Prairie Dog Running

We made it to Devil's Tower National Monument Sunday, the first major stop of our cross country trip. No photograph can do the Tower justice. We rented a KOA Kamping Kabin for two nights. The porch has a direct view of the Tower. We are 200 yards from the park road entrance. A perfect location.
Our first day we drove into the park and up a thousand feet. We were able to take a 1.3 mile hike around the base of the Tower. Rock climbers were scaling the sheer cliffs. It was really geologically fascinating.
Today we got out and attempted to run the trails up to the Tower base. We ran .6 miles through a prairie dog village located in the park. They were "barking" at us and scurrying into their holes, often just a foot or two from the path. Then we got onto the main trail to go up, and up and up. The path was single track. We were worried about ticks, but mainly the signs warning about rattlers.
After a half mile when the path narrowed and the grass was higher our bravery disappeared, proving once again I am not a real trail guy. We ended up with a nice 4 mile run though, so that was good.

Medved 5k to Cure ALS

Sunday, June 19th, was the 18th running of one of Jan's and my favorite races, the Medved 5k. The course has changed a bit over the years, but is always flat and finishes with running the entire outfield track of Frontier Field and ending at home plate.

At race time, 8:30am, it was already 71 degrees and sunny, but the humidity was low and there was a gentle breeze at a few points in the race so the conditions really weren't too bad for a summer run.

The Medved 5k is always a Rochester Runner of the Year series race and we were hoping to get credit for participating in one of the races, not even really considering getting an age group point for being in the top ten. I've run this race in reasonably fast timea in the past and not gotten a point, so that didn't really enter my mind as anything to be concerned with. This was my first race since November of 2015 after falling while out on a run just before Christmas.  I was basically out of running from January-March, in physical therapy for eight weeks, and ran/walked my first mile in the beginning of April.

My pre-race nerves were out of sight until about five minutes before the start (It must have been the passionate starting line kiss Jan gave me that brought a sense of peace and that calmed me down and made me ready for the race). The race also became a test of Garmins in a non-scientific way, as Jan, Lou, Jennifer and I all wore them and had different distance results. None of us matched the course distance exactly, which would have been weird to do anyhow since no one runs all the tangents the course would have been measured with. I had the highest result, at 3.19 miles. It is a certified course at 3.1069 miles (5 kilometers), obviously usually called 3.1miles. So my Garmin had the course about 140 yards long. 20+ of the yards would have been my starting in the pack before the official line. Not taking the tangents well would account for more distance. The rest, who knows? Jan had 3.15 on her Garmin, I guess she runs the tangents better.

The Sal's team had excellent results at the race! Mike W led the way with a 22:47, 3rd in age group, Jennifer K 23:03, 4th AG, me 24:47, 5th AG, Eileen 25:26 4th AG, Lou K 25:30, 6 AG, Pete L 26:18, 3 AG and Jan 28:40, 4th AG. So we all ended up with mega RROY points! Yay. Complete results may be found at PCR timing.

Fat versus Muscle

From FiveFitness

Don't be scared of strength training even if you don't lose weight. Your shape and body measurements will change.

"Where the Road Ends"

New Book Review, written by me and published on Librarything.com and Amazon.com

Hicks, Megan, and Bryon Powell. Where the Road Ends: a Guide to Trail Running. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics, 2016. Print.

Trail running really is a unique sport, quite separate from the road running the majority of athletes participate in. Hicks and Powell are accomplished trail runners having competed in renown events such as Leadville, Western States, Hardrock and Marathon des Sables. They contribute articles to Trail Runner magazine and serve as Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editor to the trail running website irunfar.com. 

This book covers a wide range of terrain, much like a trail run. Chapters include; Equipment, hydration, training for trails, creating your own training plan, places to run, conquering the conditions, dealing with weather, proper technique and trail racing. Forty pages emphasize the importance of adjusting to trail running and how to run through a variety of terrain. Color photographs are interspersed throughout the book. There are many tips trail runners, especially novices, will find useful, such as using Google Earth and Maps to learn more about trails to run on. 

“Where the Road Ends” would make a nice gift for a trail runner or for your own knowledge if you are considering expanding your running repertoire.

The perfect diet plan I outlined in an earlier blog post seems to have hit a plateau. The last four weeks I have maintained my weight while I really wanted to continue losing a pound a week. The only time I really dipped was after an 8 mile warm and humid run that dehydrated me. That really doesn't count as a weight loss.

One of the bigger problems may be the alcohol. This makes me sad. Not the drinking, I like to have a glass (or two) of wine, bourbon, Scotch, beer, (watch video) rum or Southern Comfort when cooking and eating dinner. But I think it adds unnecessary calories and a bloating feeling the next morning.

Now I have to make an adjustment to my food intake, or run, bike, swim or lift weights more. On Sunday Jan and I did a track workout and then swam 1.5 miles in Canandaigua Lake with a couple of friends. Today I woke up early to lift weights and tonight I will bike or run. Maybe there will even have to be a couple of days of week no alcohol, but that seems extreme.  

NY Times Article: Ready, Set, Hold That Pose!

I got angry just reading this article on runners who stop in races, oftentimes blocking the path of other runners, just to take a selfie.
What happened to racing? It doesn't matter if you are a sub 5 minute miler or 10 minute miler, just go do your best without the photo op! Are you really trying to race? Obviously not. It's like people I used to see at Disney World with camcorders back in the day, filming everything they were doing. Enjoy the moment NOW. Yes a home movie could be nice, but really, you missed the activity when you should have been enjoying it the most. You were actually detached from the family, not more a part of it.
The same is true for running. No wonder many people don't really consider running a sport to take seriously. If a runner stops in front of me and hinders my running, for a photo op, I assure you some unkind words will spew from my lips.

3d Printing of Running Shoes?

The library I work in just received a 3d printer. It will eventually go in a "MakerSpace" once administration figures how to charge students for the materials used, which are quite expensive, and where to put the machine, which is a bit noisy.

Maybe I can make my running shoes out of this printer? The end product seems a bit soft, not plastic-like. Think of the money I could save!

Open Water Swimming - Sighting Techniques

This is a short video that explains the concept of sighting during open water swimming.

Jan and I have done a few drills this spring in the pool to work on our sighting. In the past I have been pitiful at sighting and went off course consistently. Professional triathlete Luke Bell explains and demonstrates the correct way to sight in this video.