Saturday, 4/9/2017 to Sunday, 4/15/2017 - Dirt Cheap #1

I ran 5 times this week: 39.29 miles.

Sunday, 4/9/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:16:17, 8:09 pace, 43F, 49% RH, 10 mph SW wind, wind chill 37F, sunny.

I slept in until 7 AM. The sun was starting to peek into the room so I wouldn't have been able to sleep anymore. So ... up and at 'em. I had my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana, started the coffee, dressed and got out there. It was 43F and was forecast to go to 73F during the day so I wore shorts but two long sleeve tech shirts, my yellow Brooks beanie, heavy running gloves along with sunglasses. The wind felt brisk on my legs but it's SPRING!


There was a nagging bit of slight pain behind my right knee so I kept the pace really nice and easy while I waited for it to work itself out. It didn't get any worse so I pushed past the 3.1 mile turnaround and went for 9.3 miles. I thought about turning down Janes Rd to push it out to 13.1 miles but didn't. I already have 54 miles for the month of April with a lot more month to go. My splits were: 8:09, 8:05, 8:01, 8:14, 8:15, 8:12, 8:02, 8:15, 8:19 and 7:49 over the last 0.35 mile.

I sat down to a mug of coffee and half of a Giant Cinnamon Bun (purchased yesterday from Herrema's after yesterday's Flower City Half preview run #2). I brought a mug of coffee and the other half up to my darling wife, Christine, when she woke up.

We watched "Rogue One" twice. I rented it off of Spectrum On Demand and it's good until Tuesday at 6:45 PM so why not? Meanwhile, it warmed up to 73F and I started to see Facebook posts about fellow runners running in shorts. Yeah ... so did I when it was 43F, lol!

Later she cooked up my favorite food ... wait for it ... ribs along sweet potatoes and spinach. Mmm!!! We ate them when I watched the Masters. It was gripping golf as Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose battled in match play the last several holes down in Augusta GA, links here and here. They both had birdie putts to win on the 18th. It down went to the first playoff hole. Justin got into trouble and Sergio needed two putts to win. He only needed one.

Monday, 4/10/2017: Rest day ... nothing unusual after running 13.2 miles on Saturday and 9.35 miles Sunday.

Tuesday, 4/11/2017: 7.5 miles, 1:01:49, 8:14 pace, 64F, 73% RH, 15 mph SW wind, overcast.


I was a bit grumpy because I had missed running before lunch but I had some printers to look at so that took precedence. A part of my mind started to make up excuses about not running ... like you will be tired, you have a trail race tommorow or you are hungry but I didn't have any part of that. I got dressed after work and headed up to Greece Arcadia High School to do my 7.5 mile route. Boom! My splits were nice and easy: 7:59, 8:09, 8:10, 8:12, 8:14, 8:15, 8:36 and 8:14 over the last 0.5 mile. No more grumpy! But I did fall asleep on the couch ...

I signed up at the last minute on the Dirt Cheap Trail Race Series. Another 12 hours and I would have had to pay $10 more which would not have pleased me too much. This is my 9th year running the DCTR series.

Wednesday, 4/12/2017: 2 runs of 1.2 and 4.64 miles, 48F, 62% RH, 16 mph W wind, wind chill 42F, overcast.

Tonight's race was Dirt Cheap #1 down at Devil's Bathtub in Mendon Ponds Park. This is my ninth time running the Dirt Cheap Trail Race Series so I knew what to expect ... mud ... especially with the wet spring Rochester has had. Oh, Strava says that I have run this course 14 times since 2010.

I dressed after work ... well technically just before work ended and then drove down to MPP. I was 45 minutes early so I drove past the people parking on the road and drove up the hill toward the lodge. I was rewarded with a prime parking spot about 3/4 up the hill. Oh, I wore my Brooks shorts, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks, a long sleeve tech, a short sleeve tech and my Brooks gloves. I noticed that plenty of people went with tights. I couldn't blame them because it was right on the borderline with the wind chill. Everyone is different.

I got out for a really nice and easy 1.2 mile warmup run, link here. There was a tree down across the course about 1/4 in so I knew I had to go out relatively hard to beat the crowd. I had 5 minutes before the race start so I took out my yellow Brooks jacket and drank some water.


I moved up towards the front and saw "Hi" to Andy Ciaio, Joe Ciecierega and Danielle Feligno. And ... Ellen yelled "Gooooooo"!

The start ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I got up to trail speed pretty quickly. The wait at the downed tree was only about 15 seconds and then it was off again. I passed Andy. He said that he was a bit tired. I saw a mirage at mile 1 ... a clean shaved Boots, lol! He showed up twice more at the top of Cardiac Hill (from both directions). The bog section had some water so I took the path above it about 50% of the time along with everyone else. I jockeyed back and forth with Danielle. Joe passed me when I walked for a couple of seconds at the top of a hill.

No mud yet on the 'dry" portion of the course ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

There was a lot of mud on the second half of the course. I followed Joe right through it while other tried to avoid it. Splash! Splash! The bridge across a creek was taped off so I followed Danielle right through the shin high water of the creek ... which washed all the mud off! My shoes were full of water so it was hard to run for a bit afterward. I passed Danielle on a downhill before the infamous Devil's Bathtub stair finish. Hearing Ellen call your name at the finish ... priceless. And ... done with 4.64 miles in 44:36, 9:37 pace, overall results here. My splits were: 8:02, 9:52, 10:39, 8;31 and 11:37 over the last 0.64 mile.

Runners on the infamous stair climb finish ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I was parched so I went back to the Cruze to get some water and to put on my yellow Brooks jacket before I got cold. Then I ambled back to the lodge for a couple of hot dogs and cookies. I didn't stay long since it was getting cool and dark. I stripped and changed into dry clothes when I got home. I needed something to eat ... so I chose potato chips. I guess my body needed salt, lol!

Thursday, 4/13/2017 and Friday, 4/14/2017: Rest days.

A couple of days off while I contemplated a new long run. My idea was to run from the Swing Bridge down to MacGregor's on Empire Blvd and back. I figured that it would be 16 miles if I took the route up Culver Rd. I told me idea to Bob Dyjak. He suggested adding the long Empire Blvd hill up to Bay
Rd too! I didn't say he should run it too ... lol! But it put the idea in my head ... hmm.

Saturday, 4/15/2017: 16.6 miles, 2:23:34, 8:38 pace,

I set my alarm for 5:20 AM. Sometimes, runners set their weekend alarms earlier than their weekday alarms, lol! Well ... I was up so I got out of bed, weighed myself (what? up 2.6 pounds to 167.5? I chips and the rest of the apple pie was a bad idea last night.) and ate my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana. I checked the temperature: 41F going to mid 60s ... so I put on my Brooks shorts, a long sleeve tech, a short sleeve tech. I put on my yellow Brooks running jacket for warmth. I kissed my sleeping wife, Christine, goodbye and headed out. I brought an assortment of running gear. The drive down to the Swing Bridge was short. It was a bit cold and windy down on Irondequoit Bay. But ... I was here. I put on my yellow Brooks beanie, my heavy running glove, hitched my Amphipod with 2 Hammer Gels in my waistband, filled my 20 ounce water bottle, put on my sunglasses and headed out.


I decided to go up the I-590 hill instead of the Culver Rd hill to cut down about 1.5 miles (0.75 each end). I took it out nice and easy. I ran up most of the hill on Bay Shore Blvd. Then down again on Glen Haven Rd. I stopped to take the picture (gasp!) on Bay Front St below. It just spoke to me.

It seems a bit eerie ... A bird was on every post out there.

I had rested a bit taking the picture so I ran up the whole Orchard Park Blvd hill. I did take a brief walk to catch my breath at the top. Then it was down the Empire Blvd hill. I ran all the way back up the long Empire Blvd hill. I stopped at Plank Rd at 8.3 miles and had my two Hammer Gel packets along with most of my remaining water. I started to run back. I found the hill back up Empire Blvd to be a bit dangerous. It's a tight corner and the traffic was blazing down that hill at 45 to 55 mph and I was running up with a 5 foot wide shoulder (at best). Next time I will cross over to the right hand side that has a sidewalk. My back would be not facing traffic but I would be farther off the road. The run back was just as fun ... just in the opposite direction. I ran most of the hills with tiny walk breaks. I took off my yellow Brooks beanie when I was about a mile out. It felt like it had gotten a bit warmer. I was right ... the Cruze told me that the temperature was 61F. So ... 16.6 miles done! My splits were: 9:06, 8:33, 8:30, 8:27, 8:19, 9:09, 7:47, 8:51, 9:51 (2 Hammer Gels and water), 8:08, 8:55, 9:17, 8:16, 9:15, 8:39, 8:06 and 7:36 over the last 0.6 mile.

I didn't stop at Herrema's on the way home but I did walk the 0.35 mile to and from the mail box at the corner of Greenleaf Rd to mail back my latest Redbox DVD. It loosened my legs a little bit. My post-run fuel of coffee and a bagel with jelly had to wait a bit while I changed our coffee maker back to the old Black and Decker. The Mr Coffee coffee maker had refused to make the programmed coffee that I had set up before I left. Good thing I didn't throw the old one out! I have no idea why the old one had not made coffee ... everything seemed to all OK.

A long and lazy day ensued with lots of shows watched off the DVR. Some Star Trek: Voyager episodes along with our staple of like "NCIS" shows.