Sunday, 10/12/2014 to Saturday, 10/18/2014 - Finish Strong 15K

I ran 4 times this week, 26.25 miles.

Sunday, 10/12/2014: "Slug" day

Yes, I took a rest day. I relaxed and recharged my batteries. I did read of others exploits on Facebook. Tim Dywer, Chris Patterson and Wendy Abbott ran the Chicago Marathon.

Wendy Abbott - 3:25:43 and Chris Patterson - 2:58:36 (a 41 second PR)  - from Wendy's FB

Tim Dwyer ran a 3:05:23 - taken from Tim's FB.

Christine and I watched the Patriots - Bills game. The Bills were 2-22 versus the Patriots QB, Tom Brady coming in ... and coming out were 2-23. The Bills pass defense was shredded in the 2nd half and the Bills lost 22-37, link here. Yes, the refs sucked (what is a catch and what is pass interference?) but the Bills had their chances and blew them too.

Ron Heerkens Jr and his wife, Elyse - taken from Ron's blog.

Ron Heerkens Jr completed a 100 mile race in 30:33, the Oil Creek 100 down in Oil City PA, results here, link to his blog here, an awesome post.

Monday, 10/13/2014: 9.3 miles, 1:12:xx, 7:48 pace, 54F, 82% RH, 3 mph SSE wind, overcast.

My darling wife, Christine, woke me with her snoring at 4:47AM on a PTO day. Yes, I had the day off and I was up before the crack of dawn. I waited until daylight before getting out for a nice 15K run on my usual route.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice 15K run

I started out a bit slow but kicked it up a bit. I just enjoyed the run. It was overcast, calm and just the perfect temperature. I did wear light gloves and a hat but just shorts and a short sleeve tech otherwise. Sweet!

Tuesday, 10/14/2014: Rest day.

Wednesday, 10/15/2014: Another rest day.

Luckily, I had gone to bed at 9PM last night because I woke up at 4:47AM to this ...

Yes ... that sound you hear is my darling wife, Christine, snoring. I brought my Iphone back to bed to check emails since I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I had the thought to record her snoring for posterity. Now ... did I get up and get out to work out at LA Fitness or go to work early? The answer would be ... no. Yes, I should have done something besides sip coffee, look at email and Facebook ... but I didn't.

Thursday, 10/16/2014: A "coulda, shoulda and didn't" rest day, :-(

Friday, 10/17/2014: 6.2 miles, 48:40, 7:50 pace, 54F, 94% RH, 7 mph SW wind, dark, real light mist.

Garmin Connect Activity for A negative split 10K in the AM

I set my alarm for 5AM ... and got out the door by 5:30AM. I shocked my darling wife, Christine, by getting up, dressed and out the door because I almost never run in the AM darkness. But I did. I started out slow and like usual ... got faster. I turned in a negative split run with splits of: 8:11, 8:09, 7:58, 7:55, 7:37, 7:24 and 7:03 over the last 0.2 mile. Sweet! I hope I still have some kick left in my legs for tomorrow's Finish Strong 15K.

Saturday, 10/18/2014: 2 runs of 1.45 and Finish Strong 15K, 54F, 87% RH, 9 mph W wind, overcast.

I got up at 6:30AM so I could do the dishes from last night. I did my usual pre-race prep: bowl of cereal, got dressed and out the door by 7:45AM. The Finish Strong 15K race venue was the Grace and Truth Sports Park and race start time was 8AM. I got my bib and tried to decide to what to wear. I was wearing shorts, short sleeve tech and calf sleeves. I had brought along my tights, a long sleeve tech, hat and light gloves. I decided on changing into my tights in the Equinox. I decided it was better to be warm when running close to Lake Ontario.

I saw a lot of people that I knew: Prem Kumar, Mark Herberger, Bill Beyerbach, Tom Butler, Beth DiCentis, Wilt Alston, Jason "Jmac" McElwain, Bill Murphy and Bob Dyjak. I got up for a nice 1.45 mile warmup run at 8:26 pace, link here.


I lined up near the front and say "Hi" to everyone I knew. And ... we were off! Jason, Prem, Bill, Mark and Beth all jumped out ahead of me. I had thought of taking easy the first mile ... not so much with a 7:11 mile. I caught Prem around mile 3. I was 100 yards behind Bill and Mark. Running on Edgemere Drive with Lake Ontario on the right and Cranberry Pond on the left during mile 5 was a treat like usual ... a light mist had started to fall and there was a brisk headwind coming off Lake Ontario. I had caught up to Bill but took a walking break at the water station just after mile 5 before I passed him. I was tired but I resolved not to stop again. Mark picked up his pace and I soon lost sight of him. Mile 6, then mile 7, then mile 8, the water stop with only 0.85 mile to go, then the turn back onto N Greece Rd, mile 9. Sprint ... and into the finish chute. I saw that the clock was still below 1:10. And ... done in 1:09:51. My splits were: 7:11, 7:15, 7:27, 7:10, 7:40, 7:34, 7:44, 7:30, 7:39 and 7:07 over the last 0.3 mile. I was winded but I calmed down and got some water in me.

A selfie after the Finish Strong 15K

I met up with Mark (1:06:49), Bill (1:10:49), Wilt (1:15:06) and Prem (1:19:05). We shot the breeze for a while as we ate some of the excellent post-race grub: pulled pork, sausage, mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets and pizza were the highlights. Officially, I finished in 1:09:51, 7:31 pace, my fasted 15K of 2014, 25th out of 87, link here. I was 4th out 9 in my M55-59 age group, link here (behind Kevin Clinefelter in 1:04:32, Bill Sandow in 1:05:25 and Mark Herberger in 1:06:49). There was also a Finish Strong 5K held with 129 finishers, results here. Matthew Roberts won in 16:52. All in all, a nice way to spend a morning!

Soon, I was home. My darling wife, Christine, welcomed me home with a nice mug of coffee along with bagels. Mmm! A lazy day ensued. I did make it out to Wegmans for some supplies. Bedtime was an early 9PM ... I was tired.

Other races went on. The Ossian Mountain Run was held down at Swain, results here. There was also Mendon Zombie Run, results here and the Step Out to Stop Diabetes, results here.

Sunday, 10/5/2014 to Saturday, 10/11/2014 - Scarecrow 5K & Ready Set Glow

I ran 6 times this week, 22.25 miles. 2 were warmups of 1.7 and 0.75 miles.

Sunday, 10/5/2014: "Slug" day

I contemplated running but didn't so I felt like a slug all day. I felt I needed to rest my right hip which hurt on yesterday's run. I did notice that a lot of people ran the Wineglass Half or Marathon down in Corning. The marathon was a point-to-point from Bath to Corning.

I glanced through the marathon results with 1962(!) finishers: Jason "Jmac" McElwain finished 18th overall in 2:56:22 (BQ), Liz Matthews in 3:05:32, Brian Matthew in 3:07:14, Bill Sandow in 3:30:58, Prem Kumar in 3:32:18, Wilt Alston in 3:54:39. I also glanced through the Half Marathon results with 2473(!) finishers: Bill Crowe in 1:45:12, Mary Crowe in 2:02:50.

I watched the Bills-Lions game with half an eye while I read the newspaper. The Bill had benched their starting QB, E J Manuel, and started their backup QB, Kyle Orton. They got down 0-14 and clawed back to 6-14. The Bills defense continued to hold but not break while the Lions continued to miss FGs. The 4th quarter was exciting. The Bills scored a TD and a 2 point conversion to tie at 14-14. The Lions missed a 50 yard FG with under a minute to go. The Bills took over and hit a 20 yard pass play with 9 seconds to go. Then the Bills kicked a 58 yard FG straight down the middle to win 17-14, link here!

Monday, 10/6/2014: 6.25 miles, 49:29, 7:55 pace, 66F, 49% RH, 6 mph S wind, light mist to light rain.

Garmin Connect Activity for A "Gotta Get Out There No Matter What" run

My darling wife, Christine, needed some hugs when I got home after work so ... I got a late start. It was almost dusk so I rushed ... I put on my reflective belt, grabbed my headlamp and out the door I went. Well ... I got about 50 feet when I realized that the headlamp was very dim and getting dimmer. I got about 1/4 mile when I realized that I had on my old Brook Adrenaline GTS14 running shoes that I had retired with 650 miles. Plus it was a light mist and I was pretty sure that it was going to get worse. Did I turn back? You're darn tooting I didn't! I continued onward. I adjusted my running gait to run more forward and not heel strike which helped the pain in my feet. I had wanted to do a 15K but since the light mist changed to a light rain I modified my run to a 10K instead. I was wet (OK, drenched) ... but it was well earned. I hadn't run in the rain for a bit ... and it felt good! I stripped when I got in the door and a hot shower did feel good! My splits were 7:54, 7:42, 7:57, 8:06, 7:46, 8:03 and 8:00 over the last 0.25 mile.

Tuesday, 10/7/2014: Rest day

Wednesday, 10/8/2014: "Too tired" to run day.

I was up at 5:30AM due to my darling wife, Christine, sawing the wood ... err, snoring. Two days of about 5 or 6 hours of sleep caught up to me and I didn't have the energy to head out for a run after work. If I had got out during the morning before dawn I might have seen the lunar eclipse like some people did who posted on Facebook. I did get to bed early and got a nice 7 hours of sleep.

Thursday, 10/9/2014: 11.2 miles, 1:27:28, 7:48 pace, 57F, 51% RH, 13 mph W wind, partly cloudy

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice long run

Rant: You just gotta love drivers who stop suddenly because they are so afraid of red light cameras. On the way home I was approaching the red light camera at the corner of Lake Ave and W Ridge Rd behind another car in the rightmost lane. I knew the light was getting ready to change since the left turn arrow was on. The light turns yellow. The guy in front of me was about 200 feet from the light and slammed on his brakes! I had to cram mine on and skid to a stop so I wouldn't slam into the back of him! ASSHOLE! You WILL NOT get a ticket unless your rear axle is still behind the stop line when the light turns RED! The yellow light still had 2 more seconds! /Rant.

Anyway ... what a difference a day makes! I wanted to go for a long run so I got home early, had my usual bowl of cereal, changed and headed out around 5:15PM. It was a bit chilly but I didn't need my light gloves or hat. I struck up a nice pace, concentrated on shorter strides and just motored on like a metronome. I kept on my usual 10K route with an added 5K loop plus a mini loop to get to 11. The added 0.2 miles was due to more running while waiting to cross major roads. I carried water but didn't need to drink. My splits were: 7:54, 7:48, 7:43, 7;44, 7:48, 7:49, 7:47, 7:54, 7;56, 7:40 and 7:37 over the last 0.2 mile .. pretty darn regular. Sweet!!

Friday, 10/10/2014: Rest day.

I rested the day before a race like usual. I also signed up for Ready Set Glow at the last minute. My darling wife, Christine, was a bit irked. She had made plans for us to see her daughter, Beth, at Niagara University tomorrow afternoon along with a hair appointment at NY Line of Hair Design at 11AM. I had also made plans to stay overnight in Niagara Falls, Ontario ... which I also cancelled. I am just a runner with a racing addiction, I guess.

Saturday, 10/11/2014: 4 runs of 1.7, Scarecrow 5K, 0.75 and Ready Set Glow

I "slept in" until 6:30AM. This was my 7th running (2006-2008 and 2011-present) of the Scarecrow 5K in Fairport NY so I knew the drill. I like this course because it is a mostly flat and finishes on the canal path below where it starts on S Main St. I got there early enough to snag a primo pull through parking spot at the Fairport Village Landing parking lot where the farmer's market was already going on. I sauntered over to get my bib and T-shirt. I saw Mark Herberger on the other side of the road so I knew I had stiff competition.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Scarecrow 5K

I got out for a nice, slow and long warmup run of 1.7 miles at 8:28 pace. I headed out from the finish line backwards on the canal path so I knew that the Turk Hill Rd bridge was 0.5 mile from the finish. I went back to the Equinox where I took a last drink of water and ditched my arm sleeves. It was 46F, calm and sunny so I wore compression shorts, short sleeve tech top, calf sleeves, my orange hat and light gloves. I try to remember Heather Danielson's advice that she gave me 2 years ago of being a bit cold at the start.



Maggie Brooks showed up to give us a few words about domestic violence and sponsor of the race, resolve-roc.org. And .... we were off! I got up to speed. I said "Hi" to Mark Herberger as I passed him. I felt a couple of nips at my heels but I got away without falling as we turned left onto E Church St. This was a downhill until the left onto the Turk Hill Rd bridge and an immediate right onto Cobb's Lane. Cobb's Lane was a bit of curvy downhill as it made it way down to the canal path. I cut the tangents and heard the mile split of 6:22. A few runners around me chuckled because we all knew it was off. It was really 6:40. I had heard feet clacking behind me ... it was Mark Herberger's racing flats. I said something to him about him playing 'possum back there and he chuckled. I resolved to not lose him during mile 2 which is where I usually slow on 5Ks. Now we were on the canal path. I was about 100 feet behind Mark at the turnaround at 1.65 miles. I saw everyone streaming down from the Turk Hill bridge as we headed back ... mile 2 at 6:48 pace. I was keeping about 100 feet behind Mark. I was running at my maximum. I tried to close with him. The Turk Hill bridge, 0.5 mile to go, came and went. I saw Mark look behind him twice. I saw the sign "Drawbridge 1000 feet". The finish line was about 200 feet before that. The mile 3 split was 6:42. I saw Mark kick it up a notch. I tried to match him. I looked up and saw that the finish line clock was clicking toward 21. I flat out sprinted at 6:12 pace over the last tenth. I was about 20 feet behind Mark when I crossed the line just under 21. I patted Mark's back as I slowed to a stop. Done!!! I was out of breath to say the least. I found some water and chugged it down as I caught my breath. Wow ... what a race! I talked with Mark after the race. He accused playfully of playing possum with him as I almost caught him at the line.

Officially, I finished in 20:59, 29th out of 467, 1 second behind Mark's 20:58, link here. I was 2nd out of 19 in my M55-59 age group behind Mark, link here. What a morning!

A free hot dog is an excellent run recovery food!

I regrouped back at home and waited for my darling wife, Christine, to come back from NY Line of Hair Design. She eventually came back around 1:30PM with a nice styling with just a bit of her blonde hair cut off.

Back view ...

Front view ...

Then she was off at 3PM to see her daughter at Como's Restaurant in Niagara Falls. She called on the way for a bit of help with directions since her LG G2 wasn't talking its directions.

I busied myself before the Ready Set Glow race with some plumbing work. I had bought an Aquadance showerhead and hand shower combo off of Groupon that arrived a week ago. It was time to put it in ... and it went well. I applied finger tight pressure when it said to as I followed the instructions and it worked with no leaks! Nice!

I read on Facebook about the exploits of runners who ran either the CanLakes 50K or 50 Miles down around Canandaigua Lake. I looked at the 50K results of 83 finishers, link here. Runners that I knew: Steve Levitsky in 4:49:18, Prem Kumar in 5:16:01, the Kathy Reardon and John Muoio duo in 5:41:58, Tina Pellegrin in 8:09:20 (a 1:02 PR!). I also looked at the 50 Mile results of 93 finishers, link here. Runners that I knew: Rob Wilder in 8:39:11, Joe Packard in 9:06:19, Laura Rekkerth in 9:24:13, Kim Rapp in 10:24:54 and Tom Butler in 12:39:22. Here is a blog entry of a 50K runner, link here.

I geared up again and headed out to Victor to Dwyer Road Park for Ready Set Glow put on by #TrailsROC. The race was set to start at 7:36PM. I got there around dusk around 7PM. I got my bib and adorned myself with some glowsticks. I wasn't too imaginative with just a necklace and some hoops on my headlamp. I was surprised to see Prem Kumar. He had just run the CanLakes 50K in the morning.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Ready Set Glow

It was getting cold so I put on my arm warmers and Brooks jacket as I took a 0.75 mile warmup run at 8:29 pace around the parking lot and up to the road to warm up both my legs and body. It was 45F with no wind and a clear sky. Well, my warmup run was a bit too long. I heard a "4 minutes to go" announcement. I don't think I took 4 minutes to get to the start line. But as I headed up to the start no one was there.



So ... I had given everyone a head start of about a minute. I was in pass mode for about a mile. People were saying "Someone is out for time" as I passed on the right or left as I found room. The course was very twisty with lots and lots of switchbacks. I stubbed my toe once. I went into a open field off a turn instead of a tree luckily. We ran up hill, down hill, sideways, around curves, past trees, over roots and over rocks with just headlamps leading the way.

Running in the dark with headlamps!

Luckily I had my Black Diamond headlamp fully charged. I slowed after mile 3 or so because there were more roots, I was tired and I didn't want to make a big mistake. The strap on my headlamp stretched and started to hang off my ears. Soon I had to hold it up with my right hand most of the time. Luckily I only had 1/2 mile or so to go. And ... done in 52:06 according my Garmin, 53:49 officially. I was 25th out of 101, 7th out of 9 in my M50-59 age group, link here. A #TrailsROC guy laughed when I told him that I may be turning in my sleep because the course had so many turns. I was cold and headed to the Equinox to put on what warm and dry clothes I had brought with me. I only had the Scarecrow 5K T-shirt to put on so I was still cold. Yes, I need to pack more warm gear ... fall is here and winter soon will be knocking.

My honey, Christine, was already home from Niagara Falls when I got home. Her daughter was more interested in seeing her college friends than her mother. But Christine did see her. Anyway ... a long day.

Sunday, 9/28/2014 to Saturday, 10/4/2014 - Heather Boyum 5K

I ran 4 times this week, 22.43 miles.

Sunday, 9/28/2014: 2 runs of 1 and Heather Boyum 5K of 3.03 miles, 57F, 88% RH, 7 mph SW wind, clear and sunny.

I "slept in" a bit since my race was at 9AM instead of yesterday's 8AM. I woke up at 6:40AM. My darling wife, Christine, didn't want to get up so I dressed and geared up quietly and headed out. I was out at Center Park at the corner of Turk Hill Rd and Ayrault Rd in 20 minutes at 8:15AM in plenty of time.

This was my second running of the Heather Boyum 5K (HB5K). For those who don't know, Heather Frazer Boyum was a wife, mother, and triathlete who was tragically killed by a drunk and high driver two years ago while out on a training ride, link here. I feel strongly about the causes of some runs and this was one of them.

I got out for a nice warmup run of 1 mile at 8:37, link here. It was enough of a warmup to know that I needed sunglasses. The HB5K had a wide open cross country course with lots the bright sunlight. There was a nice, live rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" and some kind words about Heather Boyum before the race start.


And ... we were off! I got off to a quick start and settled in on the grassy course. There was a big hill around the 3/4 mil mark followed by a long hill just past the 1 mile mark. I didn't break to a walk ... I wanted to but I didn't. The mile 1 split was 7:21. Now we were on a long grassy stretch, followed by a long stone covered road. I saw that everyone was running on the shoulder so I did too. The mile 2 split was 7:28. Now we were looped back to the big hill, now at mile 2.4. I held on out onto the grass of Center Park. The finish line was near, mile 3 split was 7:59. The course was a bit short, the last 0.03 mile split was 5:01. I saw that the time was clicking toward 23 minutes. And ... done in 22:58 according to my Garmin.

A selfie after the Heather Boyum 5K

Soon I checked the results and ... I wasn't on them. The same thing had happened last year. I told the Score-This timing crew twice before the awards. I had won my M50-59 age group just like I did last year. But this year someone else "won" my M50-59 age group that had ran 56 seconds slower. I just turned and left.

I told Christine when I got home. I was irked and a bit pissed. Well ... she posted on Facebook to Score-This in all CAPS which is shouting in Internet-speak. Soon there was a lot of posts from Score-this, Christine and myself. One post from Heather's sister gently reminded everyone that this was a charity run for Heather. I had tried to defuse the situation from the start. Christine is fiercely protective of me and is not afraid to let anyone who crosses me know it. I just wanted my results posted and maybe my award that I didn't get mailed to me ... maybe yes, maybe not. Anyway .... officially I ran a 22:54, 14th out of 287, 1st of 26 in my M50-59 age group, link here.

Some may say that I got a bit worked up about nothing. Well ... I am competitive in my age group and I keep track of my running. I may be 57 and I may be getting slower (OK, I am) but I can still get my legs and body moving. I take pride in that. There is a clock ticking at the finish line of each race that I run and I run a lot of them ... 42 so far this year and 289 since I took up running races since way back on Thanksgiving 2005. I try to get to the finish line as soon as possible. I rarely use a race as a training run ... so I am mostly running flat out no matter the distance that I choose for any particular race. I just expect that the timing crew at the finish line ... be they from Yellow Jacket Racing, PCR Timing, Leone Timing, Yen Timing or Score This to accurately record my time. If I win or place in my age group I want the results posted accurately.

Update: the M50-59 age group award was mailed to me. It was a $10 gift card to Park Ave Bikes.

Onward to other stuff. Christine and I had a choice between using a Groupon for kayaking at the Genesee Waterways that expired on Sunday or looking for a second car. My car, a green Pontiac Grand Am, that I brought into our relationship had died about 2 years ago. I felt bad that I had commandeered first her 2000 Chevy Cavalier until it died 6 months ago and then our new Chevy Cruze. I knew that Christine would feel a lot better if she could get out and about during the day while I was at work.

So we went car shopping and let the Groupon expire (the cash value is still good). I had decided that I was not going to lease the 2014 Kia Sportage from Fucillo KIA. The salesman was nice but the finance guys had jerked me around. I'm 57 and this wasn't my first rodeo. I should have walked when they wanted $100 to hold the car while the lease was being approved or not. The lease terms were not that great anyway.

We went to Bob Johnson Chevrolet around 2PM. Christine's father had worked for GM for 32 years and we wanted to how much his GMAC family discount would save us. We were hooked up with a salesman named Willie Williams. He took the time to initially get to know our needs. We test drove the 2014 Chevy Equinox, liked it, signed papers and had a deal that worked a lot better for us. We were home at 4PM before the Bills - Texans game was over. Willie had suggested that we join USAA which saved us $750 besides the approximately $1500 GMAC family discount.

Monday, 9/29/2014: Rest day

An exciting day for sure! We were supposed to pick up the new Equinox at 6PM but there was drama beforehand for sure. Christine had some trouble getting the her father's GMAC family discount. She had lots of trouble with locked passwords so I had to impersonate her father over the phone three times (don't tell anyone!) before we got the necessary code. We made it down to Bob Johnson Chevrolet around 6:30PM to see our salesman, Willie Williams. We had more trouble getting the insurance card FAXed from Allstate. But  after I signed my signature about twenty times we were handed the keys. I drove away while I was on the phone to Onstar to set up the account. I went straight to Papa John's to get a pizza since I was starved (and I knew Christine was).

Side view

front view

Tuesday, 9/30/2014: 6.4 miles, 48:21, 7:33 pace, 64F, 83% RH, 14 mph NNE wind, cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A fast and sweet run

I needed to run so I ran. How often have I said that I wonder? I started out, felt good .. and just flew. I couldn't believe the stats when I uploaded them ... each mile was as fast or faster than the one before it. My splits were: 7:53, 7:42, 7:40, 7:26, 7:26, 7:20 and 7:16 over the last 0.4 mile. I was drenched with sweat but it was a sweet sweat!

I ran 20 times during the month of October, 106.49, 5.3 miles/run (6 were warmup runs of 1.3, 1.25, 1.2, 0.6, 1.2 and 1 miles). I ran 8 races during the month of October (Black Diamond Express 15K, Dirt Cheap #6, Stop the Trafficking 10K, 5K and 1 Mile, Rochester Half, Photofinish 5K and Heather Boyum 5K).

Wednesday, 10/1/2014: Rest day.

Thursday, 10/2//2014: Another rest day.

Life got in the way of running. I had to take the Cruze to Bob Johnson Chevrolet to get its oil changed and tires rotated ... for free. I was a bit shocked but I didn't ask twice.

Friday, 10/3/2014: Yet another rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, asked for Mexican food for supper so I stopped by Mighty Taco for some takeout burritos. Mighty Taco just so happens to be next to Fleet Feet Ridgeway.

Saturday, 10/4/2014: 12 miles, 1:40:19, 8:22 pace, 57F, 88% RH, 7 mph WSW wind, cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A clockwise Bridges run

I went to bed way early the night before so I was up way early at 5:30AM. It was still dark and a misty rain was still falling ... so I waited. I did the dishes and caught up on email and Facebook. I got out around 7:30AM after it was light ... still gray but light. I needed a long run so I thought I would try a run I hadn't done before. Yes, I have done a bridges run on both sides of the Genesee River using the Veterans Memorial bridge and O'Rorke bridge but never in the clockwise direction before. I ran well for the first 5 miles. I had a bit of pain in my right knee at miles 6 and 7 but it pretty much went away but I did slow. I had more pain in my right hip at mile 11. It got worse so I stopped at mile 12 and was happy to stop. My splits were: 8:12, 7:49, 7:48, 7:45, 8:08, 8:37, 9:13, 8:56, 8:29, 8:22, 8:28, and 8:30.

I did find out that there was a ceremony on the O'Rorke bridge sometime after I crossed it around 8:30AM. It was to celebrate its 10th year anniversary, link here.

My darling wife, Christine, woke up soon after I got home. We lazed around the rest of the day.

I saw on Facebook that Bob Dyjak completed his 30th marathon and 17th state. He ran the Freedom's Run in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 5:17:47, link here. He posted that the first 15 miles were on a canal path but the last 11 miles were on steep and rolling hills in several parks which were quite challenging. I also saw on Facebook that Barry Cherney completed the Du at the Great Lakes Triathlon down in Barker NY in 8:41:48. His awesome Facebook posts: "Race 222, the hardest race ev-ar!!! Omg. That sucked, then it sucked some more, them it got really sucky. Wind gust in high 20's. Rained hard 5 different times. Even hailed once. Knee held up until near the end and by then I was walking anyways. I am in more pain than I can remember in a long time. But I did it, 100 miles by foot and wheel. And for that I get this cool jersey and medal. I am so glad I stashed some beers at mile 5/10 of the run. Really needed that boost." and "Other notes: I wore waterproof socks, as I have before in bad weather, major fail. The road spray just cascaded down my leg and filled the sock. My feet have never been on such pain (cold and wet) for so long. Race took me somewhere around 8:41:48. Last year I finished in 7:30."

I did get out for a bit of grocery shopping at Wegmans much later.. I did pick up the latest movie at Redbox: "Transformers: Age of Extinction". A major guy movie with lot of chases and explosions ... Arrgghhh!

Monday, 9/22/2014 to Saturday, 9/27/2014 - Photofinish 5K

I ran 4 times over the past 6 days, 17.55 miles, and ran 1 race, the Photofinish K.

Monday, 9/22/2014 and Tuesday, 9/23/2014: Straight up rest days ... necessary but boring.

The Fall TV schedule has started up in full force. My darling wife, Christine, and I are taping the following shows: Under the Dome (season just ended), Dallas (season just ended), Madame Secretary (new), Gotham (new), Scorpion (new), NCIS, NCIS LA, NCIS New Orleans, Nashville, The Mysteries of Laura (new), Agents of SHIELD, Person of Interest, Hawaii Five-O and Franklin and Bash.

Wednesday, 9/24/2014: 8 miles, 1:04:17, 8:02 pace, 75F, 47% RH, 7 mph SSE wind, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice 8 mile run.

I needed to run so I went out and ran after my usual pre-run bowl of cereal. I started out OK and kept it going when my legs felt good. My splits were: 7:57, 7:59, 8:02, 7:59, 8:10, 8:01 and 8:00.

I had a bit of trouble uploading my data from my Garmin Forerunner 310XT. I had to delete the ANT+ agent, disconnect the ANT+ USB device, reload the ANT+ agent, reconnect the ANT+ USB device, delete the Forerunner 310XT that it already knew it had and let the ANT+ find the Forerunner 310XT again. Then I had wait while it downloaded all the runs again ... which took about 45 minutes. Then I could connect to connect.garmin.com/dashboard. But I couldn't upload to runkeeper.com, dailymile.com or strava.com without uploading a .TCX file. Before I could just upload without the hassle of saving the .TCX file from connect.garmin.com/dashboard first. I know how to get it back ... I just have to find out how I did it about 4 months ago and go through that hassle again.

Thursday, 9/25/2014: 5.25 miles, 42:26, 8:04 pace, 70F, 53% RH, 8 mph SE wind, sunny

Garmin Connect Activity for A Char run

I normally don't do Fleet Feet runs anymore but I had an ulterior motive ... more on that later. My darling wife, Christine, and I headed down to the Strathallan (also home of the Char Steak and Lounge) for the Char pub run. Christine hadn't really wanted to go and ended up just dropping me off ... she promised to pick me up later. I just had what I had on ... no water and no clothes for post-run. About 100 runners congregated outside and off we went!

I chose the 5 mile-ish option (actually 4.3). I headed out nice, easy and in the lead. This run was a bit more dangerous because we are on sidewalk at times, it was downtown and it was during rush hour. So ... I was more cautious. I had to wait for traffic lights twice. Still ... my splits were: 8:25, 7:47, 8:02, 8:26 and 7:45 over the last 0.25 mile (I added a loop at the end).

The post race grub for $12 and cash bar for beverages were on the 9th floor on the roof. I didn't partake of the grub. But first ... I signed up for the brand spanking new Four Season Challenge. That means that I committed to running 4 Fleet Feet half marathons in 2015: the brand new Winter Warrior Half in January, the Flower City Half in April, the Shoreline Half (link not updated with correct date) in July and the Rochester Half (link not updated with correct date) in September. I will get the standard finisher's medal plus a different Challenge medal piece when I finish each one. All 4 Challenge medal pieces fit together to make one monstrous medal ... kind of cool!

I talked with Chris O'Brien and Bill Murphy about their Rochester Full experiences last Sunday. Both said that they didn't really get downpoured on. Chris did get rained but Bill just had a bit of mist. I guess it all depended on where you were! 

It was the mid 60s after the run but the combination of my sweaty tech shirt, the fire pit on the roof and a slight breeze in the night air chilled me to the bone. I went down to the street and waited for Christine. She had a headache but did come down to pick me up. A hot shower soon fixed me up.

Friday, 9/26/2014: Rest day before a race

Saturday, 9/27/2014: 2 runs of 1.2 miles and Photofinish 5K of 3.1 miles, 60F, sunny

I was up before dawn at 6AM for my second running of the Photofinish 5K at the George Eastman House. I tried to wake my darling wife, Christine, but since she had trouble sleeping the night before she begged off and went back to sleep. I dressed quietly and ended out for the quick 10 minute drive downtown. I parked at the Rochester Museum and Science Center at 7:15PM in plenty of time for the 8AM start. Then I found that I had forgotten my Garmin Forerunner 310XT. I thought about heading back to get it but I decided to use Strava on my Iphone 5 instead.

I headed out for a 1.2 mile warmup run, 8:04 pace, link here. It was a beautiful morning. It was a bit cool but sunny and calm. I didn't carry water and didn't have any time to get any water before the start. There was some youths at the start so I stayed to the right of them. I saw Jason "Jmac" McElwain before the start.

And ... we were off! I made it up to speed quickly. Jmac was soon out of sight. The youths to the left of me flamed out within the first half mile. I made it sure that I didn't run into them when they stopped in the middle of the road. The first mile passed in 6:40. I think two people passed me during the last two miles as I kept my pace and position. Mile 2 passed in 6:56 and mile 3 passed in 6:48. I passed one runner over the last 0.1 mile at 6:42 pace. And ... done in 21:15 as I entered my passcode to shut down Strava. I soon saw Bob Dyjak who said that it was his last hard run before the West Virginia marathon next weekend.

A sweaty selfie after the Photofinish 5K

I looked at the results. Officially, I finished in 21:10, :50 pace, 29th out of 1201, link here. I was 4th out of 74 in my M50-59 age group, link here. I felt good about my race. I would have liked to break 21, like last year's 20:44, but I did the best I could. I walked back to the Cruze and headed home with a brief stop at the ClassyChassy carwash.

Much later, Christine and I headed out to look for another car. We headed to Bob Johnson Chevrolet first. We wanted to look at the Equinox but it was near closing time and no one came to help us. So ... we headed out down the street to Fucillo KIA. We test drove a 2014 KIA Sportage. We liked it and looked into a lease. We will find out whether we get the lease price per month that we want on Monday. However we didn't like the vibe we got from the TWO finance managers that we spoke with. Yes, we would love to be "HUGE" and get that Samsung 51" HDTV for a lease in the month of September but it's got to be a deal that works for us.

We were starved so we headed to Famous Dave's for supper.

My supper

Christine's supper

9/21/2014 - Rochester Half Marathon

The Rochester Half Marathon ... a race worthy of its own blog post.

2 runs of 0.6 and the Rochester Half Marathon of 13.16 miles.

I woke up at 5:30AM and laid in bed for a couple of minutes ... but there was daylight was wasting (somewhere) so I got up. I did the dishes from last night and made a pot of coffee. I made my first attempt to get my darling wife, Christine, up. I had a pre-race bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a banana along with a small glass of OJ. Christine had a bit of trouble getting up but succeeded on her third attempt. She waffled about going but ultimately decided to go. My Garmin Forerunner 310XT greeted me with a Low Battery indication when I picked it up. I thought I had engaged its charger prongs in last night. It got up to 22% by the time we left at 6:52AM. I brought the USB charger cord and charged it during the 10 minute trip down to Frontier Field in downtown Rochester.

So we were down and parked in Eastman Kodak's D parking lot with plenty of time for the 7:45AM start. My Garmin got to 40% before I put it on my wrist. I kissed Christine for luck.

A smile before the start - taken by Christine

A lonely finish line waited for marathon and half marathon finishers

I saw Bill Beyerbach on my way inside Frontier Field so I could hit the bathroom before the race. I did a slow warmup run down to the start line at the Andrews Street Bridge, link here. The weather conditions were 68F, 78% RH, 7 mph SSW wind, cloudy at the start. The weather conditions definitely changed during the race.




I lined up next to Bill Beyerbach at the start. I saws and shook hands with Wilt Alston before the race. Bill said that he wanted to run a 7:40 pace so we made plans to run together. I lined up ahead of Jim McLaughlin who was the 1:45 pace leader. I told him that I wanted to finish ahead of him. He said that he would spank me with his pace leader sign if he saw me. Ha!

The start of the Rochester Half Marathon - taken from Facebook

A huge USA flag greeted us ... - taken from Facebook

And ... we were off! I ran with Bill for a little bit. Well, I let Bill go 1/2 mile into the race. He was simply running too fast for me. I had a hot 7:19 first mile so he must have done a 7 or so. He is such a strong runner. I am used to finishing behind him ... even if he is in my M55-59 age group.

I ran well for the first 7 miles. The miles clicked by: the turn on N Winton Rd at mile 3, the turn onto Highland Ave at mile 4 and the turn onto S Clinton Ave at mile 5.5, then the turn onto Wesfall Rd at mile 6.5 and into Brighton Park shortly afterward. My mile splits for miles 1-7 were: 7:19, 7:23, 7:25, 7:34, 7:55, 7:40 and 8:32. I walked a bit before mile 7 when I had my only Gu during the race.

Barry Cherney had a different hydration plan at mile 5 ... - taken from Facebook

Now we were on the Erie Canal path from mile 7.5, into Genesee Valley Park at mile 9, up the east side of the Genesee River by the University of Rochester to the Ford St Bridge at mile 11.5. Things fell a bit apart here between miles 8 to 11. I began a run/walk. My mile splits for miles 8-11 were: 7:56, 8:16, 8:04, 8:45.

I picked it up the rest of the way in. It had started to rain so my thought was to bring it to the finish line quickly. I took off my sunglasses and held them in my right hand. Basically I sucked it up and ran. The route was across the Ford St Bridge, down Exchange Blvd during mile 12, onto S Plymouth Ave and onward past Frontier Field and to the finish on Platt St. My mile splits for miles 12, 13 and the last 0.16 mile were: 8:11, 7:35 and 6:36.

Ellen Brenner (Co-owner of Fleet Feet Rochester) called runners in to the finish line in the pouring rain! - taken from Facebook

Ellen Brenner, the voice of so many Fleet Feet races, called me in when I was within 100 feet of the finish line. I so look forward to hearing her voice! And ... done in 1:43:39 according to my Garmin! The finisher medal around my neck felt nice.

A selfie taken inside the food tent while it poured outside.

I met up with Bill Beyerbach just outside the finish chute. We gave each other a fist bump. I saw Wilt Alston finish. I didn't see or hear Christine so I went out to our Cruze and found her there. She wasn't feeling well and had stayed in the car. I headed back slowly to get some post-race grub. The rain on my head felt nice. It started pouring when I was in the food tent. I remarked to Wilt that I was glad that I had ran the half. He agreed. If we had run the full we would have been more than halfway while it was pouring. The rain did stop by the time by the time I had ambled back to the Cruze about a 1/2 hour later.

I changed into my dry Rochester Marathon tech shirt and put a towel onto the driver's seat since my shorts were soaked. I told Christine a bit about the race. Then we headed home. Soon I had my feet up with a hot mug of coffee by my side ... it was 10:58AM. A nice way to spend a morning! It was pouring again at noon. I thought of the runners still running ... getting drenched and getting buffeted by the wind.

Everyone got soaked ... 

A look of determination on this runner's face ...

There was some trouble getting to the Yellow Jacket Racing results page for some time after the race, link here. There was word on Facebook that the server that hosted their site suffered a hacker attack. Soon the results were up on the Rochester Marathon website, link here. I did pretty well. Officially, I finished in 1:43:40, 146th out of 1867, link here. I was 5th out of 64 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Bill finished 110th in 1:40:19 (4th in our M55-59 age group) and Wilt finished in 175th in 1:45:22 (7th in our M55-59 age group).

Other runners that I knew: Kevin Klinefelter in 1:37:10 (3rd in our M55-59 age group), Jim McLaughlin (the 1:45 pacer) in 1:44:34, Mike Weinpress in 1:47:31, Jeff Rose (who is longing to age up to the M60-64 age group) in 1:54:02, Megan Hammersmith (who was running for two) in 1:54:31, Jim Roche (who paced his daughter to a sub 2 hour PR) in 1:58:46, Wendy Abbott (the 2:00 pacer) in 1:59:47, Bob Dyjak (a training run for the upcoming WVa Full) in 2:05:12, Bambi Jasmin in 2:08:38, Bill Noel in 2:08:31, Barry Cherney in 2:10:21, Kathy Reardon (the 2:15 pacer) in 2:14:17, Jim Norris in 2:17:19, Sue Pollard in 2:21:56, Sean Hendrick in 2:24:20, Carl Camille in 2:28:41, Courtney Abeln in 2:28:43, Bob Ciecierega (Joe Ciecierega's father) in 2:47:18 and Beth Springar in 2:58:01.

543 runners finished the Rochester Marathon that started at 7:30AM. I didn't see any of these runners finish but this is how other runners that I knew fared: Tom Dwyer was 9th for 1st masters in 3:03:32, Chris Patterson was the 3:30 pace leader in 3:29:56, Prem Kumar in 3:33:55, Chris O'Brien in 3:41:38, Andrew Ciaio in 3:47:05, Joe Ciecierega in 3:48:25, Steve Levitsky in 4:03:39, Bob Lonsberry in 4:29:59. The Rochester running community welcomed runners of all speeds ... Tina Pellegrin (who battled her hips and stomach) in 6:21:40, Amy Lord (who battled her hamstring) in 7:01:66, Tom Butler (who had ran 50 miles down in Chautauqua the day before) in 7:34:03 and Bill Murphy in 9:14:22. Bill was happy to see the timing crew and Ellen Brenner lead the applause of everyone around when he finished.

There were lots of inspirational stories from this race. I talked with Bob Dyjak the next day. He said that the rain came down so hard that he couldn't avoid puddles so his feet were soaked. Chris Patterson was the 1:30 pacer (1:29:45) in the Mighty Niagara Half Marathon the day before and was the 3:30 pacer (3:29:56) for the Rochester Marathon. I ran by a man around mile 11 who was just receiving medical attention. It turned out that he was OK according to a Facebook post on the Fleet Feet Rochester page. He had been dehydrated along with low blood sugar. Chris O'Brien said that he wasn't really rained on during the race. The same with Bill Murphy. I guess it all had to do with where you were and what time it was where you were as to how wet you got ... it was about timing.

Lots of people battled the Half Marathon course and the Full Marathon course, themselves and the elements. Here are some news links: here and here.

I remember seeing some funny posters: Run like you stole something; Faster, Faster (That's What She Said); You Have Great Stamina (Call Me); Slap here for More Power (I saw three and slapped two); Keep Calm; PR or ER; Chuck Norris Never Ran A Marathon and Don't Poop Yourself and Don't Trip. There were others but I can't remember them.

Later, I watched the San Diego Charger manhandle the Buffalo Bills at the Ralph. The Chargers dominated 22-10, link here. Well ... the Bills won't go undefeated!

Much later, we watched some old movies off of the DVR. The first was 1949's "Neptunes' Daughter" with Esther Williams, Red Skelton and a young 29 year old Ricardo Montalban. The second was 1969's "True Grit" with John Wayne, Kim Darby and Glen Campbell The results was a late bedtime. Oh well ... that's what Monday morning coffee is for!

Sunday, 9/14/2014 to Saturday, 9/20/2014

I ran 2 times this week, 19 miles.

Sunday, 9/14/2014: A rest day.

I could have ran but didn't. I lazed around and watched the Dolphin - Bills game. The Bills squished the Fish, 29-10, link here. I debated going down to Newark to see my oldest son and daughter after the game but sloth took over.

I read on Facebook of other's exploits. Some Relentless Forward Progress runners went down to Erie PA to run the Erie Marathon, results here.

(l-r) Jim McLaughlin, John Muoio, Rob Wilder, Bambi Jasmin (first BQ!), Angie Knyazeva, Kathy Reardon, Christine Antonini (BQ!), Nancy Salatino and Brian Andrews

Wilt Alston was part of a 6 man relay team named "Only Here To Get Shawn A Wife" who ran the Reach the Beach Ragnar Relay of 207 miles in 28:01:30, results here.

Sometimes I just need to rest. Next week will be a busy week of just running around the neighborhood and prepping for the Rochester Half Marathon on Sunday, 9/21/2014.

Monday, 9/15/2014: 11 miles, 1:27:26, 7:57 pace, 63F, 59% RH, 4 mph N wind, overcast.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice 11 mile run

I got home late but I needed to run. So I had half a protein bar, got ready and got out the door. I wanted 10 miles but it was just past 6PM in mid September so I wore my Amphipod reflective vest. I carried a 20 oz hand bottle but left my headlamp home. So off I went. I just pounded my usual 10K route and then a loop to get 15K and then another loop to get to a nice 11 mile run. Done! My splits were: 8:05, 7:55, 8:11, 8:06, 7:47, 7:54, 7:53, 7:50, 7:56, 7:54 and 7:53. The last several miles look like clockwork but they were a bit of a struggle as I laid down miles 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. But just 2.1 miles more for a respectable half marathon of around 1:45-ish.

My darling wife, Christine, had been cooking while I was out and about. Soon she served me a scrumptious supper of chicken, baked potato and salad. Mmm! I was strangely tired so I went to bed early. Christine had given me a early birthday present of doing the dishes and programming the coffee so I could sleep in. Thank you, honey!

Tuesday, 9/16/2014: Rest day

Today was my 57th birthday. I celebrated by taking 2 hours off from work for a dentist appointment for my darling wife, Christine, and I at Randy Rietz DDS, the running dentist. I had no cavities but I was reminded that I REALLY should floss or at least use Listerine to kill the bacteria in my mouth. Christine had a set of X-Rays and no cavities.

OK, there was more. I had received a bunch of emails from various restaurants with specials for my birthday. Famous Dave's had won with their offer of 1/2 off the second entree.So went directly out to Famous Dave's for an early supper. We were early enough for the Early Bird Specials. I had the Southside Rib Tips with two sides and Christine had the Sweetwater Catfish Fingers. Mmm!

My 57th birthday dessert

Back at home, we watched "Captain America: Winter Soldier" off of OnDemand. Then a late night hug or two sealed my birthday. Nice!

Wednesday, 9/17/2014: Another rest day.

I was really tired after work so I just relaxed. Christine made a nice supper of salad, homemade potato soup along with leftover chicken and pork. We caught up on some shows off the DVR.

Thursday, 9/18/2014: 8 miles, 1:02:10, 7:46 pace, 54F, 77% RH, 7 mph N wind, cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and cool 8 mile run

I needed to run and got out there like a man on a mission. It was a bit cooler so I put on a long sleeve tech, light gloves and calf sleeves along with the usual tight shorts. I carried a 20oz hand bottle. I struck up a fast pace and held it. I concentrated on feeling good, stretching out and pushing off for the majority of the run. I would call it a great run. Now there is a big difference between running 8 miles on a route that I know like the back of my hand and 13.1 miles during the Rochester Half this coming Sunday on a course that I have somewhat never run before (I have run the first 3 and the last 6 during the Rochester Full in 2013 and 2008). Anyway, I felt great. My splits were: 7:52, 7:45, 7:47, 8:04, 7:46, 7:42, 7:37 and 7:36.

A "feel good" supper of pulled pork and potato chips ensued, followed by a "feel good" viewing of "Casino Royale" off of the Esquire channel. My darling wife, Christine, was tired and went to bed early. Of course ... I went to bed late. I never seem to get to bed early.

Friday, 9/19/2014: Rest day.

I thought about running but I didn't get home from work until close to 7:30PM. There was a planned power shutdown in one of the buildings that I manage printers. I thought it would be a really good idea if I shut down their printers for the weekend.

Saturday, 9/20/2014: Another rest day.

I did 6 loads of laundry in between going out to Newark to see my oldest son, Michael, and daughter, Karen. Then it was time to get prepped for tomorrow's Rochester Half Marathon, my 40th race of 2014.

Sunday, 9/7/2014 to Saturday, 9/13/2014 - Black Diamond Express 15K, Dirt Cheap #3, Stop the Trafficking Stage Race

I ran 8 times this week, 26.64 miles.

Sunday, 9/7/2014: 2 runs of 1.6 and the Black Diamond Express 15K of 9.38 miles, 66F, 60% RH, 7 mph WNW wind, sunny

I was running the Black Diamond Express 15K today but the race didn't start until 11AM so I got to sleep in. I tried to wake up my darling wife, Christine, but she said she needed her sleep so I quietly got ready, geared up and headed out to the race start out in Mendon. I had to Google and print the directions since I had never done this race. I got there about 45 minutes before the race started.

The course was a simple out and back on the Lehigh Valley Trail. There was a 5K which started at 11:05AM. I got out for a nice 1.6 mile warmup run, link here.


The start was signaled by a musket volley ... a first. And ... we were off! There was a mishap at the start. Someone cut in front of Andy Ciaio, he stopped. then someone hit his heel and down he went.

The start ...

I started off cleanly and was 6th and in front of Beth DiCiantis (who took overall female in 1:07:18) for a wee bit. Perhaps I went out too fast with a 7:06 first mile ... I never do that ... yeah sure! Soon she and Andy Ciaio (who won his M40-49 age group in 1:06:38) passed. I ran well for about 4 miles. My feet started to hurt and I started to walk/run during miles 6, 7, 8 and 9. I played leapfrog with a guy. He would run ahead and walk. I would pass him and walk. Then he would run and pass me. He ended up passing me and stayed ahead until the finish. I was happy to break 1:13 with a 1:12:56, 7:47 pace. My splits were: 7:06, 7:23, 7:29, 7:48, 7:40, 8:20, 8:19, 8:17, 7:58 and 6:58 over the last 0.38 mile.

I was tired so I ambled over to where the food was and ate a banana, 4 doughnut holes and had some chocolate milk. I did OK. I was 14th out of 54, link here. I was 5th out of 10 in my M50-59 age group, link here. I always want to go faster ... but that was what I had today.

I really need to buy new road and trail shoes. My current pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS14 road shes which I bought back in 9/1/2013 have 648 miles on them. I am just going to pony up and buy new road and trails shoes. My Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes which I received free from winning a Dirt Cheap raffle way back in 2012 have 652 miles on them.

I checked out the results of the Finger Lakes Triathlon. Here are the results of the people that I know:

http://results.score-this.com/SearchresultsPageMS5split.html?raceid=20140907FLTR


Later Christine and I went out to Scottsville to see my youngest son, David, ... and watch some football on his landlord's 50 inch HDTV. We brought the meat (hamburgers and hot dogs) and he supplied the buns. He turned out quite the grillmaster. The hots and hamburgs were quite tasty! Plus ... the Buffalo Bills won their season opener at the Chicago Bears, 23-20 in OT, link here! Wonders may never cease ... yet the Bills do have a way of swooning in the latter half of the NFL season.

Monday, 9/8/2014 and Tuesday, 9/9/2014: Rest days after and before a race ... gotta rest and conserve my energy.

Wednesday, 9/10/2014: 2 runs of 1.25 and Dirt Cheap #6 of 3.03 miles, 75F, 65% RH, 13 mph SSE wind, overcast.

Today was the funeral of RPD officer Daryl Pierson, links here, here, here, here and here. Ellen Brenner wrote a piece on her Fleet Feet Beat blog page, link here.

Tonight's race was Dirt Cheap #6 of the year down at Lucien Morin Park next to MacGregor's on Empire Blvd. My darling wife, Christine, was on the fence about going and ultimately decided not to go. So .. I geared and headed down solo. I got there in plenty of time for a prime parking spot. I saw lots of trail runners that I knew: Andy Ciaio, Prem Kumar, Chris O'Brien, Joe Ciecierega, Tina Pellegrin, Jim Roche, Jim McLaughlin and many others. I quietly got ready. I headed out for a nice and easy warmup run of 1.25 miles at 9:36 pace, link here. This Dirt Cheap is shortest but the hardest with lots of up and down along with lots of roots, rocks and thorns to look out for.


I had 14 minutes to wait before the start of the race once I came back. I think I cooled down too much but ... off we went! I tried to blast down the stone road until the first left turn into the woods. Bill Beyerbach was ahead ... I lost sight of him quickly.

I was nipping on Todd's heels as we raced down the stone road to the left turn into single track - taken by Kim Smith

Somewhere in the middle of the race - taken by Kim Smith

Then it was up and down, left and right. My legs were going well ... my lungs not so much. I think I lasted about a mile before I had to walk a hill and let some faster runners ahead. Some of them were Chris O'Brien, Andy Ciaio, Joe Ciecierega and Todd Sappen Sr. I do tend to rabbit and pay for it later in races. I settled into a slower pace, then started to just keep in the same group I was in. I walked a few of the steep hills. I did catch Todd on an uphill with about 1/2 mile to go. And done in 31:54! The race was over quickly after just 3.03 miles, 10:37 pace. This race is usually around 3.5 miles. I did OK. I was 31st out of 242, link here. I was 3rd out of 4(?) in my M55-59 age group, link here. Bill finished 15th in 29:36, Andy finished 21st in 30:32, Joe finished 24th in 30:53, Todd finished 37th in 32:04, Prem finished 45th in 32:54, Jim McLaughlin finished 51st in 33:13 and Tina finished 214th in 56:10

I quickly went to the car for some water and a towel. I changed my shirt before I went into MacGregor's for the post race grub and the awards.

I sat with Chris O'Brien and Bill Beyerbach. We talked about the races we had done and were going to do. We all laughed at Chris's CP3 potty break story at this year's Sehgahunda. He had just the right stuff in his running vest to handle the situation, lol! Bill won our 55-59 series age group, I was second, link here.

Thursday, 9/11/2014 and Friday, 9/12/2014: Rest days after and before a race ... more rest and recuperation after and before a race.

My wife and I headed down to Fleet Feet Armory after work to shoe shop. I bought a new pair of New Balance 860 running shoes in size 13 and Christine bought a pair of Asics Gel-Cumulus 16 in size 11. We also bought some running magnets along a pair of shorts and 2 pairs of socks for Christine. Then we went to the nearby Otter Lodge for dinner and refreshments. We were not impressed with the Otter's limited menu but made due.

Saturday, 9/13/2014: 4 runs of 1.2, 6.12, 3.07 and 0.99 miles, 48F, 87% RH, 5 mph ESE wind. overcast with some light sprinkles.

My alarm was set for 5:55AM ... how I didn't want to get out of bed. But ... I was signed up for the Stop the Trafficking Stage Race, a 10K followed by a 5K followed by a 1 Mile race. So ... up I got, had my usual pre-race bowl of cereal and banana and got dressed. I had bit of trouble deciding what to wear and what to bring since it was around 45F which is kind of cool for a mid September morning. I decided on shorts, a long sleeve tech, short sleeve tech along with light gloves, orange hat and calf sleeves. I brought along my burnt orange Sehgahunda 2014 hoodie for later.

The race was held at the Meridian Centre Park on S Winton Rd by the Erie Canal. I Googled the directions and headed out solo. Christine had wished me a "have fun" and went back to sleep. I got there in plenty of time for a 1.2 mile warmup run, link here. I needed to run to warm up my legs and also to warm up my body ... it was cold. I only knew Prem Kumar and Tom Butler at this race. Prem told me that he had run 10 miles the day before.


The first race was the 10K. And .... we were off! The course was bit of cross country through the park, out onto the canal east out to Clover St and then back. Prem left me in his dust when we started at 7:45AM. I started fast with a 7:16 first mile. I was behind Prem at the turnaround and stayed about 200 yards behind him the entire way. The course had us going down 20 steps at mile 1.5 (I went down the bike ramp) and back up 20 steps on the way back. I fought the urge to walk except for just a wee bit after the stair climb. I thought about saving a bit of energy for the next two race but I ran only one way and pushed to the finish line. And ... done in 45:16. My splits were: 7:16, 7:29, 7:19, 7;31, 7:45, 7:10 and 6.01 over the last 0.12 mile, I did pretty well, 9th overall out of 64, link here. I was 2nd out of 7 in M50-59 age group, link here. Prem finished 8th overall in 43:59 and Tom finished in 1:01:56.

I had a couple of doughnut holes and water while I was waiting before the next race, a 5K. It had started to sprinkle so I ditched my long sleeve tech and put on my Brooks jacket.


The next race started at 9:15AM. And ... we were off! More people signed up for this race. I groaned as I got up to speed. Prem lept ahead again but I stayed in sight of him. This course led us west on the canal path for a mile before turning around. I chased Prem but couldn't catch him. And ... done in 22:45. My splits were: 7:25, 7:29, 7:19 and 6:32 over the last 0.07 mile. I did OK. I was 4th out of 95, link here. I was 1st out of 9 in my M50-59 age group, link here. Prem finished in 22:23 and Tom finished in 30:08.

I had a couple more doughnuts and water before the next race which was a short 1 mile race. My gloves were wet so I went back to the car to get a new pair of gloves. It was still sprinkling.



There were only 12 runners in the 1 mile. And ... we were off. I groaned again as I got up to speed. But it was only 1 mile. The course was through the park with just about 1/4 mile on the canal path. And ... done in 6:59 by my Garmin but 7:05 on the official timing. I did OK. I was 4th out of 12, link here. I was 1st in my M50-59 age group (OK, I was the only one). Prem finished 2nd in 6:52 and Tom finished in 9:19.

I ate a bit more after all the races. A long wait ensued while the results were compiled. Then we were told that there were some mistakes so that the medals would be mailed to us.

Soon I was home. I was chilled to the bone. I shivered as I stripped. I jumped into a hot shower and groaned as the hot water tried to warm me up. I was still shivering so I jumped into bed with my darling wife, Christine. She used shared body warmth to warm me up ... though she got cold in the process. Our apartment heat hasn't been turned on yet. A lazy rest of the day ensued.