Running with Eric

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September 26, 2022

A Half Marathon of Mud

On Sunday morning I ran the Unlimited Breadsticks Half Marathon along the Seneca Trail in Victor. I finished the race in 2:41:55 which was a little slow, but my time was limited more by the trail conditions than my training.

A light rain began just before the race, and while the water in the air didn’t bother me the water on the trail was a real problem. I usually love my toe shoes, but they have very little traction and turned into a real liability in this race. While I only went down hard once, I was slipping and sliding for the first nine miles of the course. With my speed being limited not by my lungs or my legs, but rather my my traction I feel that I easily could have taken 15 minutes off of my time had the trail simply been drier. Trails opening up to grassy fields are typically my least favorite sections of a trail run, but in this race they were my one chance to actually run on this course.

Around mile nine there was a half mile of gravel path that I practically sprinted to try and make up time, but of course races don’t quite work like that. The final few miles were not as muddy, but I was still being cautious and only able to get up to full speed on occasional sections.

Overall though, my time was still over 15 minutes quicker than the 0SPF race, and I would love to get the opportunity to explore these trails again when the conditions are better.

My next race is the Wineglass Marathon which will thankfully be free of mud. I feel that my training is in good shape heading into this race and that I have a real chance of getting a Marathon PR for the first time in years.

September 12, 2022

A quick run through the trails of Webster

On Saturday morning I ran the Webster Trail Classic with a time of 1:45:33. For a ten mile trail race I was very happy with this pace, and it was eight minutes quicker than the last time I ran this course in 2019.

Despite this being only the second time I have run this race, it is one of my favorite courses. The terrain and the trail vary between the three parks, and while there is plenty of elevation none of the hills are so steep that you are forced to slow to a walk. Additionally the course is mostly shaded, and (while perhaps I have mostly gotten lucky with the weather) there is very little mud.

At the start of the race I found myself towards the front, and was a bit concerned that I had started too fast. I settled into a comfortable pace, and while a few runners did pass me in the first four miles it turns out that I was actually was just faster than most of the field. Most of the miles were uneventful as I enjoyed the scenery while only occasionally gaining on or falling behind the other runners. With less than a mile to go I decided to pick up the pace, but instead kicked a root and fell on my face. I pushed on for a quick finish, but that was the one thing that really held it back from being a great race.

Overall I am glad to see the improvement from 2019, I felt good while on the trail, and I even felt good after the race as if my legs easily had more miles in them. Hopefully I can continue to run well as the Wineglass Marathon is less than a month away.

August 6, 2022

5k up Cobbs Hill

On Thursday night I ran the Innovative Edge Cross Country 5k at Cobbs Hill park. I finished the race in 28:20 which is not that quick, but is more or less consistent with the pace I have been running most races this year.

I ran the first mile in under eight minutes, but unfortunately lost some pace running up the hill after that. I could blame the heat, but I think the real issue is that I am having trouble breaking out of the pace that serves me well in 10+ mile distances but comes across as a bit slow in the shorter races.

July 10, 2022

Running the Seneca & Crescent Trails

On Saturday morning I ran the 0SPF Trail Half Marathon on the Seneca and Crescent Trails. This was my first time running this race, and I finished the 14 miles in 3:09:57.

Before the event I was only familiar with the Crescent Trail portion of the course, but right off the start I quickly found out that the Seneca Trail was just as hilly. Despite the distance I (and most of the other runners) were treating the event in much the same way that you would approach and ultra. I carried my own water, and wasn’t afraid of walking the steeper hills right from the start.

For the first half of the race I felt pretty good. Almost none of the course was flat, but I was moving well and finished the first half in 1:29. Two of the largest hills on the course come right before the turn around which means you turn around and do them once again which was a bit draining. Additionally I fell on this section, which is really only surprising in that it only happened once.

On the way back I could feel myself tiring, but I managed to keep pace fairly well through mile 12. For the final two miles I was slowing down for even the slightest of uphills, but I made it back to the finish.

July 6, 2022

Fairport Fourth of July

On the morning of the fourth of July I ran the Fairport Firecracker Four Mile. I finished the race in 36:48 which was quicker than roughly two thirds of the field. While I did run this event last year, this year’s course was a mile longer so there is not too much of a great comparison to be made.

The first half of the course had little to no shade, and most of the route’s hills. While my splits were probably pretty even, I was feeling rather drained after the first half. The second half of the course was along streets that I run often and was more protected from the sun.

My next race is coming up quickly and will be the 0SPF trail half-marathon next saturday.

June 1, 2022

Buffalo Marathon

On Sunday morning I ran my first marathon of the year, running the course in Buffalo and finishing just under five hours. This was my first marathon since running the same course last year, and at my time of 4:55:30 only a tiny bit slower.

Despite being worried about my training coming in to the race, I actually felt pretty good at the start line with plans to run a slow and casual 2:15 opening half. I just went with a pace that felt good, and it wasn’t until the 4:10 pace group passed me at mile four that I realized that I had gone out way too fast. Still I was feeling good and finished the first 10k in under 60 minutes which was inexplicably quicker than my stand alone 10k race from the week before.

Knowing that I had started too fast and wasn’t really in competitive shape I kept expecting for things to blow up early, and it just didn’t happen. I finished the first half of the race in 2:10 which was quicker than my plan, and signifcantly faster than the Flower City Half I had run just a month prior.

Actually things were really feeling a lot like the 2021 Buffalo Marathon with this year’s first half being two minutes quicker.

Around the 25k mark the blow up I knew was coming finally hit. From here on the race was a struggle, oscillating between burst of energy, and feeling that 26.2 miles is far too long to go. Despite this, I mathematically remained on pace to PR all the way until mile 17.

For much of this distance I was uncertain if I would hit my goal of finishing in under five hours. I was then passed by the 4:50 pace leader at mile 24, and while I knew I couldn’t keep up with her, I was certain that she wasn’t going to beat me by ten minutes either. The final two miles were not fast, but I was at least confident through them.

May 24, 2022

Running the trails of Letchworth

On Sunday morning I ran the Vale of Three Falls 10k in Letchworth State Park. I finished the race in 61:40 which was just a few minutes slower than I ran the same course in 2018. Overall I wasn’t thrilled with the result, but I did finish comfortably in the top half of the field.

Having four years since I last ran this course, I had forgotten how much elevation this run had. As an out and back course with the entire first mile as a downhill, you at least know what to expect for the finish. I started off strong enough, but ended up walking the final hill before the turn around. But after the turn I was able to regain my pace, and only slowed down for a few stretches in that final uphill mile.

Also, Letchworth is just lovely.

My next race is the Buffalo Marathon in less than a week. Honestly I am a bit nervous about it as what I was hoping would be my marathon pace is a tad bit quicker than I ran this 10k. At least Buffalo is flat, but this upcoming 26.2 is going to be a real struggle.

May 3, 2022

Running the trails of Allegany

On Saturday morning I raced in the Allegany Adventure Run 27K in Allegany State Park. I finished the course in a time of 3:31 for what is my first trail race of the year, and my longest run since the Buffalo Marathon last June. While my per mile pace was a tad bit slower than last week, I left this race feeling much more confident about my training.

For the first three miles of the race I felt pretty good. Despite being a trail race, most of this course is on well maintained trails designed for cross country skiing, so they were not overly steep or technical. The course was certainly not flat, but this course had a different feeling from most trail runs.

Coming into the event with a plan to walk the hills, I made it through the first five miles feeling good. The next mile was a long downhill and while I used this to make good time, it set me up for a problem I would see on the rest of the course where the mix between uphill and downhill didn’t switch back often enough for a walk the hills strategy to really work.

Starting a mile 9.5 the course got decidedly more technical. I was moving pretty well through this, but there were some spots where I had to slow down just to find the trail. The final four miles returned to the ski trails, and relieved to no longer do any way finding I was able to attack the hills fairly well.

Coming into the race I knew in advance that the final 2.2 miles were an uphill slog. While I was tired, I also knew that there was nothing more to save my energy for so I took this climb on the best that I could. The course was tough, but I finished feeling fairly good.

The next race on my calendar is the Vale of Three Falls 10k in Letchworth Park, but perhaps I will be able to sneak in another race before then.

April 25, 2022

A disaster of a half marathon

I came into Sunday’s Flower City Half Marathon knowing full well that I was a bit out of shape, still I did not expect things to go as poorly as they did. I finished with a time of 2:28:33 which is over 20 minutes slower than when I felt I was poorly prepared for the same event last year.

The first two miles of the race went pretty well. There were no pace groups or split times this year, but I felt like I started slowing down a bit before mile three. Just after the half way point, I decided it was best to walk up the course’s largest hill. On it’s own it was a reasonable decision for my pace so far at that point, but I had trouble getting my legs back into gear after that. At the 90 minute mark I was only 8.5 miles in, and some quick math left me pretty demoralized for the rest of the race. I ended up doing a run/walk routine for the final few miles, that got me to the finish, but didn’t leave me feeling accomplished.

My next race is the Allegany Adventure Run next Saturday, which is even more miles and more hills. Hopefully my fitness level turns around over the next five days.

March 13, 2022

First Race of 2022

Two years ago the Runnin’ of the Green was the first (of many) races to be canceled due to the pandemic. After having my registration be deferred, not once but twice, I have finally, finally run this race again. Hopefully this is the start of a more normal, more predictable year.

As cathartic as it was to be running in this event again, the morning of the race my expectations were kind of low. I have gotten very few training runs in during the past three months, and awoke to find the streets covered in snow. However, once the race started and I got going, I felt pretty good and was glad to be back to racing after a four month hiatus.

I finished with a time of 47:29 for the five mile course. While this was six minutes slower than when I last ran this course in 2019, I exceeded by goal of staying under ten minutes per mile.

My next race is going to be the Flower City Half Marathon in April.

March 10, 2022

2022 Racing Calendar

With the 2022 racing season kicking off this weekend, I finally feel confident for the first time since the start of the pandemic to make some long term plans. While I am sure there are more events to come in the fall, for the first time since 2019 here is a tentative plan for the year…

December 24, 2021

Running through 2021

2021 was not quite the triumphant return to running that I had been hoping for with only nine completed races this year. While that is more than I ran in 2020 this year was still overly impacted by the pandemic where some spring races were postponed into summer and a few others didn’t happen at all. Somehow I only managed to run two trail races all year.

Still there were some highlights this year as well. My return to the marathon distance went much better than expected and I also completed my first triathlon since 2017.

I am hopeful that 2022 will be a return to a full racing calendar with a mix of trail races, marathons, and triathlons filling out the year.

November 15, 2021

A Weekend of Trail Running

This past weekend I returned to trail running with the three day Dirt Cheap Stage Race. While this was my fifth time running this event (2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2019), somehow this was only my second trail race of the year. As is so often the case, this mid-november race was largely defined by the weather.

Friday night’s leg of the race is a short run in the dark, and the weather was the most promising that I can ever remember for this event. However things went off the rails when my headlamp died only a quarter mile into the course. Eventually I came to a fork in the path, and was unable to see the flags pointing out the turn. After a short wait I followed the next runner with a working light, and fortunately he had a pace rather similar to my own so I followed him closely for most of the trail.

With under a mile to go I found my pace was slowing down, so I made the mistake of dropping back a bit from my friend with the light. The final stretch of the trail was possible to navigate without a light, but required me to slow down substantially to find the trail, and avoid tripping on the downhills. This resulted in me finishing with a rather slow time of 42:18 for the first stage of the race.

Saturday saw the weather take a drastic turn for the worse leaving us to run in a cold rain. This left the trails in a muddy mess, and while I only actually fell once I was left slipping and sliding through the entire course. While Mendon Ponds is often muddy, I have raced these particular trails well over a dozen times and have never seen the trail conditions as bad as they were on saturday. While my time of 56:33 was a little on the slow side, it was actually a few seconds quicker than my 2017 time in the snow.

Given that we received the first snowfall of the year shortly after saturday’s leg of the race, I expected sunday to be worse and was surprised that despite the cold there was no rain or snow. Given how much I struggled the day before, and knowing that conditions were going to be bad on sections of the trail, I decided to treat the race like an ultra despite it only being 11 miles.

The first 4.5 miles of the race are on the relatively drier eastern side of the park, which when combined with an early commitment to walking the uphills left me moving well and felling pretty good through the beginning of the day. The northern section of the race is as flat as this course gets, and I took that fairly quickly as well. After that the final half of the race was back in the mud which had no time to dry from the day before. I finished stage three with a time of 2:18:00 which even with my lower expectations was a bit disappointing.

My overall time of 3:56:51 is the slowest of the five times I have run this event.

With plans to be in Sri Lanka during the turkey trot there is a possibility that this may be my final race of the year, but I may do a 5k in december.

September 26, 2021

Rochester Half Marathon

On Sunday morning I ran the Rochester Half Marathon. My time of 2:08:54 was slower than I wanted it to be, but more or less in line with where I expected to finish. I was only a minute behind my other half of the year which had been on a flatter course.

The race used covid as an excuse to cheap out, so there were no pacers or split times available this year and my pacing was based off of my best guess. Still I felt pretty good for the first four miles of the race. After that I slowed down a little, but my pace felt steady. (Although I was stopping for water which I typically don’t do for races this short). I walked the hill at 11.5 miles, but even that didn’t feel so bad this year, which perhaps is just a sign that I wasn’t pushing enough.

I haven’t yet scheduled my next race, but hopefully I run more than one in October.

August 18, 2021

First Triathlon in Four Years

On sunday I ran (biked and swam) the peasantman triathlon in Penn Yan. This was my first triathlon since 2017 my first return to the peasantman since completing the half in 2015. Going into the race I knew that I was being powered more by enthusiasm and excitement than by actual training, and opted to step down to the intermediate distance. I finished the race in 4:11:54.

Going into this race I am fairly sure that I have not actually swam at all within the past two years. Probably not the best prep for what was the second longest swim of my life. Still I finished the mile in 55:06 which while near the tail end of the pack, was more or less in line with what I expected and actually slightly quicker than my average pace during my last tri.

I biked the 29 mile lap in 2:12 in what was the most difficult part of the course for me. With my slow swim I had a fairly lonely bike ride after turning away from the bikers on the sprint distance course. I did pass one rider (and gained ground on many others), but didn’t see to many people on the course until some of the other distance competitors started catching me towards the end of the loop. Maybe it is because I could only really compare myself to the sprinters and the leaders of the full, but it felt like my bike just didn’t go that fast even when I was maxed out going downhill. Still the final downhill into Penn Yan was a ton of fun and allowed me to reach some speeds that would have been reckless without someone directing traffic at the bottom of the hill.

The bike portion (and my lack of training on the bike) is what really held me back from going for the half distance. I could have managed a longer run, and the swim distance is barely different, but I would have really been in trouble had I needed to do a second lap on the bike.

The transitions between events are not the most exciting parts of the race, but they are a part of it nonetheless. I mention this only to point out that my 39 second transition was actually the quickest in the field. I may not have won the swimming, or the biking, or the running, but I was the T2 champion.

For the run I completed the quarter marathon in 1:01:25. This was the one discipline that I was actually prepared for, and while I passed a handful of people I started too far back to really move up the field. The run was quick and steady even if I didn’t have much of a finishing kick after racing for four hours.

This is going to be my one and only triathlon for the year, but I should have some more foot races coming up before too long.

July 28, 2021

Fastest 5k of the year

On tuesday night I ran the Run Our River 5k along the Genesee River in Rochester. I finished the race with a time of 25:16 which is the quickest 5k I have ran all year.

Traditionally I don’t run that many 5k races, but this year’s race calendar appears to still be feeling the lingering effects of covid. I was two minutes quicker than earlier in the month, and a minute ahead of my time from April. The improvement isn’t even due to the weather, as I ran this on a hot July night.

The first two miles of the race went fairly well. While I did get passed a good amount on the first mile, that was probably more a result of starting to close to the front than pacing myself wrong. The final mile was a struggle mainly because I miscalculated where the finish line was. Thinking that the race ended just past the Ford Street bridge I started pushing myself way to early when I still had well over a half mile still to go. But I am not going to complain too much about my best time of the year.

My next race will be the Peasantman Triathlon on August 15th. This will be my first triathlon in over four years and my first return to the Peasantman since 2015.

July 3, 2021

5k before July 4th

With the 10k that I typically run on the fourth of july not happening again this year, I instead ran the Fairport Firecracker 5k on Saturday morning. I finished the race in 27:09 which is a minute slower than I ran back in April.

I went out at a pretty good pace knowing that this race was significantly shorter than last weeks marathon. However at roughly the half way point, it became clear that I had started too fast so I had to slow down to more of a long distance pace for the second half of the race.

This was my third weekend in a row with a race, so it appears as if the running calendar is starting to get back to normal.

June 29, 2021

First Post Pandemic Marathon

On Sunday morning I ran the Buffalo Marathon on a hot June day. After originally signing up for this race in late 2019, and seeing it get delayed again and again, it was great to finally run a traditional race with no course or wave modifications due to covid. This was my first marathon since running Niagara Falls 20 months ago.

I finished the race in 4:46:08 which was far quicker than I expected. Having to run in the June heat, and feeling far under trained from the past year I didn’t come into the race having any expectations of finishing below five hours, and was considering dropping to the half as recently as a week ago.

Yet somehow, my time was shockingly decent. I was 33 minutes quicker than my last marathon, and only four minutes slower than my last run on the same course. Given the weather, this run was perhaps most comparable to the very warm 2016 race where I was only half a minute quicker than this year.

As a carry over from covid, there were no pace groups, so I was left on my own to figure out how fast to go. I felt fairly comfortable at the start, going at a steady pace while briefly walking the water stops. This strategy gave me a 63 minute opening 10k and a 2:12 half. This is both remarkably consistent, and only four minutes slower than my half marathon time from last week.

A bit past mile 14 I slowed down to walk a small hill, but mostly kept up my running until mile 17 which is always the toughest part of this course. From here on, I mostly maintained a run/walk pattern until the final mile of the race. The full gatorade bottles that seemed a bit wasteful on the first half of the course, were an absolute blessing on the second half. As were the many residents willing to walk into the middle of the street, and blast me with a hose.

Overall though the second half of the course did not mess up my pace too badly, and I came away with a time that I was very happy with and a full half hour quicker than I had expected.

My next race will be considerably shorter at the Fairport FireCracker 5K on July 3rd.

June 21, 2021

My Longest Race in 20 Months

On Sunday morning I finally ran the Flower City Half Marathon, after the race had been repeatedly postponed for over a year. I finished the race in 2:07:46, which while not a great time, isn’t really a complete disaster either. While I would ideally be finishing in under two hours, my time was only a minute and a half behind my last half marathon, and was actually quicker than the 2018 Flower City Half.

Planning this race under covid restrictions resulted in a different course than most years, following the trails on the canal and the river instead of through the city streets. Thankfully much of the trail was under shade (including almost all of the second half) so the higher temperatures of running a race in June were not too much of a bother. I carried my own water in the race, which I normally don’t do for half marathons, but felt like the right decision in hindsight.

Despite this being the longest that I have ran in the past year, I felt ok, and kept a fairly steady pace throughout the whole run. I don’t think that I really could have gone too much faster, but I didn’t feel as if I was falling apart either.

Next week is the Buffalo Marathon which is another race that has been repeatedly postponed and is finally ready to happen. I am not in shape to do great, but I am fairly confident that I can finish.

May 7, 2021

Back on the running trail

Wednesday night I ran my first trail race of the year at Durand Eastman Park, ironically at the site of my final trail race from last year. I finished the course in a rather slow 47:55 which was well off my pace from last fall.

I had gotten almost no sleep the night before, so I knew that my performance wasn’t going to be great from the get go. I actually fell into a nice pace on the flat sections, but the trail was mostly hills, and I ended up walking too many of the uphill sections.

Both the Flower City Half and the Buffalo Marathon are scheduled for June, but I may find another race to run before then.

April 11, 2021

First road race in 500 days

On Saturday morning I ran the 100 Days of Hope 5K in Gates. This race celebrated the 100th day of 2021, and was the first road race I ran in 500 days since the 2019 Turkey Trot.

I finished the 3.1 miles in 26:01 which is a minute and a half slower than my last 5k. However after not racing for so long I really had no clue what to expect my time to be. I felt very dead after the first mile, and probably started out too fast. The final two miles were more steady but never really felt fast.

As vaccination rates continue to climb, hopefully we can return to a more normal looking race calendar for the rest of the year.

December 28, 2020

Running away from 2020

Not much to wrap up on the 2020 racing year. Pretty much everything was canceled, and I was out of shape on the few races I did run. I only ran seven races on the year, and every last one of them was on trails. A few races were deferred to 2021 (Running O’ The Green, Flower City Half, and Buffalo Marathon) and hopefully they happen, but at this point I suspect that next year’s racing calendar my be a bit light as well. But hopefully still more than seven races.

November 2, 2020

A Halloween Trail Race

On the morning of Halloween I ran the final Dirt Cheap race of the year at Durand Eastman Park. I finished in 40:25 which was quicker than I was last year. In fact this is a course PR for me, and while this year’s course did not include the opening loop around the shelter the 1:46 improvement over my 2017 time should more than make up for that.

The morning of the race was very cold, and I regretted not wearing gloves, but the ground was fortunately dry. I had a few minor slips as I slid down the side of a leaf covered slope, but no major tumbles on the course. As with the last race this was a wave start, and I had a good amount of company for the first half of the race. It was probably the best that I felt in a race all year, even if I am aware that my training doesn’t really have me prepared for marathon distances I was running last year.

Anticlimactically this looks as if it might be my last race for the year. I didn’t end up running a single road race. Hopefully the running calendar looks more normal in 2021.

October 19, 2020

Finally running a real race

Sunday morning was the fourth Dirt Cheap race of the year after being postponed from some point in the summer. And for the first time since March, I crossed the starting line with other people. The race used a number of wave starts, so I started with a very small number of people but this was better than a time trial. (Even if one of the waves was literally starting as I approached the finish line.)

The downside of starting with others is that my competitive side got the best of me and I went out way too fast. The course was a short four miles, but I struggled mightily on the hills. I finished the course in 45:51 which didn’t feel fast, but was slightly quicker than the august race which was mostly the same course in the opposite direction. So perhaps the encouragement (and pacing) of the other runners was helpful, because my training sure hasn’t improved.

The final race of this year’s dirt cheap summer series will be on the morning of halloween at Durand Eastman Park.

September 10, 2020

Running among protests and pandemics

On Wednesday night I ran the third Dirt Cheap Trail Race of the year at Mendon Ponds park. I finished the course in 50:54 which is just 13 seconds behind my time from last year. Given how physically and emotionally drained I felt following the past week of protests, and how almost all training this year has gone out the window, I was surprisingly happy with this result.

Like the previous two dirt cheap races this was run as a time trial in order to minimize crowding along the trails. Perhaps this solitary running would encourage me to run my own pace instead of going out too fast, but I felt a bit sluggish. Roughly two thirds of the way through the course I was passed by a girl, and while I couldn’t quite keep pace with her, she didn’t completely pull away and I had someone to chase for the rest of the race. This really helped me to finish strong and was probably the closest thing I have had to feeling like I was in a real race since the pandemic started.

Rumor is that there will be another two dirt cheap races in October, but after the excitement of the past week I have officially given up on any long term planning.