Sunday, 12/11/11 to Saturday, 12/17/11

I ran 4 times this week, 19.8 miles.

Sunday, 12/11/11: 5 miles, 34:18, 6:52 pace, 28F, sunny, crisp, no stops, no pain, PR!



I headed out solo for the first Freezeroo out in Spencerport. Christine wanted to sleep in. It was sunny, cold and crisp with just a breath of wind. I wore my tights, long sleeve tech shirt, Brooks racing singlet and Brooks nightlife jacket. I also wore my heavy running gloves and stocking hat. In retrospect I could have not wore the jacket and gone with lighter gloves and just a hat.

I went out easy at the start, sticking with and just ahead of Heather who I heard wanted to run sub 34. The first mile was announced as 6:58, my Garmin said 6:47. I picked up the pace a bit and picked off some runners ... too early, mile 2 and 3 were 6:51 and 6:46. Heather passed me around mile 2.5. I had a lull around mile 4, 7:04. I was running but not flat out. I did pick it up a bit around mile 4.5 until the finish, mile 5 was 6:44. I sprinted to the line at 5:51 pace as I tried to hold off a runner ... who turned out to be 14! I forgot to turn off my Garmin for a bit ... it said 34:50 when I did. So I figured that I was close to my  5 mile PR of 34:35 that I set at Johnny's Runnin o' the Green way back in March.

I couldn't wait so I checked the side of the Fleet Feet van when I left and saw that I ran a 34:18 ... a PR by 17 seconds! Sweet! So ... I was pretty pumped when I got back home and told Christine. I was 43rd out of 240, results here. I was 4th out of 30 in my M50-54 age group, results here.

Christine and I went for what probably is our last ride in my 1999 Pontiac Grand Am with 254K miles on it. That was my mother's car ... may she rest in peace. I have had that car since it had 40K. It needs brakes, has transmission seals that don't really let it change gears when turning left except when it gets warm and gets abysmal gas mileage. We had to jump it to get it started and then drove it out to Williamson and back. I am looking into selling it for scrap. I have heard that you can get about $200 ... which isn't bad.

Afterwards Christine agreed that I deserved ribs ... so she got some when she endured the crowds at BJs. I stayed home to take a shower and wash the dishes. Mmmmm ... ribs and sweet potatoes!

Why do I believe? The Buffalo Bills lost their 6th game in a row to the San Diego Chargers, 10-27, to go to 5-8 and officially eliminate themselves from playoff contention, link here. They might have a bit of trouble selling tickets to the rest of the home games this season at the Ralph.

Monday, 12/12/11: Rest day.

Just your average rest day. After a production pre-dinner stretch, Christine fixed up a nice dinner of leftovers: chicken, broccoli, rice along with macroni and cheese. We spent some time with the TV off before we watched some classic DVR'd episodes of ST:TNG, The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 and Part 2.

Tuesday, 12/13/11: 3.1 miles, 24:52, 8:02 pace, 42F, night, calm, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Greece run

Christine and I headed out the new Fleet Feet Greece store for the official ribbon cutting ceremony, Winter Warrior kickoff and ... cake! I felt like a rookie runner again ... being handed a sheet of instructions at Fleet Feet and just heading out into the night. I did find all the turns for the 3 mile run OK. Christine headed out for a 2.6 mile run. She said she ran pretty well and didn't overheat at all.

Wednesday, 12/14/11: Rest day.

A busy day at work. I would have loved to go for a run after work but instead headed out to Fleet Feet Greece for Dudes night where dudes hung out, ate dude food, drank dude beverages and played dude games like Tic-Tac-Toe (won a pair of Darn Tough socks) and table pong. Dudes rule! Or as I was corrected ... Girls rule, guys drool! Just as long as we all know and celebrate the differences, ;-)

Christine made a nice late dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and salad. We watched a DVR'd episode of The Mentalist before going to bed ... late, like usual.

Thursday, 12/15/11: 6.2 miles, 45:42, 7:22 pace, 54F, night, windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to Cooper Rd

Upstate New York's unusual December weather continues for another day! It was 54F when I went out at 6:22PM for a run. I wore just shorts, long sleeve tech top, hat and light gloves. I had my headlight and flasher on, of course! I just ran ... hard and concentrated on form, flying through the night, sweet!

We caught up on DVR'd episodes of Hawaii Five-O and NCIS. We do like our crime dramas!


Friday, 12/16/11: 5.5 miles, 41:22, 7:31 pace, 34F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Greece run, Hendrick + Barbara Lane

What a difference a day makes! 20F cooler and a cold wind by nightfall!

Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet Greece for the usual Friday night Happy Hour run ... just in a different location. The new Greece location in the Long Pond - Ridgeway location does have its advantages: an ESL ATM, a bridal shop (that Christine noticed), a pizza shop named Pizzeria 5, a nail salon, a hair salon, a liquor store, a sit down restaurant, a BurgerKing, and a Tim Horton's. All you need in life, I guess.

We got there about ten minutes early. I headed out on the Hendrick route of 3.5 miles, then tacked on an extra 2 mile by looping back to Barbara Lane at a nice and easy 7:31 pace. I kind of like the new Greece Happy Hour routes; a more residential, less business route.Christine headed out on the 2 mile route, I gave her a touch as I passed her on the Hendrick route.

Christine and I got a medium pizza from Pizzeria 5 and ... it was nice and tasty!! We watched a nice DVD that I found ... Battlestar Galactica - The Plan. Awesome!

Saturday, 12/17/11: Rest day.

Christine and I don't like to get out too much on non-race Saturdays. Kudos to all the runners out at Fleet Feet at Brighton and Greece who went out for long runs.

We finally emerged so Christine could go to her nail salon, New Nails. We headed out to Quaker Steak & Lube for a nice supper, thanks to a coupon from Living Social. Then we caught up with DVR'd episodes of Chuck, NCIS: LA and Battlestar Galactica.

Sunday, 12/4/11 to Saturday, 12/10/11

I ran 3 times this week, 26.4 miles.

Sunday, 12/4/11: 13.1 miles, 1:49:33, 8:22 pace, 55F, sunny, a bit windy, 3 stops, foot pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Up and Down the Genesee River

Christine and I really don't get out early to exercise ... but after some pre-run stretches we did. Christine headed to Planet Fitness for a hard cardiac workout on the bicycle.

I christened my new pair of Brook Adrenaline GTS 12s and headed out.

 I stopped for two packets of Gu at 6.43 miles, 51:53, 8:03 pace. I adjusted the sock on my right foot. I continued onward on the west side of the Genesee River. My feet started to hurt around mile 10 but I just continued onward. I did slow, the last 6.67 miles were in 8:34 pace. I made it up the stairs to the apartment and just about collapsed. Christine gave me a bottle of Powerade, then I just sat. I discovered that I had a small blister on my 2nd left toe.

Yes, the Buffalo Bills lost yet another game ... 17-23 to the Tennessee Titans to go 5-8, link here.

A nice supper of spare ribs, rice and broccoli also helped wit the post-run recovery. We watched our latest Redbox.com DVD, The Adjustment Bureau.

Monday, 12/5/11: A most definite rest day!

I definitely felt the effect of yesterday's impromtu half marathon. My right foot and left hip twinged at various points in the day. Plus I didn't get enough sleep the night before. The combination made for a long day. Christine didn't feel up to snuff either.We should have gone to bed early but we stayed up to watch a DVR'd episode of Pan Am and Hawaii Five-O. It's how we roll.

Tuesday, 12/6/11: 6.0 miles, 46:02, 7:40 pace, 37F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill run, 3 Y's

A busy day at work so I was more than ready for a run. I picked up Christine at the doctors and then we headed down to Fleet Feet in Brighton just in time. We headed out from where we parked. I wound my way through the middle of the pack up Monroe Ave, mile 1 was 7:46. I caught up with Bill Beyerbach just as I got to Cobbs Hill. We pounded out 2 Y's (miles 2, 3 and 4 were 8:14, 7:51 and 7:58) before he headed back. He is still getting over a cold. I pounded out another Y, mile 5 was 7:25, then I sped down Monroe Ave back to the store, mile 6 was 6:48. Sweet! The new Adrenalines felt a lot better than last Sunday. Maybe I had my Zensah compression socks on too tight.

Wednesday, 12/7/11: Rest day.

Just your average rest day after a day of work. Christine and I had a marvelous supper of leftover ribs, chicken, rice and salad. We settled down to watch DVR'd episode of Castle, NCIS: LA and Pan Am.

Thursday, 12/8/11: Rest day.

A slow day at work plus  my right thigh was tight during the day plus I was incredibly hungry after I shopped at Wegmans. Christine and I had a quick supper of rotisserie chicken and salad. We ended up watching a old James Bond movie, A View to a Kill.

Friday, 12/9/11: 7.3 miles, 56:33, 7:45 pace, 33F, night, a bit windy, real light snow, 1 stop for hydration, small blister on 2nd left toe.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Happy Hour run, 4.2 + 3.1

A slow day at work is usually followed by a busy day ... so it was very busy today. I definitely needed a run so Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet. I headed out just nice and easy and just kept running. I did the 4.2 mile route, then followed it up the 3.1 mile route. I found that you have to have an eye out for small potholes in the dark ... and even then you can't really see them. I caught the edge of several of them. My blister was caused by a bunched sock. Christine headed out for a 2 mile run.

Christine made a very nice (and late) supper of salmon burgers, potato pancakes along with a salad of spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes.

We were kind of tired for some odd reason ... and went to bed early.

Saturday, 12/10/11: Rest day.

After a nice morning stretch, I headed out to Newark to get my father's mail, sort and pick up my oldest son's stuff that he left behind when he moved to UMass and see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. He seemed alert but slurred his words a bit more than when I last saw him.

Back home, we had leftovers for supper. Then we watched the current DVR'd episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Just gotta get our weekly fix!

Sunday, 11/27/11 to Saturday, 12/3/11

I ran 2 times this week, 10.3 miles
Month of November: 105.6 miles, 17 runs in 30 days, 6.2 miles/run
2011 to date: 1050.7 miles, 170 runs in 333 days, 6.2 miles/run

Sunday, 11/27/11: 3.1 miles, 20:54, 6:45 pace, 62F, cloudy, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.


Christine and I did our usual pre-race stretching before we headed down to the Brewery in Honeoye Falls for the first Polar Cat. Christine and I both signed up for the series. The weather was quite pleasant for late November, certainly not polar! I started out hot at 6:22 pace for the first mile when one runner passed me. I held my position the rest of the way. I felt sluggish during mile 2, 7:05 pace, and mile 3, 6:43 pace, but kept going. I cruised the last tenth in 6:15 pace. I think I should have warmed up better with a mild jog but I did break 21 minutes. I wore my Zensah compression socks for the first time ... they certainly felt funny at first!


I came in around 2:00 on this YouTube video.

I cooled down for a bit, then waited for Christine to come in. I was a bit worried but she come in at just under 1 hour.

I did OK. I finished 9th out of 64, link here. I was 2nd out of 5 in my M50-54 age group, link here. Christine's last name got misspelled but she is in there.

We stopped and looked around the new Fleet Feet store in Greece on our way home. Shortly afterward, the Bills lost to the Jets, 24-28, link here. One glaring cause was an excessive celebration by Stevie Johnson after a Bills TD that gave the Jets a short field to score an easy TD in the 2nd quarter. Hello ... are you brain dead?? Kinda of just like the bicycle riders who wear all black at night with their hoodies up and expect me to see them!

Monday, 11/28/11: Rest day.

Just a tedious day at work. I checked what my company thought the serial number was and what it actually was for 201 printers which took all day. After 3 years, there were some errors. Opps!

Christine and I finally watched our dusty NetFlix DVD, The Fighter. I looked online and found that it has been sitting around since 9/26/11. It was a very good boxing movie ... we were impressed!

Tuesday, 11/29/11: Another rest day.

Not very much sleep ... coupled with a very hectic day at work produced a rest day. Christine and I took a nap before supper then lounged around before we watched a nice DVR'd episode of Battlestar Galactica, Scar.

Wednesday, 11/30/11: 7.2 miles, 56:53, 7:53 pace, 34F, night, a bit windy, 1 stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to Winona Blvd and back

It was the end of November so I just had to get out for a run. I really wanted to get to 100 miles for the month. I headed out and just ran. I added a bit of hill and took a bit of walk when I came back up. I concentrated on speed and form on the last 2 miles or so. Sweet! Christine went out to Planet Fitness for her workout.

We had a rather late supper of fish, rice and salad while we watched a DVR'd movie, The Rocketeer.

Thursday, 12/1/11: Rest day.

We watched our new NetFlix move, Aeon Flux. A nice movie with Charlize Theron.

Friday, 12/2/11: Another rest day.

I picked up my Brooks Racing Team order from Fleet Feet Sports .. a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTX 12 and Brooks Cascadia GTX ... sweet!!!!

A long day that would have better when followed by a run but I bagged it. Christine fixed up a homemade stew for supper, mmm! We watched a Redbox movie, Captain America, The First Avenger. This time I remembered to go past the credits to see the trailer for the follow on movie, The Avengers, coming out in May 2012.

Saturday, 12/3/11: Yet another rest day. But ...... I anticipate a long run on Sunday!

Chistine did some morning stretches before I slipped out to change her 2000 Cavalier's oil, after 5000 miles,  at Deltasonic. I managed to deflect their upsells on anti-freeze, power steering and fuel line products. We watched the latest DVR'd episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Sunday, 11/20/11 to Saturday, 11/26/11

I ran 4 times this week, 25.8 miles

Sunday, 11/20/11: 7.4 miles, 1:01:55, 8:22 pace, 58F, cloudy, windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Turkey Trot x 2

Christine and I really don't get started very well on weekend mornings when there isn't a race We do like to laze around! We finally got out to somewhere around the start line for the Turkey Trot in Webster sometime around 1:30PM. It was unseasonably warm, cloudy and windy. I ran with Christine until she turned off onto Burnett Rd, then picked up the pace and ran the road course twice. I picked up the pace in the last mile and then sprinted when I got back to the car. I was hauling ... the last pace was 4:51!

We stopped by Fleet Feet on the way back to pick up our Turkey Trot sweatshirts and race bibs. Then we settled down to watch the rest of the Bills-Miami game ... for about 10 seconds. The Bills lost 8-35, link here. The Cowboys-Redskins game was more interesting. The Cowboys won 27-24 in OT, link here.

We had a nice supper of spare ribs, sweet potato and salad. Then we settled in to watch 3 DVR'd episodes of The Mentalist ... Redjohn is back!

Monday, 11/21/11: Rest day.

Just your average rest day ... we watched DVR'd episodes of Hawaii Five-O.

Tuesday, 11/22/11: 10 miles, 1:19:48, 7:59 pace, 38F, cloudy, light rain, 1 stop, no pain.

Lots of stress ... so rather an argument with Christine I went out for a long run. I ran out to the lake nice and easy, 4.8 miles, 37:30, 7:48 pace. I stopped at the lake for a minute to watch the waves come in. I headed back, 5.2 miles, 42:19, 8:08 pace. My headlight appeared to getting dim on the way back plus I was getting drenched ... and a right nipple burn started to bother me. The stress was back at the apartment waiting for me ... the spectre of my relationship with my ex and my children that bothers Christine so much.

I found the door chained when I got back from my run. I had to beg Christine to let me in ... I was cold, wet and tired. When she let me in, I immediately stripped and took a hot shower. I started shivering uncontrollably for a bit, then took a hot tub soak. During the shower Christine left, then came back. We talked and agreed not to argue. Anyway, we kissed, made up and went to sleep.

Wednesday, 11/23/11: Rest day.

Not such a slow day at work as one would expect. We finally did our Thanksgiving grocery shopping ... all the whole turkeys were frozen so we got a huge turkey breast and a couple drumsticks.

Thursday, 11/24/11: 4.2 miles 29:26, 7:00 pace, 40F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

Christine and I made it out the site of the Webster Turkey Trot about an hour early. We parked our car at the Willink Middle School and took a shuttle bus. It was cold and frosty but there were anticipation in the air. The people just kept on coming ... over 4800 raced either the 2.5 or 4.4 mile race.

 The No Boundaries graduation pic!

Chilling before the start!

The start of the 4.4 mile race

I got to the start line with about 10 minutes to go ... but people kept on lining up in front of me. There was no start gun that I heard, people just started running. It was tough work getting around the slower runners, but after a 1/2 mile I was up to speed. The trek into the park was longer and more trail than I expected, and I ran out of energy but sloshed through the puddles to the finish line in 29:26.I did OK, I was 205th out of 2535, results here. I was 7th out of 103 in my M50-54 age group, results here.

I took some water and a banana and waited for Christine to finish her 2.5 mile race. She came across in 45:34, 3:01 faster than her practice run 2 weeks ago! She was drenched in sweat but glowing! She set a PR, 44:58, results here. She was 66th out of 75 in her F50-54 age group.

The finish of all 4400 finishers in 5 minutes!

We picked up our drop bags ... and then saw that the line for the shuttle bus to take us back to our cars was very long. So ... we walked 3.77 miles in 1:14 minutes back to our car. It was a long walk!

Later, Christine cooked up a marvelous Thanksgiving dinner ... a turkey breast and drumsticks, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, asparagus and cranberry sauce. The sweet thing is the loving touches that she put in each dish!

Mmm!

We ate until we were full ...the finishing touch was pumpkin pie ... much later!

Friday, 11/25/11: 4.2 miles, 30:19, 7:13 pace, 56F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Fleet Feet Backwards Happy Hour run

I, along with Christine, enjoyed a well earned day off from work. I headed down to the Wegmans in Newark to see my daughter. She was enjoying their free wi-fi. We caught up on things.

Christine and I headed down to the Brighton Fleet Feet for the Happy Hour run ... backwards since it was the last Friday of the month. I went out for the run. Christine was sore from her exercise yesterday so she stayed behind to Christmas shop. I ran easy ... for about 100 yards (maybe less), then kicked up into gear. I ran hard into the night and the miles flew by. I was kind of surprised to note my pace of 7:13. Sweet!

Christine and I had turkey leftovers - day 1. We watched DVR'd episodes of NCIS, a couple of Chucks and Castle before we hit the hay.

Saturday, 11/26/11: Rest day.

Christine and I just vegged all day. We watched DVR'd episodes of Greys Anatomy (2), Fringe, Private Practice (3) and Battlestar Galactica (2). By the end of the day, we really needed to get out of the house and be active, trust me!

Monday, 11/14/11 to Saturday, 11/19/11

I ran 2 times this week, 11.5 miles.

Monday, 11/14/11: A definite rest day.

A slow day at work. Christine and I stretched our aching muscles before we enjoyed leftovers for dinner. The hard drive in my laptop would not boot ... no worries though. Most of my data was on a thumb drive. I sucked a bit of data from the old hard drive onto another laptop, installed some apps and was soon back in business. We watched DVR'd episodes of Pan Am, and got up to date on Fringe and Charlie's Angels. It is nice just fast forwarding through commercials ... when we remember!

Tuesday, 11/15/11: 5.2 miles, 42:42, 8:13 pace, 44F, night, calm, no stops, mild lower right hamstring pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobbs Hill run, 2 Y's

Christine and I went down to Fleet Feet for the usual Cobbs Hill run. I wore my old Brooks Adrenalines with 550 miles on them and took along my trail shoes. I didn't pound off the mud off my trail shoes like I should have and just ran ... which I regretted after about the first Y. I started to feel a pain in my lower right hamstring. I did another Y and then just ran really nice and easy to the store. The pain stopped as soon as I stopped running so I think it was the shoes and not the Dirt Cheap Stage Race miles over the weekend.

A lot of drama with my youngest son ensued. He is being forced to find a place to live by January 1st because his mother is moving to a 1 bedroom apartment. So he most likely will have to find another job and quit FLCC. One of these days he will start treating other people like he would like to be treated. But he has a lot of anger to work through. One of his beefs with his mother and I is that he has never got the support that his older sibliings had. I had to move them out of state plus going to see them while in college, etc. In retrospect, I think he is correct. I hope he can forgive me some day.

Wednesday, 11/16/11: Rest day.

Christine went out for her "No-Bo" run down at Genesee Valley Park. She said the wind was a bit brutal. She had left a plate of lasagna cooling before she left. We warmed it up and it was delicious! Then we watched an DVR'd episode of NCIS before I fell asleep.

Thursday, 11/17/11: Another rest day.

I got home from work late, the wind was whipping, a light snow was falling ... so I bagged it and we had warmed up lasagna for supper. More DVR'd episodes of NCIS and NCIS: LA ensued.

Friday, 11/18/11: 6.3 miles, 48:43, 7:44 pace, 37F, night, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect for Out to Cooper Rd

Work was particularly bad for a Friday ... time just dragged plus my pay didn't have my travel expenses. So I will be short until next pay period when it was made up. Aargh! So I really needed to run. I finally got out and just ran ... I concentrated on reaching out and noticed that my heart rate went down with the same pace again. I achieved my goal ... zen. Now if non-running life was so easy.

Saturday, 11/19/11: Rest day.

Christine could have gone down to Genesee Valley Park for her last Saturday morning "No-Bo" run but we had other ideas. When we emerged I got my hair cut ... goodbye curls! Then we headed down to Newark. We picked up my father's mail and ate lunch at Wendy's. Then we headed to my ex's where we disassembled my oldest son's digital piano and wrapped the various pieces in blankets. A road trip to UMass Amherst is in our future to deliver this and all his other stuff that he left behind. While we were there my youngest son continued his new silent treatment and slipped out to go to work. Then we headed out to the Wayne County Nursing Home to see my father. Christine had allergies and stayed out in the car. My father looked good. His memory isn't too good so I explained to him again what has happened in my life and what everyone is doing. Later, back up at the apartment, we had leftover lasagna for supper and watched 6 (yes, 6) DVR'd episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Stage Race, 11/12/11 to 11/13/1113th

11/12/11: 3.4 miles, 30:42, 8:59 pace, 38F, sunny, windy, no pain.

The Dirt Cheap Stage Race, 2011 edition. Another excellent Yellow Jacket Racing event! Here are the highlights that I can remember ...

Christine and I made it down to the Beach parking lot of Mendon Ponds Park around 7:55AM just in time for her "No-Bo" workout. She ran the Summerfest 5K course. She did well with a few walks. She faced a stiff headwind on the way back. Later she said that she didn't know she had so many muscles that could ache. I am very proud of her. I can feel the difference in her legs.

The weather was a bit chilly so I wore my tights, long sleeve T and my Brooks Racing Team tank. Of course I wore my lucky orange Fleet Feet hat. I ran/walked the 1.25 miles out to the site of Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Stage Race (DCSR) #1 on Pond Rd. There I hung out with fellow Brooks Racing Team members before the race started at 9AM.



DCSR #1 was a time trail race with runners going off at 5 second intervals. My bib number was 27 so I went off pretty early. The course was mostly uphill for the first 1/2 mile or so but I settled into a rhythm.

Up and down went the tough course ... but as I went over a rise I followed the runner in front of me and missed a hard right turn (marked by at least 10 flags). I heard some yells behind me but just followed the runner in front of me for a bit and other runners followed me. Hey, I was on a wide trail ... then I saw flags in front of me and thought I was just coming up on a marked trail. But then I saw runners coming up that trail in the opposite direction. Then I put 2 and 2 together and figured out that I had missed a turn. I turned around and tried to tell the runners who were following me. I saw the turn (and the 10 flags) I missed and went back on course. Judging from the Garmin map I think I went about 1/4 mile off course and lost about 2 to 3 minutes. Oh well! I continued on and finished.

Even with the detour, I did OK. I finished 68th out of 146, results here. I was 12th out of 24 in my M50-59 age group, results here. I had run this stage three times now and missed that turn twice ... this time I turned back and ran the course as it should be ran. Boots uploaded a video of runners walking up one of the steep hills, I am at the end of the 30 second video, link here.

Christine and I hung out at Stewart Lodge where I chowed down on 2 pancakes, scrambled eggs and a banana. Then we headed out the site of DCSR #2, the Devil's Bathtub, so we could get a good parking spot. There we hung out some more until the race started at 1PM. The weather warmed up nicely before the race.

11/12/11: 4.63 miles, 42:13, 9:07 pace, 50F, sunny, not as windy, no pain.



The pre-race instructions by Ellen included "It's up to you to follow the trail, don't follow the runner in front of you or you will get LOST". It was kind of funny! DCSR #2 was a mass start with 176 runners. It was a bit crowded at first but soon opened up as I settled into a trail groove. One of the steep downhills was very slippery due to the fallen leaves. The path soon entered a muddy creek bed right next to the twisty trail. I chose the mud most of the time, it seemed easier and safer than the roots on the twisty trail. The familiar trail went on as we came upon new challenges (roots, mud, leaves, etc).

 The infamous climb up the Devil's Bathtub stairs was enjoyed by all, lol!

I enjoyed the post race feat of hot dogs, cucumbers, carrots, cookies and an apple as we all talked about the day. I did OK. I finished 47th out of 176, link here. I finished 6th out of 29 in my M50-59 age group, link here.

Christine and I had an excellent dinner of spare ribs, baked potato and salad. Good food to stick to my ribs before tomorrow's DCSR #3. Afterwards, we got up to date with DVR'd episodes of Pan Am before hitting the hay. We are enjoying this 60s period drama with the women in dresses, heels and gloves ... it may only last a season though.

Sunday, 11/13/11: 10.43 miles, 1:45:51, 10:09 pace, 56F, cloudy, windy, some stops, a bit of pain.



Christine and I headed back down to Mendon Ponds Park for DCSR #3. We arrived around 8:40AM. The weather was warmer than yesterday morning. I wore compression shorts, a short sleeve T and my Brooks Racing Team tank. I pounded off yesterday's mud off my trail shoes, picked up my race bib and tag.

 Me, Mark, John & Heather

The pre-race instructions by Ellen were even funnier than yesterday with 4 different "... or you will get LOST!" Here is a link to Ellen's instructions here.

The start was a bit tricky with lots of leaves and rocks but I soon settled into a fast trail groove as we ran along the beach for a bit.

I was soon ahead of Heather, Mark and Bill. I knew I was going out a bit hot but I felt good. I ran with Heather for about a mile when she caught me around mile 3ish.The course took us over a lot of the same trails that I ran for DCSR #1 and #2. This time I made that sharp right uphill turn that I had trouble with in DCSR #1. I had a couple of Gu packets stashed in the back of my shorts but with my gloves on I couldn't get them out when I approached a water stop at mile 5. Luckily they had some Powerbar Gel on the table. I gulped one and some water while Bill and about 10 other runners passed me. I had a bit of trouble getting back into the groove but put mind over matter and continued. I felt a cramp in my right thigh at times but I just ignored it and it just came and went. I had water at mile 7. I ran in the same muddy creek bed as DCSR #2 at one point while the trail was right next to it all twisty and full of roots ... and found a LOT of mud as my right foot went down in the mud to about mid calf ... nice! I ran with Holly who is moving to Cali for a bit at mile 8, Mark passed me after she talked with him for a bit. I had asked Christine to meet me up at Devil's Bathtub. She was there with a jug of water and encouragement at mile 9.

Heading into the Devil's Bathtub at mile 9

I had been slowly catching up to Bill and soon passed him shortly afterward. I gave him encouragement as I passed. The finish line was soon in sight. Christine just made it back to Stewart Lodge before I steamed up the final hill to finish in 1:45:51, a 7:03 minute PR from last year. Sweet!!

Gritting my teeth and digging for the finish!

I took a couple drinks of water after the finish and then realized that I really had to refuel right now! I chowed down on a full plate of pasta, salad, cookies, cucumbers, carrots along with apple cider and felt much better. The swag was a 2011 DCSR hooded sweatshirt in navy blue. As Ellen said, "We earned it!".

My muddy legs ... my right leg is not really a different color, just a trick of the lighting

I wiped off the mud and changed my muddy trail shoes, socks and sweaty top for my road shoes, fresh socks and new swag. I talked with fellow runners as we cooled down from a most excellent DCSR. I noticed some trail wounds on other runners ... scratches, scrapes and a sprained ankle but nothing serious.

Here are more pics of finishers charging up the last hill to the finish.

I know that some people would think that my running and this blog is all about competition between myself and others but it is about fun too. Yes, I run hard and I try to run competitively but I thoroughly enjoyed running this weekend.

So ... I did pretty well. I finished 56th out of 164, link here. I was 9th out of 31 in my M50-59 age group, link here. For those keeping score, I was 45th out of 126 in the series, link here.

Christine and I made it home shortly after noon and collasped. She took a nap, she was still hurting from yesterday's 5K "No-Bo" run. I uploaded my Garmin, followed all the various comments about the DCSR on Facebook and continued writing this post on Blogger. When Christine woke up, she uploaded her pics and video to her Kodakgallery site and fixed a tasty supper of homemade beef and vegetable soup, mmm! We tried to watch TV but just couldn't concentrate. I couldn't stay awake so we went to bed at 9PM.

What a sweet weekend of trail running ... long live the Dirt Cheap Stage Race! Thanks to everyone at Fleet Feet, Yellow Jacket Racing and all the volunteers for a fanastic event!

Sunday, 11/6/11 to Friday, 11/11/11

I ran 3 times in 6 days, 15.1 miles

Sunday, 11/6/11: A rest day that turned into 3.6 miles, 29:21, 8:09 pace, 44F, night, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to Wegmans for quarters

This day started out so well but went downhill. It was the end of Daylight Savings Time so we got an extra hour of sleep ... so Christine and I got more sleep than usual; 14 and 9, respectively. I headed out to get the Sunday paper (which is getting worth less and less) and Dunkin Donuts for 2 coffee danishes. Then we watched the Buffalo Bills lose to the New York Jets, 27-10, link here. It was a beautiful afternoon so I vacuumed out our cars.

Meanwhile Christine and I had started a disagreement about ... what else? The only thing we disagree about is my relationship with my ex and my children. I love her dearly but I made the mistake of telling her stuff that shall remain best kept in private. Suffice to say that the disgreement continued while we started laundry and ate supper. Supper was excellent though: spare ribs and sweet potatoes. When Christine misplaced the purse with the quarters in it she just up and left with her car. I pondered what to do as I folded the towels. My solution was that I ran to Wegmans to get $3 worth of quarters so I could dry the 2nd load. While I was typing this Christine came home from who knows where ... just saying that she was looking for quarters. There was a bit of tension between us but we kissed, made up and went to bed.

Monday, 11/7/11: Rest day.

I took Christine to get her nails done. Then we settled down for an excellent pasta dinner, just relaxed and listened to some jazz.

Tuesday, 11/8/11: 6.1 miles, 49:21, 7:46 pace, 55F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobbs Hill run, 3 Y's

Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet for our usual Cobbs Hill run. Two reps from Craft were there. Christine noticed that I had on my long sleeve half zip tech shirt on wrong-way out so she had some fun stripping me so I could try on one of their Craft baselayers, (my impression after wearing it during the workout was that it was nice but way too hot for a 55F night). I headed up nice and easy but that is faster than everyone else. I just motored up each Y and cruised down each Y. I carried a hand bottle of water this time so I was OK. My nice and easy this year used to be my fast last year.

We had leftovers for supper and then settled down to watch a couple of DVR'd episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Wednesday, 11/9/11: 5.4 miles, 41:28, 7:41 pace, 56F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Genesee Valley Park - east on the Canal Trail, back on streets

Christine and I headed down to Genesee Valley Park for her "No-Bo" workout. We got there with 5 minutes to spare. I saw her heading north before I headed south to the Canal Trail, then out east. I went out 2.55 miles in 20:00, 7:51 pace. I was a bit concerned about how dark and desolate the Canal Trail was so when I got to East Henrietta Rd I headed back on streets just making up my own way ... 2.85 miles, 21:28, 7:32 pace. I just ran nice and easy, enjoying the night. Christine enjoyed her workout ... she said her breathing was good and that she didn't have a problem with shin splints.

Afterward, Christine and I stopped at the Distillery in Greece for a couple of turkey burgers and hydration. When we got home listened to jazz, stretched again and fell into a satisfied sleep.

Thursday, 11/10/11: Rest day.

A very hectic day at work turned into a kind of hectic night as I just puttered around the apartment getting stuff done ... stuff like balancing my checkbook and doing a little work from home. Christine made an excellent supper of haddock, baked potatoes and brussel sprouts.

Friday, 11/11/11: Rest day.

I headed down to Fleet Feet after work to pick up my race bib for tomorrow's Dirt Cheap Stage Race #1 and to pick up Christine's pink No-Bo shirt. It was the last one in her size ... sweet!

Sunday, 10/30/11 to Saturday, 11/5/11

I ran 4 times this week, 30.85 miles.

Sunday, 10/30/11: 6.45 miles, 59:21, 9:12 pace, 52F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park - Blue and Green trail loop

I never get up too early on Sunday mornings. I made it out to Mendon Ponds Park around 1:30PM. I met up there with Bill Beyerbach. We ran out on the now familar Blue and Green trail with a loop out to the East Lodge. There were a  lot of horseback riders on the trail. We passed a group of three and a group of four several times. I do feel a lot safer when I see horses coming towards me instead of catching them from behind. I am feeling more confident about running 20K in the Mendon Trail runs next Saturday. Bill suggested that I treat the first 10K loop as a warm up and then start picking off runners on the second 10K loop. Maybe, maybe not.

It is truly unbelievable ...  the Buffalo Bills are 5-2 after running over the hapless Washington Redskins 23-0, link here.

Monday, 10/31/11: Rest day.
I ran 19 times in 31 days during October,  112.6 miles, 5.9 miles/run. 5 out of 10 months > 100 miles!
Up to the end of October 2011, 153 times in 303 days, 945.1 miles, 6.2 miles/run

I wanted to get our laundry done ... but we never seemed to want to leave the apartment. So we did a couple of loads down in the basement. My dress clothes and our tech running wear are clean at least! We watched a DVR'd episode of Greys Anatomy before hitting the hay.

Tuesday, 11/1/11: 5.7 miles, 48F, dusk, no pain.

Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet for the usual Cobbs Hill run. I ran up with Bill Beyerbach nice and easy, 1.65 miles. Our plan was to run loop repeats of 3/4 mile on the reservoir road. I tried to use the lap function on my Garmin which was unsuccessful so all the info is from Bill's Garmin. The first loop was 6:36 pace, the second loop was 6:38 pace. We didn't take any water so I was parched. I had to take the third loop easy, 7:20 pace. The 1.8 mile run back to the store was nice and easy at first, then a bit harder. Next time I will just reset my Garmin for each loop, no worries. Christine's legs bothered her so she ran up to the corner of Monroe Ave and Highland Ave and back, about 2 miles.

We watched Primetime On Demand episodes of NCIS, NCIS LA and Castle before hitting the hay. I guess we like crime dramas!

Wednesday, 11/2/11: Rest day.

I convinced Christine to go out to her "No-Bo" workout at Genesee Valley Park without me. I stayed home to do the dishes and clean the bathroom. She came back all glowing about her workout: 1 minute walk, 6 minutes run times 6. She said she did every run except one in the middle and picked off runners in the last one. I am so proud of her!

We watched more Primetime On Demand: 3 episodes of NCIS: LA to get caught up before going to bed. 45 minutes per episode with only one commercial per break versus 60 minutes with tons of commercials certainly was nice!

Thursday, 11/3/11: 6.3 miles, 49:48, 7:54 pace, 50F, dusk, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to Cooper Rd

Christine and I headed in different directions for our runs. She headed out to Planet Fitness for a treadmill. I headed out onto the roads of Irondequoit. I did just your ordinary run: 6.3 miles. The first 5K was 24:28, 7:54 pace. The next 3.2 miles was 25:20, 7:55 pace. I did concentrate on my form, stretching out. pushing off with my ankles and trying to pump my arms (which I ordinarily don't do). My heart rate was interesting, it spiked right away up to 160 with a max of 171 which is normal for me. Then after 10 minutes it leveled off to around 140 for the rest of the way ... I didn't decrease my effort or speed. Maybe concentrating on form led to more efficient and less strenuous running ... hmm! I did find out that my old and reliable (up to now) Princeton Fuel headlight would not stay on unless I held the on/off button down ... oh well! I really could have used it once it got dark, eek!

Christine made an old family recipe for supper called potato chip casserole. Mmm, it was good! Then we settled down to watch DVR'd episodes of The Mentalist, Pan Am and Hawaii Five-O.

Friday, 11/4/11: Rest day.

I stopped by Fleet Feet to pick up my race number for tomorrow's Mendon Trail Run. I also purchased a Black Diamond Cosmo 55 lumen headlight to replace my faulty Princeton Fuel headlight. We watched DVR'd episodes of Castle and Greys Anatomy after a pizza supper.

Saturday, 11/5/11: 12.4 miles, 1:55:25, 9:18 pace, 27-40F, sunny, calm, no pain.

I took Christine out to her "No-Bo" workout out in Webster. She ran the 2.5 mile Turkey Trot course in 48 minutes. She was quite happy and very glad to be out on such a beautiful morning. Then she caught a ride with a No-Bo mentor down to Mendon Ponds Park to meet back up with me and her car which I had driven down there.

The start ...

I made it down to Mendon Ponds Park around 9:15AM for the start of the 5K, 10K and 20K Mendon Trail Runs at 9:30AM. The 50K run had already started at 8AM. I was surprised that the course was backwards ... I had practiced for the past month but in the opposite direction so all the ups were now down and all the downs were now ups. The start was frosty and very sunny.  I struck out a fast trail pace as I settled into the pack of runners. I still managed to not stop on loop 1 as I had planned. I slapped hands with Bill Beyerbach as I finished loop 1 in 54:44, 8:50 pace. I didn't see Christine, I later learned that she was making a run to Wegmans for the race organizers. I quickly changed my heavy gloves for a lighter pair, took a slug of water and headed back out for loop 2. Wilt Alston passed me around mile 8, then I passed and exchanged pleasantries with shirtless (of course) Tom Butler who was in his loop 3 of 5. I did trip but managed not to fall a couple of times so I knew I was getting tired. I focused on my footing the rest of the way and did walk a couple of hills. I looked at my Garmin at about a mile to go, 1:46. I knew the course was relatively flat until the end so I just put it in gear and knew that sub 2 hour finish was mine. I managed a loop 2 of 1:00:41, 9:47 pace, for a total time of 1:55:25, 9:18 pace. I last ran this 20K way back in 2006 with a time of 2:12:55. I felt pretty good afterward with some minor stiffness.

Loop 1

Loop 2 (my light gloves are a different color)

All in all, what a beautiful and frosty morning for a race! I did OK. I was 32nd out of 69, results here. I was 8th out of 13 in my M50-59 age group, results here.

Wilt Alston, cruising in about 2 minutes ahead of me ... 5th in my age group.

Gritting my teeth for the finish line ... like usual!

Shirtless Tom Butler ... cruising in after 5 loops of 10k!

3 ultra ladies with "What you think, you become" T shirts

We stopped by Starbucks on the way home so we could relax, have a couple of skinny vanilla lattes and warm up my hands. We lounged around for a long while as we uploaded our Garmins and updated our status to Facebook. Since we had a Groupon deal that begged to be used, we headed out to the Crab Shack. I had lobster and Christine had fish fry. The manager gave us a free dessert so we shared chocolate cake ... Mmm! Then we enriched the local economy at BJ's, Walgreens and Wegmans before calling it a day. For some reason, we were kind of tired. I should have went to bed early like Christine did but instead stayed up and puttered around. All in all, a pretty enjoyable Saturday!