Sunday, 3/13/2016 to Saturday, 3/19/2016

I ran 4 times this week, 37.1 miles.

Sunday, 3/13/2016: 2 runs of 9.35 and 6.25 miles, 45F, 57%, 10 mph ENE wind, wind chill 39F, mostly cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A quick 15K

Daylight Savings Time happened overnight so I lost an hour of sleep. I had a plan of doing a long run and then another run out at North Ponds Park in Webster for another Mind the Ducks (MTD) preview on tired legs. First ... the long run. I got out around noon and pushed the pace on my usual 15K route. It was a bit cold and breezy. My splits were: 7:44, 7:27, 7:32, 7:34, 7:57, 7:46, 7:43, 7:58, 7:52 and 7:31 over the last 0.5 mile. Definitely not a nice and easy pace. It felt good.

Garmin Connect Activity for Another MTD preview

I relaxed a bit before I asked my darling wife, Christine, if you wanted to do another Mind the Ducks preview. It was about 3:15 or 3:30 PM. She begged off saying that it was too late and that exercise would keep her awake. I was a bit miffed. I am trying to awaken her inner athlete  .... but she is fighting me. Whatever. I geared up and headed out. I knew my legs were tired so I just ran around the MTD course at a really nice and easy pace. I decided to stop after 10K. My splits were: 9:21, 9:00, 9:06, 8:58, 8:53, 8:46 and 8:48 over the last 0.25 mile. I was tired and hungry so I picked up some food from KFC on the way home ... supper done. Sunday's mileage, 15.6 miles ... done.

Monday, 3/14/2016: Rest day ... very needed after 23.2 miles during the weekend.

Tuesday, 3/15/2016: 7 miles, 57:56, 8:16 pace, 48F, 93% RH, 6 mph NW wind, wind chill 46F, light mist

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill run

I brought my running gear to work in the Equinox so I could run right after work. I went to Cobbs Hill for a small slice of hills. There was a light mist but I just concentrated on running. Soon there were a lot of runners as Fleet Feet and Genesee Valley Harrier (GVH) runners joined in at 6 PM. My splits were:  8:59, 8:30, 8:14, 8:04, 8:08, 8:07 and 7:54. Boom ... done.

I followed a guy, Ben Murphy, via Facebook posts from his friends during the day. He started at 4 AM and did a fat ass 100K during the day. FYI ... a fat ass is a seat of the pants, unsupported, unsanctioned, usually gnarly race or run. He did 66.26 miles in 20 hours and 43 minutes on the Crescent and Seneca trails. Respect!

Wednesday, 3/16/2016 through Friday, 3/18/2016: Rest days ... uugghh!

Thursday should have been a run day. I had my running gear in the Equinox but ... I let getting out of work late and Christine having supper cooking give me an excuse. But there will be other days to run.

A guy named Ben Murphy did a Fat Ass 100K on Saint Patrick's Day, his blog link here. Oh ... Fat Ass means an unsanctioned run with no reward except the satisfaction of doing it. I followed Ron Heerkens Jr posts on Facebook. Ben started around 4 AM and finished 20:43 later after midnight for a double transverse of the Crescent and Seneca trails.

Saturday, 3/19/2016: 14.5 miles, 2:07:51, 8:49 pace, 28F, 50% RH, 9 mph NNE wind, wind chill 20F, sunny


I had it in my mind to run Round the Bay again ... this time up Culver Rd instead up 590 from the swing bridge. So I set my alarm for 5:45 AM so I could start at 7 AMish. Well ... I got up, turned off my alarm, laid back down and fell back asleep. I got up around 7 AM ... puttered around a bit, ate my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana, got ready, thought "Runs don't get down by themselves" and got out and down to the swing bridge at 9 AM. It was a bright, cold and brisk morning. I had on my usual running gear for 32F (OK, 28F): Brooks tights, short sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. I kept on my Brooks jacket since it was windy. I put on my sunglasses, carried a 20 ounce hand bottle and had 2 HammerGels tucked in an Amphipod. I headed out at a nice and easy pace ... solo just me and my thoughts. I ditched the jacket at just before mile 5 and tied around my neck. I looked at bit preppy but I don't like to take a jacket around my hips but it always tends to slip down. I stopped for a bit of water just heading down the Empire Blvd hill and then once I climbed back up it. Bay Rd was a bit busy as was Lake Rd as I got closer to where I had left the Cruze a bit over 2 hours ago. Boom ... done! My splits were: 8:52, 8:33, 8:28, 8:27, 10:00, 8:39, 9:40, 8:13, 9:30, 9:13, 8:35, 8:20, 8:41, 8:21 and 8:38 over the last 0.5 mile. The Round the Bay run is a good long run route with a good set of hills on the west side of the Irondequoit Bay. One of these day I will take this clockwise instead of counterclockwise.

I went back home and had my usual coffee and bagel. I asked my darling wife, Christine, to cut my hair. I like my hair short now and she had been asking to try to cut my hair again off and on. She did it once before ... I had to go to a barber for a "touch up" (repair cut). She got everything ready and proceeded to cut my hair. I took a shower afterward and found some uneven ends as I was combing what was left of my hair. She cut some more and voila! Everything was the same length ... about 3/8 of an inch all around. I did do a wee bit more with my electric razor around my ears. It looks good and I don't feel the need to go to the barber for a "touch up". So ... the second time was the charm! I thanked her like a good husband should. A bit later, we went out to New Nails to get her nails touched up. Not a bad day!

Sunday, 3/6/2016 to Saturday, 3/12/2016 - Johnny's Runnin of the Green 5 Mile Race

I ran 5 times this week, 20.83 miles

Sunday, 3/6/2016: 5.1 miles, 43:42, 8:34 pace, 39F, 44% RH, 6 mph S wind, wind chill 35F, sunny

Garmin Connect Activity for MTD Preview #1

It was a beautiful day so my darling wife, Christine, and I headed out to North Ponds Park in Webster to preview the Mind the Duck course. She geared up and was out walking a good 5 minutes before I ventured out at a really nice and easy run. The loop is 1.01203 miles according to the MTD website, www.mtd12hour.org. I ran around 5 times before I developed a mild pain behind my right knee ... so I stopped. My splits were: 8:17, 8:23, 8:34, 8:40, 8:43 and 8:50 over the last 0.1 mile. Christine had walked 2.4 miles according to her phone app. We were pleased that we had gotten out rather than being slugs.

I had trouble turning off my Garmin Forerunner (FR) 310XT after I uploaded my data to Garmin so I posted about it on Facebook. A running buddy, Prem Kumar, replied that he was going to sell his FR220 (a dcrainmaker in-depth review, link here) since he had upgraded to a VivoActive in December 2015). We arranged to meet up so I could test run his FR220 on Tuesday.

Monday, 3/7/2016: Rest day.

I met up with my youngest son, David, to get back Christine's FR305 that he had been not using since he borrowed about 2 years ago.

Tuesday, 3/8/2016: 8.1 miles (took FR305), 1:08:41, 8:29 pace,

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill with FR220
Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill with FR305

I met up with Prem at 5:30 PM at the Fleet Feet Armory parking lot so he could let me test out his FR220. He briefly told me how to use it and then went home. I had on my Christine's FR305 and my FR310XT (which I had gotten to turn on) on my left wrist and my Vivofit 2 and Prem's FR220 on my right wrist. I felt like an American dcrainmaker (see www.dcrainmaker.com for the real McCoy). I started each one up and headed up to Cobbs Hill for some ... wait for it ... hills. A nice and easy pace soon ensued as I powered up and down each loop. One ... two ... and up to seven loops. It was a beautiful evening for early March and the roads were crowded with walkers, runners and cars. Weird but true ... the north side of Cobbs Hill was noticeably colder than the other side! I decided that seven loops was my limit so I exited and took the long way back to the Equinox. I was a bit peeved when I stopped and noticed that my FR310XT had died during the run. The FR305 had 8.1 miles and the Prem's FR220 had 8.08 miles ... not bad. My splits according to the FR305: 8:56, 8:35, 8:11, 8:17, 8:10, 8:13, 8:39, 8:45 and 9:11 over the last 0.1 mile. My splits according to the FR220 : 9:02, 8:37, 8:18, 8:20, 8:16, 8:12, 8:39, 8:42, and 9:50 over the last 0.08 mile. Kind of close, I guess. The FR220 also has something called Run Cadence which was 158 spm (steps per minute) average for this run.

It took a bit to figure out how to upload to Garmin Express. marry up my Droid Max to the FR220 and get MyFitnessPal , Withings (my Withings FR50 scale) and Garmin to "talk" to each other.

Wednesday, 3/9/2016: Rest day ... yada, yada, yada ... like usual.

Thursday, 3/10/2016: 7.5 miles, 1:01:37, 8:12 pace, 55F, 94% RH, 8 mph NNW wind, light wind

Garmin Connect Activity for A RTP run with FR305
Garmin Connect Activity for A RTP run with FR310XT
Garmin Connect Activity for A RTP run with FR220

I packed all my running gear in the Equinox so I could run after work plus I had all my Garmins (FR 305, FR310XT and Prem's PR220) fully charged this time. I decided to just run where I was after work .. no driving, just run, get it done and go home. So I geared up and just ran with not one but three Garmins tracking me. There was a sprinkle at the start which became a light rain by the end. Drivers probably thought I was crazy but I do what I do. I noticed that my three Garmins were within 0.01 mile of each other. My FR220 splits were: 8:10, 8:18, 8:06, 7:50, 8:03, 8:17, 8:15 and 8:16 over the last 0.5 mile. Boom ... done.

Friday, 3/11/2016: Rest day ... plus packet pickup for Johhny's.

My darling wife, Christine, didn't feel like cooking so we went out to The Charbroil house for their excellent beer batter haddock for supper ... tasty!

Saturday, 3/12/2016: 3 runs of 1.47, 5.05 and 1.11 miles,

The start time for Johnny's Runnin' of the Green 5 Mile Race was 9:30 AM and the venue was the Blue Cross Arena downtown. This was my sixth Johnny's and it was the first Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) for 2016. I packed up my gear and took the Cruze so I could hide my gear in the trunk. I paid $5 for parking (never had to before!) at my usual lot just past the BCA. I thought I was there in plenty of time as I started to look for my bib at 8:30 AM ... and then I realized that I left in the Equinox. I muttered some swear words (in my head), breathed a deep sigh or two and headed home to get my bib. No worries ... didn't let it bother me since I knew I had plenty of time. It took 15 minutes to get my bib and 15 minutes to get back. I packed on Platt St at High Falls and ran to the BCA as a warmup run of 1.47 miles at 8:30 pace, link here. I had time to use a real restroom inside the BCA and then take my usual spot (right hand side and toward the front) before the start. I wore my Garmin Forerunner 305 on my left wrist and Prem's Forerunner 220 on my right wrist. I saw Prem Kumar, Bill Beyerbach and Heather Patterson before the race.

The start ... photo courtesy of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

And ... we were off. I got a bit blocked in but went to the right and got up to speed pretty quickly as we headed down Exchange Blvd.

Just after the start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews

Runners running up Exchange Blvd ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews

Heather came up alongside as we crossed the Ford St bridge and then pulled ahead as we turned right onto Wilson Blvd. Mile 1 passed in just under 7:00 according to Pete. I saw Barb Boutillier taking pictures on the right and then saw Ellen Brenner of Fleet Feet Rochester with her cheer section on the left just after mile 1. Mile 2 ... and then the turn around ... mile 3. I had passed Heather when she stopped to walk just before the turnaround, then Andy Ciaio passed me. I was hurting but I kept my pace. I shorted my stride and increased my turnover. I saw Jim Roche on my left for a few seconds. He was in my age group so I dug down and put him behind me ... he's was in my age group.

Trying to hold on at mile 4 .... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier

Crossing the Ford St Bridge with less than 1 mile to go ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews

This time Barb was on the right when I passed mile 4. Back over the Ford St bridge ... less than a mile to go ... along the Genesee River ... the Freddie - Sue bridge and the I490 bridge over Exchange Blvd ahead ... don't sprint yet (still 1/2 mile to go) ... Heather called from behind "Don't let me catch you" ... seeing the finish line 1/10 mile ahead ... can't catch the person in front ... sprint ... time under 36 ... done!

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle had a video about the race, link here.

I got some water and then a bagel as I talked with Bill (125th, 34:43, 2nd in his M60-64 age group) and Prem (36:27, 175th, 13th in his M40-44 age group). Bill told me that Kevin Clinefelter had run a 32:32 (81st, 1st in Bill's M60-64 age group) after running 10 miles before the race. Andy ran a 35:01 (131st, 12th in his M50-54 age group). Heather was right behind me, 35:44 (147th, 4th in her F40-44 age group. She was a bit miffed that she was 4th by 14 seconds after taking a walk break. Me ... I ran a 35:40 officially, 7:08 pace ... good for 146th out of 1557, link here. I was 6th out of 99 in my M55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 6:49, 7:06, 7:17, 7:10, 6:56 and 6:00 over the last 0.05 mile. Not bad. It hurt a bit but I managed to run 1.11 miles back to the Cruze at 9:36 pace, link here.

Some runners really got all out and dress up for this race. The pictures really speak for themselves.

Later, Christine and I managed to get out for her Tons of Fun weigh in at Fleet Feet Ridgeway. The NY Yankees had scored 6 runs so we used the YANKEES6 code to get 50% off a pizza at Papa John's for supper.