Sunday, 1/18/2015 to Saturday, 1/24/2015 - Winterfest 10K, SnowCheap #3 & Freezeroo #4

I ran 10 times this week, 32.35 miles (3 were warmups of 1, 0.7 and 1.3 miles; 1 was a snowshoe run of 1 mile and 1 was a cooldown of 1 mile).

Sunday, 1/18/2015: 3 runs of 1, Winterfest 10K of 5.97 and 1 miles, 41F, 56% RH, 12 mph WSW wind, mostly cloudy.

It was a lot warmer than the yesterday's -2F so I dressed a bit different but mostly the same. I wore the usual CW-X tights on the bottom along with my Muddy Sneaker 20K long sleeve tech, Medved Madness short sleeve tech and 1/4 zip pullover. I brought my beanie and heavy running gloves. I knew I would ditch the 1/4 zip pullover before the race. I brought all my traction choices: new blue Salamon Speedcross 3, old black Salomon Speedcross 3 with screws and my "virgin" unused Dion snowshoes.

Today's race was a newbie for me, the Winterfest 10K down in Mendon Ponds Park. It was a "no frills" Roads Are Poison trail race. Their races are always well done with a low key vibe. A different crowd shows up and it's cool. I got down to Cavalry Lodge on Douglas Rd just before 10AM in plenty of time for the 11AM 10K start. I saw the 5K runners head out at 10AM. I got my bib and waited. There wasn't enough snow for snowshoes so I went with my black Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes with the screws for traction.

Some runners had shorts on ... I wish I had thought of that! I got out for a nice and easy 1 mile run at 12:25 pace to warm up, link here. I found that my traction choice was spot on. The footing was about 2 to 3 inches of packed snow. I should have done some strides to keep my heart rate up just before the race but didn't. I lined up towards the front with a lot of Medved's Dion snowshoe team.



And ... we were off! I started off a bit hot like usual and had to back off a bit. Boom ... about 10 members of the Medved Dion snowshoe team passed me ... whoosh (it seemed like it).

Some of the Medved Dion snowshoe team - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

Being chased by a couple of Dion women - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

Just trail racing - courtesy of Ron Heerkens Jr

The course was the usual blue and green trail that I had run so many times before. But it was a bit different running it with packed snow though. I mostly kept my position the rest of the way. I walked a few of the hills and made sure I ran the downs and flats at a nice and easy but definitely racing trail pace. The aid station with water or Gatorade just before mile 3 was most welcome. Onward ... up, flat, down ... onward. I got passed by a woman in the Dion snowshoe team and I heard more behind me. I knew that the race was almost over so I kept up with her. And ... done with 5.97 miles in 56:10, 9:24 pace.

A happy snowman - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

I stayed outside for a bit to watch a big snowman being built. Then it was into the Cavalry Lodge for a bit of post-race grub: Fritos and a brownie muffin. The two Red Bull girls showed up again giving out free Red Bull. I was talked into trying my first Red Bull. I didn't sprout wings but it did taste OK.

The Red Bull girls - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

I did OK. My splits were: 8:41, 9:52, 9:17, 10:07, 9:37 and 8:53. I was 31st out of 64, link here. I was 2nd out of 4 in my M50-59 age group.

I talked with Prem Kumar after the race. He said that he had gotten out for a 2.5 mile snowshoe run before the race on his "virgin" Dion snowshoes. So ... I knew my set of "virgin" Dion snowshoes were in the trunk. I broke them out, put them on and headed out. I took it nice and easy for a mile at 11:54 pace around a field near the parking lot at Douglas and Pond Rd, link here. Man, do you kick up a lot of snow when running in snowshoes!

A pair of "virgin" Dions ... what to do?

Soon it was home for a bit of rest, coffee, a shower and then out again. Christine and I headed down to Sticky Lips in Henrietta to meet up with my youngest son, David, at 5PM. We ate with one eye on a TV in the distance that was past a light fixture. I knew that the score of the Packers - Seahawks game was 16-0 when we came in. The lead was to 19-7 late in the 4th quarter. Well ... David and I both wish that we could have had a better seat because Seattle mounted a historic comeback to take the lead 22-19. The Packers tied it at 22 to force OT. The Seahawks got the ball at the beginning of OT and scored the winning TD to win 28-22, highlights link here. Here are more lnks: here, here, here, here and here. We watched the next game: Colt - Patriots at home. A boring game ... the Patriots won 45-7, link here.

Monday, 1/19/2015: 6.2 miles, 49:15, 7:56 pace, 28F, 68% RH, 11 mph NW wind, wind chill 19F, partly cloudy

Garmin Connect Activity for A cold and crisp 10K

I got out after work for a needed run. I wore the usual gear plus I added a headlamp and off I went. I struck a bit harder than nice and easy pace to start kept it going. My splits were: 7:57, 7:59, 7:57, 8:10, 8:03, 7:40 and 7:17 over the last 0.2 mile. Sweet!

Tuesday, 1/20/2015: Rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, made bowtie pasta with homemade sauce for supper ... yummy!

Wednesday, 1/21/2015: 2 runs of 0.7 and Snow Cheap #3 of 3.08 miles, 25F, calm and partly cloudy.

I had to interrupt work for an emergency dentist visit to the Dr. Randy Raetz, the "running dentist". I found out yesterday that I could wiggle my back left bottom molar ... never a good sign. He welcomed in, numbed me up, explored and told me the past news. It was cracked below the gum line and was not salvageable. He referred me to a oral surgeon for an implant.

My cracked left bottom molar ... kind of gross! I'm definitely chewing on the right side!

I momentarily thought of bagging this Snow Cheap race but ... it was a scheduled race and I try not to Did Not Start (DNS). Two races this month is two too many. So I ate my customary pre-race bowl of cereal and got dressed. It was the mid 20s so I wore my usual: CW-X tights, long sleeve Sugoi tech and short sleeve tech with my golden bib attached. I brought my full balaclava, beanie, headlamp, 1/4 zip long sleeve tech pullover (just in case) and skiing mittens. I wore my new blue I arrived at the Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill Park around 6:30PM in plenty of time for the 7:15PM start.

I got out for a nice and easy 0.7 mile warmup run at 10:52 pace, link here. I found the snow around the start to be rutty and hard to run on. It was easier to run in the loose 2 or 3 inches of snow off of the trail and less hazardous to my ankles. My black Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes with screws were the correct traction choice again. I got a drink of water from the car and got back to the start line.



And ... we were off! I didn't start as fast as I usually do and just followed the leaders for about a mile.

A bunch of headlamps at Cobbs Hill ... must be Snow Cheap #3!

I'm just off to the right behind 57

Then I started to pick off runners one by one when I could find an opening. There weren't as many flags as there could have been and my group had to stop twice to hunt for flags. I didn't really have to stop for any hills. I was running under control on both the ups and downs. There was one pretty steep downhill as we entered the switchback. The trail went straight down at about a 45 degree angle for about 50 feet before we made a hard right turn. Luckily someone was there to warn us of what lay in wait. I could hear the finish as we made our way down the switchback. I kicked it up a notch and finished strong. And ... done with 3.08 miles in 28:21, 9:12 pace.

I headed into Riley Lodge and had a bit of the post-race grub ... soup and a couple of cookies. I knew all was right with the world ... Tom Butler ran the race in compression shorts and no shirt. He said that he forgot his gloves and that his hands got cold. He also said that his group had to search for flag four times so my group was fortunate.

I did OK. I was 37th out of 265, link here. I was 4th out of 12 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Soon I was home at 9PM. Some people would have stayed home ... I am not some people. Running on trail in the woods on a weeknight with a headlamp is fun ... lol!

Thursday, 1/22/2015: Rest day ... though I do believe that I "shoulda, coulda but didn't" instead.

Friday, 1/23/2015: 6.2 miles, 48:29, 7:49 pace, 28F, 63% RH, 8 mph SW wind, wind chill 20F, partly cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and kind of fast 10K

I had to get out so I did. I wore the usual and got out at the usual pace for the usual distance on the usual 10K route. I'm so predictable. My splits were: 8:02, 7:55, 7:46, 7:58, 7:45, 7:37 and 6:54 over the last 0.2 mile.

Saturday, 1/24/2015: 3 runs of 1.3, Freezeroo #4 of 5.9 and 1 miles, 27F, 80% RH, 9 mph W wind, wind chill 18F, mostly cloudy

It was a Freezeroo kind of Saturday so I was up around 7:30AM to just wake up a bit, catch up on Facebook, eat my usual pre-race bowl of cereal, get dressed, kiss my darling wife goodbye, get dressed and head out the door by 8:50AM. It's all kind of automatic when you've done 308 races.

The race venue for Freezeroo #4 was the Rand Lodge of Powder Mill Park, map link here. It's called the Hearnish 10K and is actually 6.385 miles at its past reincarnations. I have raced this race 4 times (2011 to 2014) with my fastest time being 2012's 47:07. Well ... this year's course was slightly modified. It seems that GRTC was told a couple of weeks ago by Ontario County that since this course was in two counties that they needed a $5 million insurance policy which would have cost $4K. So ... GRTC modified the course to keep us out of Ontario County ... but the Railroad Mills Rd hill up to Fisher Rd was left out, :-(.

I got out for a nice 1.3 mile warmup run at 9:03 pace, link here. Then I walked over to the start on Corduroy Rd. I got in one stride before the start and lined up in my customary spot ... off to the right and about 5 yards from the front. The race suddenly started ... we were off!


I got up to speed quickly. Down Corduroy Rd, then a hard left onto Park Rd, past the Rand Lodge.

Just before the Rand  Lodge on Park Rd - courtesy of MRWarephotos

Just past the Rand Lodge on Park Rd - courtesy of Alex Tong

I could see Heather Danielson about 10 yards ahead and decided to keep pace with her. Bill Beyerbach, Prem Kumar and Andy Ciaio passed me. Up the hill on Park Rd with mile 1 at 7:17 pace. Then a right onto East St and up the long hill with mile 2 at 7:53 pace. I had passed Bill, Prem and Andy back as I got closer to Heather. She knew I was there, behind and to her right and we ran together for the majority of the race. Some rolling hills were endured on East St, then a left onto Probst Rd with mile 3 at 7:39 pace. Probst Rd was mostly downhill until we turned left onto Miles Cutling Lane. Then it was up a curvy hill that I knew well. I almost slowed to a walk at the top. Heather encouraged me and I didn't. Onward! A nice down ... mile 4 at 7:15 pace. We turned left onto Railroad Mills Rd (instead of right like last year) and went right onto the Auburn Trail for about 1/2 mile. It was icy so I slowed down until we made a hard right onto Woolston Rd. I snuck a quick look and could see Andy and Bill behind me. Some small rolling hills on Woolston Rd with mile 5 in 7:34 pace. Then a left on Conduroy Rd. Heather and I picked up the pace. We came up on where the finish line usually was ... and kept sprinting ... no finish line yet. A hard left onto Park Rd. The finish line was at the Rand Lodge. Heather crossed at 44:03 just before my 44:04. Done!

Sprinting for the finish ... Heather finished in 44:03, I finished in 44:04 - courtesy of Alex Tong

Another view of Heather and I sprinting for the finish - courtesy of MRWarephotos

Andy Ciaio finished in 44:26

Bill Beyerbach finished behind Andy Ciaio ... but forgot his timing chip. "No chip, no time" as Ellen would say! - courtesy of Alex Tong

Prem finished in 45:26 - courtesy of Alex Tong

Charlie Sabatine, the "old goat" and 81 years young, finished in 1:04:14 - courtesy of Alex Tong

Andy cruised in right behind us at 44:26, then Bill and Prem in 45:32. Bill had forgotten his timing chip so he was not in the results.

Heather suggested a cooldown run so we headed right back out for a mile at 8:54 pace, link here. Heather told me of her 3 day per week running plan as she prepares for Boston in April. She had run 16 miles on Thursday and wanted 8 on Saturday. I would say that she is healing from her stress fracture. She will probably be faster than me again soon. I didn't eat too much post-race ... just a half bagel with peanut butter.

Soon it was home for coffee and a bit of lunch before my darling wife and I had to get dressed for the GRTC Banquet at the Diplomat Banquet Center.

Christine and I - courtesy of Tim Matthews

Christine wore a purple dress which I supplemented with her birthday gift of an amethyst necklace and bracelet set. They matched very well. We met up with Bill Beyerbach, Tina Pellegrin and Tom Butler and his wife, Amy. It was nice to see fellow runners in their street or dress-up clothes. Well deserved awards to well deserving runners were given out.

(l-r) Bill Beyerbach, Wilt Alton, myself and Lou Beato

Bill won our Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) 55-59 age group, Wilt Alton was second and I was third, Mike Sayers was fourth (not present) and Lou Beato was fifth. A link to the 2014 RROY standings is here.

2014 GRTC Banquet swag

Bill, Tom and I also received our platinum mileage patches for greater than 300 racing miles and RROY glassware. Tom ran the most ... 1206 racing miles from 65 races. I had 394 racing miles from 57 races. Bill had 301 racing miles from 53 races.

All in all, a pretty epic week with 3 races and the GRTC Award Banquet!

Oh ... meanwhile ultrarunners were running the Beast of Burden out in Lockport NY. It's the winter version of a either a 25, 50 or 100 mile jaunt 12.5 miles out and back on the Erie Canal. Here are the results, 30 runners finished the 100 mile, link here; 40 runners finished the 50 mile, results here; 19 runners finished the 25 miles, results here.

Sean Storie - running in the Beast of Burden - courtesy of Ron Heerkens Jr

Sean Store ran 70 miles before his support team pulled him. One of his pacers, Eric Eagan, wrote a blog post, link here. An awesome run on such a not so awesome day and night!