Sunday, 5/13/12 to Saturday, 5/19/12

I ran 7 times this week, 37.92 miles

Sunday, 5/13/12: Mendon Ponds Park, 12.00 miles, 1:59:06, 9:55 pace, 65F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park - Blue & Green trail x 2

I headed down solo to Mendon Ponds Park for my Sehgahunda Training of 2 hours on trails. I wore my road shoes so I needed to stay on dry trails. My trail shoes were still wet from the day before. So I chose the Blue and Green trails that I know so well. I settled into a nice, slightly hard pace and covered the first loop in 6 miles, 57 minutes. I took in 2 GUs when I walked a bit of the Blue trail for 4 minutes. Then I hiked it up and continued on. I spooked a couple of does, saw a couple of horses, several people walking their dogs and a couple of trail runners. A bit of excitement was when I had to herd a friendly and unleashed collie back to its owner when it wanted to run with me. I think it would have ran with me all the way back to the Beach parking lot, lol! All in all, a great morning run ... sweet! I am beginning to like early morning runs ... you do get the run in and have the rest of your day before you!

Later, we celebrated Mother's Day by going out and enriching the Rochester economy. We went to Charlotte Appliance and purchased a new Simmons queen bed and Lane leather recliner sofa. Both were sorely needed. Christine's back has been bothering her. Then we headed out to MacGregor's for some dinner, a Prime Rib Au Jus sandwich for Christine and a Country Club sandwich for me.

Monday, 5/14/12: Rest day.

A nice rest day. Christine and I went out to Wegmans for some supplies and ate pepporoni pizza for supper. We caught up on the season ender for Castle (Beckett and Castle hook up!) and Grey's Anatomy (I called the latest castastrophe before it happened!) from our trusty DVR.

Then I watched the end of the Celtics - 76er's game 2 of the East Semi-Finals, link here. Yay, 76er's! Though the illegal pick call against the Celtics was not a call that needed to be made with 0:12 to go. The series is tied 1-1 with 1 point wins for both teams. I tried to stay awake during the Lakers - Thunder game 1 of their West Semi-Finals, link here. Alas, it was a predictable 29-point away blowout loss against a 8 day rested home team with something to prove.

Tuesday, 5/15/12: Another rest day.

The queen bed that we bought at Charlotte Appliance was delivered today. It's a bit higher and definitely a firm mattress. Christine really likes it. Me ... I can't tell much difference.

I could have ran after work but didn't. Christine cooked up an excellent roaster chicken along with corn and green beans, yum! We settled in to watch 3 episodes of Fringe off of the DVR. Just a bit behind on Fringe ... 4 more to go!

Wednesday, 5/16/12: Dirt Cheap #2

Christine and I headed to Webster Park early for Dirt Cheap #2. We were rewarded with a close parking spot which was really nice after the race. Christine had a massive headache and stayed in the car. She provided support when I came by to check on how she felt. I really liked that she came out.

I headed out for a short warmup run before the race. Afterward, I decided to just wear my Brooks Racing Team singlet. I knew I would get too warm with a T-shirt underneath it.
Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Dirt Cheap #2 - 2012



I started the race out hot as we raced down the dirt road for about 500 yards (according to Boots) before we hit single track trail. I ran pretty hard through the early part of the race, really hitting it to keep up. Then after a mile I slowed as we ran in a creek bed for 100 yards. My feet were water logged for the rest of the race. I took a swallow of water at the water stop and didn't cough it up! Now my plan was to hold my place but keep it cranked as best as I could. I ran behind the same guy for about 2 miles as we went up and down, through mud and slop. I passed him on a hill and then caught up to Bill Beyerbach. He somehow knew it was me behind him and graciously let me by. The course seemed to last forever but finally I was done ... with nothing left. I crossed the line in 46:50 which was a course PR for me. I was amazed that none of my mile splits were over 9 minutes. I felt a bit tired in the latter stages of the race but I didn't feel the urge to stop and walk so I just kept running.

I found some quality mud ...

I had some post race grub ... just a hot dog and banana along with a few cookies. I was getting chilled so I quickly changed into some dry clothes and shoes. Christine has taught me to be prepared. So ... usually I am. I did OK, I finished 50th out of 284, link here. I was 2nd out of 21 in my M50-54 age group ... way behind Jim Roche, who is a young and fast 51.

I stayed up and watched the Lakers go up by 7 over the the Thunder with 2:08 to go ... then fail to score the rest of the way and lose by 2, 75-77, link here. The Thunder are up 2-0. Meanwhile, the Celtics went up 2-1 on the 76er's, link here.

Thursday, 5/17/12: Rest day.

Just your normal rest day. We had some leftover pasta and chicken, yum! Then Christine went out for a massage at MassageEnvy. I puttered around and them we watched another episode of Fringe. Meanwhile, the Pacers rolled over the Heat (Boo, LeBron and Wade!), link here. The Pacers are up 2-1. Also, the Spurs continued their march through the playoffs over the Clippers, link here. The Spurs are up 2-0 on the Clippers and are on a 16 game winning streak.

Friday, 5/18/12: 10K around the streets of Irondequoit, 68F, 45:19, 7:19 pace, sunny, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connection Activity for 10K around the streets of Irondequoit

Christine and I said a long hello after I came home from work. I could have stayed on the couch and almost did. But ... what fun would that be? I got out late but I did get out. My Sehgahunda Training called for 45 minutes easy ... maybe not. I headed out as my usual 10K course that I found around the streets of Irondequoit. I started out nice and easy for a mile, then I put the hammer down. I had negative splits: 8:07, 7:28, 7:14, 7:08, 7:00, 6:57. It felt great!!

Later I did some quality NBA watching. The 76ers in Phillie against the Celtics were booed off the court at half down by 15, down 19 early in the 3rd, pulled to 5 at the start of the 4th and won by 9, 92-83, even the series at 2-2, link here. I really tried to stay awake for the Lakers against the Thunder at home. I think I made it to the 3rd quarter. Anyway, the Lakers won 99-96, going 41-42 from the line, link here.

Saturday, 5/19/12: 3 runs of 12.6 miles total during the day

I woke up early to head down solo to Mendon Ponds Park for the Spring Class Duathlon around 7:30AM, Christine had a therapy appointment at 9AM. The event started at 8:30AM. I volunteered at the water stop for runners by the boat launch along with 2 other guys. Luckily it was a shady area. It was hectic at times but kind of fun seeing all these F1 runners (2 miles run, 10 miles bike, 1 mile run, 10 miles bike, 2 miles run) and Super Sprint runners (2 miles run, 10 miles bike, 1 mile run) run past, sometimes in two directions. We were done around 11AM. Then it was time for my Sehgahunda Training which called for 2 hours of easy trails.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park - Blue and Green Trail

So I headed out for 1 loop of a normal trail run on the nice, tested and true Blue and Green trail. It had warmed up to around 76F so I just ran the 6 miles at a nice, sweaty and easy, 57:28, 9:31 pace.

Garmin Connect Activity for Russell's House to Home

I headed home via Russell's house. I dropped off our car to have him look at the A/C. I ran home, 3.2 miles, 29:52, 9:23 pace in the 82F heat. Again, nice, uphill, sweaty and easy.

Garmin Connect Activity for Home to Russell's House

Russell called and told us that our car needed a new A/C hose that wouldn't be in until Tuesday. So ... I ran back to retrieve our car in the slightly cooler 78F heat at a slightly faster, 28:07, 8:13 pace. So the total running time over the 3 runs was a bit under 2 hours.

Later Christine cooked up some luscious BLTs for supper, yum! Meanwhile down at the Blue Cross Arena, the Rochester Knighthawks beat the Edmonton Rush, 9-6, to win the Champion's Cup, link here. Yay, Knighthawks! Meanwhile in the other NBA series that I am not watching ... the Spurs are up 3-0 on the Clippers and are on a 17 game winning streak, link here. I watched a bit of the Lakers - Thunder game 4, but I am gonna try to not know the score before I see it off the DVR tomorrow. I have to get early to run the Lilac 10K tomorrow morning.

Sunday, 5/6/12 to Saturday, 5/12/12

I ran 4 times this week, 43.32 miles.

Sunday, 5/6/12: Medved Madness, 14.63 miles, 2:33:59, 10:32 pace, 40-60F, sunny, calm.



Christine and I woke up around 6AM and made it out to Hopkinton Point at Mendon Ponds Park around 7:40AM for the 8AM start. My plan was to treat this as a long training run since I had run 17 miles the day before. My legs were more than a bit achy at the start for sure.

The race was a bit of a blur but here are the highlights that I remember. We found a lot of mud on loop 1. I was closely following a woman about a mile into this loop as we ran through a technical forest of pine trees, overhanging branches, roots and rocks. We came upon a creek too wide to jump with a steep bank on the other side.  So we all jump and splash into the creek! She jumped and didn't get up back up the other side. I had to jump to the left a bit to avoid her. I had trouble getting up the other side too. I gave her a hand up after I got out. We ran about 50 feet in the lake in thigh high water at the end of loop 1. It was a bit cold but refreshing! I stopped for about 5 minutes after I crossed the line of loop 1 to drain my shoes, change my socks and take off my black T shirt. It was getting warmer. I headed back out as I took a Gu. Loop 2 had very little mud and a lot of grassy fields. I took a Gel just after I crossed the line of loop 2.

Jeanne Herrick

Wilt Alston

Loop 3 had a lot of mud. Thanks to Jeanne Herrick for helping me out on the start of this loop when I didn't know which flags to follow. I remember running through about 100 yards of ankle deep water as I approached a bridge in the middle of this loop. Thanks to another woman runner who yelled out when I turned and ran the the wrong way for about 100 yards. I just settled into an economical pace, took a straight line through the mud and finished. I was more than ready to stop. The catered chicken dinner afterward was tasty. Thanks to Wilt Alston for his suggestion to wash my shoes and legs in the lake afterward. Christine drove home. She took a nap after we cuddled for a bit. I fueled with a banana and PB&J and washed it down with a some rice chocolate milk ... mmm! My muscles were sore and a hot shower to get the rest of the mud off felt really good!

Update from Wednesday, 5/9/12: The PCR timing results were finally posted. I finished 51st out of 88, link here. I finished 9th out of 15 in my M50-59 age group, link here. My results and I am sure those of everyone else are totally off. They have my time as 2:12:53, 21 minutes off. My leg 2 result seemed to be the culprit. I looked at  my Garmin data and figured that I ran leg 2 in 48 minutes not 30:53.

Later I dragged myself off to Wegmans to do a bit of grocery shopping before Christine and I had a leftover chicken and salad supper. We caught up on the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy off the DVR. I went to bed early and tried to get 8 hours of sleep.

Monday, 5/7/12: Rest day.

A day best forgotten. I was kind of achy and cranky all day. My customer service skills were not so evident at work. Things could have been more pleasant between Christine and I. Luckily she made up some comfort food: cheese and crackers along with some pizza. If I had a man cave I would have crawled inside it until I felt better. I really should have gone out for a run ... but I had run 37.8 miles in 41 hours over Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning so I really needed a rest day. But it would have helped ... everything is better after a run.

Tuesday, 5/8/12: Another rest day.

I really should have ran but I was starving for meat. So I stopped by Skip's Meat Market on Ridge Rd West to pick up 3.41 pounds of baby back ribs. Christine liked how they looked ... almost no fat on them! So she cooked them up with her not so secret recipe and we devoured all of them while we watched the last two episodes of GCB. Then I went to bed early at 10PM. I have been hungry and tired the past two days. But I feel a run coming on for tomorrow.

I did see something interesting during the day at the intersection of Lake Ave and Lexington Ave ... the Google Car! I saw it the next day on I-390S by MCC.

Wednesday, 5/9/12: Chapel Hill Drive hill repeats, 8 miles, 1:06:07, 8:16 pace, 58F, sunny, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Chapel Hill Drive hill repeats x 7

Christine and I hugged for a bit after work then I headed out for my Sehgahunda Training run. I went to the nearest hill that I could ... though it was 2.88 miles away, Chapel Hill Drive. Then I did 7 hill repeats of 0.28 miles each, then ran 2.94 miles back home. The temp was perfect. I felt great!

Thursday, 5/10/12: Rest day.

I had to take a day off from work to take my daughter down to Houghton College to see some friends. I was back before noon. Then I just puttered around. Christine and I then did 3 loads of  laundry downstairs. Exciting stuff ... maybe not. But we did watch the Star Trek DVD, the 2009 version.

Friday, 5/11/12: Around the streets of Irondequoit, 7.2 miles, 59:01, 8:13 pace, 68F, sunny, a bit windy, 1 stop for hydration, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

My Sehgahunda Training plan was to run a hour nice and easy. So I headed out onto the streets of Irondequoit on my usual 10K course plus another mile. I ran nice and easy, just enjoying the night. Christine cooked up a nice pasta dinner post run.

Saturday, 5/12/12: Run around Mendon Ponds Park, 13.49 miles, 2:42:33, 12:00 pace, 45-65F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Run around Mendon Ponds Park

I met up with the Sehgahunda Training group at Mendon Ponds Park at 7AMish. It was a perfect morning at the start, sunny and around 45F. A long, nice & easy group run ensued. We started on the Green & Blue trails. We saw Boots while he was setting up the Scrubs & Stethoscopes 5K when got back to the Beach parking lot. It had warmed up so we took a break and shed some shirts. Then we headed over towards the Devil's Bathtub where we found lots of mud ... we went straight through! Don and I did get lost for a bit. Luckily his Google Maps app showed us the right direction back to the Beach parking lot. I was definitely covered in mud ... sweet! I forgot to take a change of socks and shoes so I took them off before I even set foot in the apartment. Christine made me strip as soon as I got in, lol!

After some rest and a couple of lunches, we finally made it out. We stopped by the pond below Rochester Zoo  to watch the Mind the Ducks ultra runners run the 0.5 mile loop around the pond. We cheered on Tom Butler (53.922 miles) and Kim Rapp (56.373 miles) for a bit, results here.

The duck ... scared of the runners. The geese ... maybe not so much.

Kim Rapp

Tom Butler

Then we headed to Ashley Furniture to look at (but not buy) queen beds and leather recliner sofas. Pricey. We then headed to MacGregor's in Penfield for a well earned supper before heading to bed early.

Meanwhle, the LA Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets in a thrilling game 7 of their first round series., 96-87, links here and here. I forgot to DVR the game so I saw nada. Oh well! Now the Lakers get to play the Oklahoma City Thunder who have been resting after whipping the Dallas Mavericks 4-0 in their first round series.

Monday, 4/30/12 to Saturday, 5/5/12

I ran 5 times in 7 days, 41.57 miles (if you include the Flower City Half Maraton with its own post on 4/29/12).

Monday, 4/30/12: Rest day.
I ran 23 times in 30 days, 158.1 miles, 6.9 miles/run. The most miles in a month ever.

Just your normal rest day. Christine went out to get her nails done at Art Nails, a nail salon next to Fleet Feet Ridgeway. I stayed home and puttered around. Later we watched Six Days, Seven Nights with Harrison Ford, Ann Heche and David Schwimmer.

Tuesday, 5/1/12: Another rest day.

I thought about going out for a run.  But ... Christine had spare ribs fixed with Sylvia's Spare Ribs recipe ready ... so we ate. Mmm .... yummy, fall off the bone goodness along with a baked potato. Later we watched the lastest episodes of Hawaii Five O, NCIS: LA (the crossover episodes) and NCIS.

Wednesday, 5/2/12: Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill, 5.3 miles, 51:30, 9:48 pace, 70F, cloudy, calm, 3 stops for water, no pain.

I had a bad cramp in the morning right before I got out of bed. Christine helped me stretch it out before work.

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill

I knew I needed to work out but I really needed a soft run rather than a hard, harder and hardest run. So I decided to make up a Sehgahunda Training workout on my own. I did 3 loops of the switchback, stone path and the diagonal along with a brief warmup run and a longer cooldown run. There was a brief sprinkle which helped cool me down in the middle of the run. The smell of lilacs on the cooldown run was so fragrant!

I did a bit of vegetable shopping at Wegmans before I came home to a luscious BLT supper that was waiting for me ... perfect timing by my darling Christine. I think I'll keep her! Earlier in the day I received a text from Redbox, so later we watched a free DVD, Fast Five.

Thursday, 5/3/12: Rest day.

Christine and I just chilled after some vigorous cross training at Planet Fitness. We watched a bit of Frozen Planet just to have something on.

Friday, 5/4/12: 6.2 miles, 48:13, 7:47 pace, 72F, partly cloudy, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

I needed to get out for a run. So ... I just headed on my usual 10K route. My Sehgahunda Training said to go 1 hour nice and easy. But ... that is not how I run road. So I just ran, it felt great! The smell of lilacs as I ran past the the intersection of Winoma Blvd and St Paul St was so fragrant! One of the benefits of running during the month of May!

Saturday, 5/5/12: Sehgahunda Preview Run #4, 16.97 miles, 3:17:43, 10:48 pace, 50-60F, sunny, no pain.



This morning was the Sehgahunda Preview Run #4. My Sehgahunda Training workout was to run it twice. Christine and I dawdled a bit like usual and didn't make it down to CP6 until about 9:15AM. I geared up with my Camelbak and a pocket full of Gu and headed out. The route was from CP6 to the parade grounds and back. This route was the easiest of the four routes: a mile or so of trail, a mile of road and 2 miles or so of cinder trail before the parade grounds. Still ... it had its ups and downs, pun intended. The weather was kind of cool and cloudy at the start but it was warmer and sunny by the time I headed out on the second loop. I took a Gu when I got to the parade grounds and another when I got back to CP6.

Heading up to the parade grounds on loop 1

I met up with Christine when I got back to the parade grounds on the 2nd loop. She put sun screen on me when I ate a banana and a PB&J, then I headed back out. When I got back to CP6 I was more than ready to stop. Todd shared some of the sweetest pineapple that I had ever tasted ... mmm!

Christine drove home. We stopped at Medved to pick up my packet for the Medved Madness 15 mile Trail Race being held tomorrow morning. I know it's running a long race after running 17 miles ... but I intend to run it as a long training run. Then we stopped at the nearby Rookies's Bar & Grill for some fuel (bacon cheeseburger wraps) and hydration before heading home.

Flower City Half, 4/29/12

Sunday, 4/29/12: Flower City Half Marathon

Here are my recollections of the Flower City Half Marathon, another excellent race brought to the Rochester running community by Fleet Feet and Yellow Jacket Racing. There are way too many people to thank for such a large event but kudos to every last one of them. Christine ran the Wegmans Family 5K. She had not run since Easter. She was signed up so she ran.

I was up early. Christine's snoring woke me up around 4AM. I got out of bed around 4:40AM. I did some of the dishes that were left from the night before. I had my usual pre-race breakfast of cereal with banana and OJ. I woke Christine up at 5:30AM. The temperature outside was 30F and the winds were calm. We dressed quietly. I paused at 6:15AM to look at the sunrise ... quite a sight. I posted on Facebook that I was aiming for a sub 1:40 race ... just a bit of pressure. We left for the Blue Cross Arena at 6:24AM. There was almost no traffic until we got downtown. We found a parking spot opposite the Dinosaur BBQ, geared up and headed down to the Blue Cross Arena. Christine's No-Bo picture was first, then my Brooks Racing Team picture was next.

I dropped off my drop bag with dry postrace clothes down in the Fleet Feet Recovery Zone ... a perk for Brooks Racing Team members. Then I headed out for a short 1.1 mile warmup run at 7:48 pace.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Flower City Half



I got back from my warmup run with about 6 minutes to spare before the start. I lined up and got ready.

I dd turn around before the start ...

The lead pack of runners

Ellen counted us down and off we went at 7:30AM. The race first led us through the Susan B Anthony neighborhood where women in period costumes urged us onward.

I was running pretty well. Then we ran past Frontier Field and onto State St. When we got to Main St we could see the 5K runners up on Broad St starting their race. That was kind of cool. The race progressed up Main St and down East Ave to Brunswick St then back on Park Ave. I ran 5K in 22:52, 7:23 pace. Around the 4 mile mark, I stopped to rub my thighs for a few seconds. I was running well but they just felt off.

Mile 4.5 - East Ave and Oliver St

We turned onto South Goodman. I had a Gu and Gel at the water stop just before mile 6. I ran 10K in 46:41, 7:32 pace. We ran up South Goodman toward Highland Park. The spectator support here was very vocal along with signs and balloons.

The hills in Highland Park were certainly higher after having run 7 miles first. We entered Mt Hope Cemetery at mile 8. The cobblestone hill at the entrance was almost as difficult as a trail hill. The bagpiper at the top of that hill was nice. I ran with Mitch Moore for a bit. I ran very well past mile 9 once the Gu and Gel kicked in. I ran 15K in 1:10:58, 7:38 pace. I admit I used the "blonde ponytail" effect to pull me along before running past them and letting them follow me. We curved left and right, ran up and down for 2 miles before we exited. At mile 10, I saw Bill Beyerbach for a second to say "Hi". Just a 5K from here ...

Running through the U of R campus

Then we ran through the University of Rochester campus on the east side of the Genesee River for 2 miles. I saw Laura Church behind and beneath me as we curled up to the Ford St bridge to cross the Genesee River.

Crossing the Ford St bridge ... just under a mile to go!

I ran 20K in 1:34:07, 7:35 pace, with only 0.7 miles to go. I kept it cranked as I neared the finish line. I saw my darling Christine urging me on at mile 13 with a Go Doug! sign. I tried to pass one more runner, who just so happened to be in my age group, but he heard me and held me off. I closed the finish line ...  tired and thirsty.


Sprinting for the finish!

The bling!

The 1:40 pace leader, Andy Franks, came in behind me so I did go sub 1:40, actually 1:39:23, 7:34 pace. A lifetime PR by 48 seconds!! Woo hoo! I finished 220th out of 2251, link here. I was 16th out of 105 in my M50-54 age group, link here.

Meanwhile Christine did OK in her 5K. She ran a 54:02, 17:19 pace. She was 850th out of 892, link here. She was 60th out of 64 in her F50-54 age group, link here.

Christine and I headed inside the Blue Cross Arena for some grub and to use the Fleet Feet Recovery Zone. We stayed for a bit and swapped running stories with fellow runners. We left, walked slowly to our car and were home by 11AM. Christine took a long nap. Meanwhile, I had lunch and coffee. I uploaded my Garmin to my usual sites and caught up on Facebook. A lot of PRs were set at this race. Dan Giblin ran a 1:28:42 and then went out for a 51 mile bike ride!

Heather Danielson ran 40.785 miles in 6 hours at BPAC, 1st overall female ... awesome!

Others like Heather Danielson and Tom Butler had ultra running fun at the 6 hour BPAC out in Buffalo, results here.
I was just a bit sore the rest of the day. Christine woke up sorer than I was so I ended up going out to KFC for supper. Mmm!

There are still things I need to work on if I want to improve on road races. I need to concentrate more on my stride. I am sure I could push off more if I concentrated on it. I need to able to drink water on the run. I walked through the water stops when I took water. I looked and that cost me about 2 minutes. It is going to look funny but I think Christine and I will have to practice water stops until I figure out a way to drink water on the run without coughing most of it back up.

But still ... all in all, a great day! The Democrat and Chronicle had stories here and here. Hopefully the drivers inconvenienced by the seemingly endless stream of runners were inspired to exercise! It's good for you!

Sunday, 4/22/12 to Saturday, 4/28/12

I ran 4 times this week, 27.05 miles.

Sunday, 4/22/12: 5.8 miles, 46:25, 8:01 pace, 40F, cloudy, windy, no stops, no pain.

Christine and I had a lazy Sunday morning complete with the Sunday paper, coffee and a delicious cinnamon raisin bagel from DunkinDonuts. Mmm!

Garmin Connect Activity for Home to Russell's House

Later, I ran over to Russell's house to retrieve our car. I took the scenic route. He had fixed the air conditioner in our 2000 Chevy Cavalier. Funny thing though ... the forecast is for 1-3 inches of wet snow by Monday night. But I bet we will be glad the A/C works before long ... I hope!

On the LA Lakers front, they played the Oklahoma Thunder at home. They came from 17 down at the start of the 4th quarter to force OT and then win in the 2nd OT, 114-108, link here. I didn't see much of the game though.

Monday, 4/23/12: Rest day.

Well ... the weather on Monday was not pleasant. A real light snow, rain and mist all day, certainly dreary! Christine made up a beef stew with onions, celery and carrots served over couscous along with salad, yum! Afterward we caught up on 3 episodes of NCIS: LA and an episode of GCB off of the DVR.

A good rest night ... my achilles were bothering me when I had to go down stairs during the day.

Tuesday, 4/24/12: Sehgahunda Training at Washington Grove, 6.35 miles, 1:04:57, 10:14 pace, 44F, cloudy, light mist, calm, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training at Washington Grove

I headed down to Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill for the latest edition of Sehgahunda Training. Only 10 or so diehards showed up. We headed out to the Washington Grove after a warmup. Sean and Laura showed us a loop course ... so we looped around, charging the hills and resting on the flats and downs. It was a bit boring and unchallenging after enduring the Muddy Sneaker 20K last Saturday.

I did some grocery shopping at Wegmans and hit up the Redbox for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Christine cooked up some pulled pork, I added some potato chips. The movie was quite good in the things blowing up kind of way!

Wednesday, 4/25/12: Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill reservoir, 8.7 miles, 1:13:52, 8:30 pace, 54F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training for Cobbs Hill reservoir.

I headed down again to Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill for today's Sehgahunda Training workout. I met up with 5 of the group; Don, Jim, Carl, Tammy and Jennica. The workout was 15 min warmup, 20 min tempo, 5 min slow, 10 min tempo, 2 min slow, 5 min tempo, 15 min cooldown. We headed up to the reservoir and took a loop around as a warmup. I ran with Don who runs the same pace that I do. It turned out that a loop around the 0.7 mile reservoir was 5 minutes or 7:10 pace. So we really pounded out the tempo loops.

Christine cooked up some yummy chicken thighs along with a baked potato and peas. Then we caught up on the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy off the DVR.

Thursday, 4/26/12: Rest day.

Just an usual rest day. Christine went out for a massage at Massage Envy. I stayed home and watched a DVR of In Harm's Way. A classic from 1965 with John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Patricia Neal.

Friday, 4/27/12: 10K, 48:18, 7:48 pace, 40F, sunny, windy, 1 stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K around the streets of Irondequoit

The weather has turned clear and cold. It's around 45F and windy during the day and around freezing at night. Brr! My Sehgahunda Training workout called for 45 minutes nice and easy. I really didn't want to drive anywhere so I just ran around the streets of Irondequoit on a route I knew well. I tried to take it nice and easy, I even stopped once to smell a lilac bush. But ... I did run at 7:48 pace. I think that bodes well for the Flower City Half on Sunday!

Christine cooked up a roast beef roast over baked potatoes and onions along with salad. Yummy! Christine wanted to up my protein intake since I am doing so much running.

Saturday, 4/28/12: Rest day.

My Sehgahunda Training called for 90 minutes nice and easy ... my body said rest for tomorrow's Flower City Half. I did feel bad that I did not make it out to cheer on any of the Flower City Du or Tri athletes this morning. I needed to sleep. It was around 30F this morning and did not warm up until 40F until noon. Oh well!

I did make it out to my daughter's and my youngest son's apartments in Newark and Palmyra, respectively. It was nice catching up with them after not seeing them for a bit.

Christine cooked up some ziti for supper along with shrimp as an appetizer ... yum! Did I mention she is an excellent cook? Thank goodness she found me via Facebook way back in August 2009!

Sunday, 4/15/12 to Saturday, 4/21/12

I ran 6 times this week, 35.44 miles

Sunday, 4/15/12: Sehgahunda Preview Run #3, 12.96 miles, 2:52:49, 13:20 pace, 60F, cloudy to a light mist, no pain.



Christine and I woke up around 6:20AM to get ready to get down to Letchworth State Park for the Sehgahunda Preview Run #3. We dawdled for a while so we got down there just in the nick of time.

This run was from Check Point #3 (CP3) to CP6 and back. It was 60F or so, humid and a bit windy. So ... I overdressed and wore my Sehgahunda Training LabRat tech shirt, Brooks Racing Team arm warmers, shorts and light gloves. As soon as I walked up, we all started off. I fell into a nice and easy pace as we ran down from CP3. I powered up and down the hills and soon I was at CP4. I was hot so I took off my arm warmers and took a GU. After 3 minutes I was off to CP5 and then CP6. CP6 was a bit farther than I expected so I thought I had missed it until I met runners coming back. I met up with Christine in our car at CP6 for a couple of minutes. I took some water, a Gel, kissed her and headed back down into the woods. I started to hear a light pitter patter noise and realized that it had started to rain ... really a light mist which became a light rain at times. When I got back to CP5 I realized that I really had to take my wet shirt off because my left nipple was getting irritated. So I ran the last 4 miles without my shirt. By this time we had all strung out. I just saw the same three runners ahead of me coming down from each check point and I knew that only one other guy was ahead of them. Soon enough ... well after running for almost 3 hours, I got back to CP3 and stopped. I must say that this section was very rooty, hilly, and rocky. It required every bit of my concentration to keep upright and safe. I talked with one guy who rolled his ankle, did a faceplant and then ran 9 more miles ... he was not too happy about it.

I ate a PB&J sandwich and changed into dry clothes. Christine drove back home. We argued about a mile about her driving until I realized that I was really a horrible side seat driver and just shut my mouth. Hey, I'm a guy ... I like being in control. We stopped at Palmer's Wholesale Foods for spare ribs and browsed at Lori's Natural Foods in the Rochester Public Market in Henrietta on the way back. Christine cooked up the spare ribs with the Sylvia Spare Ribs recipe. The result was typical ... mmm, fall off the bone, delicious BBQ spare ribs!

We watched the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica off the DVR. Christine agreed with my opinion of the final episodes ... unsatisfying. But we did enjoy watching this series with Starbuck, Apollo, the admiral, Roslin, Baltar, Helo, Dr. Cottle, Cally,  the hidden four (Sam, Saul Tigh, Galen and Rehka, ) and the fifth, Ellen. Along with the Cylons; Number Six, Boomer, D'Anna, Cavil and the hybrid. Just an intricate web of characters, plot twists and sometime copies!

Monday, 4/16/12: Rest day

Today was a well earned rest day ... and also the Boston Marathon! It was a hot day in Rochester with a high of 86F. It was even hotter out in Boston which affected the multitude of runners out there. I knew several people that ran: Tim Dwyer, 3:19:38; Heather Danielson, 3:48:32; Katie Urbonas, 4:14:07; Wendy Abbott, 4:16:18; Kathy Reardon, 5:10:23 and Steve Levitsky, 5:10:23.


Christine suggested that it was too hot to cook so I went back out to KFC and got a 6 piece meal with a mashed potato side. Mmm ... was that delicious!

Tuesday, 4/17/12: Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill, 5.05 miles, 48:25, 9:34 pace, 50F, partly cloudy, a mild but cold wind, no stops, no pain

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill

I headed down solo to Cobbs Hill for my usual Sehgahunda Training run at Cobbs Hill. I was a bit late because I stopped at Fleet Feet Brighton to sign up the Dirt Cheap series. I caught up with the group and learned about the workout. I did a 8 minute warmup, 3 reps of the stone steps, diagonal and the switchback, followed by a 12 minute cooldown. Just your average hill workout.

Wednesday, 4/18/12: Dirt Cheap #1

I headed down to the Devil's Bathtub section of Mendon Ponds Park for the first Dirt Cheap solo. The traffice was heavy so I didn't get there too early. But I was there just early enough so Boots (head of Sehgahunda Training) could suggest that I needed to get moving since it was only 12 minutes to race time. So I headed out for a short pre run before the race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Pre run before Dirt Cheap #1
Just a nice and easy 0.95 mile pre run before the race to get my legs warm.



I lined up before the race and exchanged pleasantries with fellow runners. The race started ... my plan was to not to run out fast. My phone rang about a mile into the race, I ignored it. I settled into a pace that I could manage and tried to hold on. Running hills fast (Dirt Cheap style) is more than a bit different than running hills slow (Sehgahunda style). I walked the steep hills that I had to walk and manged to hold off some runners. I do believe that we went up the same hill twice but I am not sure. I remember that Boots was standing at the top of a steep hill taking our picture. I finished strong ... running up the infamous stairs.

Gritting my teeth and digging for the finish!

I was spent and grabbed some water before I headed out for a nice and slow post run of 1.2 miles.
Garmin Connect Activity for Post Run after Dirt Cheap #1

I changed out of my wet tops into a sweatshirt. Then I listened to Heather Danielson and Kathy Reardon talk about their Boston Marathon experiences. The usual post race raffle was next. I won the last and best prize ... the Salomon trail shoes! Woo-hoo! I did OK in the race itself. I was 50th out of 286, link here. I was 5th out of 19 in my M50-54 age group, link here. Bill Beyerbach mentioned that he thought I ran it faster this year than last year. I ran DC#1 in 4.61 miles at 9:07 pace last year and 4.74 miles at 8:40 pace this year. He was right!

I went home expecting a luscious BLT waiting for me. Well ... due to a failure in communication Christine thought I had already eaten. My darling went to the freezer, pulled out the frozen bacon, cooked up the bacon and made us BLTs! It took a while but by 10:30PM we were eating luscious BLTs ... mmm! Meanwhile we caught up on a couple episodes of NCIS off the DVR. A late night but sweet!!

Thursday, 4/19/12: Rest day.

Christine and I had a nice stretch after I got home from work. Then we proceeded to do our laundry which had piled up for about three weeks. A late night ensued as we caught up on the rest of the NCIS episodes off the DVR.

Friday, 4/20/12: Rest night.

I know I was supposed to run ... but Christine and I decided that I needed to rest and carbo-load instead. I have a lot of running this weekend. The Muddy Sneaker 20K is tomorrow morning plus we want to fix our 2000 Cavalier's A/C this weekend. This will involve runs to and from our auto mechanic's house (3.5 miles minimum distance one way plus whatever I tack on).

Saturday, 4/21/12: Lots of running.

Christine and I got up at 6AM to get ready to drive down to Naples for the Muddy Sneaker 20K. The drive took an hour, then we drove up and up Parish Hill Rd to the start. We got there around 8:20AM ... in plenty of time. The weather was 45F, light rain and calm winds. It was a bit dreary but lots better than last year!

Just before the start ...

Waving as I go by up the hill from the start ... a long way to go!

I picked up my packet and got ready, just some stretches. Christine elected to stay in the car. This race attracted some serious trail runners. The race started on the road for 1/2 mile then into the woods for some rooty, rocky, muddy fun until mile 3ish.

The dancing chicken!

The dancing chicken at mile 3 signaled us onto loads of double track jeep trails. Up, up until mile 5 (we were running into either fog or clouds), then down, down until mile 6, then back up, up until mile 7.5. We saw the dancing chicken again at mile 7. Then back into the woods for more rooty, slippery, muddy, singletrack downhill fun for a long ways. We broke out for a bit then at mile 9 ran down a long, very steep downhill until we crossed a creek at mile 10.25 (the lowest part of the course at 853 feet). Then it was a walk up a very steep hill until we broke out into a double track jeep trail that led uphill to the finish. My Garmin will tell you I ran between 753 and 1899 feet and ran 2210 feet in elevation. I can tell you that I ran a lot of long ups and downs.

I crossed the finish in 2:08:11, which was a 6:50 minute PR, link here. I was 11th out of 33 in my M50-59 age group. Sweet! I was drenched and tired but done! My Sehgahunda Training on hills really helped me on the long uphills. I chowed down on some pizza with some hot chocolate. Then I called for Christine to bring the car closer ... I knew that I needed a warm change of clothing and really didn't want to walk a 1/2 (OK, 1/4) mile to the car. Getting out of my wet clothes into dry clothes was quite a struggle but worth it. The SmartWool socks in the swag bag helped since I had forgotten to bring a change of socks!

While I was out running in the rain my darling Christine had spent her time calling hotels down near Letchworth State Park. She had booked us into a bed and breakfast named the Genesee Valley Inn in Portageville on Sehgahunda Trail Marathon weekend, aka Memorial Day weekend. Christine drove home and made sure that she hung up all my wet clothes and fed me. She is such a sweetheart! We had some lunch and just lazed around.

Garmin Connect Activity for Russell's House to Home

But ... I had made an appointment with our auto mechanic, Russell, to get the A/C in our car repaired. So that meant driving out to Russell's house and running the 3.5 miles back. I was a bit creaky at first but got into a groove and ran a 8:11 pace back. It was still 43F, light rain and still calm.

We just kind of lazed around. Christine went to bed early. I just stayed up and puttered around while I watched Iron Man 2 off of Netflix.

Sunday, 4/8/12 to Saturday, 4/14/12

I ran 4 times this week, 28.6 miles.

Sunday, 4/8/12: Almost a rest day.

Christine and I woke up on Easter morning in Cuyahoga Falls OH at her daughter's apartment. The right hamstring ache that bothered me the day before was gone. We ate Easter brunch at her brother's house in Ravenna, OH. It was nice seeing everyone again.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out on the Ohio Hike and Bike Trail

I fully expected today to be a rest day but after everyone came back, everyone but me said that they wanted to exercise. So they left in her daughter's car. It was just before sunset but I didn't want to be a slug so I drove out to another trailhead of the Summit County Hike and Bike Trail, map here, and headed west. At mile 2.4, I met up with Christine who was headed east. I headed past her 0.1 mile and headed back. I ran past her for a mile, then doubled back. It was getting dark so I escorted Christine 1/3 mile to her trailhead where she met up with her daughter and boyfriend. Then I ran onward into the gathering gloom until I got back to my trailhead. So I was not a slug after all.

Monday, 4/9/12: Travel day.

Christine and I drove home from Cuyahoga Falls OH back to Rochester. We started at 8:50AM and arrived around 2:30PM. Nothing unusual ... just your usual interstate travel.

Tuesday, 4/10/12: Cobbs Hill workout, 6.5 miles, 52:59, 8:06 pace, 42F, cloudy, calm, no stops, no pain

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobb Hill run, 2 Y's, long way back

Tonight's Sehgahunda Training was unstructured with a nutrition talk at 7PM at Fleet Feet Brighton. So I just headed up to Cobbs Hill, did 2 Y's and took the long way back. I tried to go nice and easy but really didn't ... like usual. I learned a bit during the nutrition talk that Boots led. I really have to nail down three things to succeed at Sehgahunda ... hydration, nutrition and electrolytes. Everyone is different though, I have to figure out what is right for me.

Wednesday, 4/11/12: Sehgahunda Training at Fleet Feet Ridgeway, 7.7 miles, 1:02:22, 8:05 pace , no stops, a really mild right hamstring ache.

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training at Fleet Feet Ridgeway

I headed down solo to Fleet Feet Ridgeway for my scheduled Sehgahunda Training. Christine just couldn't get motivated. I slightly modified my workout: 5 minutes warmup, 15 minutes @ tempo (7:30ish in my case), 5 minutes cooldown, 15 minutes @ tempo (7:15ish in my case), 5 minutes cooldown, 5 minutes @ tempo 7:30ish, 12 minutes cool down. I felt a bit of right hamstring ache after a bit of the 3rd tempo so I shut it down and just did a cool down run in, no worries. The light mist turned into a rainbow ... I wished that Christine would feel happy again.

 Thursday, 4/12/12: Just your average rest day.

Friday, 4/13/12: I almost got out for a run ... but Christine and I decided to reconnect after a long week of work by cross training for a hour at Planet Fitness. ;-)! I really want to get out tomorrow morning. We watched 3 episodes of Missing before we went to bed early.

The highlight of the evening was when my oldest son called to tell me that he had been accepted into the music doctorate program at the University of Buffalo, aka UB. He has been working on his Masters in Music at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst for the past two years.

Saturday, 4/14/12:Sehgahunda Training at Mendon Ponds Park, 8.9 miles, 1:25:08, 9:34 pace, 64F, sunny, calm, 1 stop, no pain

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training at Mendon Ponds Park - Blue, Green, Blue

My Sehgahunda Training called for 90 minutes, nice and easy. So ... after a refreshing night of sleep I headed down to Mendon Ponds Park. I ran the Blue and Green trails a bit hard, no stops, 6.66 miles in 1:01:10, 9:11 pace. I took 2 gels, then ran the Blue trail nice and easy as a cool down, 10:00 pace. Lots of people were out on the trails. One interesting side note, though. I was running the Green trail when a guy coming up on me recognized my black Sehgahunda LabRat shirt and yelled out, "Nice shirt! I'll see you there in a month!" Sweet!

Mmm ... lobster!

Christine and I went out to the Crab Shack for supper, thanks to Groupon. The meal was delicious ... I just love lobster! Later, we caught on the latest episodes of GCB off of the DVR before we went to bed.

Sunday, 4/1/12 to Saturday, 4/7/12

I ran 5 times this week, 47.83 miles.

Sunday, April Fool's Day: Spring Forward 15K, 1:09:15, 7:27 pace, 36F, cloudy, no stops, no pain.

Christine and I got out early for the 10th Spring Forward 15K and 2.5 mile run down at Mendon Ponds Park. We got there about 25 minutes early and were astounded by the number of cars that were already parking on the road. We quickly got our stuff together and got going.



I had a bit of a warmup before my 15K ... maybe a 1/4 mile run. I really had no expectations before the race. I had not run the day before and felt a bit off. So when the race started I just started easy and tried to hold back. Bill Beyerbach and Don (from Sehgahunda Training) passed me before mile 1. Heather Danielson passed me a bit after mile 1. I kept on cranking and took a bit of water at the first water stop at mile 1, didn't stop. I saw and heard Kelly Schroeder playing her banjo around mile 3.5. I caught up to Bill Beyerbach around mile 4.5. I motored up and down the rolling hills of Mendon ... the hills were just another obstacle to overcome (Sehgahunda Training mindset, I guess). I took another bit of water at the second water stop at mile 6, didn't stop. The same at the third water stop, didn't stop. I saw Kelly playing her banjo around mile 8 ... initially I thought it was someone else! But I did notice the same zebra boats so I was confused until she cleared it up. I was in the home stretch now. I noticed that my right shoe was untied, hoped I wouldn't trip ... I just kept it going and let it all hang out coming down to the finish. I passed 3 runners in the last 100 yards, 2 women and the M55-59 age group winner, Frank Quattrone. My splits were: 7:07 (started easy ... sure), 7:31, 7:21, 7:21, 7:24, 7:31, 7:36, 7:43, 7:23. My pace over the last 0.3 mile was 6:34. My total time was 1:09:15. I didn't find out until we got home that it was a 1:05 PR over last year ... yeah, baby!!

 

The camera is about a mile into the race, I appear around 1:50 with my red earwarmer. 

Somewhere before mile 3.5 where I took off my red earwarmer.

Sprinting for the finish!

Meanwhile, Christine ran the 2.5 mile run. It was 3/4 road and 1/4 trail. She said she felt good and was perfectly dressed for the conditions. She was quite happy she did it.

Christine appears at 8:08

We did pretty well. I finished 70th out of 561, link here. I was 8th out of 47 in my M50-54 age group, link here. Christine finished in 43:51, link here. We ate some hot dogs and hung out a bit then headed to the car. We both really had to change into some warm and dry clothes. Some homemade coffee and a donut each from Dunkin Donuts when we got back home really helped too!

More running ... our car was making a squealing noise so I took it to our auto mechanic, Russell.

Garmin Connect Activity for Russell's House to Home
I ran home 3.5 miles at a really nice and easy 8:34 pace in a light rain/snow mix.

Garmin Connect Activity for Home to Russell's House
Russell called with the news that it was just the squealer bar on the front brakes saying "replace the pads and rotors". So I ran to ESL and out to Russell's House in a nice and easy 8:06 pace to retrieve our car.

So ... I ran 16.85 miles on Sunday, nice! My muscles were just achy, not really sore. Christine made up a nice chicken leftover supper while we watched Frozen Planet. Then we watched GCB before we headed to bed ... late on Sunday like usual.

Monday: Rest day ... totally deserved. I was a bit achy but not too bad. 

Tuesday: Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill, 46F, cloudy, calm, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training at Cobbs Hill - Triple Blast x 3

Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet Brighton to pickup my Sehgahunda Training tech T-shirt ... sweet! Then we headed down to Cobbs Hill to meet up with the group. Christine stayed in the car ... I think she is coming down with something. The training was different tonight. After a 10 minute warmup run, Mark introduced us the joy of the Triple Blast. A Triple Blast is: charge up the stone path, ease down, charge up the diagonal, ease down, meander over to and charge up the switchback, ease down. I did repeat #1 in 10:38, repeat #2 in 10:37, repeat #3 in 10:51. Kind of consistent. Then I did a 20 minute cooldown run. Nice!

Wednesday, 4/4/12: Sehgahunda Training Tempo run, 1:01:33, 7.9 miles, 7:48 pace, 50F, sunny, a west wind, no stops, no pain.

I know I have been ragging on Kobe Bryant ... well, maybe he just had a bad stretch, maybe it was just matchups but lately he hasn't been knocking 'em down. Kobe scored 40 at home against Golden State on 4/1, Lakers win by 8, link here. Kobe scored 24 at home against New Jersey on 4/3, Lakers win by 4 (after blowing all of a 12 point lead in the 4th quarter, Kobe hits the game winning 3), link here.

Garmin Connect Acttivity for Sehgahunda Training Tempo run

 Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet Ridgeway for my Sehgahunda Training run. Christine didn't feel well so she stayed in the car. My training called for 15 minute warmup, then 10 minute tempo and 5 minutes easy times three, then a 15 minute cooldown. I modified it to 8 minute warmup, then 8 minute tempo around 7:00 pace or better, 4 minute easy times four, then a 12 minute cooldown. A beautiful evening to be out ... nice!

Thursday, 4/5/12: Rest day.

Just your usual rest day except I had a headache from lack of sleep all day. Christine and I did make it out though. Christine went to a massage at Massage Envy which she says I would enjoy. I went to Medved to listen to a talk about their upcoming Endurance Project.

Friday, 4/6/12: Another rest day.

My Sehgahunda Training called for 45 minutes easy but I decided that 8908 steps at work was good enough. I am taking Monday, 4/9/12, off so I was running around to make sure that all the printers that I care for were happy printers ... as much as printers can be, I guess! I started packing early since we are headed for Cuyahoga Falls OH to spend two nights at Christine's daughter's apartment and Ravenna OH for Easter.

Saturday, 4/7/12: Sehgahunda Preview Run #2, 17:05 miles, 3:38:15, 12:49 pace, 40-50F, sunny, a bit breezy at the top, a bit of right hamstring ache.

Christine and I woke up early. Christine didn't pack so fast so ... I just did everything else I could to take the burden off her. We started out around 8:20AM for Check Point #1 on River Rd south of the Mount Morris Dam. I knew I would be late ... but no worries, I would start when I got there. The morning was sunny, cool around 40F with a light breeze when we got down to CP1. This Preview Run was to run down from CP1, turn left on the FLT, up to CP2, down from CP2, turn left on FLT out to CP3 and then back to CP1 without going up to CP2.

I stretched out, got geared up with my Camelbak and GU, kissed Christine and headed down from CP1 at a nice and easy pace. There was mud and gnarly roots for sure. I powered up and down the hills, then up the mile to CP2. I got there in 27:57. I did a GU and took a 2 minute break before I headed back down. Since I came late, I say "Hi" to fellow runners when I encountered them. I took a wrong turn on the way back down ... which ended up to be a shortcut. I caught up to, then passed Boots, Sean and their posse of runners. I forged onward to CP3 which was a good 6 miles away. I remembered to sip my water and have a GU every 40 minutes or so enroute. As time passed I was getting a bit anxious that I had passed the turn up to CP3 but soon I saw runners coming back so I knew I was getting close.

Just before the turn up to CP3

Jim Roche was standing at the bottom of the turn. He pointed left and told me that I was 0.4 miles up to CP3. I got there at 1:50 elapsed time. I was tired and ambled over to her car where I met up with Christine. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, a GU, water, 2 Endurolytes, refilled my Camelbak, kissed Christine and headed back down ... all this in 5 minutes. I knew I was tired so I was more careful about my footing. My right hamstring had started aching but I persevered and continued onward. My hill training helped me out, I powered up and down the hills ... just slower.

Joe and Mark caught up to me and I ran with them for a couple of miles. I left them behind as I motored up the 0.7 run back to CP1. I got there in 3:38, 1:43 after I started back from CP3. I immediately started to eat and ambled onward. I greeted fellow runners as they came up the trail. My muscles ached ... but it was a good ache.

After a bit we got everything together and set out for Cuyahoga Falls, OH for Easter. The first part of my maps.google.com route took us on 406, 436, 305 through some Amish farms, then west on I-86 to Erie, PA. The view of the steep hills surrounding I-86 of the Southern Tier was very scenic. All we could think of was how Boots would love to make a trail race down here. We stopped periodically along the way so I could stretch my aching right hamstring. I walked gingerly but I did walk. We got there around 7PM and ate at our usual haunt, the Wing Warehouse. The steak was passable ... not memorable for sure, but the beer was cold.

As soon as we got to the apartment of Christine's daughter, I tossed down our stuff, said "Good night" and went to bed. It was around 9PM but I was exhausted. I had a fitful night of sleep ... different bed, different lighting but I slept until 9:45AM the next morning.