put up a giant US flag on Maplewood Drive just before Lake Ave for us to pass under - courtesy of Robin Towers DeZutter

We took up two lanes of Lake Ave as we ran north toward Lake Ontario. Heather Danielson and John Muoio passed me. Heather told me that the 1:45 pace group was behind me if I wanted to be with them. I told her that I didn't. I thought to myself "I wanted Jim McLaughlin to finish behind me not in front of me this time". We passed by the Holy Sepulchre and Riverview Cemeteries. I passed up water at mile 2. Then we headed onto the Genesee River Trail. The group I was running with was still a bit packed. A couple of faster runners cut in front of me which made things interesting for a split second or three. I passed the 5K timing strip at 23:18, 7:31 pace. I took a cup of water at mile 4.

A long line of runners on the Genesee Riverway Trail boardwalk - courtesy of Barb Boutillier

Then it was onto the boardwalk right above the Genesee River in Turning Bridge Park. We turned left up onto Petten St, a short and steep uphill, to get back onto Lake Ave. There was a crowd of people at the turn onto Pattonwood Dr and across the O'Rorke Bridge. I heard someone call my name but didn't see them. I learned later that it was Roger Howe. Then we turned right onto Thomas Ave. A short downhill led to a gradual and long uphill. There was a sign that read "Make this hill your bi*ch!" ... so I did. I just put my head down and powered up it.

The long stretch of Thomas Ave - courtesy of Tracy Rericha

There was a long stretch of flat on Thomas Ave before a right onto St Paul St. I took a HammerGet just before the water stop at mile 6. I passed the 10K timing strip at 47:51, 7:43 pace, a 7:55 2nd 5K. The Winona Blvd area of St Paul St was phenomenal! There was so many people there cheering us! Santa was giving high-fives. I was told later that the Easter Bunny was there ... I didn't see him or Elvis (who wasn't there, lol) though.

My new profile picture taken on St Paul St by John Brind'Amour

I was probably in a bit of pain on Titus Ave  - courtesy of John Brind'Amour

We cut through the parking lot of 4-H club on St Paul Blvd just before the Seneca Park Zoo to get to the 15K timing strip. I passed at 1:12:54, 7:50 pace, a 8:02 3rd 5K. Then it was onward to the pedestrian bridge; down the east side, across the Genesee River and back up the west side.

Crossing the pedestrian bridge - courtesy of Gameface 

Coming up the west side of the pedestrian bridge - courtesy of Jim Strowe

That led to some trails on the Genesee Riverway Trail, back onto Bridge View Drive, Maplewood Drive, past the start, back onto more trails through Maplewood Park and its rose gardens and mile 11. Only 2.1 miles to go! The full marathoners curled back for another loop while the half marathoners, like me, crossed Driving Park Ave.

Lower Falls of the Genesee River just south of Driving Park Bridge - courtesy of Rick Russotti

Then it was down, down to the Middle Falls and back across the Genesee River on a narrow bridge. A nasty uphill awaited us on Brewer St back up to St Paul Blvd.

The view looking up the Brewer St hill ... not a nice sight to see at mile 12 of the Half or mile 25 of the Full!

I walked a bit of it. I saw a 40 km sign on St Paul Blvd and knew there was only 2 km or 1.2 miles to go. There was a high school cheer team on St Paul Blvd that read my bib and offered me encouragement by name. I wondered how they knew it until I figured it out by the tenth time. Onward to the Genesee brewery, right onto the Pont de Rennes bridge ... the finish arch was in sight!

The High Falls just north of the Pont de Rennes bridge - courtesy of Jeff Scheuch

Onward onto Platt Street ... just a couple of tenths to go ... dig deep ... push it to a sprint ... finish arch in sight ... realize finish line is 100 yards farther (ugh!) ... heard Ellen call my name (so sweet) ... done with 13.26 miles in 1:43:28 according to my Garmin! The last 3.8 miles took 30:32, a 8:02 pace. I accepted and put the finisher's medal around my neck ... yes!

Past the arch and heading for the finish line - courtesy of Gameface

Sprinting for the finish with the usual grimace - courtesy of Kim Smith

I got some water and stretched out a bit before I went into the food tent for a banana, granola bar and a kiss from my lovely wife, Christine. I found out that the fourth challenge medal was being given out inside Frontier Field so I went and got it plus a holder that holds all four ... sweet!

Christine was signed up to volunteer until 2 PM so I went home around 11:30 AM. I found her car and noticed that the trunk was open. It had been open since 7 AM ... everything was still in there, nice! I noticed that 3 lanes on Lake Ave were open for traffic (2 southbound and 1 northbound) now in the marathon areas instead of 2 lanes. I did a bit of grocery shopping at Wegmans (boy, did it hurt to walk!), puttered around, changed my clothes, drank some coffee and caught up on Facebook before I went back to Frontier Field to pick her up.

Then it was back home. I remember watching the Bills - Patriots game. It started well with the Bills scoring on their opening drive ... but didn't end well with the Bill losing 32-40. Brady passed for 466 yards and 3 TDs as he shredded the Bills D, link here. I frankly don't remember what I had for supper. I was wiped. I read Facebook and was inspired again by all the stories of runners meeting and exceeding their goals. Kudos flowed in aimed at Fleet Feet, Yellow Jacket Racing, the police who kept us safe, the volunteers and the spectators.

Personally, I did pretty well. I crossed the line in a gun time of 1:43:26, 7:54 pace. This was my 7th half of the year and the fastest one on the hilliest course no less! I was 161st out of 2186 finishers, link here. I was 8th out of 74 in my M55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 7:23, 7:37, 7:24, 7:29, 7:49, 7:56, 7:50, 8:07, 7:52, 7:53, 8:16, 8:28, 7:38 and 7:01 over the last 0.2 mile.

What of the people I met up with and others in the half marathon? All times are gun time not net time. Anyway ... way up front was Bryan Morseman who won in 1:09:46 while Caitlin Gaughan edged out Karen Blodgett by 9 seconds in 1:34:15. Jason McElwain ran a 1:23:01. Kevin Clinefelter ran a 1:30:21 to win my age group. Kevin was the first finisher (enrolled in the 4 Season Challenge) in my age group in each of the 4. Bill Sandow ran a 1:36:31, 4th in our age group. John Muoio ran a 1:37:27, 9th in his M35-39 age group. Jim Roche ran a 1:39:02, 6th in our age group. Jeff Rose ran a 1:50:02, 4th in his M60-64 age group. Tom Hawkins ran a 2:15:50. Jim Norris ran a 2:26:37.

There were 444 finishers in the marathon, link here. How about people that I knew in the full marathon? Again all times are gun time not net time. Way up front was Kip Tisia who won in 2:33:21. Kenny Goodfellow was second by 18 seconds. Heather Patterson was 2nd woman overall in 3:21:45. Andy Ciaio ran a 3:47:59. Stacy Maier ran a 3:48:20. Todd Dappen Sr ran a 3:51:50. Tina Pellegrin did an unofficial 1 hour early start and ran a 6:10. Tom Butler ran a 6:03:29.

A meme from the Internet: this quote was about baseball but I think it holds true about running

Lots of posts entered social media like Facebook. I looked through hundreds of pictures that people uploaded to Facebook. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle covered the race, link here. A runner, Ben Jacobs, who works for the D&C, completed the Four Season Challenge, wrote a story, link here. Bob Lonsberry, ran the Rochester Marathon, and wrote a review here. Ellen, CFO of Fleet Feet Rochester, posted "Voiceless but not Speechless" on her blog in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, link here. She was the voice of the Rochester Marathon and might have been all talked out by its end. She tells of about this version of the Rochester Marathon came to pass. Boots, head of Yellow Jacket Racing, who laid out the course so it was within the city of Rochester limits, posted that the course had character ... which means that it had hills.

The Four Season Medals and Challenge medals altogether

What did I think? I liked the new course. We crossed the Genesee River four times and were greeted with nice views and great spectator support. Yes, it had hills. If you train for them, you can run them. I kind of train for them so I can kind of run them. The latter part of a long race is where I tend to break down. My pace got a bit slower as the race got longer (7:31 for the first 5K, 7:55 for the second 5K, 8:02 for the third 5K and 8:02 for the last 3.8 miles), . Yes, I power walked about 100 feet of the Brewer St hill but it didn't break me. I got back up to speed, gritted my teeth and got back on the horse to finish out the race. I have run 7 half marathons now in 2015 (Winter Warrior Half in 1:50:07, Lake Effect Half in 1:49:39, Syracuse Half in 1:47:53, Flower City Half in 1:46:08, Shoreline Half in 1:47:04, Oak Tree Half in 1:49:14 and now the Rochester Half in 1:43:26).

Today's half was my fastest of 2015 by far. How? Maybe it was my running by the seat of my pants training. I just get out there and run. My "go to" training distance is between 6.2 and 10 mostly flat miles. Maybe it was the perfect weather. Maybe it was familiarity with the course. I knew everything about the course except the decent into Middle Falls and the climb back up to St Paul Blvd. Maybe it was just a good day. I think it was just the knowledge of "been there, done that". I know I can run a half marathon so I just go out there and run it.

One of my goals is to run the Boston Marathon. My plan for 2016 is get out there and train for it during the summer. My goal time for a Boston qualifier raises from 3:40 (M55-59) to 3:55 (M60-64) when I turn 59 in September. Then I will find a nice Boston qualifier in October (Wineglass, Empire or Mohawk Hudson River) and to really hammer the race. I don't know if I can do it ... but that is the plan.