SalsMiles2

It must have been a dream. Dorothy convinced me we should both run at 4:40am. We began on the yellow, leaf-lined road toward the village on a daring run through the starry night and down a windswept hill. "Follow the 10k kick route" Dorothy said. So we did. Creatures of all sizes could attack us at any time. The village is a scary place at 5am, fortunately I had my trusty headlamp to light the way. I just wish Dorothy would stop calling me Toto and trust me to run without a leash! As we ran up West Avenue, who would we spy coming up in the distance, but Glinda Good Witch. Smiling, as always, she offered us encouragement in our quest. Continuing on our way, knowing Bernabi Hill loomed ahead, Dorothy said, "let's take the long way instead". The long way. I have short stubby legs, it's 5:15am, I don't want the long way. But being a loyal dog, I followed. We passed our home, it hadn't been swept away, the coffee was brewing. "Don't even think ab...

Forty eight days until WDW. Time to focus for 5 weeks or so until the taper. Friday Jan biked 20 miles indoors and then ran 5 miles (treadmill). Saturday Jan ran 14 miles, I ran 16. The pace wasn't fast, but that's okay. Sometimes it's just about keeping one foot going in front of the other, especially for marathon training when it's 20 degrees outside and you just raced a 10k two days before. Dehydration sure wasn't a problem Saturday. I drank 6 ounces of Hammer Perpeteum during a 2 hour 20 minute run. A month ago I would have had 16 ounces of Perpeteum or Heed mixed with HammerGel plus 32 ounces of water and still lost 3-4 pounds. Now I just come home and have hot coffee and a couple of Jan's cinnamon rolls. Amanda and Augie are running the OUC half marathon on Saturday, December 1. Amanda has to beat the time of 2:30 to move up into the same starting line as Jan and I will be using for WDW. It will be her first 13.1 mile race, though she has finished a few ...

Sal's running group had a great showing in the annual Thanksgiving Day Race with Grace 10k . The weather was miserable, 37 degrees with a NNE wind blowing at 15-20mph, rain soaked streets and rain for the entire race. Yuck! Despite this, more than 700 runners completed the race. The course was basically a letter P, with the first 5k pretty much into wind. The newly built First Bible Baptist Church is an amazing facility and provided plenty of parking and indoor space for the runners. Race director Bob Dyjak (photo to the right), the Greece police and the volunteers deserve tremendous thanks for a first class race on a miserable day. Due to the weather many of the times seemed slower than normal. I also think this course is slightly slower than the old RWG 10k course, since the last 1.7 miles are on Manitou road heading south, with an incline most of the way. Jan finished 2nd in her age group, running a 51:59, an 8:22 pace. Lou was also 2nd in his age group. Patty P was 1st overall ...

Why Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday: Race with Grace 10k A day off from work Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, Jan's fresh baked cinnamon rolls Dessert(s) Wine Nap time NFL Football on tv Leftovers Dessert for the second time No gifts to buy

With assistance from the Top Ten King - Mike W. Top ten reasons not to love triathlons 1. Swimming in a lake or river that may be a bit polluted 2. Big waves 3. Spectators laugh and point while you are rolling around, stuck in your suit, after the swim. 4. Sand gets in all sorts of areas in your body that sand isn’t supposed to go. 5. The seaweed you swallow really doesn’t provide nutritional value. 6. There is always a head wind while riding your bike. 7. Expensive – entry fees $50.00-$450, travel, food, USAT fees, wet suit, pool membership for winter months, and on and on. 8. Always new toys to buy 9. Opportunity to suck at 3 sports. 10. Chance to prove that not only am I a bad athlete, I suck at being a mechanic, too. 11. Add drowning and crashing to possible injury options. 12. Road rash and sea lice. Feel free to add more reasons in the comment area.

Created by Mike W. (the absolute King of Top Ten Lists) with a little help from me. Top ten reasons to love triathlons 1. Always new toys to buy 2. Get to stop moving and sit while in transition zones. 3. Wetsuits make women look like Cat Woman. 4. Body Marking (what a great volunteer job) 5. Another reason not to do the lawn. 6. Catalogs and magazines 7. No one knows what place you are in during the race. 8. Everyone looks cool on a road bike. 9. Post race banquets are the best 10. Get a month’s worth of workouts in one race. Please feel free to add to the list in the comments section.

Jan and Amanda are following marathon training plans, in preparing for the Walt Disney World marathon, developed by Pete Pfitzinger in his book, Advanced Marathoning . Jan has used plans from this book in previous marathons, including when she set a pr 3:35:45 at the Wineglass marathon in 2003. Last night our conversation was "Don't you want to run with me in the morning?" "No". "C'mon, it'll be fun." "No it won't". "It'll be the best time of the day, look at the prediction of rain arriving by the time you get home from work." "I don't care, I'll run on the treadmill." "But you'll feel so good for the rest of the day." "Maybe, but I'll feel better if my head doesn't leave the pillow at 4:00am!" "Mike, Lou and Rick will be running in the morning, I thought you wanted to beat them at RWG ?" "I do, I will, I don't care when they run!" It went on ...

Jan and I volunteered at the Mendon Trail Race Saturday morning, then ran the 10k+ course with Lou and Mike. Jan swam a mile at the pool, while I struggled along without the wetsuit for 800 yards (see, I listened to you Marty). Marty told me to give up the suit, get some lessons and learn how to really swim. He said it much nicer than that, but it all made sense. On Sunday Jan ran 21 miles solo. I ran 12.4 with Pete and Al averaging 8:24 pace, then ran the Pineway Ponds 5 mile course by myself. Unfortunately my pace slowed to an 8:36 average for the 5 miles, but I did end up completing a solid 21 miles in 3 hours. My BM qualifying pace is 8:13 per mile so overall I was pretty happy with the workout. Jan and I both felt the effects of the Mendon hills during the long run. I just realized my 8k xc race is on Sunday, for the past couple of weeks I thought it was on Saturday. My plan now is to not go all out for the xc race, just hold a decent steady pace, then rest up for Thanksgiving Day...

The Versus network is showing the Louisville Ironman on 11/18 and repeating it on 11/21 at 4pm. The Wisconsin Ironman will be televised 12/2 and 12/5 at 5pm and 3pm. The recently completed Florida Ironman will be shown 12/16 at 4pm and 12/29 at 3pm. The St Croix 70.3 mile race will be shown on 12/23 and 12/26 at 4pm. These are some great taping opportunities so you can watch them over and over while biking or running indoors.

Wednesday night Jan swam 2100 yards. I wore my wetsuit again, getting more strange looks and comments, but I cut 12 minutes off my previous best for 18oo yards, so it was worth it. I'm thinking one or two days a month in the pool with my wetsuit, when I do my long workouts (a mile is really long for me), will pay off. I'm not as tired afterword, which leaves me more energy for running the next day and I can complete the workout so much faster. Now if I could only learn some form. Jan, Eileen, Lou and I signed up for a clinic in early December, which I hope will help. Saturday is the Rochester Orienteering trail race , more personally known as Larry's race, since Larry Z. is one of the race organizers and has run with or against us for years. Runners can chose from the 5k, 10k, 20k or 50k. Each 10k loop promises about 1100' of climbing. The trails through Mendon Ponds are great, but you definitely don't set a pr on these courses. Several of us are volunteering at the...

I heard them around 5:50am this morning while trying to go back to sleep for another 30 minutes. It sounded like cackling, crowing, screaming coming from the road. There was no way I was going to the window to look. I just knew it was MW, LK and probably RM out for their early morning run, stirring up the neighborhood like three testosterone driven teenagers. It's too dark, too cold, rainy, windy, my legs won't work, I need coffee first! Of course the triathlete in the family was out running by 4:30am for an easy 12 miles. Damn her.

Saturday morning the men's USA Olympic marathon trials will be held in NYC on a loop course. Running enthusiasts can watch the race live on the internet, courtesy of NBC sports . A highlight show will be on regular tv Saturday afternoon. Ryan Hall, pictured here, is my pick to win the race. He has only raced one marathon, London early this year, and finished in 2:08. He also set the American record for a 21k race (half-marathon) in 59:43! It seems like there are many times the favorites don't win the trials or Olympics, and someone fairly new to marathoning comes through. Ryan is sometimes picked to finish in the top three, but not as the winner. Well, I think he'll win. The regular person and foreign runners will be racing on Sunday through the 5 NYC boroughs, as normal. That race can also be seen live on NBC via the internet, but you'll have to pay $4.99. There will be a 1 hour highlight show on regular tv in the afternoon. Jan is going to do another 20 miler, either ...