Hot.

It's hot. We're not supposed to get this kind of weather in Rochester in May. We should have at least another month before we get this stuff.

It was 78° when I finished my run at 5:30 this morning. It was 80° when I went to bed last night. The humidity is hovering above 90%, meaning that you feel more dry when you step into the shower.

I skipped Tuesday, not because of the heat on Tuesday morning, but because of the heat Monday night. It was still in the mid-80s at 11:30, and I got almost no sleep. In the morning, I just rolled over and tried to squeeze out just a little bit more sleep.

It had rained shortly before I stepped out this morning, so it was still kind of steamy out. Very humid and uncomfortable, but still better than waiting until after the sun was up.

Canal

I got out along the Erie Canal towpath today and yesterday. Oed came with me on his bike, which meant that the runs alternated between fast and slow (and stop). He also talked the whole way, forcing me to control my breathing while I answered or responded to him. I timed the runs, but I don't think the times really had anything to do with the effort.

We got out for a quick three miles yesterday, followed by five today. I'm going to get him out with me again tomorrow, maybe for another five.

Quick report

It's been several days since I've been on the computer, and I can't remember everything about the race, so the race report is a short one.

I woke up Sunday, and the weather was cool, about 45° and misty. Electra and I went out to breakfast (french toast, my pre-race breakfast since 1978), and could see a storm moving in. Low, black clouds moving in. By the time we got back home (I only live about 2-2.5 miles from the start line, and only half a mile from the two-mile point) the rain was coming down hard. I changed out of my singlet and put on a long sleeved top, figuring that, since it was cold and raining hard, I would need to stay warm. At the start of the race, while I was getting into the starting area, the sun came out. It felt like the temperature went up 10°, although I know that it probably didn't actually go up at all. So, I ran the race in a heavy, long sleeved top, and regretted it.

the first mile was, as usual, too fast. Under 6 for the first mile, but that was mainly because I wa trying to get out of the crowd. A thousand people crowded into a two-lane road makes it difficult to get moving, so you move when and where you can. I don't remember muco more of the first two miles of the race, except Sandy and Oed cheering for me at the two-mile point, yelling "Go, you fat old man!"

Just like last year, I fell apart after the four-mile point. There's a long upgrade starting somewhere after the 4.5 mile point and running almost to the five mile point. At the end of the steepest section (the first thirty yards), someone was yelling "You're almost at the top" when we actually had another 700 or so yards to go uphill. My sudden decline at 4-5 miles was not quite as bad as that of aonther man I passed at that point. He stopped to vomit at the side of the road. He then started running again, and almost immediately started to vomit again. I didn't see what happened to him.

My finish was pretty good. 44:39, for 24th in my age group, and 149th overall. Top 15% of the finishers. That's pretty good, especially considering that my "long" training runs these days have been 7 miles, with the majority being 4 miles. It is time, however, for an increase in mileage, starting with this week. As soon as I plot out a few new routes.

I ran my 4 mile route backwards today, and it was like running a new route. It was cool, about 44°, but with almost no wind and no rain. A good morning run.

busy week

Man, what a week. Tuesday night, Sandy wasn't feeling well, and didn't get much sleep. I went in to work late so I could get the kids off to school and she could get a little more sleep. Oed had been sick, but was healthy enough to go to school, so I got him off without too much trouble. He's on an antibiotic, which tastes absolutely horrible, so it's a lot of work just to get him to take it, but he was actually pretty good about it.

Electra, on the other hand, had fallen in gym class and hurt her left wrist. They were playing a game called "powerball" which is apparently somewhat like team handball. She says it's not, but I don't really see the difference from her explanation of the rules. Anyway, her wrist was really bothering her, so Sandy took her in for x-rays on Wednesday morning. It may be a hairline fracture, but nothing showed up on the x-ray. She (and 5 other kids) are out of gym for a couple of weeks now. I guess powerball is different from handball in the number of injuries sustained.

Yesterday, Sandy was again feeling pretty bad, so I left work early and came home to get supper and make sure she was OK.

My running this week has been a little bit hit-and-miss, with my bizarre schedule. I got out this morning, but I missed yesterday entirely. Lilac 10K coming up on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.

There's a review of "The Davinci Code" in the local paper today. I haven't read the book and probably won't see the movie, but the picture they chose of Alfred Molina as a Cardinal looks an awful lot like Terry Jones when he was dressed as a cardinal

Second place

That's second place overall, in the team event. There were only three teams, so it's not that big an accomplishment, and the team that beat us consisted of a 12-year old and a 15-year old. My partner, Kevin, said (quite seriously) that the race would come down to how much he held me back. He hasn't been on a bike in at least 5 years (and I think it may be more like 10), so he's certainly not in top shape. As it turned out, he was right about holding our time back. I finished the first 2.5 miles in 15:58, approximately 90 seconds ahead of the next runner, and 6:23 pace. Kevin's cycling leg was 47:10, approximately 4 minutes behind the eventual winning team's cycling, which gave them time to catch up. My second running leg was in 17:48; a 7:07 pace for that second running leg. That put me thirty seconds behind the 12-year old who won the race.

The third place team had a pretty good cyclist--36 minutes for his cycling leg--and someone who was apparently running her first race. Their cyclist was the first of the relay team cyclists to finish, even though his partner was about 4 minutes behind us.

The course was a killer--at least the running course was. There were two pretty good sized hills, and one small hill, all in the span of 2.5 miles. The final hill was a little shy of a half mile long, and it came at the end of both of the running legs, with the transition area/finish line at the top. The cycling course was a flat out-and-back, and the riders had the wind at their backs for the second half of the leg.

Our overall time for 5 miles of running and 20K cycling was 1:21:32.

Nice and Easy

I took it easy this morning, gouin out for a nice, easy 5K. I'm racing tomorrow, in a race in Lewiston, NY. It's actually a duathlon--something called the BeBop Du. I'm not riding in this race, I've got a partner that my wife calls my "twin brother separated at birth" doing the cycling. It's a 2.5 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2.5 mile run. I do hope the weather stays nice. It was 55° at 5:00 this morning. Just beautiful out.

The village of Lewiston overlooks the Niagara Gorge--from the 2 mile point, I may be able to look over into Canada.



Lewiston is far enough away from here that we'll have to get out on the road pretty early tomorrow. It's almost a 2 hour drive and registration closes at 8:45. We're making final plans today. I'm hoping ot maintain a 7:30-8:00 pace through both legs of the race. I'm not going to say that I won't race, because I'm pretty miserable at not racing in a race.

Tough weekend

The weekend was pretty bad. Thursday morning, we lost a server at work. We swapped in a replacement, and it quickly died on us. We were left without a network, only working on documents saved locally, but unable to print. Some of our files were completely inaccessible, and some of our orders required those files. In an industry that relies on printed documents, some of which are required to have original signatures, losing the printer was catastrophic. We finally got a new server in on Friday afternoon, but by then we had lost an incredible amount of time and we were behind on everything.

The good news is, on Friday night, my wife decided to quit, and first thing Saturday, she did. She got a new job offer Monday afternoon, and she'll be starting on June 5th. Normal hours, hourly pay (instead of pay based on production) and benefits.

Saturday morning, before I came in to work to try to repair some of the damage done Thursday, I was out running a seven-miler, when my right calf muscle tightened up to the point where it was painful to run at all. I've been treating it with ice and Vitamin I, and it's feeling better now. I haven't run since Saturday, but I'm going to try a nice, easy mile tonight, with Oed.

Every other day?

Is that how often I'll be able to post? Oh, well. I got out yestearday morning and today, both days it was a little bit cool out. Yesterday I went out in a t-shirt and shorts, today I wore a long-sleeved shirt and was a little bit warmer.

Both times, I managed to maintain just about 8:00 pace. I've got a pretty good idea where the mile marks are--on this run, they very conveniently fall near streetlights so I don't have to go past the mile mark to the nearest light and try to guesstimate how long it's been since I passed the mile point.

I've gotten spoiled already. A month ago, I thought of 44° as warm, and would run in t-shirt and shorts. Now, with daytime temps reaching into the 70s, 44° feels chilly, and I need the long sleeves.

A late day

I got out late today--I overslept this morning and didn't have time to run. I got out for an easy run after I got home from work, and Oed came with me on his bike while I did a cooldown afterwards.

Things are calming down a bit at work--we're still busy, but a couple of us have come in on weekends and we've eliminated a good portion of the backlog. On Sunday, Electra came in with me and she did some filing for me while I got some work out. I'm paying her about $25 for the work--it's a win-win situation. I get the work out of the way, she gets somw money and learns a little bit about tedious, boring work (very little is more boring than filing).

Today's run

I got out for a nice, easy 4 miles today, temp in the 60s (yeah!) and sunny (YEAH!). It felt pretty good, and my pace was pretty even the whole way. I'm feeling good, and I will be registering (online) for the Lilac 10k soon. The stiffness in my legs is just about gone now and I think as long as I keep at it, it won't come back.

D'oh!

I got up yesterday morning and it was 30° outside. I said to myself "Self, you can either run now, or wait until after work when it will bo almost 60°." I chose after work.

While I waas on the bus, I suddenly remembered that Electra was participating in a dramatic reading of The Crucible, which started at 7. Needless to say, I didn't get out yesterday at all. I'll be getting out this afternoon while Sandy is working.

My high school Cross-country and Track Coach is retiring. Mr. Bradley was a great coach and a great teacher, and I was lucky to have him.




I got out at 5 this morning--no snooze button today. It was beautiful out--about 50° and calm. The rain appears to have gone, at least until the weekend.


Life is crazy right now. Work is nuts. We're having the kind of volume we're supposed to get during our busy season (June to September), higher than last year's volume, and with the same staff.

At home, things are crazy. Sandy started a new job, still working at home, but with set hours of 3pm-11pm, Tuesday through Saturday. We have no weekend. Tuesday through Saturday, I get home, make dinner, clean up after dinner, make sure the kids get their homework done, and get them into bed. I have always had great respect for single parents, but now I have more.

If I didn't run, I think I'd lose my mind.

Dang it.

I hit the snooze button this morning, or I thought I did. 45 minutes later, I rolled over, looked at the clock and realized that I was not going to get in my scheduled run this morning. I'm rearranging my plans now for the rest of the week. I'm looking at my plan for the next two weeks to be sure that I don't have to do any rearranging after this week.

An early day

I just got on the computer for the first time today. Things are so busy at work that I can't slow down. We're short several people at work, and I'm not slowing down until I get home. Even then, I've had an hour or two of work to take care of (in between blog posts).

I got out for a short, easy run this morning at 5. It was warmer than I expected. There I was, tights and long sleeves, and it was almost 50° out. Of course, it's now 39° and damp, so I'm really not sure what the weather will be like in the morning. I should probably wait to dress until I know what the temp is outside.

On the weekends, I'm frequently prevented from getting any access to the computer at all. My daughter frequently is doing homework (yesterday she spent the day researching for a debate her social studies class was having--"Should the US launch a preemptive strike on North Korea?" she took the "no" position.) and when she's not on the computer, my wife or my son is. Tonight, however, I'm supposed to be working, so I have unfettered access to the computer, and everyone has to leave me alone.

It got cold again! It's not really all that cold, only around 41°, but it's raining, and that makes it feel colder out. I got out for a late run again yesterday--it was around 4:30 by the time I got out of the house--but I'm back on schedule this morning, bright and early at 4:45! Well, early anyway. I'm not so sure about bright.

A friend of mine is a race director for a small race organized through his church to benefit The Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation. It's an Episcopal Church, and the race is part of a series. The other races in the series are the Temple Beth El 5k and the Father Murphy 5k. The race comes up in August, with the Father Murphy 5k the following weekend, so I have time to prepare for those two races, but the Beth El 5k (which is in my neighborhood) is coming up on June 4th, so I'd better get ready.

another late day

I wanted to get up early and run this morning, but Electra wanted to go to an Anime convention in town. She and a friend had pland to go at 8am. When she told me that, I just laughed. The friend called at about 7:45 to ask if they could wait until 10 to go. When I got back, sandy wanted to drive over to her father's house. She got back around 4, and I had to go pick up Electra.

Long story short, I got out around 4:30-5:00 to get in a run. It felt pretty good today, relaxed and easy. Long, easy run tomorrow.

Late run

I got out late today. I was going to join in with a local group that runs 4 miles from a running store fridays at 6:00, but was delayed getting home from work. It seems that a local parking garage collapsed.





Apparently no-one was hurt. No cars on the ramp when it collapsed, which is a minor miracle, since it happened at 5:00 pm. I guess being in a shrinking city has its advantages. Streets were closed, traffic was tied up for a little while.
I got out for a few miles anyway after I got home.

Easy morning

I took a nice, easy run this morning. I didn't get out yesterday, taking a day off is something that's too easy to do. I'm looking up the group that runs from the local Fleet Feet store--the store is about a mile away from my house, so I could get over there whenever I wanted to join in. It's always easier to run with a group, and I think it would help me stay on track if I could get some people to run with.

No races this week, taking it easy. We got our fourth for the Corporate Challenge in June. There's a big picnic after the race, so it looks like fun, assuming the weather cooperates. Apparently, the race finishes near a bowl-shaped depression, and the first time the race was held at the site, it was a rainy week. Instead of a bowl, it was a pond.

8:22 am--I just found out about this: Mark, the running blogfather is challenging running bloggers to make donations to their favorite charities. If 100 bloggers make donations to their favorite charities, Mark will wear a running skirt in the Great Human Race in Edmonton, Alberta. If he's impressed with the number of donations or the cash value, he'l race in the matching bra. I just have to decide which charity to donate to.

A little cool

It's gotten a little bit cool in the early mornings over the past couple of days. Temps have been in the low 40s--shorts and a long-sleeve T-shirt weather--at 5am, but warming up during the day. I've had to re-route a few of my running routes, because there's road construction on one of the major roads in the immediate area. In the early morning darkness, I don't want to run through an unlit construction area, so I'm running down residential streets, which wind and turn a bit, making it a little bit harder to figure distance.

Almost nobody was on the street today--pedestrians or cars. I breezed through Twelve Corners without having to slow down. I am looking forward to the warm weather--temps in he 60s at 5am would be nice to have.

Rest day

I was so exhausted this weekend that I decided to take today off. At my age, the rests are as important as the workouts. With the kids off from school, there's less rushing around inthe morning. I decided to take the day off and sleep in a little bit. In addition, my right calf muscle has been feeling a little bit tight. One week ago, it was my left calf that suddenly tightened up about a mile and a half into a run, and now the right one is threatening to do the same. So, a day off won't hurt anything. I'm not one of those people who record streaks of days running in a row.


I'm looking ahead to the Lilac 10K which comes up near the end of May, during Rochester's Lilac Festival. I'm hoping that the nice weather we've had means that the Festival will have nice weather this year. Electra usually goes with me to the races, and I'm sure that she will again this year. Oed and Sandy will probably wait at Twelve Corners for me to go by--it's about a quarter mile from the house and is corner on the course. Last year, we lived close enough to walk to the start line, but this year it'll be a short drive.


In May, I'm also running in a duathlon with a partner. I'll be running 2.5 miles, he'll be riding his bike 12 miles, then I run the 2.5 back. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. The last half-mile or so of the cycling course appears to be an uphill. At least I don't have to run that.


My boss also approached me about me running in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. That's 7:00 pm on the evening of June 1st, and is a 3.5 mile race/run. There's traditionally a big party/picnic on the evening of the race, and apparently we'll have a tent set up and have a big party after the race is over. Sandy will be working that night, so I'll probably bring the kids. There'll probably be a few other kids there as well.

I'm the only one at the company really training right now, so I'll be the only one really racing. We have three men so far committed to run, and the race requires either:

1. a four-man team;
2. a four-woman team; OR
3. a two-man, two-woman team.

So, we need either another man or two women. Or both would be acceptable.