I took 72158 steps during the week according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.
Sunday, 9/3/2017: 1197 steps during the day, rest day.
I felt like a slug but a slug I was. I only got over 1000 steps because I went out to Wegmans later in the day. I stashed a jug of water against a sign post at the intersection of the LOSP trail and Island Cottage on my way home. My darling wife, Christine, and I got into a "Good Behavior" watching marathon.
Meanwhile ... other athletes were out there being awesome. The Oak Tree 5K/Half was held down in Geneseo NY. 247 finished the 5K, results here. 267 finished the Half, results are here. Mort Nace of Medved fame was way out in Montana running (and climbing) the Rut 50K, the Rut (VK, 11K, 28K, 50K) info here and 50K overall results here. The 50K elevation chart (along the warnings about the "EXTREMELY STEEP & TECHNICAL" portions of the course along with rockfall hazards) looked totally insane (7500 to 11000 feet)!
Monday, 9/4/2017: 25123 steps during the day, 16.75 miles, 2:33:31, 9:10 pace, 61F, 82% RH, 10 mph SW wind, partly cloudy.
I got up around 6 AM to prep for my second 20 mile attempt in advance of the Empire State Marathon on October 9th. I had my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana, put on Body Glide (nipples and groin), filled my 20 ounce water bottle, filled my flask with Hammer Gel, fired up WLGZ on my TuneIn Radio app and headed out around 7:15 AM. I settled into a nice and steady pace. I tried to remember to not heel strike after I loosened up. My water jug was still by the sign post when I passed the intersection of the LOSP trail and Island Cottage ... 2.55 mile in. Now ... going up and down Island Cottage and Janes Rd is 7.5 miles. My plan was to do that twice for 15 miles. That plus getting back home from there would equal 20 miles. The "60s all Labor Day" music on WLGZ didn't help (Michael Row Your Boat Ashore?) ... too slow. I did well though for the first 10 miles ... all my paces were under 8:30. My Hammer Gel flask "exploded" a bit when I opened it at mile 6 so my hands and shorts pockets got a bit gooey. I stopped at mile 10 to have more Hammer Gel and refill my 20 ounce water bottle.Then ... I had right hip pain at mile 12 (again!!). I definitely did not want to get injured on a training run so I lapsed into a run/walk, cut the run short and headed back. But ... I did run the last mile. Huh? Was this something I could have pushed through?
I called up to Christine (who had been "stalking" me via my eCrumb), poured a mug of coffee and went to sit on our back porch to cool down. She joined me for a bit bearing a plate of warm apple pie. I was a bit discouraged. Should I go down to the Empire State Half? I don't know. I do know that I might have a fear of the marathon distance. All three of my Rochester Marathons (2008 in 4:29:29, 2013 in 3:51:49 and 2016 in 4:31:32) haven't been pretty. 2008 (old course) was hot and sucked, 2013 (old course) was my best one but sucked (a bit less) and 2016 (new course) was hilly and still sucked.
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| So ... I bled from my left nipple. |
Anyway ... my splits today were: 8:14, 8:14, 8:21, 8:26, 8:20, 8:16, 8:26, 8:30, 8:31, 8:32, 9:48, 8:53, 10:26, 9:59, 11:14, 12:13, and 9:26 over the last 0.75 mile. I kind of ached all day. I did pick up my stashed jug of water when I went to Wegmans. It seems I go to Wegmans a lot.
Tuesday, 9/5/2017: 6261 steps during the day, rest day.
My Facebook "On This Day" feed is full of Summerfest comments and pictures. Yes ... eight years ago today I ran the 2009 Summerfest 12K, went home, showered and headed out to Cleveland to see Christine again. I had not seen her in 31 years since we dated between February 1977 and January 1978 when I went to Case Western Reserve University and she went to Ursuline College. She had "found" me on Facebook (she saw a GVH Mudslog picture and wondered if it was me) and we started a chat session which led to phone calls. Well ... nine days later I made a "leap of faith" visit. I remember that I almost turned around at the Ohio border as the thought "What am I doing?" flashed through my mind. But I didn't. I found her apartment and met her at the bottom of her stairs. I kissed her within a minute, followed up the stairs and kissed her again at the top of the stairs. She said later that my kisses made her knees weak. Maybe I kiss well, lol! Anyway ... I stayed all weekend. I remember that we ate, drank wine and walked her dog occasionally. She moved in with me a couple of months later. We got engaged on 9/3/2011 and married on 11/30/2012. Ahh ... the magic of Facebook!
I was a bit cranky when I got home. My left ankle had been achy all day. It's really starting to annoy me. I think that this is causing the right hip pain during my long runs that I am trying to get in to prep for the Empire State Marathon.
Wednesday, 9/6/2017: 14986 steps during the day, 2 runs of 0.7 and 4.76 miles, 59F, 88% RH, 4 mph NE wind, overcast.
Tonight's race was Dirt Cheap #6, the last Dirt Cheap Trail Series race of 2017. The venue was Mendon Ponds Park and home base was Stewart Lodge. I took a hour of PTO since the men's "Gooooo!" time was 6 PM (women's at 6:05 PM) instead of 6:30 PM (like the past 5 Dirt Cheap races) due to it getting dark earlier. So I got down to the Beach parking lot around 5 PM even with fighting the I-390 (before Winton Rd), Monroe Ave and Clover St traffic. I relaxed before I got out for a short warm up run of 0.7 mile at 9:46 pace, link here. I ran within 50 feet of a doe that just stood in a field looking at me. I think she knew that I was following the red flags, lol!
I had about 7 minutes to get a swig of water, refill my 20 ounce water bottle and get ready for the start. Ellen gave her usual boisterous "Gooooo!" .... and off we went!
My mindset was just a nice and easy trail pace, get 'er done, not to injure myself and just have a muddy time. Well ... I succeeded in all respects. I just ran and "went through the mud not around it". There was a point about a mile in that had me (and several other runners) confused. The red flags were laid across the trail leading to another trail. Some runners wanted to continue on the same trail but we came to a group decision to follow the red flags ... which was the right call. The mud and standing water on the trail was ankle deep (or more) in lots of spots. There was a lot of splashing going on! I saw a few runners who had their shoe sucked off but my blue SpeedCross 3 trail shoes were cinched tight so I just tip-toed as I ran through the mud and continued onward. The first woman (actually a 11 year old girl) passed me when I was wading through a creek downhill of the Devil's Bathtub at mile 2.5. It was a bit discouraging but I soldiered onward. My shoes were water-logged after the creek but were soon caked with mud again ... along with my legs and arms. I almost slipped and fell at one spot. My left foot landed at an angle on a patch of mud and tried to slip out from under me to the left. I would have really landed hard (and quickly) on my right side but I caught myself just as quickly thankfully. I yelled out "Slippery!" and ran on. I was running in a patch of single track with a guy on my heels who I knew wanted to pass. He blew by when we got back to a wider trail (with a patch of mud and water). I had the satisfaction of passing him back when we got to a flat section. I'm not so good on hills but I can get going on the flats. I could hear Ellen's voice in the distance so I knew I was getting close to the end. I saw Barb Boutillier taking pictures and tried to smile but probably grimaced instead! I rounded the last corner, heard Ellen call out my name (priceless) and was done in 50:27!
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| Not too much mud here ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester |
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| There was a long line at this water spigot ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester |
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| I found a lot of mud! |
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| My right arm. |
I did OK. My splits were: 8:39, 11:55, 11:47, 10:30, and 9:58 over the last 0.76 mile. I finished officially in 50:27, 62nd out of 241, link here. I was 3rd out of 14 in my overall M 55-59 age group, link here. I was a distant 2nd out of 14 in my series M 55-59 age group, link here.
My darling wife, Christine, was out and about during the day at the Empire Beauty School on Ridge Rd. She got her hair colored to a sexy blonde!
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| She didn't have much trimmed either! |
My left ankle was cranky all day. The slipping and sliding around last night during last night's Dirt Cheap probably helped! Hey ... I would have my muscles and joints sore because I used them! Now ... if I could just motivate myself to work out on rest days instead of them being "not running" days.
Friday, 9/8/2017: 16526 steps during the day, 7.55 miles, 1:04:09, 8:30 pace, 63F, 63% RH, 11 mph NNW wind, mostly cloudy.
My left ankle twinged when I walked all day. yes, I thought about not running. I had my running gear in the Cruze. I thought about running before lunch ... I would have got drenched because there was a passing shower at 11:30 AM. I knew I would be a total grouch if I didn't run so I got dressed just before I clocked out, drove out to Greece Arcadia High School, geared up and headed out. Look ... if I rested my left ankle it wouldn't make any difference. I can run on it so I run. I'm unsure whether I can run a marathon at a BQ level on it. BTW, a BQ level marathon for a 60 year old male (such as myself in 9 days) is a 3:55. You realistically have to beat the BQ time by 5 minutes to make sure you get in so it works out to a 8:45 pace. Yes, I can easily run that for a half marathon ... but I don't honestly know if I can run that for an entire marathon. I do tend to get a lot slower on the second half of a marathon.
Anyway, my left ankle did feel achy for the first half mile and then it settled down. I just ran at a nice and steady pace as I ran my usual IC and Jane route. Boom. Done. My splits were: 8:48, 8:27, 8:21, 8:25, 8:24, 8:35, 8:23, and 8:35 over the last 0.55 mile. Yes, I ached afterward. I limped up and down the stairs. It's what I do so I can run.
Saturday, 9/9/2017: 2574 steps during the day, rest day.
I rested today so I see how far I can run tomorrow morning. I don't think I have a 20 mile run in me but I would be happy with 16 relatively pain free miles.
Later I took my darling wife, Christine, out to New Nails so she could have her French tip nails replaced. She had lost 4 of them so she needed a new set ... sexy! I went to Wegmans to did a minimal amount of shopping but really so I could get some cash. I noticed that the Shear Ego International School of Hair Design next door had a sign out front advertising men's haircuts for $6 ... so I stopped in. I was the last guy to get the deal that day. I paid $10 ($6 plus $4 tip) after I was done about 20 minutes later. The guy who cut my hair (short with 1/2" on top) was graduating in 2.5 weeks and drove all the way from Syracuse to attend the school. It was still cheaper than paying $13 and $2 tip at the OK Barber Shop down Hudson Ave by E Ridge Rd. I think he did a better job too. So ... I just had a short time to wait before Christine was done. The joys of getting out and getting things done early!
I looked into the Shear Ego website. They have courses in Barber - Styling (600 hours - $10,100), Hair Dressing and Cosmetology (1000 hours - $14,900), Esthetics, Skin Care & Makeup (600 hours - $10,100), Nail Specialty (250 hours - $2800) and Waxing (75 hours - $875). All prices are before financial aid and all graduates have to pass their respective NYS license before plying their trade.
