Sunday, 7/29/12 to Saturday, 8/3/12

1 ran 3 times this week, 20.5 miles.
I ran 24 times in 31 days during the month of July, 144.4 miles, 6.0 miles//run, 5th month in a row of greater than 100 miles
2012: 145 runs in 212 days, 944.31 miles, 6.5 miles/run

Sunday, 7/29/12: 2 runs of 11.5 and 3.8 miles

Well, I knew I needed a long run so I folded it around what I needed to do. The trunk of our 2000 Cavalier won't close so I drove it up to our auto mechanic, Russell. Then I started out on my long run armed with my Camelbak and 3 Gels.

It was 74F, sunny, calm and humid. I set off on a nice and easy pace, probably 8:15 pace. It's probably because I paused my Garmin twice. I mapped my run on mapmyrun.com so I know it was 11.5 miles. I headed north on Lake Ave and saw Charlotte Beach then I headed back south to cross the O'Rorke Bridge. I wasn't paying attention to my footing around mile 3 when I ran over a rock at mile 3. Ouch! I stretched my right achilles. I still had miles to go so I kept going. I saw the beach north of St Paul Blvd, then headed south on St Paul Blvd. My right achilles was starting to bug me so I slowed. I was more than ready to stop when I got back to the apartment.

Garmin Connect Activity for Home to Russell's House

Russell soon called to say that he was done welding the receiver of the trunk in place so that it would stay stationary and accept the trunk lid and stay closed. So ... no matter what my right achilles was trying to say to my body I headed back out. First to the bank and then out to his house to pay and pick up our car. It took about a quarter mile to stretch out but soon I was in a really nice and easy pace. Running as transportation! So ... 15.3 miles in the books on a Sunday, nice! A nice shower and lunch did feel good!

Later, I headed out to the Wayne County Nursing Home in Lyons to meet up with my sister, Diane, from Kentucky and my brother, Don, from Syracuse to see our father. We took him outside and sat in the shade and caught up with each other. After we took him back in so he could eat supper, we headed to Parker's Grill in Newark so we could do the same. You could tell that we were siblings ... we all had the Dewey though we all did have it cooked differently and with different types of fries!

Sadly, the tri community lost Heather Boyum who was killed on her bicycle at 7:45AM this morning, link here. She was 40 and had just completed the Musselman Half IronMan. She was hit by a 22 year old man riding his motorcycle and then ran over by his 23 year old girlfriend in her car. He was out on parole for 24 days after serving time for his 3rd DWI. Both have been charged with DWI and vehicular manslaughter. A sad day. Words can not express how I hope that these two are held responsible to the greatest extent.

Monday, 7/30/12: Rest day.

I don't do rest days well. Christine called me during the day to ask what our super secret network password was. I wondered what she needed it for. Well ... it turned out that she bought herself a Kindle.

Tuesday: 7/31/12: A thunderstorm-induced rest day.

A thunderstorm rolled through Rochester around 4:30PM with heavy rain. I didn't get home until 5:30PM after waiting for the rain to get out and let up along with some "hunting and gathering" at BJ's. I could have gone out but I didn't want to risk splashing into a puddle and finding that it was a pothole. Some runners did get out running and enjoyed the rain and free light show.

Kathy and Wendy waiting for the OK to go out and run.

Wednesday, 8/1/12: 5.2 miles, 42:33, 8:11 pace, 80F, calm, 50% RH, no stops, right achilles ache

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

I dallied around a bit with Christine but finally got around 7:15PM. I started out nice and easy, then hit it harder until mile 2 when my right achilles started to hurt. I cut the road short, dialed back my effort and endured the right achilles ache the rest of the way.

Thursday, 8/2/12: Rest day.

I rested today. I walk a lot at work, I limped a bit at times. I wanted to run the GVH XC 5K #1 down at Cobbs Hill. Why? Just because.

The start!

Friday, 8/3/12: Another rest day.

Rochester became part of the tropics today. At one point during the day it was 85F, 65% RH, kind of of tropical. Christine called me during the day and told me to buy a bag of ice on the way home from work. She filled up a tub, filled it with ice and filled it with water.  Oww ... man was it cold! I put my right foot in and out as much as I could. Meanwhile I posted on Facebook that I would not run the Phelps 20K tomorrow even though I am signed up. I do not like a DNS but I will not be able to run the Phelps 20K while I want to run it ... there will be other races. But my PR in the 20K was last set at the Phelps 20K in 2008 and there is only one 20K around Rochester each year ... the Phelps 20K. Alas ... next year!

Saturday, 8/4/12: Yet another rest day, Phelps Sauerkraut 20K: DNS

I woke up around 8:20AM ... the Phelps Sauerkraut 20K was going on. I wished it was there but knew that I would have hurt myself. Still ... I yearned to run and thought of all 201 runners that ventured forth into the heat and humidity, results here.

A really hot, humid and bitchy day. A day best forgotten since all Christine and I did was miscommunicate, pick fights and argue. We just sat and watched the Olympics ... men's basketball, men's volleyball and the men's 400m heats, 100m heats, 10K finals come to mind. There were other sports during the morning and afternoon. At one point I just had to get out so I took a walk up to Titus Ave and back, 2.8 miles, when it was 90F and 51% RH out ... just a bit steamy. I wore Christine's yellow Zensah' calf sleeves. My right achilles did not bother me. We actually broke down, closed all the windows and turned on the air conditioning. It was just too hot. Later we watched more Olympics .... women's rowing, women's beach volleyball, women's 100m and women's heptathlon come to mind.

I am concerned about Christine. Her thyroid is so off ... she couldn't sleep at all 3 nights this week, then slept during the day with little energy at all.

Sunday, 7/22/12 to Saturday, 7/28/12

I ran 5 times this week, 21.55 miles.

Sunday, 7/22/12: Rest day.

Christine and I were up again at 5:30AM. This time to volunteer for the Shoreline Du and Tri. We got out to Hamlin early to see all the prep coming on. Fleet Feet really knows how to put on any type of race! The Tri swim was shortened to 600m from 0.45 mile, bike was 15.9 miles and run was 2 loops of 2 miles. The Du 1st run was 1 loop of 2 miles, bike was 15.9 miles and the 2nd run was 2 loops of 2 miles. We were assigned to be bike road marshalls at the corner of Redman and Moscow Rd less than a mile from the Hamlin Park entrance. The bikes made a right hand off Redman onto Moscow. We got out there just after the Du and Tri started. We waited and read a bit of the Sunday paper. Soon Boots was coming by with the lead bike behind and yelled to us to stand on the outside of the corner in case someone cut the corner too close. Soon all kinds of bikes were hurtling towards us. We held up some traffic and yelled encouragement until the sag truck came by to pick up our flages. Then we headed back down to Hamlin Park to watch the runners come in from the Du and Tri. Quite an inspiring sight.

The rest of the day was a well deserved rest day. Later Christine cooked up a roaster chicken with a sweet potato and salad ... yum!

Monday, 7/23/12: Laundry day.

Quite the hot day in Rochester, 94F. Lots of loads of laundry ... super exciting, not!

Tuesday, 7/24/12: Fleet Feet speed workout, 7.41 miles, 6 x 800m repeats, 75F, sunny, calm, not so humid.

I headed down to Fleet Feet Brighton for the speed workout up on the Cobbs Hill reservoir. I ran up nice and easy, 2 miles at 8:09 pace. The workout was 800m repeats. I did the first two in 3:06 and and 3:03. Bill Beyerbach showed up and we ran four more together. The first was 3:01, the second was 2:59 and the third was 2:59. Bill ran that one in 2:58. The 2:59 for an 800m translated into a 6:01 mile pace! I felt a bit of tightness in my hips so I just did a 3:40 for the last one. We headed back to the store the long way at a nice and easy pace, 2.41 miles, 9:12 pace. A nice workout!

Wednesday, 7/25/12: Rest day.

I thought about running but decided against it. I had a brief spasm of pain in my left hip when I got up out of a chair at work that caused me to double over in pain. It lasted for only 5 seconds or so before going away.

Later I got a phone call from my ex telling me that my youngest son, David, had a flat tire ... again. The very same left front tire that had gone flat twice before. He had come out from work at the Finger Lakes Casino and found it flat. Christine and I went out there so we could use our AAA to get him towed to the Tire Rack in Newark. It was replaced the next day but I don't hold out much hope that it won't happen again.

Thursday, 7/26/12: 2 runs of 5.8 and 4.7 miles

I really needed a run ... but where to go? I ended up running to the lake and back. It was really two runs. One I took a bit hard, the other was nice and easy.

Garmin Connect Activity for Up to the Lake

I decided on taking the long way up to the lake through Winona Blvd. It really should be Down to the Lake: since it is a 167 feet elevation loss but Up signifies north I guess. I took it a bit hard, 5.8 miles, 44:00, 7:43 pace, 76F, cloudy, calm, humid, no stops. I felt a bit of tightness in my left hip or left lower abs area but I really didn't back down. Well, actually it was right around where I had my left hernia operation back in December 2009. Maybe a little TMI but it's the truth. I could have stopped short but I really wanted to see the lake. I stopped for a couple of minutes for hydration and a gel.

Garmin Connect Activity for Back from the Lake

This run was nice and easy, 4.7 miles, 8:32 pace, 76F, cloudy, calm, humid, 1 stop for hydration. I felt I needed to go slow so I did. I was drenched in sweat when I got back to the apartment.

Christine had gone out to Wegmans for a "hunting and gathering" mission. She fixed up a late protein-filled supper of salmon, baked potato and spinach for us ... she is such a sweetheart! We caught up on the latest episode of the new Dallas. I was very tired from the 10.5 mile run so I went to bed early.

Friday, 7/27/12: Rest day.

I am getting psyched for tomorrow's Karknocker 5K in East Rochester. It's a Rochester Runner of the Year race (RROY) so that plus the prize money that is being given out should draw a fast group of runners. The prize money is $500, $400, $300, $200 and $100 for the first 5 male and female runners! Yeah ... the first male and female masters (over 40) runners get $75. Anyway, I repeated some mantras during the day: "No Fear" and "No Sacrifice, No Victory" (from Transformers). My youngest son, David, will be running his first 5K tomorrow!

Saturday, 7/28/12: Karknocker 5K, 70F, cloudy, calm, humid.

Christine and I woke up around 6:45AM, got ready and got to East Rochester for the Karknocker 5K around 8:25AM. We met up with my son, David, and we picked up our T-shirts and bibs.

Garmin Connect Activity for Pre run before Karknocker 5K

We went out for a short pre run of 0.54 miles, 8:42 pace. David was a bit tired since he had been up since 3AM and then worked from 4AM until 7:15AM at the Finger Lakes Casino before heading to the race.



We went back to the car where Christine was having trouble closing the trunk. She couldn't close it so she stayed with the car instead of watching me start and finish. We ran back up to the start where I introduced David to Bill Beyerbach. Then ... boom, the race started 2 minutes early!

The start with David, Bill and I (right to left)

Becky Duberry (the birthday girl)

Running for the finish!

Bill Beyerbach

I barely had time to get ready and we were off! I got into the clear and ran hard, 6:06 first mile. I couldn't get my breathing right and I ended up walking 2 times during mile 2. I wished Becky Duberry a happy birthday as she passed me. I got back up to speed, took a bit of water at the second water stop. I turned the last corner and saw the clock turn to 20:00. I kicked it up and tried to get in before 20:13 but just couldn't. I ran a 20:18, 6:33 pace, 47th out of 265, link here. I was 4th out of 12 in my M50-54 age group, link here. Becky Duberry ran a 19:50 (I should have stayed with her!) and was 2nd in her F40-45 age group. Bill Beyerbach set a PR at 20:47 and was 1st out of 9 in his M55-59 age group.

Breaking 20:00 in the 5K does seem to be a mental not a physical barrier for me. It just wasn't not my day. Last year I broke 21 minutes (20:31) at the Bergen 5K. Last month, I lowered my PR to 20:13 at the Medved 5K to Cure ALS on Father's Day. The Bergen 5K is in two weeks ... I hope PR magic can strike again.

Sunday, 7/15/12 to Saturday, 7/21/12

I ran 8 times this week, 42.92 miles

Sunday, 7/15/12: 2 runs of 7.02 and 4.96 miles.

The night before I saw on our super secret (shh!) Sehgahunda Survivor's Facebook page that the group had a Tour de Mendon planned at 8AM on Sunday morning. So I set my alarm for 6:30AM. I turned it off and dozed back off but woke at 7:09AM. I was out the door at 7:42AM and down at the Beach parking lot at Mendon Ponds Park by 8:02AM. Get 'er done!

The weather was the mid 70s, humid, cloudy with a rumble of thunder and calm. Some of the usual suspects were there: Mark, Jim R, Jim A, Don, Tammy, Bambi, Carl and our mascot, Saz.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park trail run #1 with the Sehgahunds Training group

Soon we started out with Mark in the lead. The air was oppressive and soon it started to sprinkle. We kept a really nice and slow pace as we kept everyone with us. It was Don's birthday so he was trying to keep his "rump roast" out of Tammy's way. The black and deer flies were out in full force but seemed to stay out of my way. Soon we were all drenched ... either in sweat or from the rain. After 7 miles we circled back to the parking lot to drop off Jim R, Carl and Saz. We refueled and got ready to head back out.

Garmin Connect Activity for Mendon Ponds Park trail run #2 with the Sehgahunda Training group

Again we started out with Mark in the lead. The rain had stopped ... the humidity was higher if that was possible. The sun even tried to peak through. We took up a slightly faster pace most of the time. We found some trails that I hadn't been on in quite a while. We did walk a couple of times due to the humidity plus Mark shortened our route. Once we got within a mile of the end, Don and I picked it up and finished strong. We all found some mud and had some good trail fun.

Laura, Andy, Tracy and Becky were down at the Beach by now and soon we all were chowing down on melons, watermelon and cupcakes washed down with water, beer or mimosas. A tasty way to end a long trail run or two! Yum!

Monday, 7/16/12: Rest day.

Just your average really hot and humid rest day. The high was around 87F, the humidity was probably just as high. Christine and I just stuck to our leather couch. Occasionally I slipped off to refill our lemonades.

Tuesday, 7/17/12: 6.73 miles, 1:04:13, 9:33 pace, 89F, sunny, humid, windy.

Today was most likely the hottest day of the year, 96F I think. I wore shorts to work today since our car has no AC. I got a couple of strange looks and a couple of women said "Nice legs", lol. But I was a bit cooler when I had to go between buildings.

Garmin Connect Activity for Run with the 6 at 6 group

I needed to run when I got home even though it was hotter than blazes. I headed down to Fleet Feet Brighton when I thought the speed workout was. Well, I was wrong. It was at Fleet Feet Ridgeway. Bill Beyerbach and I headed out with the "6 at 6" group of Relentless Forward Progress runners at a really nice and easy pace. I usually don't run this slow but due to the extreme heat and humidity it was probably a very wise move. Many thanks to Heather who hosed us down when we ran by her house! A line of thunderstorms moved through in the evening when cooled down Rochester a little bit.

Wednesday, 7/18/12: 2 runs of 1.21 and 4.6 miles

Dirt Cheap #4 was on the agenda tonight. It was cooler, around 80F, sunny, humid and calm. I went down to Mendon Ponds Park solo. I was a bit early so I got a semi-close parking spot on Douglas Rd. I carried up my gear to Devil's Bathtub and got ready.

Garmin Connect Activity for Pre run before Dirt Cheap #4.

I was early enough for a really nice and easy pre run on the meadow. Just 1.2 miles, 11:58, 9:55 pace to get the legs warm. I ran the course backwards for a bit with Mark, Jim and Don which was nice because when the race was underway I knew that when I got to the meadow that the finish was only a mile away.



This race was held in the time trial format with runners starting every 5 seconds down the Devil's Bathtub stairs in bib order format. I said "Hi" to most every runner as I passed or they passed. It made for a fun race. We went down and up Cardiac Hill with Boots at the top giving encouragement each time. I didn't carry water so I stopped and had two cups of water at the water stop at 2.3 miles. There was a bit of mud but mostly you had to look out for hard mud "divots" and make sure of your footing around them so you didn't twist an ankle. An older runner passed me around mile 3. I kept up with him, not letting him get away. We got back to the meadow and I knew there was only 1 mile to go. I tried to repass him but he held me off twice. Later I found out that he was the Tom Dutton. The man is 66 and faster that I am, awesome!

Afterwards I hung around and talked running with fellow runners while I chowed down and waited for the post race raffle. All in all, a pretty nice race with the usual trail running group. I did OK, 42:09, 48th out of 284, link here. I was 3rd out of 19 in my M50-54 age group, link here.

Thursday, 7/19/12: Rest day.

My youngest son, David, called me during the day and invited Christine and I down to the Finger Lakes Casino for supper. He works there part-time as a Drop Supervisor and had some discount coupons. We had fun catching up. Afterward, he watched me have some fun on a slot machine or two.

Friday, 7/20/12: 4.1 miles, 31:40, 7:43 pace, 72F, cloudy, not so humid, calm, 1 stop for traffic, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for HappyHour run

It had been a long time since I headed down to Fleet Feet Brighton for the Friday night Happy Hour run. I looked it up in my running spreadsheet and found it had been 12/9/11, wow! I wanted to get in a nice and easy run. Well, I started out nice and easy but slowly speeded up as the run. My paces were: 7:50, 8:09, 7:45, 7:15, 6:49. The last 1.1 miles were down Monroe Ave where I usually run fast. It felt good. Afterward, I picked up my bib and yellow tech shirt (sweet!) for tomorrow's Hamlin Half.

Christine cooked up pasta with homemade sauce for supper so I could carboload. She takes such good care of me! We didn't get to sleep until midnight. Christine was restless so she moved to the couch to sleep. She has had a lot of trouble sleeping lately.

Saturday, 7/21/12: 2 runs of 1.2 and 13.2 (according to the Garmin) miles

I slept soundly but 5:30AM came much too early. Christine and I carpooled with Bill Beyerbach. He does have a bigger car and accommodated our stuff easily. We set off for Hamlin at 6:50AM and arrived around 7:25AM in plenty of time for the race at 8AM.

Garmin Connect Activity for Pre run before Shoreline Half

I got in a pre run warmup of 1.2 miles ... nothing fancy. I did have a Gu before the race started plus Christine put on some sunscreen on me. I didn't carry wate but did carry 3 Gels. The race conditions were excellent: 74F, sunny, calm and not so much humidity. Plus the course was flat and fast!

I accidentally turned on my Garmin back on for a bit before I turned it off ... oops!

The race started on the dot at 8AM. I went out kind of fast with a 7:10 first mile. I settled into a groove pretty easily. I was thinking of just letting it hang out. I don't race scientifically, I just go! My first 5K was 23:00. I had a Gel just before the water stop at mile 4. When I started to pass the early starters I made it a point of giving each one encouragement. I was feeling good, running well and started to pick off runners. There was a non-sanctioned water stop at mile 5 where I snagged a water bottle which really helped! My second 5K was 22:56. I did have a bit of trouble in the 3rd 5K. I felt some tightness in my thighs, walked twice and took a Gel at mile 8. My 3rd 5K time was 23:04. The miles were starting to pile up past the 15K mark. Mile 10 was a welcome sight, just 5K to go! The water stop at mile 11 just entering the park was nice! Keep going! The cool breeze that came off of Lake Ontario when I got to mile 12 was pure heaven! My last pass was a woman who turned out to be the first woman. The fourth 5K was 22:36. The finish line was getting close ... my legs ached and wanted to stop ... I heard Christine calling my name ... I kicked it up a notch and finished at a 6:04 pace in 1:37:05 according to my Garmin. I set a new PR by 2:18! I found that I had a blister on the bottom of my left big toe which made walking difficult. I had some water, found Christine and texted everyone the news. Then I found the food and had the usual 2 hot dogs and a banana.

The results on the side of the Fleet Feet truck had me at 28th overall out of 333 but at 1:36:21, link here. So that put my PR at 3:02 over the 2012 Flower City Half ... I'll take it! Bill and I stuck around for the awards and both won second in our age groups; 2nd out of 19 in his M55-59 and 2nd out of 17 in my M50-54 age groups, respectively, link here.

The Shoreline Half bling!

Bill introduced me to Jim Miner who won 1st in his M60-64 age group. Jim is an ultra runner. Some of his races are pure awesomeness! He ran 19 marathons and 11 ultras in 2010. He ran the 2012 Sehgahunda Trail Marathon in 5:01, a half the next day and a 5K the day after that. He once ran 2 marathons in the same day and had to drive 6 hours in between! Wow!

After a while, I took Christine to Massage Envy while I went over to Fleet Feet Brighton to crow a bit about my PR ... they already knew! We headed out to Palmyra to see my youngest son, David. I gave him a card for his upcoming 23rd birthday and a prepaid entry to the Karknocker 5K next weekend. Then we headed over to Newark to see my daughter, Karen, who had made a scrumptious chocolate cheesecake which was a meal in itself! A little snack at Parker's Grille in Newark tided us over for the trip back up to Rochester.

I finished the Shoreline Half in 1:36:21, 7:21, 28th overall, a 3:02 PR!! Yeah, baby!!!

Sunday, 7/8/12 to Saturday, 7/14/12

I ran 4 times this week, 28.25 miles.

Sunday, 7/8/12: 9.3 miles, 1:29:12, 9:35 pace, 78F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for The usual in Mendon Ponds Park

I am definitely not one to get out of bed to run early on a Sunday morning. I was up early because I wanted to see if I could watch any part of the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, but no luck. Christine and I just lazed around as per our Sunday norm.

I finished managed to drag my ass out to Mendon Ponds Park around 5PM. My idea was to run at least 15K in honor as all the runners who ran the Boilermaker, results here. Also in honor of Tom Butler who making an attempt to run 100 miles down in PA, link here. Later I learned that Tom got to 75 miles. This run was a struggle. I just kept on putting foot in front of the other as I did my usual Blue and Green loop of 6 miles. I could have baled then but kept right on going instead of having a gel or two. I did another Blue loop and half of another before I headed back to the parking lot to click off 9.3 miles exactly. I was pretty spent when I got back to the apartment.

We learned Ernst Borgnine died at age 95. We had watched The Vikings from 1958 on Netflix.com DVD with him, Kirk Douglas, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis the previous night.

Monday, 7/9/12: Rest day.

Teamwork  helped Christine and I deal with 4 loads of laundry ... exciting stuff!

Tuesday, 7/10/12: 6 x 400m repeats, 6.05 miles, 80F, sunny, calm.

Christine and I drove down to Fleet Feet Brighton for the first speed workout up at the Cobbs Hill reservoir. Christine drove onward to the Wegmans on Monroe Ave to do some grocery shopping. I ran up to the reservoir nice and easy. The workout was 3 laps of the reservoir with 2 hard 400m and 2 jogs of around 200m per lap. I did 3 laps. My repeats were: 1:27,1:23, 1:25, 1:26, 1:27 and 1:28. Then I took 2 nice and easy laps at 8:18 and 7:54 pace. I headed back to the store at a faster pace, probably around 7:00 pace. All in all, a nice sweaty workout! Christine picked me up ... there were a lot of groceries in the trunk! She baked up two racks of ribs ... luckily she woke up to take them out around 1AM!

Wednesday, 7/11/12: Cross-training day.

I went out to Penfield Fitness & Racquet Club to meet up with Bill Beyerbach for their free (until 7/21) Boot Camp workout. It was definitely a workout! The cardio section was 20 jump squats, 10 pushups, 15 jump squats, 10 pushups, 10 jump squats at the start, though I only got halfway done before we rested. The ab section was 30 seconds of  4 different ab exercises (crunches with legs in the air, leg knockdown, oblique leg knockdown and scissorkick). The strength section was 9 stations of such fun as Torx pushups, tube assisted pullups, burpees, etc. I got the hang of it by the second rep of the ab and strength sections. I had to resort to girl pushups for most of the second rep of the cardio section at the end. My muscles were definitely sore by the time I got done and were weak by the time I went to bed ... which was early! BTW, my darling Christine's ribs were fall off the bone delicious!!

Thursday, 7/12/12: Rest day.

Christine and I had a new Dallas marathon. We watched the first 5 of 6 episodes that have aired. There is a whole bunch of wheeling and dealing going on!

 Friday, 7/13/12: 6.2 miles, 47:40, 7:42 pace, 78F, cloudy, humid, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K around the streets of Irondequoit

It was very hot, 90F, and humid during the day. I had to drive between multiple buildings at work ... I was melting! But by the time I got out to run around 7PM, it was 78F and still humid. I warmed up quickly and pushed the pace. I just flew on my usual 10K course. There was little traffic and few walkers. I did sweat quite a bit when I did stop. Man, did it feel good though! Christine and I caught up on the latest new Dallas episode. John Ross is in a bit of a predicament trying to pump oil without the mineral rights to South Fork ... expecially with some shady people relying on that money!

Saturday, 7/14/12: 6.7 miles, 55:01, 8:12 pace, 74-78F, sunny, humid, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to the Zoo, 3 times around the pond, and back

I needed to get out there. Up at 8:38AM, out the door by 9:39AM. It was sunny so I chose a shady route out to the Seneca Park Zoo. I ran 3 times around the pond and back to rack up the required mileage and endorphins. I took it really nice and easy at the start since I felt a bit of tightness in my left hip. I loosened up after a bit and picked up the pace just a wee bit but kept it nice and easy since it was quite humid. There was no need for speed. I felt the simple joy of running in the morning sunlight and shade. A sweaty and sweet run to kickstart the day!

After a quick shower and some dawdling, we headed back out. I took Christine to get nails done and her hair touched up. Gotta take care of my woman! Then we headed down to a restaurant named Pierri's Central Resturant in Painted Post NY to met up with one of Christine's brothers, Bill, and his wife, Patty. We had a good time catching up. Then we headed over to Elmira to look at the Elmira Street Art Festival. Unfortunately, a lot of them were already covered up for the night. A late night ensued as we didn't get back up to Rochester until 11:30PM.

Sunday, July 1st to Saturday, July 7th

I ran 5 times this week, 35.77 miles.

Sunday, 7/1/12: 13.1 miles, 1:56:24, 8:53 pace, 72-78F, sunny, humid.

Garmin Connect Activity for East and west side of the Genesee River

I got up around 7AM, it was 66F. It was 9AM and 72F by the time I dilly dallied around and got out to run. I wore my Camelback filled with water and ice. I also carried 2 Gels. I wanted to do around a half marathon in honor of the runners who had run 50 miles in the Finger Lakes 50s the day before. I did my usual run on Winona Blvd and Chapel Hill Drive then down to the flats and back up to Thomas Ave. I took a Gel at mile 6.7. I headed down Thomas Ave and crossed the O'Rorke Bridge and headed south on the Genesee River trail. I bonked a bit at mile 10 as I took another Gel and walked for 5 minutes. I felt better and settled into a slower, nice and easy pace. I knew I could keep that pace up for a long time and finished without stopping. The sun was relentless and I did get a bit of a sunburn. I picked up the Sunday Democrat & Chronicle and a couple cinnamon & raisin bagels on the way home.

Christine and I lazed around the rest of the day. It was kind of hot. I did make it out to Wegmans in Webster for a bit of coupon inspired grocery shopping. We have been watching the US Olympic Trials off the DVR recently. Christine cooked up a roaster chicken with brussel sprouts and baked potato with the usual delectable results

Monday, 7/2/12: Rest day.

Christine and I just lazed and caught up on the rest of the US Olympic Trails. The story, link here, about Jeneba Tarmoh conceding rather than racing in a 100m runoff with Allyson Felix, is something I was looking forward to seeing. I say runners race, they don't concede so that 'their hearts can be at peace'. What BS!

Tuesday, 7/3/12: Another rest day.

I could have ran but I had a bad headache and just felt like I needed a nap all day. Oh well!

Wednesday, 7/4/12: Irondequoit 10K, 44:09, 7:07 pace, 80F, sunny, humid, a bit windy.



Christine and I woke up early to get down to the King of Christ church on Kings Highway for the Irondequoit 10K. We got there early so we got a nice (read ... shady) parking spot. I warmed up with a nice and easy 1.1 mile run at 8:54 pace. The conditions were the 3H's: hot, hazy and humid.

The start!

Bill Beyerbach in the background

Digging for the finish!

Wilt Alston

The race started about 10 minutes late due to runners registering late. I started out really hot on the downhill curvy section of Kings Highway with a first mile of 6:15. I cut all the tangents that I could and kept running. I was on Lake Shore around the 3.1 mile mark when I passed someone who said my time was 20:18! Unbelievable, just 5 seconds off my 5K PR! But ... coming back up from the lake I paid for it. I had to walk a bit twice between mile 3 and 4. Then I settled into an OK pace, not too slow but not super speedy either. I thanked everyone who had their hoses out trying to keep us cool. Bill Beyerbach passed me somewhere around mile 4. I just hung on and finished about 10 seconds behind him. I did OK with a 44:09, which was 51st out of 327, link here. I was 6th out of 19 in my M50-54 age group, link here. I practiced the last half of this course with Bill but definitely didn't handle it well on race day. My splits were: 6:17, 6:56, 6:55, 8:00, 7:31, 7:26 and 6:24 over the last 0.2. I hung out for a while then walked back to the car where Christine was waiting. A nice, cool mug of coffee along a cinnamon and raisin bagel hit the spot when we got home.

Meanwhile, other races were going on in the Rochester area. The Brigton 5K had 748 runners. The Firecracker 5 Mile had 841 runners and the Sodus Point 5K had 479 runners.
We just lazed around. It was hot .. hovering around 90F. We had ribs for a late lunch. It was so humid that even when we just sitting around we were coated with sweat. I ended up going to bed early ... I figured that I might as well sweat in bed!

Thursday, 7/5/12: 9.3 miles, 1:19:15, 8:31 pace, 80F, sunny, calm, humid.

Garmin Connect Activity for Zoo trail out to Thomas Ave

I wanted to get out for a run tonight instead of running on Friday when it was supposed to be even hotter. I also wanted to be in the shade so I chose the zoo trail. I headed for the west zoo trail for the way out ... which I had not run for about a year. I took wrong turns twice. First, I almost headed down into a gully that would have led me really quickly down to the Genesee River. Shortly afterward, I found myself on a trail that had about a 45 degree slope that I had some trouble with before I dragged myself back up to main trail. A bit of an adventure. Soon I was back on the west zoo trail that I remembered, made it where the west zoo trail hooked back up with the east zoo trail and headed out to Thomas Ave, 4.8 miles in 40:27, 8:26 pace. I stopped for a minute to hydrate. Then I headed back at a nice and easy pace and headed back and took the east zoo trail where they branched off, 4.5 miles. 38:48, 8:37 pace. I don't really like the zoo trail, it's a bit too rocky in places for my taste.

It was hot but I was glad that I went out. I had an energy drink as soon as I got in and Christine cooked up a chicken pizza shortly afterward. I was tired and went to bed early ... again! My right achilles ached while I was trying to get to sleep, ouch!

Friday, 7/6/12: Rest day

Just your usual, not and humid rest day.  Maybe cheap blenders should put in their instructions that chopping ice will break them!! I was trying to make a pina colada for Christine and I when I broke the blender. It will not blend ... bummer! I just went to bed early ... again!

Saturday, 7/7/12: 6.1 miles, 1:13:12, 12:00 pace, 72F, light rain, calm, humid.

Garmin Connect Activity for Lucien Morin Park during a thunderstorm

I woke up around 7:45AM and knew I needed a trail run. Either Lucien Morin Park or Mendon Ponds Park were on my mind. It was 72F and humid, 89%. The clouds in the sky looked ominous. I headed down I590S while I flipped the proverbial coin in my head. I took the Empire Blvd exit and headed toward Lucien Morin Park. It started to sprinkle, then rain as I pulled in. I got ready and waited for the light rain to abate for a bit. I headed out on the White, then the Blue and back to the White for a bit. The leaves and brambles were wet so parts of me got wet when they brushed or clawed against me. The trail was quite close and narrow in spots. I saw a trail runner and also two girls who were walking their two dogs. The two girls were wearing black fly hats, lol! They were at the intersection of the White and Yellow trails. I headed down the Yellow, then back to the White until the end. Mileage was 3.25 miles, 38:17, 11:47 pace. I stopped a minute for some water. By this time a mild thunderstorm was rolling through along with a light rain. It was quite dark in the woods so I ran nice and easy as well as carefully. I headed back just on the White. By the time I got back out the light rain had mostly stopped and the thunderstorm was just rumbling in the distance. This run was exhilarating, a bit short but with 931 feet of elevation change, a bit on the risky side ... and sweet!

Later Christine and I headed out to two Wal-Marts to look for a new blender. First, the Wal-Mart on Hudson Ave. The aisle that had the blenders was very disorganized and had very little stock. We left in disgust. Second, the Wal-Mart in Webster in the Baytown Plaza. Here the aisle was organized and had lots of stock. We ended up buying an Oster blender. Christine has had good luck with Oster in the past. Hopefully it will last longer than the 26 month old Black and Decker blender that it replaced.

Sunday, 6/24/12 to Saturday, 6/30/12

1 ran 4 times this week, 28.54 miles.
I ran 22 times in 30 days; 128.86 miles, 5.9 miles/run. Over 100 miles for 4 months in a row!
The first half of 2012; 120 runs in 181 days, 798.91 miles, 6.7 miles/run.

A milestone ... this is the 300th post of my blog since I started it on January 1st, 2007!

Sunday, 6/24/12: Lost in Lucien Morin Park, 5.8 miles, 1:07:48, 11:41 pace.

Garmin Connect Activity for Lost in Lucien Morin Park

Christine and I slept in until almost noon so when Bill Beyerbach called about going out for a trail run I was all for it. He had the misfortune of heading down that morning to somewhere near Watkins Glen to try to meet up with runners who were going to practice the Finger Lakes 50s, didn't see anyone, then locked his keys out of his car! So he was more than ready for a trail run too! I met up with Bill around 2:30PM at Lucien Morin Park, aka Eliison Park Wetlands. We headed up and took various color trails but eventually made it all the way out on the White trail, 2.25 miles. We headed back and I got us lost. I just ran out of energy, got lightheaded and lost my sense of direction. Luckily Bill took the lead. I settled into a "get it done" pace and followed him as he figured out where we were and led us out. I immediately fueled and soon felt better. I forgot to turn off my Garmin ... somehow I knocked it back on for a bit on the way home. Later I realized that I had neglected to eat lunch before I went out to run and then didn't pack a gel when I started the run. Oops!

Ribs, potatoes and cole slaw salad were on the menu for supper ... it would have be yum but I just didn't feel up to supper for some reason.

Monday, 6/25/12: Rest day.

My leg muscles hurt during the day. I stripped at the door and ... we started 3 loads of laundry. Leftovers were on tap for supper followed by the rest of the orphan series, Missing, off the DVR. We also caught the latest Dallas episode. Of course we went to bed too late ... nothing unusual there.

Tuesday, 6/26/12: 10.6 miles, 1:22:11, 7:48 pace, 73F, sunny, a bit windy, 1 stop for hydration.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

I needed a run but I didn't really want to drive anywhere.So I made up a route that I thought would be about 10 miles. It was down Seneca to Collingwood Drive, across St Paul, down the east zoo trail to Thomas Ave (4.56 miles, 34:50, 7:38 pace), then up Thomas Ave until I could head down into the flats on Van Voorhis Ave and out on Seneca Park Ave, then down St Paul to Winona Blvd, back onto St Paul to Collingwood Drive, Seneca Ave and home. I pushed it and stretched out as much as I could. It was cool, not too humid, a great night for a run!

A leftover dinner of ribs along with baked potato and corn. Somehow they tasted better than Sunday, yum!

Wednesday, 6/27/12: Rest day.

Just your average rest day. Thanks to a free text coupon from Redbox, we watched Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Excellent! Late to bed but with a nice stretch!

Thursday, 6/28/12: 6 x 1 mile repeats with Bill Beyerbach, 85F, sunny, calm, humid.

I met up with Bill Beyerbach at the Christ the King School on Kings Highway in Irondequoit. We jogged over to the Town Hall to warm up. We ran the last half of the Irondequoit 10K course again. We wanted to hit all miles under 7 min pace this time. We did: 6:26, 6:36, 6:20, 6:50, 6:36, 6:46. We did take about 3 to 4 min rest between splits because of the heat. Mile 2 and definitely mile 3 were downhill. Mile 4 was definitely uphill with 68 feet of elevation gain. The miles back were definitely harder. But ... definitely sweaty and sweet!

Christine was cooking up bacon while I was grocery shopping at Wegmans. We were soon eating her lucisous BLTs, yum! We watched some of the US Olympic swimming trails off of the DVR.

Friday, 6/29/12: Rest day.

It was just too hot to run. Just a simple tuna salad with tomatoes and mushrooms. Christine and I did some very vigorous cross-training ... then took a nap. Sweet! I got up for a while and couldn't get back to sleep until 2AM!

Saturday, 6/30/12: Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run, 6.14 miles, 56:42, at least 80F, humid, a bit windy.



Christine and I woke up early to get out to the Ganondagan State Historic Site south of Victor for Charlie's Old Goat Trail run. Charlie Sabatine, 79 years young, is my inspiration ... he is such a nice man! Over 200 runners toed the line, twice the number of runners as last year.The weather was hot, humid and a bit windy (thank goodness). I ran this race last year ... I should have memorized the course! Everything started OK ... the usual down and up, out to 2.7 miles. Then I came to an unmarked turn ... left or right? Everyone behind me was confused. I tried left ... and came up on a taped dead end. Some runners broke the tape and headed back. I went back and chose right. Shortly I came upon upon a unmarked meadow ... left or right? I chose right and followed a trail that just didn't seem correct ... especially when I saw runners coming towards me, I merged in with them and continued. I probably should have went back and chosen left. Oh well! Soon we crossed the creek, the road, up the big hill, around the meadow and headed back to finish in 56:42. I was told that I made another wrong turn when I didn't loop the long house like I am pretty sure that I did last year. I only had 6.14 miles on my Garmin. People that did the whole course had at least 6.7 miles. I had 6.63 miles last year. I was told that somebody probably moved or mismarked the tapes. Charlie said that no one was going to win a car ... so stuff happens. It's all good!

One thing ... it seems that the AC in our car has died after only 10 days!!! What a major disappointment  ... to say the veru least when it is in the upper 80s to 90F!! Believe me, I did say worse! I really need the AC working during work when I need to go between buildings.

We headed to my daughter's apartment in Newark where I installed Office 2007 and its updates on her laptop. Then I looked at my youngest son's laptop. He had told me that he could not boot up his laptop. I met up with him at Brynes Dairy in Phelps. Well ... his laptop booted three times just fine for me. I just love NTF (no trouble found) calls, lol!

We went to Burger King where we ate a bite to eat. I had an iced coffee which was mostly ice and not so much mocha coffee. I got into an animated discussion with the manager when I complained. It seems that BK's policy to fill up the iced coffee cup all the way with ice. This particular BK in Newark only filled my cup 3/4. He calmed me down, refunded my $2.69 and said that I could order it with less ice next time. Lesson learned.

We headed back up to Rochester where we just lazed around in the heat. It was too hot to do much else!

Sunday, 6/17/12 to Saturday, 6/23/12

I ran 5 times this week, 29.56 miles

Sunday, 6/17/12: 2 runs of 1 and 3.16 miles, 76F, sunny, a bit windy, no stops.

Christine and I headed downtown for the Medved 5K to cure ALS, a Rochester Runner Of the Year race. I had just unboxed a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12s ... I wondered what kind of magic they had in them!

Garmin Connect Activity for Pre mile before the Medved 5K to cure ALS

I went out for a pre mile. My legs were a bit tight but did loosen up.

I knew the course was flat so I wanted to see if I could PR, maybe go sub 20. The weather was sunny, warm and a bit windy and humid. I lined up before the race and say "Hi" to the usual suspects: Bill Beyerbach, Becky Duberry and Wilt Alston. I started out hot and jockeyed for position. I remember passing Bill and Wilt very early on. I came up on and passed Becky within the first mile. She later said that she felt like crap. Usually I am chasing her not the other way round.

The camera is set up at 0.8 mile, I appear at 1:40

I passed the first mile in 6:10, very fast for me. I really tried to keep it going, concentrating, pushing. I passed up both water stops. The second mile was 6:28. Now it was getting hard. I faded a bit in the last 1/2 mile, third mile in 6:36. We entered Frontier Field and ran along the outfield warning track from right field to left field. I had nothing left, but my last tenth was 6:18. As I made the turn down the 3rd baseline I saw the clock trip to 20:00 so I knew that a sub-20 time was gone. I did clock in at 20:13.  A lifetime PR, 0:18 PR faster than the 2011 Bergen 5K! Becky was 0:10 behind, Bill was 20:59, Wilt was 21:03. Bill won his M55-59 age group, his first RROY age group win! I did pretty OK, 43rd out of 520, link here. I was 4th out of 33 in my M50-54 age group, link here.

 

The start!



Somewhere in the first mile ....

Cruising toward a 5K PR!

Christine and I got the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle and a couple of cinnamon and raisin bagels from Dunkin Donuts before heading back to the apartment ... and then became slugs for the rest of the day. I even watched the US Open for several hours before turning to Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and the Heat. The Heat won by 6, to go up 2-1, link here.

Monday, 6/18/12: Rest day.

Christine and I went out to eat at Six Pockets thanks to a $25 Restaurant.com coupon. I wish I could say it was a great NY strip steak dinner ... but it was only passable. A bit too chewy for my taste. I was really tired when we got home so I went to bed at 9PM. I was not sick ... just tired. Nine hours of sleep!

Tuesday, 6/19/12: 7.6 miles, 1:01:04, 8:02 pace, 82F, humid, windy, 2 stops for hydration.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

Neither the couch nor the lure of the bedroom kept me from going out for a much needed run. I went out on my usual 10K route with the added twist of Chapel Hill Drive, 7.6 miles. Yes, it was hot, hazy and humid ... but it felt great! I struck up a nice and easy pace and enjoyed the run! I was dripping with sweat when I stopped and took a much needed shower.

The Heat are up 3-1 on the Thunder after winning by 6 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, link here.

Wednesday, 6//20/12: Rest day.

It was hot and humid. I felt like a slug but Christine and I just lazed around. Eventually we had salad and pizza. We saw on Facebook that Laura Church injured herself on her mountain bike. The pic of her getting stitches was awesome!

Thursday, 6/21/12: 6 x Mile Repeats with Bill Beyerbach, 87F, sunny, a bit windy.

It has been hot for the past two days. I finally broke down and went to Jim's Service Center on Norton St to get the AC tested and charged with Freon this morning. The AC is blowing out 62.1F air now! We have had most of the AC replaced but with the hot summer staring us in the face ... I guess it will be $$$ well spent! It kind of sucks to be driving between buildings at work and getting there with sweat streaks in my shirt. I also learned what other service our car needs. Tie rods, a muffler and tires ... joy! I sense some runs to Russell, our auto mechanic, in my future.

I met up with Bill Beyerbach at the Church of Christ on Kings Highway to run mile repeats in the heat. We run the same pace so it's really easy to run with him. Our idea was to run 3 out and 3 back. Our mile splits were: 7:18, 6:44, 6:36, 7:25, 6:54, 7:36. The 2nd and 3rd splits were downhill. The 4th split back was definitely uphill. The 6th split was a nice and easy jog. Still, the average pace was 7:06. Very sweaty and sweet! Many thanks to the homeowner who sprayed us with water after the 5th split!

Christine and I watched Gamed 5 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and the Heat. The Heat were on fire, ... up by 10 at half, up by 24 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Heat won 121-106, with Lebron getting his 2nd triple double of the series; 26 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists along with the MVP trophy. The Heat won the NBA Finals, 4-1, link here.

Friday, 6/22/12 Rest day.

I felt lethargic all day ... so I was a slug. I watched the NBA Finals again off the DVR. The Heat just shot the lights out from the 3 point line then extend their defense to force the Thunder into poor shots in the 3rd quarter when they extended their lead by 14. Then we watched the Netflix DVD, The Bodyguard, that we have had since May 1st. The late Whitney Houston ... may she rest in peace.

Saturday, 6/23/12: Almost a rest day ...

I knew I needed a long run ... but I just didn't have the mojo in the morning much less any energy for a race. Christine and I just lazed around for a while, I managed to get out for a quick haircut then we caught on all the The Mentalist episodes off the DVR in the afternoon.

Garmin Connect Activity for Up to the lake and back

I knew I needed a long run ... just where to go? I got out around 6PM. I decided to stay on the east side of Genesee River, up to Lake Ontario off St Paul Blvd and back. Seven miles up in 54:24, 7:46 pace. I stayed for 2 minutes, took a Gel and hydrated. Then 5.2 miles back in 41:18, 7:56 pace. Total was 12.2 miles, 7:51 pace.  The temp was excellent, 75F, not so humid as the past couple of days. I felt great when I got back. I had a bloody right sock when I got back. I had neglected to cut my toe nails so one of them cut an adjacent toe ... kind of cool! It kind of went with the black left big toenail that I still have from stubbing my foot at Sehgahunda last month.

Christine made up homemade macroni and cheese for supper, yum! Then we got sucked into some Syfy movies, Arachnoquake and Eight Legged Freaks ... spiders, baby!

Sunday, 6/10/12 to Saturday, 6/16/12

I ran 5 times this week, 29.69 miles

Sunday, 6/10/12: 10.5 miles, 1:26:22, 8:14 pace, 74F, dusk, 1 stop at the lake.

Garmin Connect Activity for Up to to lake and back

Christine and I lazed around all day. I looked on Facebook and saw that other friends were updating about their exploits during this hot and somewhat muggy day ... and I started to feel like a slug. I got up the gumption to get out for a run around 7PM.

But ... my Garmin Forerunner 305 wouldn't turn on. So I came back inside and looked up how to do a soft reset and hard reset, no joy. I searched the Garmin forums and found out that some people had luck with looking inside and cleaning the corrosion around the battery contacts. So ... I figured out how to open 'er up. Yes, there was corrosion. I looked through a magnifying glass and tried to clean as best as I could, no joy. I found that some of the contacts are not all there anymore. I gave up and used Christine's Garmin for a much needed run.

So I didn't get out until about 8:20PM ... just as the sun was setting. I settled in a nice and easy long run on my usual 10K course but ended up going to the lake and back also for a long run of 10.5 miles. I got to the lake at 9:14PM. I stopped to hydrate and saw a couple of deer as I headed back. By the time I got back at 9:55, it was kind of dark. I am glad I went out, I needed to destress. But the stress was still there when I got back along with some cold pizza.

Monday, 6/11/12: Rest day.

Laundry night ... after 4 weeks, how exciting!

Tuesday, 6/12/12: 6.2 miles, 48:xx, 7:50 pace, 78F, cloudy, a bit windy, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K around the streets of Irondequoit

I really needed to get out but I was not in the mood to drive down to Fleet Feet Brighton. So I just headed out on my usual 10K course around Irondequoit. I tried to go nice and easy since I do have Dirt Cheap #3 tomorrow. The run felt good ... other stuff not so much.

I did stay up to watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Thunder vs Heat. The Thunder overpowered the Heat by 9, link here.

Wednesday, 6/13/12: Dirt Cheap #3

I headed down solo to Lucien Moren Park (aka Ellison Park Wetlands) for Dirt Cheap #3. I got there a hour early since parking at this race is tight. I got my bib and a cool Dirt Cheap Series T-shirt and stretched a bit before I headed out for some pre-miles on the course.

Garmin Connect Activity for Pre Miles before Dirt Cheap #3

I just went out nice and easy for 2.37 miles at 10:23 pace. I was drenched with sweat when I got back. It was about 70F outside but kind of hot in the woods. I made sure that I had Body Glide on and waited around for the race to start.


Since there were over 300 runners registered Yellow Jacket Racing made the decision to start the women at 6:30PM and the men at 6:35PM. Our start went well, about 1/4 mile down a dirt road before we got to the trail and to narrow single track. Soon, we encountered the slowest women runners and started to have to figure out how to pass them without endangering them or twisting an ankle ourselves. It got worse the more narrow the single track got. Believe me, the single track at this race can get a foot wide with no chance to pass for a hundred feet or more. It was what it was, I made do. I tried to pass when I could politely. I lost my footing on a muddy downhill and slid sideways for about 25 feet. I got both hands muddy and my right side. I gathered myself and continued onward. Eventually I caught to some of the faster women who were just running slightly slower. Then the race ended ... a fun Dirt Cheap race like usual!

I did OK, 34:48, 10:10 pace, 64th out of 343, link here. I was 2nd out of 23 in my M50-54 age group, link here. The after party at MacGregor's was pretty good. I learned about Tom Butler's latest venture: a 100 mile hike in the Alleghany National Forest which took him 46 hours!

Thursday, 6/14/12: Rest day.

A normal rest day. Christine prepared her luscious BLTs for supper. Later, we watched Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Thunder. The Heat won by 4 to tie the series up 1-1, link here. Now they move to Miami for 3 games.

Friday, 6/15/12: Another rest day.

I wanted to get out for a run after work but laundry got in the way. The one washer and dryer downstairs in the basement were empty (for once) so two loads later our towels were clean. Sometimes life gets in the way of running. Later we watched the new Dallas (links here and here) with JR, Bobby, John Ross and Christopher all conniving and backstabbing!

We forgot to watch Nik Wallenda walk across Niagara Falls ...



Saturday, 6/16/12: 7.2 miles, 55:00, 7:38 pace, 62F, sunny, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

I absolutely had to get out so I got out early with a nice and easy run around the streets of Irondequoit on my usual 10K course with an extra hill twist on Chapel Hill Drive. It was nice and sweaty! Charlotte Appliance called soon afterward and delivered our leather recliner .... sweet!

Then I headed out to Lyons to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home for the annual Father's Day Car Show. I fed him his lunch in the cafeteria and took him outside to see the car show. We sat outside for a while. My older brother, Don, showed up and we talked. Then I went over to my daughter's apartment. She had just bought a new Toshiba laptop from BestBuy. She needed help transferring her 143GB(!) of data. I also gave her an external hard drive and set up SyncToy to automate a way for her to regularly back up her files. It was nice to get back to our new couch and put my feet up! All in all, a busy day!

Some Genesee Valley Harrier running news. GVH's Tim Chichester placed 7th overall and Jessica Synder placed 6th woman in the 52nd Mount Washington Road Race which was also the 2012 USATF National Mountain Running Championships. 671 men amd 282 women finished the 7.6 mile race up Mount Washington with an average grade of 12%, no level spots and no downhills! The link to Coach's excellent article is here, male results here, female results here. Tim Chichester snagged the last spot on the 2012 USA National Mountain Running Team and will compete in the 28th Annual World Mountain Running Championships in Ponte de Legno, Italy on September 2nd. The male GVH team placed 4th out of 22, results here.

Sunday, 6/3/12 to Saturday, 6/9/12

I ran 5 times this week, 23.46 miles.

Sunday, 6/3/12: 3.8 miles, 29:26, 7:45 pace, 62F, sunny, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Home to Russell's house

Christine and I spent a lazy morning together waiting for Russell to call with news that our car was ready. He had installed the A/C hose, changed the oil and replaced 6 feet of the gas line. He didn't charge the A/C since he couldn't put a vacuum on the line. He suggested that we take the car elsewhere so that they can do one more leak test, put a vacuum on the line and charge the A/C with Freon. So ... after some breakfast, I ran to ESL and then to Russell's house to pick up our car. It was a nice, downhill run. I stretched out a bit and ran a bit hard.

Later we headed out to Newark to see my daughter. She showed off her new apartment to Christine. Now Christine has 2 bedroom apartment envy like I do. I gave her a wall charger for her camera so she doesn't have to use her laptop. Soon she had to go to work at the Terrace of Newark. We drove out to Lyons to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. He was quite talkative. I told him about my experiences at Sehgahunda. We ate supper at Parker's in Newark. Their spare ribs were quite tasty! My youngest son stopped by to chat for a bit before he had to go to work at Byrne Dairy, one of his two jobs.

We watched the Celtics edge the Heat by 2 in OT in Game 4 of their East Finals, link here. Both the East and West finals are knotted at 2-2. Who would have thought!

Monday, 6/4/12: Rest day.

The laundry does need doing but Christine convinced me that it really didn't need doing. Later Christine made meatloaf, potatoes and leftover risotto, yum!

We caught on all the Fringe and NCIS episodes off the overworked DVR. Then we watched the rest of Game 5 of the Thunder - Spurs West finals, link here. The Thunder won by 5 down in San Antonio to go up 3-2 in their series.

Tuesday, 6/5/12: Cobbs Hill run, 6.26 miles, 48:24, 7:44 pace, 66F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill run, 4 loops

I headed down to Fleet Feet Brighton for the usual Tuesday night Cobbs Hill run. I started out easy up Monroe Ave. I decided to mix it up and ran 4 loops. I warmed up and cranked it up ... kind of like usual. The last mile down Monroe Ave at 6:38 pace, nice!

Later, we caught up on the last two NCIS: LA episodes off of the DVR. Then we caught the 4th quarter of Game 5 of the Celtics - Heat East finals, link here. The Celtics won by 4 down in Miami to go up 3-2 in their series. Who would have thought the old and experienced Celtics with their Big 3 would be one win away from the NBA finals. Surely it should be the Big 3 of the Heat that were destined to win 5, 6, or 7 championships ... well, maybe not! LOL!

Wednesday, 6/6/12: 6.2 miles, 45:43, 7:23 pace, 64F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K around the streets of Irondequoit

Now was National Running Day so I just had to get out there. So ... after a bit, I did. I just headed out on my 10K course. Nice and easy, then I cranked it up ... just like last night. The McMullen Mile is tomorrow ... I hope I have something left in the tank

I tried to stay up and watch Game 6 of the Thunder - Spurs West finals, link here. The Spurs were up by 15 at half ... the lead was gone by the start of the 4th quarter and the Thunder won by 8. I Googled this ...I was tired and fell asleep. Anyway, the Thunder advanced to the NBA Finals by beating the Spurs 4 in a row to win the West finals 4-2.

Thursday, 6/7/12: 1 mile, 5:51.73, 70F, sunny, calm

Christine and I headed down to Nazereth College for the McMullen Mile. This was my first mile run ever ... much less on a track. I was a track virgin! So ... my plan was to stick close to Bill Beyerbach who runs my pace and who has done this race 4 times before. I was in the second heat of the men under 8:00 pace along with Bill Beyerbach, Wilt Alston and Tom Butler. Bill was seeded 1, I was seeded number 2. We all started pretty hot, I settled in on Bill's shoulder. I was concerned that I might get boxed in so I tried to be on his right shoulder mostly. The first lap was in 1:22, I don't know the rest. One man went ahead fast, soon I was in a group with Tony Gingello (a fast 65 year old) and Bill, both ahead of me. We ran lap 2 and lap 3 together in a group. The bell lap is where things got interesting. Bill tried to pass Tony around lap 3.5, Tony countered, then Bill slowed. I shot past Bill. It was just Tony and I. I kicked with 100 meters to go, sprinted past Tony and clocked in at 5:51 or so. Wilt came in at 5:54.35. Bill came in at 5:59:88, just beating 6:00. Tom Butler came in at 7:04:03. Man, this race was fun!! I thought that I turned on my Garmin when the race started but I didn't quite hit the button ... so no Garmin race data.

Start of my heat

Finishing!

The certificate!

For those keeping score: I was 32nd out of 67 overall, link here. I was 12th out of 43 overall masters, link here. I was 7th out of 11 in my competitive M50-54 age group, link here.

There were other races, of course. Runners that I knew: Heather Danielson in 5:58.24, Marty Roberts in 7:15.61, Tim Dwyer in 5:32.98, Mark Madigan in 5:40.93, Bill Clauss in 5:53.83, Frank Quattrone in 6:09.27, Charlie Sabatine in 9:01.07 and Bill Murphy in 11:56.80. Tim and Mark are in my M50-54 age group.

The women's elite race was won by Jessica Synder in 5:03.20.

The men's elite race was run by Tim Chichester, of 11th in the 2012 Boston Marathon fame, in 4:19.16 with a winning margin of 0.07 seconds.

The Genesee Sun had an article about the elite mens race, link here.



Christine and I had a late supper of rotisserie chicken while we watched Game 6 of the Celtics - Heat East finals in Boston, link here and here. Lebron answered his critics with a 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists effort to force a decisive Game 7 back in Miami on Saturday night.

Friday, 6/8/12: Rest day.

I picked up my packet for the Fast and Furriest 10K tomorrow morning. A yellow tech shirt ... yeah, baby!

It was weird not watching a NBA conference final game. We watched a mix of Battlestar Galactica, couple episodes of Private Practice off the DVR instead. Then a couple episodes of Merlin. Christine wore her CPAP machine. I was surprised that it actually didn't make much noise. It does look weird though.

Saturday, 6/9/12: The Fast and The Furriest 10K, 6.2 miles, 42:59, 6:56 pace, 62F, cloudy, light mist.



Christine and I woke up around 6AM to the pitter patter of rain outside. It took a lot of dedication to get ready, a lot of hope that the rain would abate and the fact that I was already registered to get me out the door. Runners are a dedicated bunch. I put on my Brooks Racing Team tank top at first but later changed to the T shirt since it was a bit cool. We headed out and got down to the Kodak parking lot by the Verona Street Animal Society in plenty of time at 7:30AM for the 8AM start. We waited in the car for a while before getting out. The rain did abate to a light mist by the start. I have run a few races in the rain and usually do well. I didn't warm up much at all. I had heard that this 10K course was nice, flat and fast. So I was looking for a PR going in. I had only missed a PR by 5 seconds at the recent Lilac 10K. I am and probably always will be competitive with myself. It's why they have a clock and keep score.

I started out kind of hot at the start and settled in. I felt good and started to pick off some runners as we ran on the west side of Genesee River trail. I hit the pedestrian bridge to cross to the east side and the mile 3 marker in 20:36. Now my mind started to play with me. I should know that I can do this distance without stopping. But ... I did think that I had a stitch in my right side around mile 4.5. I really didn't ... it was all mental. I have to work on this. A pack of 4 runners passed me while I walked for 100 feet. I started back up and continued onward. We merged in with the slower 5K runners as we got back to Plymouth Ave as I got close to Wilt Alston. He knew I was there with about 0.2 miles to go and picked up his pace. I couldn't match him and finished 4 seconds behind him. Christine was near the finish line and yelled for me to smile ... I grimace during races. Thanks to my Christine for coming out even though her back was hurting!

I did pretty well. I finished in 42:59, a 49 second PR over last year's Appleblossom 10K. I was 26th out of 211, link here. I was 2nd out of 14 in my M50-54, link here. One of male overall and one of the top 3 male master runners were in my M50-54 age group which put me in 2nd. So ... we stuck around for the awards ceremony. It's kind of fun talking with runners after a race, then applauding each others efforts during the award ceremony. It's kind of cool winning a Fleet Feet gift certificate too! Fleet Feet and Yellow Jacket Racing make putting on a race look so effortless!

Other 10K award winners that I knew were: Becky Duberry, 2nd Female Overall; Laura Church, 3rd Female Masters; Wilt Alson, 1st M50-54; Mike Weinpress, 1st M55-59; Bill Beyerbach, 2nd M55-59; Tony Gingello, 1st M65-69 and Charlie Sabatine, M70+. They also had a 5K. Other 5K award winners that I knew: Mark Monachino, 3rd M50-54 and Stacy Maier, 3rd F25-29.

I just lazed the rest of the day and watched a lot of Merlin. Christine put some ice on her back and then took a nap. She did get up to make an excellent pasta supper along with salad. I watched most of Game 7 between the Heat and the Celtics down in Miami. The two teams were tied going into the 4th quarter. The Celtics held their last lead until Lebron dunked with 8:00 to go ... the Heat closed it out by 13 and earned their 2nd consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, link here. An interesting stat: the Big 3 of Miami (Lebron, Wade and Bosh) scored all 31 of Miami's last points, including all of their 27 4th quarter points). Both the Spurs and the Celtics were up 2-0 in their series yet the Thunder and the Heat are advancing to the NBA Finals so ... who will win? I surely don't know.