Yesterday I ran a trail race at Mendon Ponds as my first race of the season. I finished with a course PR of 48:02 after dropping over a minute from my performance last year.
This finish puts me in the top 27th percentile, and 93rd place.
Coming into the race I felt like I was a bit behind on my training, so I was surprised to get the PR. I did a good job pushing through the hills and mud, but felt drained trying to recover my pace after each obstacle. However, the results indicate that I still have my speed, and it will take a longer race to see if I still have my endurance.
On Wednesday I returned to Mendon Ponds for the final Dirt Cheap race of the season. Apparently I have forgotten how to run on pavement as this was my third straight race on trails, and my fifth straight if you don’t count the triathlons. I apparently have not ran a road race since the Fourth of July.
I finished the course in 51:40 which placed me in 87th place. The course was dry, but that advantage was nullified by the oppressive heat. As a result I was actually a few minutes slower than last year.
My next race is the Rochester Marathon on the 18th. Hopefully by then this heat wave will be gone, and I won’t have to repeat the struggles of the Buffalo Marathon.
On Wednesday I ran the first Dirt Cheap Trail Race of the year at Mendon Ponds. I didn’t feel that great about my run, but ended up finishing in 124th place, which is one spot better than I finished this same race last year. Furthermore, my time of 49:18 was also two minutes quicker (although the course is slightly different every year).
This past weekend I ran three times to complete the Dirt Cheap Stage race. This was the fourth, fifth, and sixth times that I ran the trails at Mendon Ponds this year.
The first stage was a three mile run on Friday night. While I have run night races before, I was not prepared for just how dark it was in those woods. Difficulty in seeing the trail, turned out to slow me down even more than the hills did. I finished with a time of 33:35 which placed me 84th and in the top 33 percentile.
The second race on Saturday morning was ~5.5 miles and followed a course similar to the Dirt Cheap race in April. This was the muddiest of the three legs, and also the one where I had the quickest pace. I finished in 91st place with a time of 49:18.
On Sunday morning, the weather was actually nice for the final run of the race. This leg was 11 miles through the woods. I decided to carry water with me after that had worked out for the Can Lake 50k. This leg took me just over two hours to complete, and landed me as 98th across the line.
Overall I had a total time of 3:23:38 which placed me in 87th place overall and in the top 39th percentile. Next week, my final race of the season will be the Turkey Trot in downtown Buffalo.
On Wednesday I ran my third race of the year at MendonPonds Park. While I have now done a number of runs in this park it was my first time on this particular course, and I finished the unknown distance in 48:44. This was good enough to put me in 74th place and the top 29th percentile.
Given that this was the final race in the Dirt Cheap racing series, there is also a set of overall standings for the series. I don’t quite understand the formula that they are using for these standings, but I have finished 75th overall.
My next race is the Rochester Marathon where (despite not having a flat course) I will be trying to improve upon my time from the Buffalo Marathon in the spring.
Yesterday I returned to trail racing by running the 12 mile Mendon Mauler at Mendon Ponds Park. The race consisted of three four-mile loops and is by far the longest distance that I have ever ran on trails.
It was a rough course of almost all hills, and even required dodging turtles and horses. I started off fairly well, but by the end I was pretty worn out. This can be seen in my lap times of 46, 47, and 56. I finished with an overall time of 2:31:18 which was good enough for 49th place.
I will be doing a shorter trail race next Wednesday as part of the Dirt Cheap series. My goal is to finish under 44 minutes to beat my previous best time at Lucien Morin Park.
Yesterday I finished the first race of the season, completing 4.8ish miles worth of hills and mud in 51 minutes and 22 seconds. This is almost six minutes quicker than the last trail race I ran at Mendon Ponds park.
While the full selection of trails was not exactly identical, the times of the top runners actually seem to indicate that last night’s course was slightly more difficult. Overall I was pretty happy with my result, finishing in the top 35th percentile (versus the 63rd percentile in July 2013).
Yesterday I ran a trail race at Mendon Ponds as my first race of the season. I finished with a course PR of 48:02 after dropping over a minute from my performance last year.
