Sunday, 8/30/2015 to Saturday, 9/5/2015 - Summerfest 12K

I ran 3 times this week, 17.84 miles

Month of August 2015
I ran 26 times for 127.6 miles, 4.6 miles/run.
7 were warmups of 2.1, 1.8, 2.6, 1, 1, 1.5 and 1.2 miles.
4 were cooldowns of 1.9, 1.5, 1, 1.2 miles.
I ran 7 races (even with 2 weekends off): Sauerkraut 20K, Young & Wyld 5K, Bergen 5K, Innovative Edge XC Race #2, Dirt Cheap #5, James Franis / Andrea Kofahl 5K and Dam Good Trail Race.
I biked 2 times, 12.6 and 23.3 miles.

Sunday, 8/30/2015: Rest day

Other runners went big ... the 18.12 Challenge up in Watertown NY, results here and the Mendon Trail Half Marathon, results here. Me ... I stayed in and felt like a slug.

Later, I went out to see my daughter, Karen, out in Farmington to look at her laptop. I encouraged her to use Hibernate instead of Sleep to solve her BSOD problem and set up her backup routine on her external hard drive just in case. Then I did laundry (again) when I learned that my lovely wife, Christine, had spilled coffee on the bed sheets while I was gone. I could have gone out for a run at any point ... but didn't unfortunately.

Monday, 8/31/2015: Another rest day

A bit too hot and humid when I got home. Plus, my lovely wife, Christine, was itching to cook hamburgers on the grill for supper. I am getting good at making up the buns and condiments while she grills. Well ... maybe I can wake up early and get out before sunrise tomorrow.

Tuesday, 9/1/2015: Yet another rest day.

I had wanted to get up early to run before the heat of the evening but didn't. I thought about running in the heat of the evening but didn't. So ... I went to bed early so I could try again.

The used Garmin FR310XT that I bought off of Ebay came in today. I was amazed. I purchased it on Saturday from a woman in Oregon and it arrived in 3 days! It looked like new. I charged it up so it will be ready to go for a run tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, 9/2/2015: 9.4 miles, 1:16:47, 8:10 pace, 66F, 94% RH, 4 mph SW wind, a bit foggy.

Garmin Connect Activity for An early morning run

I woke up just after 3AM to go to the bathroom and just stayed up. My alarm was set for 4:30AM and I knew I wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep anyway. My lovely wife, Christine, was still up. She sometime can't sleep and just pulls an all nighter. I was out the door by 4:30AM. It was dark, warm and humid. I wore shorts, a short sleeve tech and my reflective vest. Yes, no headlamp. The route I ran had streetlamps and the waxing moon provided enough light on the sections of Island Cottage Rd that didn't have them. It really wasn't too dark. It was quiet and peaceful. I saw maybe 20 cars and two people walking their dogs on the entire run. My splits were: 8:08, 7:59, 7:57, 8:06, 8:28, 7:58, 8:04, 8:41 (stopped to take off my sweaty shirt), 8:13 and 8:00 over the last 0.4 mile.

Thursday, 9/3/2015: Rest day.

My right hip twinged when I walked today. It really kind of hurt. I had to stop and hope it would go away. I even walked slow ... which is highly unusual for me. Usually I walk fast and pass slower people at work all the time.

Friday, 9/4/2015: Taper day.

Yes, a taper day. I have two races this weekend. The Summerfest 12K down in Mendon Ponds Park is on Saturday, 9/5/2015 and the Oak Tree Half down in Geneseo is on Sunday, 9/6/2015. I plan to run the Summerfest 12K at a nice and easy (Ha! ... during a race?) pace so I hopefully run the Oak Treek Half a bit harder since it is a Rochester Runner of the Year race. I am in a fight for second place in the M55-59 age group with 43 points. The third place guy has 39 points and has only raced 5 races (and beat me in all 5). The points from his next race will all count. I have to place greater than sixth in my age group to improve my points since I have raced in greater than 6 races. Not that I keep score or anything, right? Not.

Saturday, 9/5/2015: 2 runs of 1 and Summerfest 12K, 73F, 78% RH, 4 mph SW wind, partly sunny.
I was up early (with 2 alarms set) at 6:30AM for my seventh running of the Summerfest (12K - 2009 in 1:02:42, 2010 in 1:01:05, 2011 in 1:00:41, 2013 in 59:23 and 2014 in 58:47; 5K - 2012 in 22:02).

Sunrise over the finish line - photo courtesy of Kim Smith

My lovely wife, Christine, still had a touch of a summer cold so she stayed home asleep. I dressed quietly, loaded my gear and hit the road around 7:40AM for the brief drive down to the Beach parking lot of Mendon Ponds Park. How many times have I been here on a race day morning I wondered. Anyway, I got there around 8:05AM to find the parking lot 95% full already. But I found a nice parking spot quickly enough and in plenty of time for the 9AM start. I met up with Prem Kumar before the start. He said he was going to run nice and easy too since he was also running the Oak Tree Half tomorrow.  I got out for a nice and easy warmup run of 1 mile at 8:01 pace, link here.

Just after the start - courtesy of Kim Smith

Somewhere in the middle of the race - courtesy of Kim Smith

And ... we were off! I tried to run nice and easy the entire race. I walked and drank water at all three water stops but didn't walk any hills. The race was hot and humid. I had forgot to put on BodyGlide so I was happy that the race was only 12K. The hills of Mendon were never ending like usual but they ended soon enough. And ... done in 59:27!

About a 1/2 mile from the end - courtesy of Barb Boutillier

I had a couple of hot dogs and some watermelon as my post race grub. Yellow Jacket Racing always puts on a great race ... lots of practice. I did pretty well. I was 24th out of 245, link here.  I was 5th out of 14 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Maybe I will race this race hard next year. My 12K PR is a relatively "soft" 58:47. Prem didn't run too nice and easy ... a 56:11.

The rest of the day was a pleasant blur of coffee, relaxing, lazing around and enjoying the day with my lovely wife, Christine. Now that I think about it ... I did get out to get my hair cut at the Sport Clips (I have gone to a super simple 3/4" on top cut). I do remember going to bed early around 10PM with an alarm set for the ungodly hour of 5:20AM due to Sunday's Oak Tree Half down in Geneseo.