I ran 3 times this week, 25.78 miles.
Sunday, 9/4/2016: Rest day.
Christine and I went out to the
Pelican's Nest to meet up with my sister, Diane and her husband, Jim DeMent. It was our first time eating there. It was so nice to eat lunch out on the deck on the Genesee River. We may have found our new "go to" summer restaurant ... though a bit late in the summer!
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| Diane and Jim DeMent of Lexington KY |
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| Christine and I |
Monday, 9/5/2016: 20 miles, 2:59:00, 8:57 pace, 55-68F, 94% RH, 5 mph WSW wind, sunny.
My weekday alarm went off at 5:40 AM ... a bit early with less than 6 hours of sleep but no matter. I knew what I had to do ... it was just a question of getting up the gumption and getting out and doing it. I had my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana, dressed in a pair of Brooks shorts and an old Rochester Marathon tech top, filled up my water bladder with about 1.5 liters of water, diluted the Gu that was left in my Gu flask, kissed my darling wife, Christine, goodbye and headed out to
Herrema's. My task was to run my Bridges route twice and then throw in an extra mile.
I got there around 7 AM. I briefly kicked around the idea of heading back home to go to the bathroom one more time but knew that I didn't have to. So ... I shouldered my hydration pack, made sure that I had extra Gu just in case, fired off an eCrumb, fired up my Garmin Forerunner 220 and headed out at 7:17 AM.
My plan was go nice and easy, hydrate every 2 miles and take Gu every 4 miles after mile 6. That's what I did. I took Gu just before the pedestrian bridge (mile 4) and found that I still couldn't get any Gu through my Gu flask so I just unscrewed the top and sucked a mouthful out ... no worries. I took Gu again just after the second time up the Thomas Ave hill (mile 10), just after running up from the 2nd time across the pedestrian bridge (mile 14) and just before I got off the
Genesee Riverway Trail (mile 18). I started to really feel the run after mile 14 or so. My body was starting to complain and I started to listen to it so I slowed. I got stung by a bee at mile 16. I yelled out quite loudly but no one was around within my sight to hear it .... OUCH! I was at mile 18.55 when I crossed the
O'Rorke Bridge so I headed up the Thomas Ave hill for a third time for about 3/4 mile before I turned around and headed back to the Equinox and stopped at 20 miles. I headed into Herrema's (the good thing of having started there) to purchase some post-run pastry items ... yummy!
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| It looks like I'm as fresh as a daisy ... not! |
Soon I was home with my obligatory mug of coffee. I had my second 20, it was on the Rochester Marathon course and it didn't end badly ... nice! My splits were: 8:48, 8:25, 8:29, 8:57, 8:40, 8:33, 9:09, 8:09, 8:52, 8:41, 9:02, 8:36, 8:35, 9:18, 9:50, 8:54, 8:27, 9:33, 10:41 and 9:19.
I treated this run as a full dress rehearsal. I had my hydration pack and hydrated every 2 miles. My Gu flask didn't work. I took Gu every 4 miles by opening the top and sucking it out. I fixed the Gu flask when I got home by using two pliers to open the valve all the way. It was stuck ... but not any more. I have to try that Gu flask out with Gu. I think I will have to water down the Gu to get it to flow freely. I do like
HammerGel better though. All in all. I still think that my next Rochester Marathon attempt could be a suffer fest but I will do it anyway. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and be cool and cloudy.
Facebook reminded me that I went out to see my ex-girlfriend, Christine Wisniewski, after running the Summerfest 12K on this day back in 2009. This may be old history to some but it bears repeating. I thought I was crazy when I crossed the OH border but I continued onward. I hadn't seen her in 32 years though I had thought about her from time to time. I made sure to kiss her within a minute at the bottom of the stairs and then at the top of the stairs. It was like we had never parted. Sparks certainly flew! We spent that Labor Day weekend together and several more before she moved to Rochester in November 2009. We got engaged after Summerfest 2011 and married on November 30th, 2012. She now is Christine DeWeaver, my wife.
My youngest son, David, came up from Scottsville to have some ribs with us. It was his time eating ribs and he did well. I may have another convert to the wonders of ribs!
Tuesday, 9/6/2016: Rest day.
Let me just say this ... if I didn't run I would weigh 200 pounds easy. I lost 2.2 pounds (down to 164.4 pounds) the day after I ran 20 miles yesterday. Update: I gained 3.3 pounds on Wednesday. I guess I have to run the rest of my life if I want to stay under 170 pounds.
Wednesday, 9/7/2016: 2 runs of 1 and 4.78 miles, 90F, 52% RH, feels like 95F, 7 mph WNW wind, partly cloudy
Tonight was the final
Dirt Cheap Trail Race of the year ... tear drop! Tonight's venue was Stewart Lodge out at
Mendon Ponds Park. I packed my usual running gear along with my trail shoes and a change of clothes just in case. I did sneak out of work a bit early so I got down to the Beach parking lot at 5:15 PM in plenty of time for the 6 PM start.
It was hot and I really didn't need any warmup but I'm a creature of habit so I made it out for a really nice and easy 1 mile at 9:54 pace, link
here. I was dripping when I got done. I made sure that I filled my 20 ounce water bottle back up after I guzzled some water to quench my thirst.
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| The start ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester |
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| A bit later after the start ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester |
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| Down this hill and up the next ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester |
So I knew it was going to be a sweat fest of a race. I lined up at the start, fired off an eCrumb to my darling wife, Christine, ... and waited. And ... we were off! I eased into a really nice and easy trail pace as we headed up .... what else? A hill or two. I let runners pass me if they were faster. It was 90F and humid. My plan was to hydrate every mile and let the race come to me. There wasn't any mud to speak of. I started to speed up a bit after mile 2 and passed some runners.
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| Around mile 4 ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester |
I didn't hydrate at mile 4 because I figured that the race would soon be over but I was wrong. It was almost a 5 mile race. I could hear Ellen at the finish ... and one more hill ... done with 4.78 miles in 48:46, 10:25 pace. I was dripping with sweat and drank from my hand bottle right away. I wasn't hungry right away but had 2 pieces of pizza later before I headed home. It was a hot and humid race and I thought I came through it unscathed. I ran carefully, stayed upright and heeded my body in keeping my pace down and under control in the conditions.
I did OK. My splits were: 9:02, 11:34, 11:28, 10:16 and 9:33 over the last 0.78 mile. I was 65th out of 259 overall, link
here; I was 52nd out of 152 in the male series overall, link
here and I was 2nd out of 16 in my series M 55-59 age group, link
here.
Thursday, 9/8/2016, and Friday, 9/9/2016: Rest days.
I fixed my reluctant to open Gu flask by encouraging the opening with two pairs of pliers. I used one to hold the cap and one to twist the opening. I found that it opened more that the less that 1/8 turn that my fingertips had opened it before. It really opens about 1/4 turn. It looks like it will be OK.
Saturday, 9/10/2016: 12 miles, 1:46:31, 8:52 pace, 66F, 94% RH, a bit breeze, partly cloudy.
I slept in until 6:30 AM so I was a bit rushed. I had my usual bowl with cereal and banana, dressed, got my gear ready, kissed Christine goodbye and headed out. I wanted to do at least 13 or so on the Rochester Marathon course. I thought about heading to
Herrema's but that loop is only 9.5 miles and I didn't want to head up the Thomas Ave hill again nor do I want to go all the way up to Driving Park Ave. So I headed to
Ontario Beach Park. I know that loop is 11 miles. I had my hydration pack filled with about 1.5 liters of water along a half full Gu flask. I didn't wear sunglasses since it was cloudy when I started.
I headed out around 8 AM at a nice and easy pace. I headed out to the lighthouse at the west end of the pier to add distance and head up Lake Ave, across the
O'Rorke Bridge to my trusted and true Bridge route. I saw Fleet Feet WalkFit walkers at the pedestrian bridge and maybe some Fleet Feet HFM runners on the
Genesee Riverway Trail. It was getting a bit hotter and humid so I tried to offer these women encouragement as I passed. I was a bit tired when I got back to the Equinox at mile 12 so I stopped. My splits were: 8:51, 8:41, 8:52, 8:35, 8:51, 8:39, 9:16, 8:38, 9:11, 8:18, 9:49 and 8:48.
I took water every two miles and took Gu at miles 4 and 8. My Gu flask worked but my Roctane 15 ounce container is also empty already. I don't really like Gu but I tolerate it. I like HammerGel better. I don't like to open single Gu or HammerGel packets on the run so that's why I want to use a Gu flask. I mean it's tough to open one of those packets when it's hot because your fingers sweaty. It's tough to open them with gloves on during the colder months and then it's hard to squeeze out the contents also!
Well, I guess I am ready as I will ever be. The second half will be worse than the first half but I will survive it. I may not be doing a BQ pace of of 3:55 or 8:58 pace. You need to beat the time by 5 minutes to be sure. A 3:50 marathon is 8:50 pace. I don't know if I can hold that pace for an entire marathon. I know I will start out too fast and suffer once I slow but I will get it done..
