Sunday, 7/13/2014 - Boilermaker 15K

Sunday, 7/13/2014: 9.42 miles at the Boilermaker 15K, 1:14:20, 7:53 pace, 73F, 78% RH, 7 mph S wind, overcast

I think I got 2 hours of sleep before I just gave up and got up at 2:50AM. It was a hot night in the bedroom, probably around 82F. I asked my darling wife, Christine, to move to the couch when she started snoring. It was probably cooler out there too. I woke her up at 3:20AM. She had signed up for the bus yesterday and was heading out to the Boilermaker as a spectator. I was almost all ready since I had packed a small bag yesterday (shorts, dry tech top, wallet, keys, pouch with 2 Gus (forgotten before the race), sunglasses, hand towel, sunscreen, phone battery charger). She took a bath, washed her hair, dumped her purse, resorted her purse, etc. I was out the door at 4:02AM. She was out the door at 4:08AM. She put her shoes on in the car as I drove. Not too many cars were on 104E, I-590S or I-490W for some reason.

We arrived down at the RTS Park'n'Ride in Fairport around 4:20AM ... plenty of time to choose to board GRTC bus #1. Wilt Alston, the outgoing GRTC president, organized this operation like a pro. We left promptly at 4:30AM and proceed east. I checked Facebook at 5:05AM and told him that Boilermaker.com had announced that the post race party was going to shortened to 11AM in anticipation of severe weather moving into Utica in the afternoon. He announced it to the rest of bus ... we were going to continue onward to Utica! I knew some people on the two buses: Frank Quattrone, Tina Pellegrin, Joe Ciecierega, Pat Milligan.

En route on GRTC Bus #1

We arrived around 7AM. The Boilermaker 15K is a point-to-point race. The GRTC buses continued onward to the finish along with Christine. Meanwhile I followed everyone to Packet Pickup. This was my second time at the Boilermaker so I kind of knew where it was ... I followed everyone else. I picked up my tan bib and pinned it on. There was little to do so I tried to stand in a Porta-Potty line that was 40 people deep. I gave up after 20 seconds and found a line of bushes up against a fence to do my business. I was impressed when a woman about 40 feet away squatted and did the same thing.

My tan bib let me into the tan corral ... a lot closer than the blue corral in the back. There was nowhere to run or warm up so I just stood there, rocked to loosen my muscles and waited. 

Looking forward ... the start line about 200 yards away is about a large US flag that is blowing right towards me which is tough to see

I saw a quartet of GVH runners including Mike Reif about 20 feet ahead to my right. I didn't carry any water and had forgotten my pouch with its 2 Gu packets. I had remembered to put on some sunscreen. A bugle played the national anthem. Then the ropes were dropped between the corrals and we moved up about 100 feet.

And ... we were off! It was interesting to see the runners ahead start to walk and then bob as they started running. Then those who were running came closer and closer ... then I was walking ... then shuffling ... then running. I passed the start line about 35 seconds later. Those in the back with blue bibs ... some took 10 minutes to cross the start line.


I ran well in the first 2/3 of the race. Miles 1, 2 and 3 clicked off in 8:16, 8:03 and 8:00 pace as the runners sorted themselves out around me. I took water at mile 3. Then it was a left and a right into the golf course hill. It was a gentle incline but seemed to never end. Mile 4 was at the top of the hill, 8:30 pace. Mile 5 from the golf course was heaven .. a slight downhill, 6:59 pace. I saw 40:10 on the clock at mile 5, 8:01 total pace so far. I had a bit of trouble at the end of mile 6, 7:38 pace. I needed water and couldn't find it for about 1/2 mile. There were 19 water stops but none when I needed one. I took 2 mini walk breaks before I found one. I remember looking to my left and seeing Wilt Alston going by, mile 7 pace was 8:32. I picked it up during mile 8, 7:31 pace. I remember hearing a lot of cattle bells during this mile, dubbed the M&T Bank mile. I was running out of gas during mile 9, 7:55 pace. I knew the finish was soon, I could almost see the slight right hand turn. The slight downhill into the finish was appreciated, 6:58 pace over the last 0.42 miles. And ... done in 1:14:20 according to my Garmin!

After the race.

I started walking and grabbed a couple tubs of fruit and a pint of water as I looked for Christine. She said that she would meet me by the Polish eatery just by the Saranac brewery parking lot. The secondary meeting spot was at the bus across the Family meeting area which is where I found her.

I went by and stood in line to get my meager lunch of energy bars, a bag of chips and a banana. Then I went over to get my second Boilermaker glass ... sweet! I did sample some of the Saranac beer ... I had built up a bit of a thirst. We left for Rochester around 11:30AM. The GRTC Bus #2 had trouble just outside of Utica in Westmoreland. Wilt Alston hopped off our bus and stayed with them. What a man! We got back to Rochester around 2:30PM. The replacement GRTC Bus #2 made it back around 4:30PM.

Overall, I did pretty well. I had a bit of trouble but worked through it. I did better than last year's net time of 1:18:07. My stats were: gun time: 1:14:24, net time: 1:13:41 (a 4:25 course PR), 1396th out of 11985, 60th out of 474 in my 55-59 page group, link here. I think I could do about a minute better if I ran through the water stops where I took water and committed to taking 2 Gus on the run before a few water stops ... but I gave a solid effort. Other Rochester runners did well: Tim Chichester of Mount Morris was 19th in 48:05, Matthew George Roberts finished in 56:34, Charlie Andrews won my 55-59 age group in net 57:09, Mike Reif won his 65-59 age group in net 1:06:41. Pat Milligan finished in net 1:08:56, Frank Quattrone finished in a net 1:11:13, Wilt Alston finished in a net 1:11:28, Joe Ciecierega finsihed in net 1:13:23 and Tina Pellegrin finished in net 1:58:05. There was also a 5K held with 4142 finishers, link here.

I saw a funny sign at mile 0.1. It read, "My wife already finished. She drank all the beer." I laughed ... and hoped it wasn't true! There were other signs but I can't remember them.

Meanwhile ... way out west a little (OK, big) 100 mile trail race called the Hardrock 100 was held, results here. Kilian Jornet obilerated the course record by more than 40 minutes in 22:41:33. The third place finisher, Aaron Heidt, was struck by lightning near the 14,028 foot top of Handies Peak, link here. It took out his headlamp ... he continued onward. Awesome stuff! 

Sunday, 7/6/2014 to Saturday, 7/12/2014 - Dirt Cheap #4

I ran 6 times this week, 32.64 miles, one was a warmup run of 1.2 miles.

Sunday, 7/6/2014: 2 runs of 7.5 and 4.9 miles, 75F, 57% RH, 7 mph SSW wind, sunny

I was up a bit late, 9AM. I geared up and was out by 10:30AM.

Garmin Connect Activity for Winding route to Lake Ontario

I thought about doing a "Bridges" run of about 14 miles as I struck up a nice and easy pace. I ran the first 3.5 miles of my usual 10K route and then headed down into the flats by going down Seneca Park Ave, St Joseph St and back up Van Voorhis Ave. I had a decision to make ... continue up to Thomas Ave and turn left to head to the Rorke Bridge to cross to the west side of the Genesee River or turn right onto Sagamore Drive to head back? I comprised by turning right onto Sagamore Drive and then stretched it by turning left onto St Paul Blvd to head to Lake Ontario for 7.5 miles at 8:08 pace. My splits were: 8:12, 7:57, 7:56, 7:59, 9:11, 8:09, 7:44 and 7:50 over the last 0.5 mile.

Garmin Connect Activity for A tired, nice and easy run back from Lake Ontario

I walked along the tiny beach as I had a Gu and hydrated for about 2 or 3 minutes. I still had to get back so I took the most direct route at a slower nice and easy pace. My splits were: 8:48, 8:42, 10:13, 9:15 and 8:01 over the last 0.9 mile.

I think I earned a bit of downtime the rest of the day after running 12.4 miles. My darling wife, Christine, and I did make it out to Target after a while. We bought a oversized 2.2 cubic foot, 1250W, Panasonic microwave oven since our 10 year old Sharp microwave oven had died. Our coffee mugs are a bit tall so we needed a big microwave oven ... though it's big enough to cook a small turkey. I did notice that Target's price was $35 cheaper than Best Buy.

Monday, 7/7/2014: The usual rest day after a long run ... moving on.

Tuesday, 7/8/2014: A "coulda" run day.

I had to stay at work late because a thunderstorm rolled through at 4:30PM which is when I usually leave work. Then I stayed home while UPS delivered a 1 TB Western Digital Black hard drive that I ordered from newegg.com. I was somewhat dismayed by the really small package that I was handed by the UPS guy. The box was truly maybe only 1 inch larger on all sides that the hard drive! But I unboxed it from its air bubble cushion, installed it and tested it as a data drive in my oldest son's old Blue Orb desktop that he gave me. I built it for him way back in xxx. He gave it back to me since he uses a newer, more powerful laptop. I loaded Windows 7 on it on a 120GB hard drive and it works pretty well. Anyway, It passed the SMART test and the quick and extended tests of Western Digital Life Data Lifeguard Diagnostics. I would have packaged it a bit more cushion if I were shipping a hard drive.

A Western Digital hard drive packed in bubble wrap was in this box with less than 1 inch to spare on each side!

Wednesday, 7/9/2014: 2 runs of 1.2 and Dirt Cheap #4 of 4.54 miles, 70F, 60% RH, 6 mph NNW wind, partly cloudy.

It had rained yesterday and a brief shower moved through in the afternoon but it was a Dirt Cheap Wednesday so I went home, changed and headed down to the Devil's Bathtub section of Mendon Ponds Park for Dirt Cheap #4, aka DC#4. DC#4 was held in time trail fashion where we start going down the stairs in bib order in 5 second intervals. I got there at 5:45PM in plenty of time to snag a close parking spot on the hill. I met up with Prem Kumar and Andy Ciaio before the race. Both had just run the Finger Lakes 50K on Saturday just 4 days ago and looked none the worse for wear.

I got out for a nice 1.2 mile warmup run at 8:15 pace, link here. I had to remind myself that I was warming up and not racing. This is tough for me once I have a race bib on my shorts. I had sweat through my Firecracker 4 tech shirt from Saturday so I changed into my orange Spring Forward 2013 tech shirt before the race. I decided to carry a 10 ounce hand bottle of water which I did use once during the race.

My Golden Bib ... getting dirtier and more tagged with every race!

I started first since I was one of 6 with a Golden Bib and I had the lowest number of 10000. It was kind of nice to see some of the holders of the Golden Bib. Ellen made fun that a "dummy" was being sent off first and then I was being sent at 6:30:05 PM. And ... off I went! Lots of runners were going to be chasing me.


I almost wiped out at the bottom of the stairs ... all of a sudden I saw a photographer plus rocks, roots and a patch of mud. So I put on the brakes, concentrated on my footing and continued onward.

I had a lot of speed at the bottom of the stairs and almost tripped ... 

I was in the lead for a whole 2:44 before another holder of the Golden Bib passed me right at a turn to the right. He almost went straight and was glad that I made the turn. I soon found out that I should have pulled my laces tighter on my Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes as the deep patches of mud tried to suck my shoes off. Yes, there was mud and I went straight through it. Another holder of the Golden Bib named Chris passed me and then I passed him back. This was my sixth DC#4 so I basically knew the course. I walked the steep hills and ran the flats and downs like usual. I knew the bog was toward the end. I had a choice of taking the twisty and turny route through the trees to the left or going straight through the bog. I chose to mostly go straight through and paid the price. I sank thigh deep about 2/3 of the way through the bog and had to balance myself using my hands in the mud as I extracted myself. My shoes thankfully came back out still on my feet and I continued onward. It took me a bit to get back up to speed. Chris passed again with a mile to go and then another holder of the Golden Bib passed me just before we broke into the open meadow with about 3/4 mile to go. I was running OK. I wanted to run faster but I did the best I could. I knew I was close and just concentrated on finishing. And ... I was done in 43:36, 4.54 miles, 9:37 pace. My splits were: 8:02, 9:20, 11:07, 10:48 and 8:04 over the last 0.54 mile. I made my way to where other finishers were hanging out. Everyone had gone through the bog and sank at least knee deep ... nice!

I hung out afterward with Chris and we swapped running stories. I was impressed that he had ran muddy Sehgahunda this year in 6:00:32. A reader of this blog, Abby, introduced herself. She said that she found it when she wanted to find out about the Mendon Mauler. Hmm ... I think I will try to make old races easier to find. It might take a while with over 400 posts. I think I will use blogger's pages to list my races by year, races by race and PRs by race. Again ... it might take a while but I will start ... soon. Other projects, races, life may and probably will get in the way.

Anyway, I ran well. I finished 51st out of 290, link here. I was 3rd out of 8 in my M55-59 series age group, link here. Ed Housel, who is not in the series, came in first at 40:22 in our M55-59 age group. Bill Beyerbach was 2nd at 42:00, 1st in our M55-59 series age group.

Thursday, 7/10/2014: Rest day after a race.

Friday, 7/11/2014: 10 miles, 1:19:40, 7:58 pace, 77F, 44% RH, calm, sunny

Garmin Connect Activity for Prep for the Boilermaker

The couch tried to suck me in but I fought it off to get out for a confidence boosting 15K plus a 0.7 cooldown run on a beautiful Friday evening. The conditions were probably exactly like it will be on Sunday ... hot and a bit humid. I took it out a bit harder than nice and easy and kept the same pace for the entire 15K. Done in 1:13:10 at 7:52 pace. I took a minute to cool down right there on Seneca Ave and then continued onward for a 0.7 mile cooldown run at 9:17 pace to get to 10 miles even. My splits were: 7:53, 7:46, 7:47, 7:49, 7:46, 7:49, 8:09, 8:00, 7:51 and 8:48. I was dripping wet with sweat when I was done ... a well earned sweat!

My darling wife, Christine, soon cooked up an old standby ... pizza for a supper. A runner's staple ... tasty along with chips!

Saturday, 7/12/2014: 4.5 miles, 39:39, 8:48 pace, 72F, 73% RH, calm, sunny

I was up early ... my darling wife's snoring may have been the cause but I'll never tell! Anyway, I saw that Medved's last day of celebrating their 30th anniversary was today. I don't usually run the day before a race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Lemonade run with Medved

Normally I am not a group runner. But I wanted to help support Medved in a small way. An Adidas and New Balance rep were there so on a whim I tried out a pair of the Adidas Glide Boost in size 12.5 for the run. The lead group ran a really nice and easy pace which I appreciated. It got hot and muggy during the run and we were all soaked with sweat by the end of the run. My splits were: 9:16, 9:01, 8:48, 8:37 and 7:52 over the last 0.5 mile. The Glide Boost felt pretty comfortable during the run.

Christine suggested around 2:30PM that we do our laundry so 5 loads of laundry ensued. Trust me ... some of my tech clothes could have walked down to the basement by themselves. I went down to get the last load of laundry around 10:30PM ... when I should have been asleep! The alarm to get up for the Boilermaker 15K was set for 3:20AM!

Sunday, 6/29/2014 to Saturday, 7/5/2014 - Firecracker 4 Mile Race

I ran 5 times this week, 27.54 miles.

Sunday, 6/29/2014: 6.2 miles, 56:01, 9:01 pace, 77F, 61% RH, 9 mph SSW wind, HHH

Garmin Connect Activity for A hot and sweaty 10K

I should have gotten out earlier but just puttered around instead. I took it out nice and easy since it was already 77F. Really a tale of 2 runs just like some of my runs. The first 5K in 26:20, 8:30 pace. The second 5K was in 29:41, 9:34 pace, with lots of mini walk breaks for hydration. My splits were: 8:15, 8:12, 9:07, 9:13, 9:40, 9:50 and 8:27. I really don't like the heat and humidity. I even tried a small, wet bath towel around my neck.

Later, Christine and I headed out to the Waterloo Outlet Mall to see if we could pick up any bargains. My main reason was to get her another pair of sneakers. We looked at the Reebok and Nike stores before she couldn't find any that she liked. We ended up buying her a pair of sandals and earrings at G.H. Bass. I bought a couple of long sleeve dress shirts at Van Heusen. We got there around 5PM so we only got to look at or go past half the stores.

Monday, 6/30/2014: Rest day ... moving on.

Tuesday, 7/1/2014: Another rest day.

I stayed in to watch the US - Portugal World Cup game. I started watching during halftime when it was still scoreless. The keeper, Tim Howard, practically stood on his head to keep it scoreless until extra time. The game was almost all in the US end. He eventually let 2 balls by and the US lost 2-1, link here.

I ran 24 times in the 30 days of July for 105.35 miles, 4.4 miles/run. Sever were warmup runs of 1.1, 0.5, 1.1, 1.2, 0.7, 1 and 1.6 miles. I ran 6 races during July: McMullen Mile, Mendon Mauler 12, Dirt Cheap #3, Medved 5K to Cure ALS, Airport 5K and Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run.

Wednesday, 7/2/2014: 8.1 miles, 1:06:55, 8:15 pace, 84F, 45% RH, 12 mph W wind, HHH

It was hot, hazy and humid but I needed to run so I did. I wore my Brooks split shorts instead of my usual Brooks tights. I asked my darling wife, Christine, to meet me at Salvatore's at 7PM so we could eat our supper in AC instead of our hot apartment.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and sweaty run

I took it out nice and easy and ran pretty well for the first 4 miles. Then I saw the temperature on the St Paul Boulevard Fire Department station sign ... 90F. I gotta stop looking at that sign and just keep my mind in the run. I broke into a run/walk and mentally adjusted my route so I could be at Salvatore's by 7PM. My splits were: 8:02, 8:02, 7:59, 8:19, 8:26, 8:12, 8:56 and 8:12. Maybe I beat myself up about my run/walks too much.

A few guys outside razzed me about my running shorts when I ran up. Christine drove up a minute later. She had brought a bag with my jean shorts, a dry tech top, towel, glasses and wallet. The towel was much needed since I was drenched with sweat once I stopped running. The wallet was needed to pay for our much needed medium pizza for supper. A early bedtime ensued for me. Christine couldn't sleep again and stayed up for a while before she fell asleep. Life without AC ... our bedroom was 86F last night.

Thursday, 7/3/2014: 6.2 miles, 49:19, 7:56 pace, 70F, 83% RH, 9 mph N wind, overcast.

I was early even though I was off on vacation. I can't even sleep in on vacation? So I puttered around for a long while. My darling wife, Christine, got up around 10AM and was out the door to get her nails done at New Nails. It started to rain so I waited. When it stopped I headed out. I don't usually run the day before a race but ... I did.

Garmin Connect Activity for A cooler but still sweaty 10K

It was cooler but still humid so I took up a nice and easy pace. I didn't stretch out at all and just maintained my pace without stopping except for traffic. I didn't look at the St Paul Boulevard Fire Department sign when I went by on my usual 10K route. I didn't go any farther since I do have a race tomorrow. My splits were: 8:13, 7:55, 8:06, 7:59, 7:43, 7:44 and 7:59 over the last 0.2 mile. I was dripping wet with sweat when I stopped but it was a good sweat.

Friday, 7/4/2014: 3 runs of 1, Firecracker 4 and 2 miles, 61F, 77% RH, 10 mph NW wind

I was up at 6AM for another race. I tried to get my darling wife, Christine, awake but she just didn't have the "get up and go" in her. I left early and it was just a short 21 minute drive down in Perinton Park in Perinton. I parked near the finish not near the start since this is almost a point to point race. This race was also a Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race, the Firecracker 4. It's usually the Firecracker 5 but was shortened due to construction. So ... it was "all the hills but none of the flats" according to Ellen of Fleet Feet Rochester.

My Iphone was in B&W mode as I captured a mother duck and eight ducklings (kind of tough to see)

I got out for a nice and easy 1 mile warmup run at 8:47 pace, link here. There were a lot of people at this race. I said "Hi" to Prem Kumar, Andy Ciaio, Bill Beyerbach, Frank Quatronne, Mark Herberger, Wilt Alston, Jim May and Jim Glinsky among others before the start. Prem and Bill will running the Finger Lakes 50s tomorrow morning in Hectory NY. Prem will be running the 50K and Bill will be running the 25K.



I turned around before the start to politely warn those behind me not to trip me. The start was uneventful. I did hear a runner fall behind and to my left at the start.

Boots and the rest of us before the start

A long line of 915 runners

I struck up a nice and fast pace as I started up Whitney Rd which had not one but two hills in the first mile. I quickly remembered why I didn't like the Firecracker 5 when I last ran it. Then a right onto Turk Hill Rd with another hill. Another right onto E Church St with a hill, across Rt 250, onto W Church St. I didn't have much fire in the legs. I was a rabbit again. I had to take 3 mini walk breaks as Prem, Bill, Frank, Wilt and then Mark passed me. I did keep Mark in sight as I ran the best I could down E Church St. At Least W Church St was level or slightly downhill. I concentrated on keeping up with everyone I was around.

Cruising into the uphill finish

Then a final right into Perinton Park for the uphill finish. I passed one or two runners as I headed to the finish. Done ... in 28:40, 7:10 pace. I was beat. I quickly downed 2 pints of water and ate a banana.

I did OK. I gave it the best I could. Lately I have not been running as well as I want. My splits were: 6:51, 7:08, 7:26 and 6:59. I was 108th out of 915, link here. I was 6th out of 40 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I saw some anomalies in the results ... Prem and Mark weren't in them. Prem did get his results posted.

At the finish line after my cooldown run

I headed out the Erie Canal path for a nice out and faster back, link here. The surface of the path was stony and uneven which doesn't bode well for the Rochester Marathon in two and a half months.

Sonn I was home after stopping at the Perinton Wegmans for donuts. I did the usual. I did the dishes, made the coffee and woke my Christine with coffee and donuts. Another beautiful day ensued. Later we watched a couple of DVDs, Men in Black 3 and Snow White and the Huntsman. Not a bad couple of movies.

Oh, lots of running was going on today. The Firecracker 4 had 915 finishers, the Brighton 5K had 629 finishers, the Greece Freedom Run 5K had xx finishers, the Irondequoit 10K had 303 finishers, the Irondequoit 2 mile had 244 finishers and the Sodus Point 5K had 526 finishers. So ... lots of running and runners!

Saturday, 7/5/2014: Rest day after 3 days of running

A beautiful day to run but I sat it out after running 21.24 miles in 3 days in a row

Meanwhile, a lot of the local ultra trail racing community were running the Finger Lakes Fifties down near Hector NY in the Finger Lakes National Forest. There were 3 variations: 25K, 50K and 50 miles. The 25K results of 78 runners are here; Bill Beyerbach in 2:50:32. The 50K results of 99 runners are here; Chris Patterson in 6:00:09, Prem Kumar in 6:23:24, Mark Monachino in 6:39:57, Andy Ciaio in 6:57:28, Wendy Abbot in 7:09:48, Steve Levitsky in 7:27:10. Brian Andrews in 7:37:36, Robbie Ganey in 7:57:57, Kathy Reardon in 8:08:08, Tammy Abbe in 8:12:16, Kim Rapp in 8:34:01 and Tom Butler in 9:37:37. The 50 mile results of 44 runners are here; John Muoio in 10:31:23, Ron Heerkens Jr in 10:33:06 (his blog post here), Stacy Maier in 11:26:27, Anne Esposito in 11:33:38, Rob Wilder in 11:33:39 and Bambi Jasmin in 12:22:18.

(l-r) Charlie Andrews, Bambi Jasmin, Anne Esposito, Robbie Ganey, Steve Levitsky, Rob Wilder, Kathy Reardon, John Muoio, Bill Beyerbach and Wendy Abbott

Sunday, 6/22/2014 to Saturday, 6/28/2014 - Charlie's Old Goat Run

I ran 5 times this week, 28.34 miles (1 warmup run of 1.6 miles)

Sunday, 6/22/2014: 6.2 miles, 51:07: 8:15 pace, 75F, 36% RH, 6 mph wind, sunny.

I had to sleep on my back during the night since my left rib bruise (I hope) prevented me from laying on my left side like I usually do. I got up around 8AM and let my darling wife, Christine, sleep. I puttered around, had a mug of coffee, read the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle and caught up on email and Facebook. I woke Christine up at 12:20AM. Good thing I did since she had a Massage Envy appointment at 1PM. She out the door by 12:43AM and took a quick bath before she did. Wow!

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and healing 10K

So ... I went out for a run. I had to get out to see if my bruises and aches would allow me to run. The first mile was slow ... my left ribs didn't like the bouncing too much. But I kept going and endured the run. My splits were: 8:52, 8:23, 8:13, 8:26 (I had to wait for traffic), 7:49, 7:54 and 7:31 over the last 0.2 mile. All in all, not a bad run.

Later I watched the World Cup match between the US and Portugal. The US fought back from a 0-1 deficit to lead 2-1 going into the final minute of stoppage time. Just like that ... it was a 2-2 draw due to a cross by Ronaldo and a header by a sub named Varela with about 15 seconds to go, link here. Our Time Warner feed for both the TV and internet went down in the second half so I had to watch the rest of the game via my watchESPN app. Time Warner stayed down so I went to bed early ... like 9:15PM early.

Monday, 6/23/2014: Rest day ... moving on.

Tuesday, 6/24/2014: 6.3 miles, 51:12, 8:07 pace, 72F, must have been 100% RH, overcast, calm, sprinkles then heavy rain.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and wet run in the dark

I got home and wanted to run but 5 minutes later a huge thunderstorm moved through and it absolutely poured. So I ate supper and just thought about running. Well ... my darling wife, Christine, was yanking around with the DVR watching her shows that I didn't like so I just up and said "I need to get out of here and run". It was 8:45PM around dusk so I put on my reflectivity belt and headlamp. I was a bit slow at first but I sped up as my joints loosened up. Then ... it started to sprinkle. I turned the cracked face of my Garmin Forerunner 310XT upside down on my wrist so it hopefully wouldn't get wet. Then ... it started to pour around mile 4 or so. I think the lightning flashes sped my pace up a bit too. I started to splash through the puddles on the shoulder along side of Cooper Rd, Titus Ave and Seneca Ave as I headed home. I was soaked, my shoes were soaked ... but it was a really good run. My splits were: 8:49, 8:20, 8:08, 7:51, 7:39, 7:56 and 8:08 over the last 0.3 mile.

It's really something. I can hurt myself running but I still run. My left knee still hurts when I kneel on it and I can't lie on my left side yet because my left rib is still bruised ... but I still run. I grimace when I get out of bed in the morning. I have run in the rain and have ran a few races in the rain. Runners understand this ... non runners maybe not.

Wednesday, 6/25/2014: Rest day ... moving on.

Thursday, 6/26/2014: 7.7 miles, 1:02:29, 8:07 pace, 79F, 48% RH, 6 mph N wind, sunny.

I didn't really want to run but I did. I try not to run on the Friday night before a race on Saturday morning but I didn't want to not run for 4 days either ... so I ran.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and sluggish run

The result was what I thought was a crappy run. I mean I took 5 walking breaks for water for heaven's sake! These were all in the middle of the run after I had run 3.5 miles and before I ran 2.5 miles at the end. So they were all in a 1.7 mile stretch. I have been tired lately so I think it had all caught up with me. But my split were: 7:58, 7:56, 7:43, 8:44, 8:39, 8:04, 7:53 and 7:54 so when I did run I ran kind of fast ... which is why I had a 8:07 pace for the entire run. Unbelievable.

Friday, 6/27/2014: Rest day ... the usual before a Saturday morning race.

My right palm has new skin and my left shoulder no longer needs a bandage. My left rib still hurts when I flex it wrong.

Saturday, 6/28/2014: 2 runs of 1.6 miles and Charlie's Old Goat Train Run of 6.54 miles, 75F, 68% RH, 4 mph SSW wind, sunny.

I was up early due to my darling wife, Christine, coming to bed late at 4:30AM and promptly snoring. So ... I got out of bed at 4:40AM for an early start to the day. Once it got to be 6:45AM I quietly got ready. I bid Christine "Good Bye" and left at 7:22AM for the 26 minute trip down to Victor and the Ganondagan State Historic Site. This would be my fourth running of the Charlie Old Goat Trail Run. I like this race ... it's challenging, not too long and has a good spread of food afterward. I said "Hi" to Tom Butler, Andy Ciaio, Prem Kumar, Bob Dyjak (running his first trail race), Mark Monachino, Bill Beyerbach, Bob Hamilton (up from Lyons) and Wilt Alston. This is a Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race so there was a lot of people I knew.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run

The weather was warm so I took a nice, easy and slow warmup run for 1.6 miles, 9:40 pace. I was dripping wet with sweat when I got back about 20 minutes before the race started. I tried to wrap my head around the fact that it would be a hot race.

Soon enough it was 9AM and we were off! I ran well for the first two miles and then the wheels just fell off. I said "Hi" to the people I knew as they passed me. The route of this race led us through open meadows where the sun beat down on us ... it was hot! I walked a lot of the hills. I tried to get back my mojo and ran when I could. I tried to run the downs and flats.

The race was only 6.5 miles so it was over soon enough. I tried to hold a run as I ran the last of the open meadows until I crossed the finish in 1:09:52. I was beyond drenched with sweat and quite thirsty. I was a bit dazed and downed two bottles of water as soon as I could. A few people that I met asked me "Are you OK?" and told me to eat something so I did. Donuts and cookies tasted good. Soon I felt better and talked a bit with Bill Beyerbach. I didn't win anything at the raffle. My number 41 was bracketed by 40, 42, 43 and 44 ... oh, well!

Soon I was home. So I woke my darling wife, Christine, did the dishes, got the coffee brewing, the bagels toasting and sat down. Whew! Another race done, my 267th. I did kind of OK, 1:09:52, 114th out of 230, 8th out of 14 in my M55-59 age group, link here. The heat just took my body and mind out of the run today. Stuff like that happens.

Here is an interesting blog post by the 2nd place finisher, Joshua Perks, link here. He looks at being 39 and looking forward to not racing against 24 year old runners in the open division when he ages up to 40 and the masters division. Another blog post by Eric Eagan is here. He said "Hi" as he passed me too.

Sunday, 6/15/2014 to Saturday, 6/21/2014 - Medved 5K to cure ALS and Airport 5K

I ran 7 times this week, 19.85 miles (3 were warmup runs of 1.2, 0.7 and 1 miles).

Sunday, 6/15/2014: 2 runs of 1.2 miles and Medved 5K to Cure ALS, 55F and 61F, 88% and 77%RH, calm, sunny.

I was up early for the Medved 5K to Cure ALS. This was my third time running this race; 2012 in 20:13 (lifetime PR) and 2013 in 21:26. Christine wanted to sleep so I let her continue with her Zs. I quietly got ready. It was just a 5K so I just wore my CW-X tight shorts, a Medved tech shirt along with the usual socks and Brooks Adrenaline 13 GTX road shoes. The race was at Frontier Stadium in downtown Rochester where the Red Wings play so it was just a 8 minute drive. I arrived in plenty of time for the 8:30AM start. I got out for a nice and easy 1.2 mile warmup run, link here.

I lined up next to Prem Kumar and saw Wilt Alston run and line up just minutes before the race. I told Prem that I wanted to finish in front of Wilt today instead of behind him like I did at the McMullen Mile last week.

The start!

And ... we were off! I tried to hold myself back and not be a rabbit in the first half mile. Wilt passed me around mile 0.75. I stayed near his shoulder as we came out onto State St at mile 1, 6:35 pace.

Slightly behind Wilt as we are going south on State St around mile 1

I  passed him just before the turn onto Main St. I worried about where he was like before but ran onward. I had studied the course and knew that when I passed the east side of Frontier Field that it was mile 2, 6:49 pace.

I was running pretty well. The last mile was long and I did want to stop but I ran onward. I made the turn onto Morrie Silver Way past the north side of Frontier Field. I knew there was about 0.5 mile to go. I kept up my pace, kept my position. Across the parking lot, onto the outfield warning track on the right field side, mile 3 ... 6:49 pace, just 0.1 mile to go. Over to left field, down the left baseline and down to the finish near home plate. I could see the clock ticking near 21:00 so I sprinted up to 6:04 pace ... and done in 20:59!

I was happy to break 21 minutes. I might never break 20 minutes but I can break 21! I turned around and welcomed Prem (21:24) and Wilt (21:31) into the finish. Prem was happy with his finish after driving to and from a funeral near Philadelphia yesterday and Wilt said I was a beast. He had rode his bicycle to the race so his legs might not have been fresh. He probably has stronger legs than I do. I really should cross train!

So ... I did pretty well, 20:59, 83rd out of 514, link here. I was 3rd out of 26 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I stuck around for the awards and received a nice North Face drawstring bag.

Later I went down to Newark to see my daughter, Karen, and oldest son, Michael. I gave Karen my old bicycle helmet and fore-mentioned North Face drawstring bag. I enjoyed catching up with them.

Monday, 6/16/2014: Rest day.

My youngest son, David, came up for dinner with my darling wife, Christine, and I. We had a roast along with green beans, potatoes and a tasty salad. I was surprised to learn that David doesn't like any vegetables or salad ... so he just ate meat. Though he does like pasta.

Meanwhile, I missed out on meeting Deena Kastor, links here and here, who came to Fleet Feet Armory for the day, link here. Many pics were taken with Deena, here is one I captured from Facebook.

Wendy Abbott, Diana Kynazeva, Deena Kastor and Ankhela Kynazeva (l-r)

Tuesday, 6/17/2014: "Coulda, shoulda but didn't" rest day.

It was really hot, humid and Christine had leftovers from last night already in the oven. So I didn't fight it and stayed in. I gave a glimmer of thought to going out later but a nasty thunderstorm came through about a hour before sunset.

Wednesday, 6/18/2014: 2 runs of 5.8 and 5 miles, 75F, 65% RH, 5 mph N wind, overcast.

I needed to get back out there so after a not so brief hug from Christine I did. She went to LA Fitness for the first time since we joined last year (Yay!) and I went out for a long run.

I started out on my usual 10K loop and then decided to break long and head to the lake for 5.8 miles, 7:48 pace, link here. It was a gradual downhill to Lake Ontario so I sped up a bit. My splits were: 7:53, 7:55, 7:48, 7:51, 7:41 and 7:37 over the last 0.8 mile. I took some hydration at the beach for a couple of minutes before I headed back. I took a slight different route so it was 5 miles, 8:23 pace, link here. It was a gradual uphill so I was slower. My splits were: 8:40, 8:20, 8:22, 8:15 and 8:22. The bottom of my left foot started to hurt on the way back. I do believe that my current pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTX 13s are not lasting as long as my previous pairs. They only have about 370 miles on them ... which is far too early to replace them.

Thursday, 6/19/2014 & Friday, 6/20/2014: Rest days ... grudgingly.

Saturday, 6/21/2014: 3 runs of 0.7, 1 and Airport 5K of 3.02 miles, 61F, 77% RH, calm, partly cloudy.

Another Saturday morning ... another race. Today was the Airport 5K where runners get to run on the Rochester Airport general aviation runaways. I was up early like usual. My darling wife, Christine, elected to stay home and sleep so I got ready quietly for my 266th race since I started running races way back in 2005. I got down in plenty of time for not one but two warmup runs of 0.7 mile at 8:48 pace, link here, and 1 mile at 8:15 pace, link here. I said "Hi" to Tom Butler and his son Dave, Prem Kumar and Mike Weinpress. This was my 2nd running of this race. The start was different than last year.


9AM came and went. Two wheelchair racers went off first. So there was a lot of tension when we were sent off. I don't know if I tripped on a runner in front of me or was tripped from behind ... but I fell at the start. I broke my fall onto the asphalt with my right hand and fell onto my left side. All of a sudden I was looking at runners coming at me! I got up quickly before anyone fell on me and started running so not to get trampled. I got up to speed quickly. About a half mile into the race I looked down at my right palm and saw skin flapping and blood. I wondered where else I was bleeding ... but I could still run so I did. I also noticed that the face of my Garmin Forerunner 310DX was cracked but still keeping time. There was no marshal or a cone out at the mile 1 mark so most of the runners turned too early. I kept running. I tried to catch Prem but couldn't. My Garmin chirped mile 3 about 50 yards before the finish so I knew it was a short race ... only 3.02 miles on my Garmin but under 21 minutes.

I congratulated Prem who finished in 20:39 and Mike and who finished in 20:43. Then I looked for the ambulance to get my wounds looked at. A nice EMT tried to clean me off and get a gauze pad on my right palm. They also found a cut on my left pinkie knuckle. It's tough to get bandages to stick when you are sweating.

My Garmin had a cracked screen and I had some asphalt rash

I met up with Tom Butler who finished in 27:05 and his son Dave who finished in 26:59. They were happy to have the chance to run together. I was feeling more than a bit sore. My left knee, left ribs and left shoulder hurt so I headed to the Cruze and headed home. I hoped that I didn't break a rib again.

I stopped by Wegmans for coffee creamer and 4 donuts like last week. Soon I was home. I explained to Christine what had happened. She thinks I should run encased in bubble wrap ... what fun would that be!

Soon afterward, I was drinking coffee ... along with holding an ice pack against my left side. Officially I did OK, 62nd out of 540, link here. I was 6th out of 48 in  my M50-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 6:43, 7:04 and 6:55. I was feeling kind of OK by the evening.

Meanwhile ... GVH sent a team of 5 out to run the Mount Washington Road Race, Competitor photos here, results here.

A photo from Competitor which says that grade is 22 degrees during the final 100 yards.

Coach Reif, Bruce Wilkins, Liz Matthews, Bill Beyerbach and Mike Neir (l to r)

Mike Neir ran a 1:22:29 for 4th/98 in his M45-49 AG, Bruce Wilkins ran a 1:29:15 to win 1st/60 his M60-64 AG, Liz Matthews ran a 1:31:15 for 9th/52 in her F30-34 AG, Michael "Coach" Reif ran a 1:48:40 for 4th/33 in his M65-69 AG and Bill Beyerbach ran a 1:49:09 for 24th/74 in his M55-59 AG.

Sunday, 6/8/2014 to Saturday, 6/14/2014 - Dirt Cheap #3

I ran 5 times this week, 22.27 miles.

Sunday, 6/8/2014: Rest day.

I felt like a slug by not running today. I read everyone's exploits on Facebook while resting my legs from yesterday's Mendon Mauler 12. The Keuka Tri was held, results here. 38 finished the Du, 170 finished the Intermediate Tri and 220 finished the Short Tri. Locals Dan Gilbin won his 50-54 age group in the Intermediate Tri, Dave Kudla finished the Short Tri in 1:21:30 and Bob Hamilton finished the Short Tri in 1:50:13. The Tour de Cure Rochester was held with over 2000 bicyclists rode in the various distances of 3, 15, 25, 40, 62.5 and 100 miles and rose close to 1 million dollars, news links here. here, and here. The Lake Placid Marathon and Half Marathon were held, results here. 318 runners finished the Full; Courtney Abeln finished in 5:53:53) and 1005 finished the Half; Jim McLaughlin in 1:38:57, Brian Andrews in 1:50:20, Jeff Rose in 1:56:27, Jady Simmons in 2:20:07, Ellen Boettrich in 2:35:42 and Beth Springar in 3:02:01  Lots of runners, bicyclists and multisport athletes were out and about!

Yesterday, Prem Kumar asked me after the Mendon Mauler 12 how I get motivated to race so much. A decent question which deserves a decent answer. Well ... I just love to compete. I do like placing in my age group which is easier because I am older and still kind of fast. This will get harder as younger guys age up into my 55-59 age group. But still I love to compete and see what I am capable of.

Monday, 6/9/2014: 2 runs of 3.1 and 5 miles, 73F, 61% RH, 5 mph ENE wind, overcast.

Mondays are usually a rest day but I took Sunday off instead ... so after a bit of couch time I got out there. I plan on resting Tuesday, then racing Dirt Cheap #3 on Wednesday.

Garmin Connect Activity for Just a 5K

I found that my thighs were tight for the first two miles. I guess the Mendon Mauler 12 on Saturday beat me up more than I thought. I knew I didn't have it to last at this pace for my usual 10K run so I stopped at 5K to rest, hydrate and stretch for a minute. My splits were: 7:51, 7:39, 7:37 and 6:52 over the last 0.1 mile.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and easy 5 miles

I was still out there and needed to get back home so I struck up a nice and easy pace to get more miles. I thought about continuing on to get another 10K but opted for 5 miles. My splits were: 8:07, 8:06, 8:15, 8:12 and 8:06. It was amazing how a 20 or so second pace difference felt so much easier.

Tuesday, 6/10/2014: Rest day ... per usual the day before a race.

Wednesday, 6/11/2014: 2 runs of 1.1 and Dirt Cheap #3 of 3.47 miles, 82F, 58% RH, 10 mph N wind, overcast and more.

It was Dirt Cheap #3 so it was down to Lucien Morin Park for my darling wife, Christine, and I on an overcast Wednesday night. There was a forecast of rain and thunderstorms. Christine threw in some Lloyds ribs into the crockpot before we left. We got down to MacGregor's Grill and Taproom next door a hour early so we found a parking spot easily.

I got out for a nice and not so easy 1.1 mile warmup run before the race, link here. I just went out 0.55 miles to the top of the first hill and back. Dirt Cheap #3 and #6 held at Lucien Morin Park are the shortest in length but the hardest of the Dirt Cheaps because of the constant ups and downs, narrow trails, roots, rocks ... plus it can become a mud pit if it rains like it did way back in 2009. I had some water, cooled down a bit, kissed my wife for luck, asked her to meet me at the finish line with some water and headed to the start line. I said "Hi" to fellow runners Bill Beyerbach, Andy Ciaio, Tom Butler, Amy Lord (who luckily decided on Salomon Speedcross trail shoes), Jim Roche, Jim McLaughlin and Todd Sappen Sr.

This Dirt Cheap went off in 3 waves: men 44 and under at 6:30, women 44 and under at 6:35 and everyone over 45 at 6:40. Soon it was everyone, 45 and over ... the "geezers" ... err, our turn. It started to pour for about 20 seconds just before the race before it subsided for a while.


And ... we were off! I wanted to blast out for the 1/4 mile down the stone road to the sharp left turn into single track but I held back a bit. I knew that the trail would soon leap uphill for about 1/4 mile.

Just into the single track - taken by Kim Smith

I started passing slower women at about 0.4 miles in and was in constant pass mode or just waiting to pass for a lot of the race. There were some areas where you just couldn't pass. Up, down, sideways with what seems very little level trail.

I swear I was going in the right direction! - taken by Kim Smith

One ... two ... three miles. It started to rain and then pour about midway into the race. The trail became muddy, slippery, dark and more dangerous. So I slowed way down to be safe and concentrated on safe passes if need be and safe footing. The downhill to the finish line was treacherous. And ... done in 37:48! Christine was more than a bit damp and waiting for me with her water bottle. Thank you, honey! Shortly after, it started to pour for 10 solid minutes. Most of the runners who finished took refuge under tents. We met up with Bill Beyerbach,  who finished in 35:25, after the race.

We left without going into McGregor's when it started to downpour again. Back at the apartment we had ribs and potato salad to eat while we watched "The Monuments Men" off of OnDemand. Tasty ribs and a nice movie!

I caught up on the results and Facebook. I did OK, I was 63rd out of 333, link here. I was 2nd (to Bill Beyerbach) out of 9 in our M55-59 age group, link here. I did count on the results page that I passed a lot of women 44 and under ... 94! One of the disadvantages of starting in the third wave.

Thursday, 7/12/2014: Rest day ... off, on like usual.

Friday, 7/13/2014: 9.6 miles, 1:15:18, 7:51 pace, 72F, 65% RH, 10 mph WNW wind, partly cloudy.

I seriously thought of just bagging this run. I had my customary cereal but just dawdled for a while. I didn't want to do a long run on Saturday morning with a race on Sunday morning, especially a Rochester Runner of the Year race so ... I just got up and got out there.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and easy run on the usual route

I stuck up a nice and easy pace on my usual 10K route. I didn't bring water but I decided to stretch the run but adding another loop down Titus Ave to Winona Blvd. My splits were: 7:56, 7:49, 7:48, 7:43, 7:46, 7:45, 8:01, 7:50, 7:53 and 7:56 over the last 0.6 miles. I was certainly thirsty when I got done ... but another run was in the books.

Saturday, 7/14/2014: Rest day

A nice and relaxing day. I puttered and tried to organize some of my stuff in the apartment along with doing 3 loads of laundry. My darling wife, Christine, and I enjoyed a nice, relaxing and a bit romantic day.

Sunday, 6/1/2014 to Saturday, 6/7/2014 - McMullen Mile and Mendon Mauler 12 Mile Trail Race

I ran 5 times this week for 22.29 miles.

Sunday, 6/1/2014: 7 miles, 1:09:23, 9:54 pace, 79F, 28% RH, 10 mph S wind, sunny.

It would have been better to run in the morning when it was cooler but my darling wife, Christine, had a two hour massage and facial appointment at MassageEnvy at 1PM. So ... I dropped her off and then proceeded down to Mendon Ponds Park for another day of running trail.

Garmin Connect Activity for Nice and easy miles at Mendon Ponds Park

I didn't have a lot of time so I just did a usual tour on the Green and Blue trail. I tried to run it counter-clockwise and got lost a bit just like usual. I can run it clockwise with my eyes shut but not the other way! I tried to run it at a not so easy trail pace but it was hot so I took some walk breaks on some hills. Still ... a 9:54 pace wasn't too bad.

I picked up Christine as she got out of MassageEnvy and we had lunch at the nearby Subway. We stopped by the Wegmans in Irondequoit on the way home. Man ... was it busy! Nascar drivers could learn from these shoppers with their grocery carts on a Sunday afternoon!

I did some Facebook browsing and caught up on other runner's exploits. The Pittsford Tri was held on Sunday morning, results here. The Cayuga Trails 50 was held down in Ithaca NY, results here. There were 176 finishers with 54 who dropped. I followed the runners that I knew via text. The elevation change chart on the CT50 is insane!

Personal note: I have had my new short haircut for exactly a month now. Christine reminded me of that as she wanted to give me a trim. I let her. I am still trying to get used to it. There are advantages and disadvantages like to most things. Advantages: no bad hair days, no need to comb, no combover, no hat hair, no cowlick, more aerodynamic when I run. Disadvantages: radical change, need to wear sunscreen or a hat if I am running long.

Personal Note 2: I am sporting a starter mustache for a bit while I am waiting for a power plug to arrive via Ebay that fits the Norelco 8500X electric razor that my youngest son, David, gave me. He had lost its power plug during a move. My old electric razor disappeared after Sehgahunda. The Alligiance Bed and Breakfast doesn't have it and all I can find in the apartment is its power cord. No, my old power plug did not fit the "new to me" razor. Update ... the starter mustache was gone by Saturday afternoon. My darling wife, Christine, did appreciate having her clean shaven husband again.

Monday, 6/2/2014: Rest day.

I really needed to wash all my trail stuff so I did 2 loads of laundry. Exciting stuff ...

Tuesday, 6/3/2014: 6.4 miles, 56:15, 8:47 pace, 81F, 45% RH, 20 mph WSW wind, sunny.

The McMullen Mile is coming on Thursday so I thought I really should get in one night of speedwork. Yeah ... I should have done a lot more than one but I felt that I needed to run trail for Muddy Sneaker, Medved Madness and Sehgahunda more than I needed to run speedwork. 

Garmin Connect Activity for A bit of hot speedwork at Cobbs Hill

So I headed down to Cobbs Hill to do 1 km repeats around the reservoir. Yes, it was hot. The time/temp clock on Monroe indicated 85F. Yes, it was windy. But ... I ran anyway. I took a 0.8 mile warmup. I did three hard 1 km runs of 3:53, 3:56 and 4:00 with a cooldown 1 km of 4:15. The 1 km course is clockwise on the road around the reservoir from the stone building to the crooked tree up the hill just past the entrance.  It was tough running in the heat plus I really needed to bring a larger water bottle. Then I did a really nice and easy 2.5 mile cooldown run at around 8:40 pace.

Wednesday, 6/4/2014: Rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, made a scrumptious dinner: lamb roast, french fries and coleslaw!

Thursday, 6/5/2014: 2 runs: 1.1 miles and the McMullen Mile

A cool Thursday night but the McMullen Mile was scheduled so down to the Nazereth College track for my third running of the McMullen Mile. I didn't run track way back in the day at Newark High School so it's still a learning experience.

I warmed up with a really nice and easy 1.1 miles on the outside lanes, link here. The weather conditions were ideal for running: 61F, 59% RH, 9 mph NNW wind, overcast. My race was number 4 for men under 8 minute pace but greater than 4:50 pace, Heat 2 so I had about 45 minutes to wait for the youth, high school and men over 8 minute pace and Heat 1 of my race to finish. 

I drew number 10 so I started on the outside of the first row. Up to the line and .... Go! I started out fast and when no one took the lead ... took it. I was in the lead!

The start!

Breaking for the lead!

 I could hear footsteps behind me and just took off like a rabbit. Soon I couldn't hear any footsteps behind me. I have never led a race on a track before so it was a totally new experience.

Running in the lead

What do you think about? Well, I did think about not tripping as I flirted with the metal rail that I was hugging as I ran around the track. Lap 1 ... people clapped as I came by in 1:27 at 5:56 pace. Lap 2 ... halfway done at 3:00 at 6:14 pace. I heard people yell for me and also Wilt Alston. Lap 3 at 4:38 at 6:21 pace. I started to get tired. More rooting for me and then Wilt. How far was Wilt behind me? I struggled on the back stretch. I so wanted the race to be done ... did I have anything left? Less than one half lap to go now. I started to hear footsteps, closer and closer. Wilt passed me with 1/4 lap to go. Suddenly I was 10 feet behind him! I swung into lane 2 and kicked as we came to the home stretch. I put everything I had left into catching Wilt. He heard me coming and did the same.

Wilt and I sprinting for the finish!

The yelling got louder as we got closer. I got within a foot as we hit the line. I finished in 6:11.92, Wilt was 0.09 seconds faster. I checked my Garmin later ... I got up to 4:41 pace! What a race! People congratulated us. I so wanted to win the race but I did my best and that's a good thing. Maybe I should have done more speedwork? Competition ... that's why I race!

Bill Beyerbach raced in a faster division and ran a 5:54.49. He placed 1st out of 6 in our M55-59 age group, Wilt, who just aged up, was 2nd and I was 3rd.

I finished 3rd in my M55-59 age group, Wilt Alston finished 2nd, Bill Beyerbach finished 1st.

The results are here and the age group results are here. Valuable Rochester Runner Of the Year (RROY) points for all three of us.

What to do if this happens again? Should I try to be a faster rabbit? Or let someone to let lead the way and try to nip them at the line? My money is on a smarter rabbit.

Friday, 6/6/2014: Rest day ... between two races.

Saturday, 6/7/2014: 2 runs of 0.5 and the Mendon Mauler of 12.69 miles, 59F at race start, 77% RH, 5 mph SW wind, sunny.

I had a restless night and woke up at 5:45AM, did the dishes from last night and woke up my darling wife, Christine. I quietly got ready while she oscillated between going with me or going back to bed. When I found her sneakers around 7AM, she said she was going and out the door we went at 7:09AM. We were down at the Beach parking lot at Mendon Ponds Park by 7:30AM for the 8AM start. I said "Hi" to Prem Kumar, Todd Sappen Sr and Tom Butler before the race.

This was my fourth time at the Mendon Mauler. This trail race is either 4, 8 or 12 miles. I signed up for the 12 so I had three loops to do before I was done. The weather was a bit cool and sunny at the start. I went out for a short 0.5 miles run to get my legs warm, link here. Boots and Ellen came up a bit late. Boots yelled his pre race instructions. The ever popular "Don't blindy follow the runner in front of you" and "If you get lost, it's your own fault" were two of them. And ... we were off at 8:03AM. 

The Mendon Mauler 12 start - taken by Susan Schneider

Boots and Ellen after we started ... runners on Facebook contemplated on what they said after we were gone - taken by Susan Schneider

Loop 1 ... I settled into a nice trail pace. What can I say? The only mud that I found was in the field that we ran in for the first two hundred yards. Then there was just roots, rocks, tree branches and horse poop to watch out for ... beside running uphills, flats and downhills as fast as you can while not falling.

After 1/2 mile in on Loop 1 - taken by John Simpson

A bit further on - taken by John Simpson

I ran about 30 feet behind Prem for a while and said "Hi" as I passed him. I thought he would soon catch me again but he didn't. I did get lost a bit on Loop 1. I went straight at one point instead of turning right. It was a shortcut so I caught up with some faster runners when I found the trail again. Up hills, flats, down hills ... onward. I ended Loop 1 of 4.17 miles in 40:41.

The signs at the aid station at the end of each loop

Loop 2 ... I continued onward. I slowed a bit on this loop.

Just after the start of Loop 2 - taken by John Simpson

Soon I caught up with the 4 and 8 mile runners who had started at 8:30AM. I was in pass mode on the left or right for a long while on the ups, flats and downs. I said "Hi" to the runners that I knew and didn't know as I motored by. I took the correct turn this time and just followed the flags on this loop. I examined my Garmin data and found that I only took a 0.14 mile shortcut on Loop 1. I completed Loop 2 of 4.17 miles in 44:00. The distance and time so far was 8.34 miles and 1:24:41.

Loop 3 ... I refilled my water and had a Gu before I started up again. It had warmed up a bit so I was a bit thirsty and hungry on this loop. There were fewer slower runners on this loop. I was a bit more careful but just motored onward. I did the usual ... walk the hills that I had to, run the flats and run the downs ... onward. I completed Loop 3 of 4.17 miles in 48:25. The distance and time so far was 12.51 miles and 2:13:06. Then it was a run across Douglas Road and down the field to Stewart Lodge for 0.14 miles and 1:18 to the finish.

Cruising into the finish - taken by Kim Smith

Running for the finish ... on fumes! - taken by John Simpson

And ... done! 12.69 miles in 2:14:24 for my second fastest Mendon Mauler. I was spent and really needed water at the finish. Luckily, Christine was there like a guardian angel and gave me Fluid and then water. I staggered a bit but calmed down and made it into Stewart Lodge. I had a most excellent and needed hot dog, banana and chips. I was sweating like a pig for a bit. Prem came over and we talked for a while. He had slowed.as he overheated and finished in 2:25:30.

I did OK. Officially I was 41st out of 110, link here. I was 5th out of 16 in my M50-59 age group, link here. Other runners that I knew: Todd Sappen, Jr ran the 12 and finished in 2:06:52, Rob Tyler ran the12 and finished in 2:19:01, Joe Muczynski ran the 12 and finished in 2:33:30, Tom Butler ran the 12 and finished in 2:51:15, Diana Kynaveza ran the 8 in 2:18:26, Jim Norris ran the 8 in 2:41:06, Tina Pellegrin ran the 8 in 2:59:29, Don Dow ran the 4 in 46:59, Becky Honecker ran the 4 in 1:05:25 and Amy Lord ran the 4 in 1:06:35. 66 runners ran the 8 and 137 runners ran the 4.

Soon ... Christine and I were home. She made pizza for lunch and soon took a nap while I drank coffee, ate pizza and caught up on Facebook. This was a major undertaking because it was a busy day for runners in and from Rochester.

I looked through hundreds of Mendon Mauler pictures. The Fast and Furriest 10K (220 runners, Wendy Abbot won Female Masters in 42:48, Andrew Claio won his 45-49 age group in 43:32, Steve Levitsky was 2nd in his 45-49 age group, Bill Beyerbach won his 55-59 age group in 44:34 and Charlie Sabatine won his 70+ age group in 1:05:09) and 5K (274 runners) were run. The Walk/Run with Me 5K had 63 runners. The RSD River Ramble 5K had 81 runners. The "Survive for 5" 5K had 98 runners (Jason "JMac" McElwain won overall in 17:35 and Bob Dyjak "won" his 60-69 age group of 1 runner in 26:37.

The Rothrock 30K was held down in Tussy Ski Are in Boalsburg PA near State College PA. 322 runners finished with locals Mort Nace in 4:54:09, Ben Murphy in 4:57:09, Mark Monachino and Tammy Abbe in 5:52:09.

The Ironman Boise 70.3 was held. Our Katie Myszka (aka Katie from Cali) rocked it in 5:20:40. 39:34 for the 1.2 mile swim, 2:54:28 for the 56 mile bike and 1:41:04 for the 13.1 mile run.

Eventually I went out to Wegmans to get our supper of roasted chicken and macaroni salad while we watched "Gravity" off of OnDemand. Nice supper and movie at home!