Sunday, 6/25/2017 to Saturday, 7/1/2017

I ran 2 times this week: 11.3 miles.
I took 41,487 steps during 5 days (Tuesday to Saturday).

Sunday, 6/25/2017: Rest day.

My body ached whenever I moved ... so I didn't move much. I caught up on all the Many on the Genny (MOTG) posts and pictures from yesterday. Once I got moving, I didn't hurt as much ... but I didn't push it.

Monday, 6/26/2017: Rest day.

I took today off from work ... a wise decision. I accompanied Christine to her 1:40 PM doctor's appointment. We went to Keenan's Resturant across the street afterward. I had the Catalina Chicken Sandwich and Christine had the Keenan's Burger. We're sad that they are closing on June 30th. We had our wedding dinner there on November 30th, 2012. We drank a toast to pleasant memorie and many more. We wished our waitress, Sarah, and all their staff good luck finding new jobs.

Shh ... don't tell Christine! I bought another activity tracker ... a used Pebble 2 HR smart watch off of Ebay. It was an impulse buy last Friday afternoon. It was in the mail today.

Reviews are here, here, here, and here. Yes, the Pebble line was discontinued after its sale to Fitbit in December 2016, link here. But the reviews were favorable and I liked the way you can customize the Pebble. The app store will be there until the end of 2017. The box came with just the Pebble 2, its charging cord with no instructions (just like the Ebay link foretold). The face of the watch just had the words pebble.com/app. I was a bit perplexed. It doesn't link to my laptop at all but just uses the USB cable to charge itself. I managed to figure out that you load the Pebble app from pebble.com/app to your phone and then link the Pebble via Bluetooth to your phone. Then you can choose all kinds of apps.

Tuesday, 6/27/2017: Rest day - 5232 steps

My Pebble told me that my resting heart rate when I woke up was 41 bpm. Wow! Anyway .. I can move a bit better today. Putting on my left shoe hurt a bit as it went over my blister and walking is a bit painful. It's a good pain though ... lol (I think).

Oh ... the date for MOTG 2018 has been set .. June 23rd, 2018. Yes, the ultrasignup.com, link here, is live. Eight runners have already signed up! Hmm ... if I could only go out nice and easy.

Wednesday, 6/28/2017: Rest day - 7748 steps

I just wasn't feeling it after work ... I almost fell asleep right after supper. It's rare for me to take 4 days off from running ... but I guess I'm healing.

Thursday, 6/29/2017: 13731 steps during the day, 5.05 miles, 43:56, 8:42 pace, 75F, 78% RH, 6 mph SSW wind, mostly cloudy


I took my running gear to work so I wouldn't have any excuse to not run sometime today. I changed after work and went to my usual spot ... Greece Arcadia High School. The parking lot was empty since school is out for the summer. No matter ... I stretched, fired off my RoadID eCrumb and set forth. The first 1/2 mile was a bit painful ... both my ankles twinged at some point. I continued onward at a really nice and easy pace. The air was quite muggy. I decided to cut the run to just 5 miles. No need to push after 40.64 miles on last Saturday. My splits were: 8:32, 8:43, 8:45, 8:40 and 8:52. I toweled myself off as best I could and ran the A/C full blast on my way to Wegmans to get some weekend groceries. I put another tech shirt on before I went in ... no shoes, no shirt, no service you know!

My darling wife, Christine, had a pasta supper ready when I got home. Mmm ... she is a doll! We watched a couple of free movies off of Spectrum: "The Wolvervine" and an 1946 oldie "The Postman Always Rings Twice". We really shouldn't have watched the second one ... bedtime was a bit late.

Friday, 6/30/2017: Rest day - 3029 steps.

I had a bit of frustation when I got home. I got a couple of Redbox DVDs when I got home and promptly went upstairs to my Dell Latitude D610 to copy them. I keep Windows XP on this laptop because my DVD ripping software, RipIt4Me (along with DVDShrink and DVDDeCrypter), only runs on Windows XP. Well, the laptop wouldn't boot. It had just worked a couple of days earlier. I tried another power brick and then removed the battery but no joy. So ... what to do? Well ... make another laptop with Windows XP of course. Luckily, I have several old laptops just sitting around. I tried a Latitude E4310 and a couple of Latitude E6420s with no joy. The OS would start loading but with it tried to start Windows it would blue screen with an error message about a bad hard drive. So I tried a different hard drive, different RAM, a different Windows XP CD ... but no joy. Finally, I thought ... what if the Windows XP I was loading couldn't handle newer technology? So, I tried an older Latitude D630 and ... voila! It loaded Windows and soon I was looking at a Windows XP screen. You learn something every day.

Meanwhile we watched one of the Redbox DVDs ... Beauty and the Beast while I copied the other one, Miss Sloane. Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson as Belle was quite good.

Stat time:
I ran 15 times in the month of June for 110.2 miles, 7.34 miles/run.
I ran 4 races during the month of June (McMullen Mile: 6:36; Dirt Cheap #3: 3.46 miles, 10:54 pace; Medved 5K: 7:18 pace, Many on the Genny: 41.64 miles, 18:19 pace)
I have run 112 in 181 days for 815.6 miles so far in 2017, 7.28 miles/run

Looking ahead to July: I have signed up for 5 races: the Irondequoit 10K on 7/4, the Boilermaker 15K on 7/9, the Shoreline Half on 7/15, Dirt Cheap #4 on 7/19 and the Karknocker 5K on 7/28.

Saturday, 7/1/2017: 11757 steps during the day, 6.25 miles, 51:41, 8:16 pace, 70F, 88% RH, 4 mph SSW wind, light mist.


I knew I would feel like a slug if I didn't get out and enjoy the light mist that falling. But first I had to start the laundry. I had the towels in the dryer and the whites in the washer when I took a running break. It was just a light July mist so I set up a nice and easy pace. The drivers in the cars that I met probably thought I was crazy but I'm used to it. I didn't go too long since I'm still in recovery mode from last Saturday's MOTG. My splits were: 8:22, 8:06, 8:18, 8:29, 8:13, 8:20, and 7:32 over the last 0.25 mile. A total of 5 loads of laundry were done before 3 PM ... gotta get it done so it got done.

I learned that Shanknado 5: Global Swarming was going to be broadcast on the Syfy channel on August 6 ... so I dug into my stack of DVDs and pulled out Sharknado for our viewing pleasure. We just had to see how Fin, April and Nova started the whole franchise!

Saturday, 6/24/2017 - Many on the Genny

Saturday, 6/24/2017: 41.64 miles, 12:35:17 (paused for about 8 minutes), 18:11 pace, 66F-78F, 3 mph N wind (at start), 5365 feet of elevation gain, 5379 feet of elevation loss, mostly sunny during the day.

Today's race was the inaugural Many on the Genny (MOTG). The first sentence of my Garmin post says it all: "A tale of running, walking and surviving."

It was an epic race so it deserved its own blog post. I had signed up for this race back in 2016 when it first opened up. What was I thinking? I had set my sights on this race for months. Which ... meant I didn't sleep much the night before.

The alarm went off at 3:05 AM. I think I got 3 hours of sleep. I remember hearing another brief rain shower during the night before I finally drifted off to sleep ... probably dreaming of mud. My darling wife, Christine, was already awake. She was going to act as my crew, cheerleader and sherpa during MOTG. We quietly got ready with no arguments. I made the coffee. I made a lunch of 6 PB&J sandwiches, 2 bananas, 2 apples and 2 oranges. The PB&J sandwiches were mostly for me. I filled up my Ultimate Directory and Hammer Nutrition flasks with my Hammer Gel. I filled my homemade hydration vest (a Salomon vest for 1/2 price from an outlet store in Niagara Falls, Canada along with a 3L bladder from Medved) with 2L of water. I chose my trail running clothes of choice: shorts, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks, blue Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes along with an orange 2015 Moore Than A Race long sleeve tech shirt. We left for Letchworth State Park at 4:19 AM. I was in no hurry and we arrived about a hour later ... easy peasy. There was plenty of time before the start at 6 AM.

I got my bib from Sheila Eagan and said "Hi" to the trail running peeps that I knew and some who I didn't know by name said "Hi" to me. Three school buses brought more trail runners from the east side of Letchworth Dam. This was a point to point race since our start was on the west side. Soon .. over a hundred trail runners were congregating for the long journey ahead. The line to the men's room was a bit long so I went off to take care of my last minute business elsewhere.

I was smiling at 5:50 AM ...

I told Christine that our course was back towards the entrance for a mile and then back along the trail right past the fence that overlooked the Dam. Then I kissed her and asked her to meet me at Aid Station (AS) #1. I fired off a RoadID eCrumb off my personal cell so that Christine and my kids could track me. My Ricoh cell was off in my hydration vest. My plan was to turn it on and fire off another eCrumb once I got to some semblance of cell reception on the east side of LSP.

A selfie from Heather Bailey Ostrander before the start

Eric Eagan said some brief words of wisdom and ... we were off! I know now that I started too fast but ... that's what I do. I am not one to hold back and run easy. The sun was just up and off we went back towards the entrance for about a mile just off of Park Rd. Then we turned back, got onto Trail 20 and headed toward Lower Falls. I noted that Christine wasn't there when we went past the start. I settled into a fast trail pace and ran with Andy Ciaio, Jaime Peca and Danielle Feligno for a bit. Trail 20 was asphalt along the gorge fence for a while then went into single track. Soon, I found mud. The rain from the previous night had left a LOT of what I call "peanut butter" mud. It was very slick, slippery and quite deep in spots. Did I mention that there was a LOT of it? Sometimes the footing was tentative at best with a bit of slipping and sliding as I came down and out of gullies.

Ellie Pell wading the creek before the waterfalls on Trail 18

We ran by an old Civilian Conservation Corp barracks, crossed a creek of shin high water, ran up past a water fall, and ran a mile on Park Rd to get to AS #1 (the High Banks camping area). Don't tell anyone but I (like everyone else) ran on the shoulder of Park Rd not on the grass. It was so much easier. I met up with Christine, taking 2 Endurolytes and stopping for a bit to change my shirt to my orange Charlie's Old Goat Run short sleeve tech. My Garmin had me here at 1:18 (7:18 AM).

I was still running well. I took Trail 17 down, down and down some more. The mud made the down a bit slippery so I was careful. The trail became a bit tricky with lots of small branches to step on, over or around. I remember looking at my Garmin ... 10.3 miles in 2 hours. Then it was back up, up and up Trail 15 back to Park Rd.

Robbie took this picture as I came up Trail 15 to Park Rd

Heather Bailey Ostrander took an excellent picture of this mud field ... one of many that we ran through

Yes, I ran on the shoulder of Park Rd for 2.5 miles. These were easy road miles and I used my longs legs to power me along. Then it was across the road to Trail 11 (up on a really overgrown road and then back down on trail). Back across Park Rd to Trail 13 for a bit to Trail 1, then up an access road to the St Helena's parking area (AS #2). My Garmin puts me here at 2:50 (8:50 AM). I met up with Christine for a PB&J sandwich and an Endurolyte. I gave my Ultra Directions flask to Christine to refill with Hammer Gel. This was a really quick stop ... in retrospect, I probably should have stopped longer.

Now ... all of my mojo left me. I wish I could have found it because I wanted it back! I remember looking at my Garmin ... 15.3 miles in 3 hours. It was 9 AM. The course on Trail 1 sort of hugged Park Rd. I just had no energy. I ran/walked. Christine met me at one of the overlooks and gave me back my Ultimate Directions flask. I slipped and fell on my left side on a down slope so it was really a slow motion fall onto my butt. This really stretched my right knee and hip. I sat there for about 20 seconds while someone behind me asked me if I was OK. My hands were all muddy. Onward. Things kind of fell slowly apart. I missed a flag and went onward. I eventually came to a cliff that I had to either go down or go back to find the course. What did I do? I went down the cliff ... slowly, carefully placing me feet and clung to every tree I could. Once I got the bottom I made my best guess as to the proper direction and went the best way I could. I saw a road with some cabins and made my way to them. I kind of thought that these were the cabins past Lower Falls. I continued along this road until I saw a lady runner coming down the Park Rd into the Lower Falls parking lot. I bellowed out "Where the Aid Station"? I really wanted to see an aid station by this time. She replied that she was just following the flags (that I hadn't even noticed) and that it was soon. So I turned around, followed the flags and walked to AS #3. My Garmin shows me here at 4:37 (10:37 AM).

I stayed at AS #3 for perhaps 10 to 15 minutes. I asked Amy Lord if she had a new body for me ... she laughed. I met up with Christine, had another PB&J, rolled my right hip and upper leg and had 2 more Endurolytes. Christine put more bug spray on me and then I put on some sunscreen. I stashed 2 more PB&Js in my hydration backpack.

The next four pictures were taken by James Amy Fricon Rogala showing 1) some of the 127 steps down to the Lower Falls, 2) the water just before the bridge, 3) the bridge, 4) the turn onto Trail 6A and the sheer wall after the bridge

Sherry Hecker Kessler took this picture (below) of the steps on Trail 6A leading away from the Lower Falls.

Now I was headed for the more remote section of the course. I asked Christine to meet me at Cabins E on the Park Rd past the Parade Grounds. I had my doubts about whether I would see her or not. I was taking the direct way and she had to exit LSP at the Castile exit and make her way around the south end of LSP, through Portageville, up Route 436 and up the Park Rd to Cabin E. Anyway ... I left AS #3, walked down the 127 steps to the bridge across the Genesee River, crossed over and made my way back up on Trail 6A to Park Rd, turned left and followed Park Rd. I tried to walk slowly up to where Trail 9 meets up with Cabins E so I wouldn't miss Christine. I waited there for about 5 minutes. I saw a group of Boy Scouts and their leaders come down Trail 9. I asked the leaders that if they saw a light blue Equinox with a blonde driving to tell her that "Doug had waited and that he would see her at the finish". I proceeded up Trail 9. I was walking a lot now. I put my personal cell on Airplane Mode and fired up my Ricoh cell ... no service. I had wanted to send an eCrumb to Christine and my kids to let them know where I was ... oh well. I kept walking ... Trail 9 came out on the dirt road portion of River Rd for about 200 yards before the course made a right onto the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) with its yellow blazes all the way back to the Letchworth Dam. My right hip hurt when I lifted up my right foot. I lost a lot of time and seriously doubted whether I could finish. So ... I walked and walked. I was very mindful of all the roots that I didn't want to trip over. I remember seeing the blue blazes that would have led me up to Sehgahunda CP #6 but missed the ones for CP #5 and #4 since my head was down looking at the trail and trying not to trip. So I walked ... slowly. I could hear lots of wind in the trees above me but only a breath of air got down where I walking but it did help keep me cool.

Mike Meynadasy took this picture of AS #4

I got to AS #4 at 7:32 (1:32 PM) and my savior, Mike Meynadasy. He sat me down and asked what I needed. I told him that I had right hip pain and that I didn't really know what I wanted. I had some potato chips, some bacon and a bit of Coke. He diagnosed my right hip pain as a hip flexor issue and recommended rest and stretching. My Ricoh cell had somehow done a factory reset on itself. This erased all my apps and all my pictures (maybe they're in the cloud somewhere). I punched in Christine's number to let her know of my condition. I seriously thought of quitting and walking up to River Rd so Christine could come get me. I even paused my Garmin because I was sure that I was going to DNF. But ... Mike told me "You have time. This AS doesn't close for another hour." So I sat there for a bit more. He offered me 2 ibuprofen which I initially refused but eventually took. He gave me a pep talk as he led me out of AS #4. I think I was at AS #4 for about 30 minutes ... but it was time well spent. His words "Pain is temporary but Internet results are forever" and "Only 13 miles to go" stuck in my head.

Somehow I felt better. The math in my head said 8.5 miles to AS #5, 4.5 miles farther to the finish. My body said ... you have to be joking. My heart said ... just finish.

My right hip pain was gone ... but it was replaced by the pain of a blister or two on the bottom of my left foot. This pain was manageable as long as I didn't move my foot inside my shoe too much ... which sometimes happened and it hurt. I continued onward. I called Christine and told her that I was out of AS #4 and that I would be there in 3 hours ... which was a complete understatement. I was worried about her just waiting and waiting for me at the finish. I could run so I ran a little bit but mostly I power walked. It hurt to go down into all the gullies and it hurt to climb out of them but I had no choice. I met up with Chris O'Brien and Mike Vallone and talked for a couple of minutes as I passed them. I was told that there was a self-serve water station about 4 miles up. It was closer to 6 miles. A woman was there and helped me fill my water bladder. She told me it was 2 more miles to AS #5. That took a bit of wind out of my sails but what could I do? I power walked onward.

Jim McLaughlin and the crew of AS #5

I got to AS #5 named the Final Countdown around 10:47 (4:47 PM). I met up my next savior, Jim McLaughlin. What can I say about Jim? Well ... I broke a rib between CP #1 and CP#2 during Sehgahunda 2010, and tried to walk to CP #3 (6.8 miles away). Stupid me thought that the pain would go away. Well ... I walked slower and slower as the pain got worse instead. Jim rode down on his mountain bike to help me walk up to where I could get a ride up to CP #3 and an ambulance ride to the Dansville ER. He is definitely an athlete with 16 Ironmans under his belt. He's the nicest guy you ever want to meet period and definitely can be counted on when you need help.

And ... help I needed. Not as much as I had needed at AS #4 but I appreciated a brief rest. He sat me down and practically force fed me chicken broth and watermelon. I had never had broth during a race before ... I am a convert now. I was at AS #5 for about 10 minutes. I left just after Chris O'Brien came in.

I called Christine just after I left to tell her that I had just left AS #5 and had 4 miles to go. I was in the home stretch now and power walked as fast as I could. I have run this part of the FLT many times between 4 Sehgahundas and 7 Dam Good Trail Races so I started to recognize the terrain. Yeah, baby!

I knew from past experience that this scenic overlook was 3.75 miles away from the finish! 

Christine came out to meet me about 1/4 mile out on the trail. I was glad to see her. I told her that "I'm sorry I can't walk with you ... but I gotta finish!" I felt a bit bad but I left her in my dust. I high-fived Eric Eagan at the finish. Done!!

I plopped down near the food. Eric's brother-in-law got me some pizza and a beer. Christine came walking up. He got her and I more pizza and a couple of beers. Yes ... I had not had any alcoholic beverage since my birthday last year. But ... I earned these two beers. I got our chairs from the Equinox and we sat among friends for a while ... old and new.

My newest well earned race bling!

We cheered in every runner that came in after me. The trail running community is a welcoming community to the young and old, to the first place finisher and to the last place finisher. It's all about the effort and the journey. We stayed until it got a bit cool after 8 PM. I let Christine drive home. I was more a bit tired. I just closed my eyes and let her keep on talking to me so she could stay awake. Christine told me that she had enjoyed the day. She hadn't worried about me as much as during my two previous solo practice runs because she knew that there was suport on the course. I later found that she had been on Facebook or texting up a storm with people inquiring about where I was. I was being stalked (in a good way), lol! I took a long and hot shower when I got home. I examined my left foot. I had 2 new blisters ... one on the bottom heel and up on the inside of the heel. I might add ... two well earned blisters. Christine had marked up my June 24th calendar entry of "Many on the Genny" ... she added "TOO" ... it seemed correct.

Muddy trail shoes and MOTG swag

I earned these two blisters!

The vast majority of my 416 races to date have been all about the time from the start to the finish. Start ... run ... run hard .... finish. Stat-wise: I was 100th out of 112, 14th out of 16 in my M 50-59 age group, link here. Six runners were DNF. I won't bore you with my pace ... but they ranged from a first mile of 9:27 to 40:35 (it's slower than that since my Garmin was on pause at AS #4) at mile 28.

Yes, I am competitive by nature. I track my runs, races and times in a spreadsheet. I can tell you that my blue SpeedCross 3 trail shoes have 660.6 miles and that my ASICS GT-1000 road shoes have 318.53 miles. A step counter that I wore told me that I had 77,189 steps.

MOTG was by far the toughest and longest race I have ever run but it was also the most enjoyable ... a true test of character. Eric and Sheila Eagan along with their volunteers staged an epic inaugural race!

Today it was not about the time, pace, where I placed or steps ... it was about finding the will and determination to forge ahead to the finish. Sometimes I forget about that in the rush to the finish. Today it was about the journey.

Sunday, 6/18/2017 to Friday, 6/23/2017 - Medved 5k

I ran 4 times in 6 days: 12.16 miles.

Sunday, 6/18/2017: 3 runs of 1.8, 3.16 and 1.0 miles: 77F, 79% RH, 9 mph SSW wind, mostly cloudy.

Today's race was my sixth Medved 5K to Cure ALS (2012 - 20:13, 2013 - 21:26, 2014 - 20:59, 2015 - 21:28 and 2016 - 21:47). I set my 5K lifetime PR of 20:13 here way 5 years ago in 2012. This was my 5th Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race of 2017.

I knew the drill: wake up at 6:30 AM, have my pre-race cereal and banana, quietly get dress, program the coffee for later, kiss Christine goodbye and get on the road at 7:30 AM. Done and down to Frontier Field by 7:45 AM in plenty of time for the 8:30 AM race start ... easy peasy. I went in to got my bib and new Medved 5K short sleeve tech shirt. I chose to wear my white 2014 Medved 5K shirt along with black shorts for the race.

I got out for a really nice and easy warm up run of 1.8 miles at 8;34 pace, link here. I was walking to the Cruze for a swig of water when I saw Tom Butler ... shirtless as usual. Well ... the weather was really hot and muggy ... so I decide to ditch my shirt too! I also took off my heart rate monitor.


I think this is my first shirtless race. I can't remember any others ... but with over 400 races I can't be sure. Anyway ... we were off! I got up to race pace quickly but held back and ran behind Tony Gingello. He's a fast 70 year old GVH runner who probably knew a thing or two about pacing. I was determined not to go out too fast in these conditions. So I held back and just ran on his right hip for almost 2 miles before I passed him. Then ... I just held on ... past Frontier Field ... into the back entrance ... down the warning track ... past the 3 mile sign ... home plate in sight ... I was a bit disappointed at seeing the clock way past 22 ... done in 22:40 according to my Garmin. I was definitely parched and drank a cold pint of water as soon as I could.

Running on the warning track ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com

I checked the results and saw that I was officially 53rd in 22:38 and 4th in my age group. I would have had to seriously break 20 (less than 19:41) to have placed third. I was OK with that. I did the best I could. I went out for a rare 1 mile cooldown at 9:40 pace, link here. Yes ... I'm a step slower but I still get out there. I was 53rd out of 412, link here. I was 4th out of 21 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. I got 7 RROY points, link here. My splits were: 6:47 (best pace 5:53), 7:19 (best pace 6:13), 7:27 (best pace 7:09) and 6:55 over the last 0.16 mile. The weather progressively got hotter during the warmup, race, and cooldown (75F, 77F and 81F). The race conditions were tough but the wind definitely helped!

I went home via BJs and did a bit of food and hot weather shopping. The food was Tony Romas ribs (with a coupon of course) for Father's Day and not 1 but 2 pedestal fans (each $5 off) for our upstairs bedrooms. I cooked up the ribs later while Christine took a nap. The ribs were quite good ... I can follow instructions. There is hope for me in the kitchen ... but I don't push my luck too often.

The fans went together OK ... I can follow even vague instructions. They work well.

Father's Day went well ... a hot and humid race early along with some quality time relaxing later. Christine and I reconnected and spent a lazy day together. I received Father Day's greeting from my three children (Michael - Facebook Chat, Karen - a phone call and David - text) along with a text from Christine's daughter, Beth Glaude. Ahh ... the wonders of technology!

Monday, 6/19/2017: Recon day.

Christine and I went down to Letchworth State Park (LSP) after work. She didn't want to go but I insisted that I needed to show her the correct way to get from the Castile exit over to River Rd. So I showed her. Then I showed her the two places where I had wanted her to meet me back on Sunday, 6/11. The first spot was Cabin E past the Parade Grounds. She explained to me that she had been here, asked people if they had seen me and waited for me. She must have just missed me. Then I showed her where I came out at Sehgahunda CP #4. She told me that she would have never found that spot. I told her that I had mistakenly told her to wait for me at CP #2 instead of CP #3 so that even I had made it to CP #3 that she would not have been there either. We cleared the air about the mistakes that we both made. I didn't carry enough water and I should have shown her where I had wanted her to be. I found out that River Rd looks a whole lot different without any Sehgahunda CP signs. No voice and minimal text reception at the south end of LSP didn't help us on that day either.

Tuesday, 6/20/2017: Rest day.

Wednesday, 6/21/2017: 6.2 miles, 1:24:59, 13:42 pace, 73F, 57% RH, 8 mph WNW wind, mostly sunny.


I wanted to run trail down at Mendon Ponds Park right after work. I even used 2 hours of vacation so I could get out there early and get it done. But ... I reviewed in my mind what I had brought with me around 2:30 PM ... no shorts! So ... I went home, growled a bit at Christine, changed and headed over to Durand Eastman Park. I wore my summer usual trail clothing: shorts, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks, my new Medved 5K short sleeve tech and my blue Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes. I filled my homemade hydration vest (Salomon pack with a 3L bladder hung inside) with 2L of water and wore it to get used to the difference of having something on my back and its "slosh", "slosh", "slosh" sound.


I parked across the street at Durand Eastman beach, crossed Lake Shore Blvd and looked for trails into the woods. I didn't have any particular one in mind and just ran on whatever ones I could find ... yellow, red and blue. I don't run at Durand Eastman very often and thought it didn't have many hills. I was soon educated otherwise by the trails that I happened to find. I ran nice, easy and carefully. I didn't want to roll an ankle three days before MOTG! My splits were: 12:05, 17:05, 13:40, 14:00, 15:06, 11:07 and 9:27 over the last 0.2 mile. My last run before MOTG on Saturday.

Thursday, 6/22/2017 and Friday, 6/23/2017: Rest days before MOTG on Saturday.

The forecast for Friday was rain and rain it did. The Facebook post from the MOTG race director, Eric Eagan, was"You all get letchworth post storm tomorrow. Yer welcome." I left work a hour early so that I could get my hair cut and to get 2 "victory" donuts from Wegmans. I set my alarm for 3:05 AM and went to bed at 10 AM. But sleep didn't come easily.

Sunday, 6/11/2017 to Saturday, 6/17/2017 - Dirt Cheap #3

I ran 5 times this week: 19.47 miles.

Sunday: 6/11/2017: 15.06 miles, 3:51:26, 15:22 pace, 79F, 48% RH, 8 mph WSW wind, partly cloudy.

Today was my last practice run for Many on the Genny (MOTG). My plan was to run from MOTG AS #2 to Sehgahunda CP #3 which is about 18 miles. My darling wife, Christine, was again going to be my crew. It was warm so I wore shorts, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks, an orange Shoreline Half short sleeve tech top along with my Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes. I chose to carry a 20 ounce water bottle and 2 Hammer Gels (both big mistakes in hindsight).

We got down to MOTG AS #2 (the St. Helena parking lot) around 8:50 AM. I geared up, memorized the map about what trails I was going to take and asked Christine to meet me at the cabins past the Parade Grounds to give me water and nutrition in about 90 minutes and then to pick me up at Sehgahunda CP #3 (which is about where the power lines head over River Rd). Simple ... right?

I thought I had everything covered. Well ... I made some assumptions that I will get to later. My mother, may she rest in peace, taught me what happens when you assume .. you make an ass out of you and me. Sometimes that simple lesson still catches me more times than I care to admit.

Anyway ... I started out at 9:06 AM next to Trail 13. I thought that it hooked up with Trail 1 ... well, it didn't. It just headed down for about 1/2 mile to the Genesee River. So I headed back up and found that Trail 1 was unmarked and ran just off the Park Rd past all the overlooks on the way to Lower Falls. So ... I wasted about 20 minutes before I got going in the right direction in the first place. I ran/walked the 6 miles down to Lower Falls.

Lookmg down on one of the small falls off Trail 1 enroute to Lower Falls

I had 1 of my 2 Hammer Gels as I wasted about 5 minutes while 1 was looking for Trail 1 again.  I should have just gone to the 127 steps down to the bridge across the Genesee River. I picked up Trail 6A (I just turned left past the bridge as it was unmarked again) and walked up at least 127 more steps. Trail 6A ended at the dirt Park Rd past the Parade Grounds. I turned left and headed about a mile down to the cabins where I expected to meet up with Christine. Oh ... by the way there was NO cell reception. Well ... Christine was nowhere to be found when I got there and no one had seen a light blue Equinox. It was about 11:15 AM so I was about 40 minutes late.

So ... what to do? Hmm ... wait for her while I was a bit thirsty and hungry or contine onward? Well ... I filled my 20 ounce water bottle, had my fill of water and continued onward (probably not a good idea) on Trail 9 (which had a marked trailhead). This trail led out to the stone section of River Rd. I turned left, walked for about 200 yards and then turned left onto the Finger Lakes Trail. It was hot. I was a bit thirsty. I conserved water but still had some left. I got to the blue blazes for Sehgahunda CP #6 and took a wrong turn to the left. I kind of knew I wasn't headed in the right direction and only went a 1/4 mile. I found I was on a salmon trail not the yellow FLT. I backtracked, found the yellow FLT blazes and continued onward.

I passed the blue blazes for Sehgahunda CP #5. I had my last Hammer Gel as I walked onward. I was thirsty and hungry ... not good signs if you want to run trail so I walked. I did trot downhill when I could. I did an assessment of my condition and decided to bail early at CP #4 instead of going onward to CP #3. I found that I had a little cell reception so I sent a text to Christine: "Meet me at Sehgahunda CP #4. ETA 30 minutes".  I come upon the blue blazes for CP #4 and slowly headed up to River Rd. I came out of the woods at River Rd ... no Christine and just 2 cars off the road. I went back to sit in the shade ... confident that she would soon arrive. I texted her "Here." Well ... I expected her to drive down from CP #3 to CP #4 which is only about 2 miles on River Rd. Well ... after a bit of texting back on forth I exited again and laid down in the grass in a bit of shade near River Road so I would make sure I didn't miss her. I was feeling a bit light headed. That's when a guy named James walked over and asked "Sir, are you OK? Do you need some water or a salt tablet?" I replied that I did. I walked over to his Subaru and had about 1/2 pint of warm water and a salt tablet. I didn't care about either. I needed both. I texted Christine that I had a ride and was coming to her. James drove me there. He was a fellow trail runner who had run up to the Dam and back from CP #4. He told me that he had had kidney failure duing an Iron Man once during the short drive up to CP #3.

I thanked him when we got up to CP #3 and saw the Equinox with its four ways flashing sitting right in the road. I made a beeline to the water in my running bag. Then ... I asked Christine where she had been. A bit of an argument ensued. She had been all worried about me. Well ... she did have her reasons for being worried since she hadn't seen me for 4 hours. She has had the unique perspective of following an ambulance transporting me to the Dansville ER not once (Sehgahunda 2010 - DNF at CP #3 due to a cracked rib) but twice (Sehgahunda 2011 - DNF at CP #6 due to overhydration ... yes, you can overhdyrate) when I tried and failed. I did succeed in Sehagunda 2012, Sehgahunda 2014 and every Dam Good Trail Race so far (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 ... knock on wood).

So ... what assumptions did I make? One, I assumed that Christine knew where she was, could read a map and use it to navigate to where I needed her to be. Two, I made the assumption that I would meet up with her so I didn't need to carry enough water and nutrition to last me for about 4 hours.

So ... I found out that she couldn't read the large map that I had plotted out, highlighted my route, and pointed where I wanted her to meet me. She explained that when she had left me she had driven north on the Park Rd to exit the LSP near Mount Morris, driven through Mount Morris to get to 436 to come down on the east side of LSP (which is a lot longer route than exiting at the Castile exit, making for 436-19A, getting into Portageville and going north on 436 to the Parade Ground entrance). Why? Because I guess she is a visual person who needs to be shown how to get somewhere and goes with what she knows. She said that she knows how to read a map, that she had waited for me at various spots, driven all around and hadn't seen me. Who knows where these spots were? Were they even on my route? There was only two spots I needed her to be and she wasn't at either one. Yes, I did cross her up on the second one by bailing early. I knew I couldn't have made CP #3. Basic map reading skills would have led her from CP #3 down the 2 or 3 miles on River Rd to CP #4.

I just shut up as much as I could ... this argument was going to get me anywhere. I was safe, not heading to the Dansville ER and headed home. I ate 3 PB&J sandwiches on the way back to Rochester.

So .. what did I learn? Well .. don't assume anything. Plan for more contingencies. I should have taken my hydration pack with enough Hammer Gels to last me the entire way. Then I would have been largely self sufficient. Christine not meeting me wouldn't have mattered and been a non-issue.

So ... Letchworth State Park almost claimed me as a victim again because of my assumptions and sheer stupidity. Thank goodness that James was there when I needed him. I will spare the dear reader my splits. Suffice to say they were slow (though I did run mile 5 in 9:51). I survived to trail run another day.

MOTG is in less than 2 weeks. I know most of the course now. I will have to be careful, hydrate well, take care of my nutrition and run/walk smart. I will have to give some consideraton to what I am going to need for the hours I expect to be out there, pack a drop bag for AS #3, DO NOT WING IT and finish! I will be on my own for the last 20 miles except for AS #4 and #5. So ... think positive thoughts! I gotta get some running mantras for the last 20 miles when my mojo will most likely be lagging.

Monday, 6/12/2017 and Tuesday, 6/13/2017: Rest days.

Monday was the usual rest day after 15 miles down in Letchworth and Tuesday was the usual rest day before a race ... nothing unusual. I do need to taper for MOTG ... though I don't like to taper.

I watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Cavs and the Warriors. The Warriors won the series, 4-1, link here. Lebron had 41 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists in Game 5 but it wasn't enough. He averaged a triple double (33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 10.0 assists) for the series and was probably considered for the Finals MVP but Kevin Durant (35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists) of the Warriors won it instead. The Warriors were just too much for the Cavs to handle with the addition of Durant.

Wednesday, 6/14/2017: 2 runs of 0.95 and 3.46 miles, 73F, 31% RH, 11 mph NNE wind, partly cloudy.

Tonight's race was Dirt Cheap #3 held at Lucien Morin Park on Empire Blvd next to MacGregor's. I wore my usual summer trail clothes: shorts, my yellow 2015 Phelps Sauerkraut short sleeve tech, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks and Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes ... I stick with what works for me. I got there around 5:30 PM and got a nice parking spot within 100 feet of the start. I hung out with Tom Dutton and Andy Ciaio before the start and relaxed for a bit. Tom told me of a water hazard just after the left turn into single track after we run down the stone road for 1/4 mile. I took a warmup run of 0.95 mile at 11:18 (a bit slow since I stopped to survey the water hazard) pace, link here. Sure enough! There was a section of flooded single track for about 100 feet and mud beyond it. I bypassed it on my warmup run ... no need to get my feet wet before I had to. I went back to the Cruze and got my 20 ounce water bottle. It was hot in the woods and I knew I would need it during the race.

Wave 1 start from the front ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

Wave 1 start from the rear ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

And ... we were off! I didn't sprint out like I usually do since I wanted to concentrate on just finishing the race. I was here just to have fun. So I let runners ahead of me ... I passed Tom and settled in behind Andy as we ran down the stone road. There was a brief slowdown before the water hazard and then I splashed through it just like everyone else. The water was shoe high .. splash, splash, splash! Then it was turn right and up, up, up! I was winded by the time I got to the top of that long first hill. I have run this course 16 times now in one version or another so I knew what to expect ... a short, twisty, turny, roots course with lots of ups, downs, almost no flats, lots of single track with almost no chance to pass which required your strict attention to your footing. So ... that is what I did. I stuck behind Andy for almost 2 miles and concentrated on staying upright. Andy wanted me to pass and I finally did. Then I took a misturn for about 50 feet and had to backtrack. I didn't have the energy to catch the eight or so runners who got ahead and I settled into just finishing. I was dripping when I got done with 3.46 miles in 36:44, 10:55 pace. I was only 19 seconds and 3 runners behind Andy. Another Dirt Cheap #3 in the books on a perfect night for a trail run!

The finish in 37:43 ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I got some water from the Cruze and went into MacGregor's for some of their excellent post-race food: celery, carrots, bun, salad and pasta along with a cup of water. It filled me up while I talked with Andy and a guy who knew me, Chris Barry. I did OK according the official results: gun time of 37:43, chip time of 37:41, 80th out of 357, 3rd of 16 in my M 55-59 age group (hand calculated), link here.

I didn't stay too long and went straight home. My feet were still wet so I stripped and went straight to the shower to get all the mud off off me. I was a bit tired and my ankles were a bit cranky. I don't remember doing anything stupid but who knows?

Thursday, 6/15/2017: Rest day.

I got my order of a from DX.com of a CK11S Waterproof Blood Pressure Heart Rate Monitor Smart Bank - Bk today.

Yes, it's from China, only $27.68, has limited instructions, measures my steps into kilometers and kilocalories, doesn't export any data like a tcx or fit file anywhere, but it does work. Any calls, texts or Facebook posts does show up. The app is FitCloud and links to my Droid. I can take my O2 level, respiration, heart rate and blood pressure right from the app. I just can't export it. I probably should have just ordered a refurbished Garmin Vivosmart HR from Ebay for around $60. But I like to tinker and experiment sometimes. Oh well, I can manually put my daily steps into mapmyfitness.com ... I think. I found out that I have to manually write down my steps before midnight because they disappear otherwise.

Friday, 6/16/2017: Another rest day.

I thought about bringing my trail running gear with me to work but my wonky left ankle still felt funny so I bagged that idea.

I got my order of a 26 ounce serving of Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel from Hammer Nutrion today.

I absolutely love Hammer Gel! A woman named Brielle celebrated my second order by sending me a Hammer Flask and their booklet Guide to Success. OK .. it's not super expensive (only $2.39 plus a free booklet) but it's the thought that counts! I have two Hammer Flasks now so it's a bit OK if I lose one in my running bag, lol! I tolerate Hammer Gel well when on long runs and will be carrying both fully loaded Hammer Flasks when I tackle Many on the Genny.

Saturday, 6/17.2017: Date day and evening.

I could have gotten out on the bike in the morning but didn't. We got out later to take my darling wife, Christine, to New Nails. She got her french manicured nails relined and sharpened ... nice! Then we turned our outing into a date night by heading to The Original CharBroil House on Island Cottage (I had the marinated chicken and Christine had the fried chicken). We topped off the evening by going to see Wonder Woman, preview link here, at the Greece Ridge Regal.

Chris Pine and Gal Garot in Womder Woman

A Groupon $10 for $20 deal helped. I thought the cashier at the Regal asked if we were over 16 so I said yes. We got a 20% discount. It was as we were walking away that I figured out that he asked if we were over 60. Well ... I will be in 3 months and Christine will be in 7 months so it wasn't too much of a stretch. Anyway ... Wonder Woman was awesome!!

Sunday, 6/4/2017 to Saturday, 6/10/2017 - McMullen Mile

I ran 5 times this week: 11.84 miles.

Sunday, 6/4/2017: Rest day.

Yes, a full rest day. I took Sunday off to rest from 15.68 trail miles yesterday down on west side of Letchworth State Park running to Aid Station #2 on the Many on the Genny course.

Other runners and multi-sport athletes were out in the morning sprinkles: the Brighton Believes 5K (144 finishers, results here) for the runners and the Rochester Duathalon (43 finishers in the Sprint and 12 finishers in the Intermediate, results here) for the multi-sport athletes.

I watched Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cavs. The Warriors won by 19, link here, to go up 2-0.

Monday, 6/5/2017: 5.01 miles, 41:54, 8:22 pace, 57F, 94% RH, 6 mph N wind, overcast.


I so wanted to not run today. But ... a runner has gotta do what a runner has got to do. I have the McMullen Mile coming up on Friday night so I have to run the Greece Arcadia track tonight and Wednesday night. Nothing special tonight ... just 4 800s at 3:32, 3:19, 3:18 and 3;16 pace with a nice and easy 800 in between. I followed with a nice and easy mile at 9:05 pace at the end. Easy peasy. It was better running without a stiff wind blowing me back on the backstretch like last Thursday.

Tuesday, 6/6/2017: Rest day.

I saw a couple pictures of Ontario Beach Park off of Facebook. Lake Ontario is up even farther on what used to be the beach ... it's all gone.

The gazebo taken by Jennifer Neu

Lake Ontario washing over the pier taken by Tim Knapper Knab

Wednesday, 6/7/2017: 5.06 miles, 41:34, 8:13 pace, 68F, 40% RH, 7 mph E wind, sunny.

Today was Global Running Day. Fleet Feet was running their Big Run 5K with 524 finishers and Medved was running a Lemonade Run featuring milkshakes from their store on Monroe Ave. Me ... I ran at the Greece Arcadia track again since the McMullen Mile is looming ahead on Friday.


It was a bit hotter today and sunny today but nothing too bad. I did the same track workout as Monday. I warmed up with a nice and easy 800 then did 4 x 800s in 3:16, 3:13, 3:15 and 3:16 with a nice and easy 800 in between each one. I followed with a nice and easy one mile at 8:38 pace. Boom ... done.

A meme for today!

I watched Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cavs, link here. The Cavs were outscored 11-0 in the last 3 minutes and lost by 5 to go down 0-3, link here

Thursday, 5/8/2017: Rest day.

Friday, 5/9/2017: 2 runs of 0.75 and 1.02 miles, 75F, 47% RH, 9 mph WNW wind, mostly cloudy.

Today's race was the McMullen Mile, a 1 mile race held in the memory of  Charlie McMullen, links here and here. It was also my fourth Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) race of 2017. This was my fifth McMullen mile (2012 - 5:52, 2013 - 6:25, 2014 - 6:12 and 2015 - 6:21. I didn't race it last year because it wasn't a RROY race and I tried to cut down my race schedule (to only 37 races, lol). I am trying to hold down my races this year too ... this is my 15th race of 2017.

I dressed after work and directly to Nazareth College where it was held in 2015. Well ... there were 6 cars in the nearby parking lot and no one on the track. I whipped out my cell, fired up gvh.net and found out that the race venue was nearby St. John Fisher College. Oops! So I headed over there. I was in Heat #6 (Men under 8 min but over 5 min pace). Heat #5 was combined with Heat #6 so there were about 20 runners toed up at the start line. I lined up on the outside. I wore an old yellow Charlie McMullen short sleeve tech shirt to honor him.

Listening to Mike Reif's instructions before the start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefy.com

And ... we were off! A lot of runners passed me and I was forced to run in the second lane until 3/4 of the first lap. I remembered my training runs and ran my pace. I passed lap 1 in 1:38, lap 2 in 3:18 (1:40). I was now in unknown territory since all my training runs were just 800s. I dug deep and kept running. I did hear a couple yells of "Go Doug" when I passed toward the finish, lap 3 in 4:57 (1:39). One more lap ... I tried to pick up the pace ... round the backstretch ... 100 yards to go ... sprint ... 5:07 was my fastest Garmin pace ... I hit the finish in around 6:36. Not bad ... about what I expected. Still ... my slowest McMullen Mile.  But ... I was out there running, racing and competing so it's all good.

I did OK. I ran a 6:35.82 according to Yen Timing. I was 2nd out of 3 in my M 55-59 age group, results here, so I picked up 9 points in the RROY standings. It's still way early with only 4 races out of 12 complete, current standings here.

Here are more pictures taken by Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com.

Leaning in for the start!

Less than 1/2 lap ... still bunched up.

Just before lap 1.5.

A bit after the start of lap 3.

Starting lap 4.

The finish in 6:35.82.

I was tired and went home since it was after 8 PM. I had some leftover pasta for supper.

Then I watched Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Cavs had their backs against the wall and responded. They put on an offensive show for the ages. They set a bunch of offensive records: most 3s in the 1st quarter of the NBA Finals - 9, most points in the 1st quarter in the NBA Finals - 49, most points in the first half in the NBA Finals - 86, most combined points in the first half in NBA Finals and postseason - 154, most 3s in the first half in NBA Finals and postseason - 13 and most 3s in the NBA Final and postseason - 24. Ohh and they won by 19, link here.

Saturday, 6/10/2017: 17.56 miles on the bike, 1:24, 12.5 mph

I thought about heading down to Letchworth today but I just didn't have it in me and slept in until 9 AM.

I know I needed to rest because I was going to run down in Letchworth tomorrow instead of today. But I felt like a slug so I got out on the bike, RoadID eCrumb link here. It was warm so I wore just my padded shorts, shorts and a short sleeve tech. I went out on Edgemere Drive to see how high Lake Ontario was. The water of Buck Pond and Long Pond was less than one foot below the road!

My Garmin Forerunner 310XT died so I had to make due with the eCrumb link to know my route and my average speed of 12.5 mph (after a bit of calculation). I subtracted 2 minutes for the time before and after the bike to get to my cell. It was a bit windy biking into a wind that seemed to be out of the southwest. I really should find the charging clip since I do want to wear it for the upcoming Many on the Genny. I am going to need its long battery life ... a bit of discussion of battery life here.

Sunday, 5/27/2017 to Saturday, 6/3/2017

I ran 5 times this week: 36.4 miles.
I biked once this week: 21.25 miles.

Sunday, 5/27/2017: 21.25 miles on the bike, 1:35:21, 13.4 mph average, 20.9 mph max, 57F, 88% RH, 4 mph ESE wind, mostly sunny.


I decided to get on "Black Beauty" (the Strava nickname for my Trek) for a bicycle ride. I wore my padded bicycle shorts, another pair of shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt. I was a little cold on my legs initially but I warmed up. I got out early so that traffic wasn't a problem. It was a nice change of pace. I saw some high water on Edgemere Drive and had to ride through a bit of water. I was passed by a faster bicyclist on the LOSP trail which startled me.

I put my feet and had my usual 2 mugs of coffee and a bagel when I got home. I caught up on Facebook and thought of all the Buffalo Marathon (both half and full) runners with its 6:30 AM start, results here. Score-this.com had live results. All told, 2979 finished the half and 1184 finished the full, news link here. Rochester's Kip Tipsia won (for the third time) in 2:21:04 (he also won the Cleveland Marathon last week in 2:20:24!), Jason "Jmac" broke 2:55 with a 2:54:34, Tim Dwyer ran a 3:13:58 and so many others did well. Maybe next year! A road marathon does beat me up though.

Monday, 5/28/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:18:03, 8:21 pace, 75F, 44% RH, 19 mph W wind, mostly sunny.


I could have gotten out earlier but I got a bit more done around the townhouse. I vacuumed the carpet, cleaned the bathroom a bit and swept the back porch. But the important thing is that I did get out. I muttered "run don't get done by themselves" as I stepped out the door. It was a bit windy and I struck up a nice and easy pace on my usual LOSP & IC 15K route. I thought about adding Janes to push to 13 miles but I knew that my darling wife, Christine, was cooking ribs plus I didn't think I had enough energy nor water. I stopped for a sip of water at mile 3 and 6. I could feel sweat drop on my hands which kind of distracted me a bit. My splits were: 8:13, 7:58, 7:58, 8:24, 8:21, 8:21, 8:44, 8:44, 8:35 and 8:21 over the last 0.35 mile.

Sure enough, the ribs were done when I got home. I wasn't really hungry so soon after a run ... but forced myself. Mmm!

Tuesday, 5/30/2017: Rest day ... needed after 3 days in a row.

Wednesday, 5/31/2017: 7.05 miles, 1:07:39, 9:36 pace, 73F, 33% RH, 14 mph W wind, partly cloudy.


I needed hills since Many on the Genny is coming up. So I headed to Cobbs Hill after work. I took it really nice and easy with 3 switchbacks, 3 grassy Vs and 3 Ys. It was a bit warm so I drank all of my 20 ounce water bottle by the time I was done. My splits were: 11:13, 9:50, 10:25, 9:19, 9:01, 9:16 and 8:12.

Stats for the month on May: I ran 16 times for 148.06 miles, 9.25 miles/run. I ran 2 races: Mind the Ducks and Dirt Cheap #2. Stats for 2017 so far: I have run 97 times for 705.46 miles, 7.27 miles/run.

Thursday, 6/1/2017: 4.32 miles, 34:50, 8:04 pace, 64F, 39% RH, 14 mph NW wind, overcast.

First ... a look ahead. I have 4 races on my schedule during the month of June: the McMullen Mile on 6/9, Dirt Cheap #3 on 6/14, Medved 5K on 6/18 and Many on the Genny (MOTG) on 6/24. The 40(!) mile MOTG down in Letchworth State Park is the big one staring me in the face. I need to get my trail shoes on and get trail ready. I have been running long enough to know that there is road ready and there is trail ready. Trail running requires training on ... gasp! ... trails. So I need to run on more trails but also keep some speed since I also have a fast 1 mile race and 5K coming up. My lovely wife, Christine, is terrified of MOTG. She is worried that she won't be able to hike down to the last 2 aid stations on FLT when I am on the late stages of MOTG. I can't say I blame her since I have a 50% success rate on Sehgahunda on the east side of Letchworth and have never run on the west side. Though I do have a 100% success rate (knock on wood) at the Dam Good Trail Race (again on the east side of Letchworth). She surprised me this morning by telling me that we should drive down to Letchworth tomorrow morning so that she could let me run on the west side while she waits for me at the first 3 designated aid stations of MOTG. It sounds like a good idea that I should probably do this weekend and maybe next weekend.


Anyway ... today I shifted gears. I wanted to run fast but it was windy. Wind even with it being 64F can make it feel cold and raw. I thought of heading over to Cobbs Hill and running the reservoir but couldn't pull the trigger so I headed home a bit dejected. I called Christine on the way and she suggested that I run the track at Greece Arcadia. She even went to their website and saw that the athletic fields were unused. So I went home, dressed (I put on shorts and a long sleeve tech) and headed over. I wore my old Garmin Forerunner 310XT since it had a dedicated lap button that I knew how to work. I didn't want to waste time and try to figure out how to do it on my Garmin Forerunner 220. It was desolate except for a lone walker. I ran a slow 440 and then began my workout. I ran 4 440s of 1:41, 1:38, 1:32 and 1:34 with slow 440s in between. Then I ran 2 880s of 3:40 and 3:26. I ran another mile at a slow pace to cool down. Running flat out for a 440 is certainly a LOT different than a nice and easy road pace! Though I guess I could get faster if I really worked at it. It would involve work ... just like all things.

Friday, 6/2/2017: Rest day

I looked up the MOTG directions for runners and crew, put them in a Word document and then printed them out. Hopefully, we will be able to figure out when to do down in Letchworth tomorrow. Then I crashed early and was asleep shortly after 10 PM.

Saturday, 6/3/2017: 15.68 miles, 3:44:09, 14:17 pace, 57F, 67% RH, 5 mph NNW wind, sunny

I was up at 5: 45 AM and Christine was up a bit earlier. Did we get started early? Err ... no. But we did get started and got down to the east entrance of Letchworth State Park by 8:41 AM, a scant 19 minutes before they started charging $10 per car so it was a win.

We parked at the dam viewing area. I wore my green Brooks shorts, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks, an orange long sleeve tech and my orange Fleet Feet hat. I even put on a bit of sunscreen. I carried my 20 ounce water bottle, 3 Hammer Gels and my instructions. The weather was sunny and about 60F with mild winds. My plan was to run down to Aid Station (AS) #3 or about 20 miles. I kissed Christine for luck and asked her to meet me at AS #1 (and maybe where I crossed Park Rd.


My instructions to AS #1 said: "Start to High Banks aid station - 7.5 miles. Starting at the Dam Overlook, runners will take Trail 20 along the gorge. Trail 20 will turn into beautiful single-track, then it ends at a road crossing. Trail 19A picks up on the other side of the road.  **Cars have the right-of-way here.  Please be cautious when you cross the road.** 19A turns right onto Trail 19.  You will run past an old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) barracks (all that’s left is the chimney!) and down to the Silver Creek Outlet. Cross the creek, pass by a beautiful waterfall and take Trail 18 up across a bridge and out to the road. Make a left onto Park Road and continue along the road for about 1 mile to the camping check-in entrance road and your first aid station.  There are bathrooms behind the camper check-in building."

Well ... I soon found that the trails were largely unmarked except at the trail head. Trail 20 had a few trees marked with a yellow hash with a 20 inside it but that was about it. So ... I was mostly on my own. Trail 20 wasn't marked initially so I just followed a mostly paved path that led along the fence for a mile. Eventually, there was single track. I had to search for Trail 20 a few times. I crossed the road to Trail 19A. I saw the trailhead marker but couldn't find the trail for about 5 minutes. I flushed out a fawn when I was looking though, lol! It turned out that Trail 19A was right next to the sign, The path was quite narrow and easily missed. I passed the CCC barracks and crossed the creek right away ... big mistake. The creek there was about shin deep and other side was quite steep with no obvious trail. What did I do? Did I turn around? Well ... no, of course. I proceeded to climb the hill hand over hand in spots and look for the trail. I spent about 15 minutes climbing up and up before I quit and climbed back to the creek. Now I had to find where I crossed in the first place. I had to wade through the creek to get back. I found the trail and got to running again. I never did find Trail 18. I made it up to Park Rd and ran the mile to the High Banks AS#1 (which was Christine sitting in the Equinox). Luckily she was sitting near the road. I had a few choice words about my runners instructions when I saw her. Christine had similar words about her crew instructions. She told me that she had driven up and down Park Rd looking for trailhead signs but with little luck figuring out if they were the correct ones.

A falls I saw on the way to AS #1

I had a drink of water, a PB&J sandwich, refilled my 20 ounce water bottle and took 2 Endurolytes. I kissed Christine for luck (again and well ... just because) and asked her to meet me at AS #2 (and where I crossed Park Rd). She had found a bigger and better map of the trails in Letchworth. The guy who gave her the map had chuckled when she told him of what I was doing. She and I looked over her map and matched it up to my instructions to AS #2. I did feel a bit better after I had sort of memorized the layout of the trails that I was about to run on.

My instructions to AS #2 said: High Banks to St. Helena aid station - 7.8 miles. Take Trail 17 down and it will connect with Trail 15, which will eventually loop back up toward the road (via a huge climb).  This section will take about 2.75 miles. Go left on Park Road for another 2.5 miles —Again you will be running this section alongside the road, but not ON the road. Cross the road at trail #11. Stay on trail 11 (for about 1.5 miles) all the way back to Park Rd. Crossing it, making a right and entering Trail #13. Make a left on Trail 13(for about 1 mile) which will cut down to Trail 1 and the St. Helena Picnic Area, where Aid Station 2 is located.  There are also bathrooms here.

I didn't have much trouble with the instructions to AS #2. Trail 17 did go down and flatten out. I didn't see where Trail 15 came in but did find the HUGE and LONG hill that Trail 15 took to get back to Park Rd. This hill was the hill that "time forgot". It seemed to take forever. The 2.5 mile run/walk on Park Rd to Trail 11 was quite long and monotonous. Trail 11 was an old overgrown paved path up to a road, turned left and went back down. I crossed Park Rd and found Trail 13. There was no trailhead marker for Trail 1 and had to backtrack to it when Trail 13 went back to Park Rd. Trail 1 went to a dirt road. Which direction to take? Well ... left went to the Genesee River bank. Two guys I met told that the other direction went to a parking area. So I turned around. I was walking up a hill when a guy in a park truck stopped and asked me if I was thirsty. I told him "yes". He pointed me to a bag of bottled water in the back of his truck. I eagerly accepted a bottle and said "Thanks. My wife is around here somewhere." Well ... Christine was really close because she heard me say that. I walked about 50 feet before I had a couple of honks from the Equinox. Christine said that she was just starting to get worried.

I walked over and told her "I'm done" ... as in 15.68 trail miles done. I didn't see the need to run onward to AS #3. I took a break while I changed my shirt and had a lunch of a PB&J sandwich and an orange. I also changed from my wet trail shoes to a dry pair of running shoes. A little TMI but I also discovered that my green Brooks shorts had a hole in the crouch.  Oops if I have actually been unexpectedly flashing anyone!

Then ... we played tourist and visited the Lower, Middle and Upper Falls. We took pictures until all our cell phones were dead. My personal cell had died while I was running to AS #2.

Christine and I at one of the many overlooks

Lower Falls

Middle Falls

A video of Middle Falls
We exited LSP and took the long way home up Routes 246 and 19 to I-490 at LeRoy. We were famished so we stopped at MacGregor's on W Ridge Rd for some meat: Charbroiled Steak Burgers (Cow vs Pig for me and Cobb for Christine). Mmm!

I caught up on Facebook. There were other awesome events going on: the Cayuga Trails 50M and Marathon down in Ithaca and the Fast &the Furriest 5K in Rochester (324 finishers, results here) and 10K (210 finishers, results here). There was some chatter on Facebook about what trail marathons are the toughest in our area. The consensus was that in order of easiest to hardest: Sehgahunda, Ontario Summit and Cayuga Trails. I have run two of them (Sehgahunda and Ontrario Summit) and I would agree ... but Sehgahunda can racket up in difficulty very easily if it is muddy. Running a trail marathon (for me at least) is an exercise in conserving your energy, doing your hydration and nutrition correctly and running/walking smart. I will need all of that when I run MOTG in three weeks.