09/16/2018 to 09/22/2018 - Canaltown Days 5K

I ran 4 times this week: 18.85 miles.
I took 66,854 steps this week according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.
Common abbreviation: OMEP is Orange Mud Endurance Pack

Sunday, 9/16/2018: 11922 steps during the day; 2 runs of 1.25 and 3.1 miles.

Today was my 61st birthday. What to do? Why not run a race somewhere? I had two choices last week: the inaugural Unlimited Breadsticks Half Marathon at 10 AM or the Palmyra Canaltown Days 5K at 9 AM. I wanted to see my daughter, Karen, in Palmyra and my oldest son, Michael, in Macedon afterwards so I chose the latter race. The former race was also hot, the results are here.

So ... today's race was the Palmyra Canaltown Days 5K. I had run this race twice before I moved from Newark to Rochester in 2008. I ran a 23:00 in 2006 and a 22:30 in 2007. I knew (and didn't much like) the course. But ... a 5K is a 5K and beggars can't be choosers. So ... I got up at 6 AM and puttered around. I asked my darling wife, Christine, if you wanted to come with me around 6:30 AM but she begged off, wished me good luck and went back to sleep. I hit the road at 7:10 AM and was in Palmyra by 8:00 AM. I parked in a parking lot by the Erie Canal about 500 feet from Karen's apartment. I got my bib and T-shirt right away. I got out for a nice and easy warm up run of 1.25 miles and 8:55 pace, link here. It was 66F and 100% RH so I was dripping from sweat after I got done. I decided that running with a shirt on at race pace would not be wise so I took off my shirt and pinned my bib to my shorts. Then I put my Samsung and key in the pocket of my Nathan SpeedDraw flask so I didn't even have to wear my Nathan Zipster.

I walked over the Division St pedestrian bridge to the race start line. I waited in the shade. This was a small town race with old school "pull the tag" scoring so there weren't too many of us. It had warmed up to 72F and 94% RH by 9 AM. And at the horn ... we were off! I got up to race pace quickly. I avoided the young kids in front of me since I knew that they would slow down quickly. The race route was simple ... north on Division St until a sharp left to head back north on Maple Ave with a jog onto Orchard Drive for a bit and then onward until a left onto Main St for the finish. I ran beside a guy who wore Vibram FiveFingers for a mile ... slap, slap, slap went his feet! I passed him just before the left onto Maple Ave. There was a bit of a hill there. I slowed but didn't break into a walk. I had water so I didn't stop at the water station on Orchard Drive. I took a sip from my Nathan SpeedDraw flask and squirted some on top of my head. Back out onto Maple Ave ... I could see the bridge over the Erie Canal and the hill back up to Main St ... keep going ... over the bridge ... up the hill ... turn left ... push ... the clock read 23:14 ... done! I took a pint of water and downed it quickly ... and promptly sweat it back out. My splits were predictable with a slow down in mile 2 and 3: 7:17, 7:41, 7:33 and 7:17 over the last 0.1 mile. The Relive link to the Canaltown Days 5K is here. I hung around for the awards and got a nice personalized (year, race, place and age group) medal ... sweet!

Post Palmyra Canaltown Days 5K

Then I headed over to Karen's apartment. We hung out for a while and walked back up to the Canaltown Days craft and food tents. She had a ice cream sundae while I had a hamburger with peppers and onions along with a funnel cake. Tasty! I took out her garbage and recycling while she took her dog, Pooka, for a walk. Pooka can now sit, shake hands and drop stuff in his mouth at Karen's command ... nice! Then I headed over to see Michael. We hung out while we watched the first half of the Chargers - Bills game. The Bills ... well ... sucked. It was 28-6 at half. Josh Allen, the Bills offensive line and the Bills defense were overmatched. The Bills had a guy retire at half time for heaven sakes! The head coach took over the defensive coordinator duties at half time and only surrendered 3 more points to only lose 31-20, link here. A moral victory at best but still the Bills are 0-2 with road games to the Viking and the Packers looming in the next 2 weeks.

Monday, 9/17/2018: 6440 steps during the day, rest day.

Lisa, my Ricoh manager, brought a birthday cake for our meeting!

I thought about running after work ... and probably should have but I thought it would be best to spend time with Christine and have a relaxing evening. I remember having a supper that included french fries.

Tuesday, 9/18/2018: 5787 steps during the day, rest day.

OK ... ditch french fries from my diet. I gained 3.5 pounds overnight and I wasn't able to run because I had a Ricoh recognition dinner after work. My boss's boss thought it would be "fun" to give out "paper plate" awards. I got the "Forrest Gump" plate because I am always running ... lol!

Wednesday, 9/19/2018: 19080 steps during the day; 9.45 miles, 1:19:17, 8:23 pace, 66F, 73% RH, 9 mph wind, overcast.

I felt I needed to get my head around running the "scenic" Rochester Half on Sunday. Oh ... Boot's version of "scenic" is kind of hilly. So ... I headed to Herrema's after work and ran my Bridges route. It encompassed most of the Rochester Half route: the Thomas Ave hill, St Paul St, the pedestrian bridge, Lake Ave, Turning Point Park and the O'Rorke Bridge. I set up a nice and steady pace and got it done. A couple of guys in a couple of cars yelled at me when I ran. I don't know what they said but I was pretty sure that it wasn't nice. I am not so sure about my green Super Feet insoles though ... they are still very noticeable when I run. My splits were: 47, 29, 15, 13, 39, 19, 22, 05, 29 and 05 over the last 0.45 mile.

I must admit that I confused my darling wife, Christine. I almost never run on Wednesday so she thought it was Thursday for most of the night! She was kind of sad that there was still 2 more days until the weekend.

Thursday, 9/20/2018: 14046 steps during the day; 5.05 miles, 42:24, 8:23 pace, 66F, 78% RH, 7 mph wind, cloudy.

I got back on my usual Thursday run schedule with a nice and steady 5 mile run from Greece Arcadia High School. I didn't want to push this run off until Friday because a strong cold front is supposed to roar in around 7PM on Friday. It is supposed to get hot on Friday with a high of 90F with high winds before cooling down to 60F on Saturday.

I am still not a fan of the green Super Feet insoles. I am thinking of taking them out and putting in the regular insoles into my Brooks Transcend 5 shoes for the Rochester Half on Sunday. Anyway ... my splits were: 8:20, 8:30, 8:23, 8:26 and 8:15.

Friday, 9/21/2018: 8124 steps during the day, rest day.

Saturday, 9/22/2018: 1455 steps during the day, rest day.

I usually run on Saturday mornings. There are two reason why it wasn't. One is that tomorrow is the Rochester Half and two is that Christine and I drove out to the Bob Evan's restaurant in Dunkirk NY to meet up with her brothers, Bill and Rich, and their wives, Patty and Jill, for a 11 AM lunch. Bill, the executor of their father's estate, distributed the final proceeds. Her late father's home was sold last month and their new owners have moved in. My heiress wife and I drove home carefully ... lol!