Webster Trail Classic Race Review

   In 1837 a group of Whig farmers from the town of Penfield, NY listened to a prominent statesmen of the the time, Daniel Webster speak about the economy while he was in the city of Rochester. They were so impressed by his speech that they petitioned the state legislature to separate from Penfield and name the new town after statesman Webster. In 1840 the northern part of Penfield officially seceded and my quaint little town of Webster, NY was born. The town has a total area of 35.5 miles, sits on the shores of Lake Ontario and boasts a population of 37,000. I've lived here most of my life and I agree with the town's corny motto of it being "Where Life is Worth Living." 

   One of the reasons that I like living here so much is because that it's got long, winding, hilly roads that are just perfect for distance running. A few years ago I branched out and began running the local trail system. I wasn't much of a trail runner at the time. When I first started running I always preferred running on the roads versus trails. But after some exploration I was shocked to find that my town's trail system was quite large, well maintained and just beautiful. Ever since then I've made it a habit to try to get on a trail during my training at least once a week. My town has the best of both worlds.

   On the heels of having one of the best races of my life taking third in late May at the St. Rita's inaugural 10K, I just couldn't pass up racing the inaugural Webster Trail Classic 10 Mile. It wasn't only going to be the first time the race was run, but in 13 years of running it was going to be my first trail race!

   The race was created by Andy frank owner of Flower City Race Works which mostly produces off-road running and cycling events for Western, NY. Really nice guy who was informative, thorough and did an excellent job of producing this race. The race encompassed close to 10 miles of trails running through three major parks in my hometown, Webster Park, Whiting Road Nature Preserve and the Gosnell Big Woods Preserve. The race drew me right in because like the previous month's race, it was on trails that I was somewhat familiar with and the start was practically right out my front door again.  

   On June 6th, I woke up feeling pretty darn good for a race morning. The night before was perfect sleeping weather with temps in the low 50's and thunderstorms. At the time I didn't realize how bad this really was, but I'll get to that. I ate my typical pre-running breakfast of Starbucks coffee and wheat bagel with peanut butter. I was feeling well rested after my coach putting me through a mini-taper the days leading up to the race. I hopped in my truck and anxiously drove to the lodge in Webster Park that was going to act as the starting point for the race.

   I knew from Andy's race emails that parking was going to be limited at the lodge. So I left a little early. A lot good that did! I didn't realize how appealing this race looked to everyone else other than me. The 50 car parking lot was already full with another 45 minutes to go before race start. Not a huge issue, but I had to park in an auxiliary lot and walk about a quarter mile to the lodge. The walk wasn't that long and it helped quell my nervousness. Agh! It was my first trail race! I was so excited! I was also nervous about the whole directional thing. The trails were going to be marked with flags to guide runners. But it was advertised as being 10 miles long and there were only going to be two water stops. That meant not a lot of volunteers deep into the trails. It was going to be mostly up to me to keep on the right path. Anyone who knows me knows that I've got really shitty directional sense on open roads. Putting me on trails and asking me to find my way was going to be hilarious! But you never know until you try and I really wanted to say that I tried trail racing at least once in my life!

   I got to the lodge and peeked around a bit. Not surprisingly, I didn't recognize anyone. Road runners are so different from trail runners and I just don't know as many of them as I do the road breed. So I walked over to the finishing section of the trail to see what the flags looked like and what condition the trails were in. The temps had climbed to the mid to upper 50's, the sun was shinning through moderate clouds and the rain was long gone, at least in the sky. The trails had a lot of deep standing water. I'm no sissy about getting dirty and I wore my Brooks trails shoes. So I wasn't too worried. Knowing what I know now, I should've been terrified.

   I shuffled over to the start line, slammed a gel, threw on my iPod and checked the straps on my running pack. Andy gave some additional instructions and before I knew it, me and over a hundred other runners kicked off the first Webster Trail Classic! Fairly quickly the crowd bottle necked as we transitioned from the start field to the trail system. This was a little frustrating for me because I didn't have the wiggle room in road races to maneuver around the slower runners. This was something I fought almost the entire race.

   I didn't stay clean for long. I didn't realize it at first glance, but the heavy rains had made the trails dangerously slick with mud and standing puddles. At first I tried avoid the puddles as best I could. But that was proving to be dangerous as I watched several runners go down. I decided that the best way was to go through them like a tank. It worked well for me. I thankfully never slipped, but I was far from clean and dry.

   Before this race intellectually I knew that trail running was harder than road running. There's so much more to watch out for. You trade watching for distracted drives with watching out for roots and slick mud. But throw in the mini-hills and you have something akin to waging war. I was astonished to have my Garmin read something like 14:00 for my first mile! There wasn't going to be any fast miles this race. It was going to be a long, slow battle back to the finish line. The trail widened out a bit. So I was able to maneuver around some of the slower runners. But this turned out to be a depressing exercise in futility. Every time I'd pass a runner, half a mile or mile later they would pass me. At the time it seemed like a never ending frustrating game of cat and mouse!

   The next few miles were just as challenging as the first. For a mile or two I'd been following an older female runner. This turned out to be a really good decision because she never slipped, knew where the hell she was going and looked like she glided up and down the trail with no effort at all. She stopped briefly and we struck up a conversation. Her name was Beth, a local school teacher and one hell of an experienced distance and trail runner. I could barely get words out from being winded so much. She talked like she was on a damn walk. Lots of good conditioning and skill in that woman! In fact, most of the better runners in the race were women as far as I could see. A little over half-way through the race I just couldn't keep up with her anymore. She lost me somewhere in the nature preserve. I was on my own now. Gulp! It was no road race, it had tons of challenges. But the views were spectacular in the fields and the running easier there too. I remember wanting to stop and get pics of the sun on the preserve's fields but thinking that I might not start running again if I did. There were no pics.

   I didn't have to wait long for the torture to begin anew. The transition from the preserve back to the trail was like being swallowed by a gigantic beast. The next couple of miles made me realize that I never should've put my running music back on after Beth left me. I took a wrong turn at one of the trail's forks. If it wasn't for a helpful volunteer who chased me down I'd probably still be out there trying to finish. At least that one wasn't as costly as the next time that I lost the trail and climbed a sheer hill. Only to get to the top and have another runner yell to me that the trail was down at the bottom. The hills were taking a huge toll on me and to think I just climbed all that for nothing was disheartening. It hurt just as much going freaking down as it did going freaking up!

   It's rare for me to wish a race be over. But after watching a young woman trip face first over a root in front of me, get briefly knocked out and probably break a rib I realized how dangerous this race was for me. I never factored in the rain. One bad slip and I'd potentially be looking at two back injuries in one year.

   Even with my two wrong turns I was thrilled to see the finish line earlier than the advertised 10 mile distance. I've never been so relieved to finish a race! I grabbed some water, hobbled over to a tree and tried to catch my breath. I watched that same girl that I saw trip limp through the finish line. For as bad as she looked Beth trotted up to me looking like she'd been doing nothing at all. We chatted briefly. But I didn't have much to say. I was totally exhausted! It was all I could do to get back to my truck standing.

   Overall I'd say this race was an excellent one. But that's if you're an experienced trail runner. I used to think I was a trail runner too. Looking back I now realize that the sections of trail that I routinely run on are MUCH less technical than the ones in this race. I'm no trail runner. I have nothing against the trail running breed. If anything, I can now say that I've got a ton of new found respect for people who can run 30 minutes faster than me in those conditions. I can't believe they do that for fun! Good race. Good experience. But any race less than the distance of a marathon that leaves my whole body, including individual toes, ache for four days is not in my future again! For me, I'm sticking to the roads!

   

St. Rita's 5K & 10K Fiesta Race Review

   

   St. Rita's Roman Catholic Church was founded in my quaint little town of Webster, NY all the way back in 1950. The church and school run classes for grades kindergarten up to sixth sit on an old, beautiful 23 acre farm. 

   Growing up I went to a Catholic school and I often look back fondly on those years. The teachers, priests and nuns provided the basis for who I am today. One of my favorite memories about my old school was the annual summer festival that would happen every year towards the end of the school year. These festivals are a common thing among Roman Catholic churches. Through the years in Rochester there's been a dramatic decline in the number of Roman Catholic churches and schools and these festivals help to generate revenue for those that are left. 

   While I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore I do still enjoy a good church festival! St. Rita's is one of the more successful ones in the area drawing large crowds. They have rides, raffles, games and even give away a car every year towards the end of May. This year they decided to have an inaugural 5K and 10K road race. I didn't find this out until last minute. So with a little running around I managed to register in time to race the 10K. I couldn't pass up a chance to run my first inaugural race in 13 years on the roads I routinely trainvon. The church is less than five minutes from my house. So the roll out of bed factor and having it out my front door was inviting. It didn't hurt that there was an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast after the race for the racers. I have a sore spot for pancakes!

   The morning of the race was beautiful with a 75 degree temperature and a humidity of 69%. I would've liked the humidity to be a bit lower. But beggars can't be choosers after the crushing winter we just had. Besides there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the chance of rain was non-existent. It was a good day to race! 

   After a good night's sleep I woke up and ate my standard wheat bagel with peanut butter and washed it all down with some Starbucks rocket fuel. I made it to the church well before the 7:30 AM start time. I usually don't know anyone at my races. But surprisingly another friend and fellow deputy who works for my department was there with his wife. It was good to see him. A little over a month before he dropped dead while working out with another friend at a local cross-fit gym. My friend isn't a frequent runner like me. But he is in really great shape. So this was a big shock for everybody. If it wasn't for the gym's defibrillator and another friend and fellow deputy's quick action, he wouldn't be standing there with me that morning. They both were running the 5K. I wished them luck, told him he was inspiring and headed off the start line. The races weren't heavily advertised. So I toed the line with only 23 other racers. It was the smallest race I've ever run!

   I kicked on my racing mix on my iPod, turned on my Garmin watch and before I knew it, the race had started! I was still plagued with those nagging piriformis and IT band issues on my right side. But I was feeling decent and decided to try to hang with the lead pack for as long as I could. Right away this one guy just dropped the hammer and left all of us in the dust. It still amazes me how I can be clocking a sub 7:30 mile pace and other runners can just pull away from me like is was nothing. Very talented young man! The remaining pack consisted of two women and one other guy. I did pretty darn well the first three miles and picked off one of the women and the other guy. The turns were well marked and staffed with volunteers. I knew knew where I was going and most of the roads from training on them. But after about halfway the heat and humidity started taking their toll. There were some hills in there too. I just couldn't catch the one woman in front of me and as the race went on she just increased her lead on me. No worries though. I was feeling good and having a good time. 

   I came into the finish line totally spent clocking an average 8:09 mile pace finishing in 50:39. Remember how I never see anyone I know at my races? Well, another friend of mine who's a fellow racer came up to me at the finish line. She's a really good runner who's qualified and run Boston more than once and even has a 100 miler under her racing belt. She was the other woman that I couldn't catch! After some water I was able to catch my breath and the other friend and his wife came over after they finished the 5K. Introductions were made and all of us chatted about the race and life in general all while watching other racers come into the finish line. The morning passed by quickly and everyone else was eager to dive into the pancakes. But my stomach just wasn't up for it after the good effort I gave. So I said goodbye to my friends and headed off to my car. 

   As I was walking my race results came via email on my phone. I stopped dead in my tracks. For a minute there I thought the heat and humidity were making me see things. In the overall results column I was the third name down from the top? That couldn't be right? I didn't run a fast race (my third fastest 10K)? I walked back to the finish line where the timers were disassembling the equipment and pulled one of them aside. I explained that there must be some mistake because I was third from the top. The young guy just looked at my phone and irritatingly said, "Yeah, you took third." He was hot too and wanted nothing to do with this weird old guy complaining how he took third! Suddenly an average 10K that I registered for on a whim turned into not only my first inaugural race. But the first race where I placed in the top three! As I ambled around awestruck the race director came up to me and asked how I liked the race. Um, yeah dude. I LOVE YOUR RACE! I told him how it looked like I took third and he was apologetic that there weren't any room for medals in the budget. So he handed me a bunch of bananas instead. It was perfect! They were the best bunch of bananas I've ever had. 

   The rest of the day was spent on cloud nine! I texted my coach. I called everyone who would listen. It may have been a small 10K in a quaint little town. But for me it was yet another sign that I was triumphing over my back injury and getting back to being the person that I loved, a runner. A lot of people have helped along that journey and it was nice to show them I truly appreciated what they've done by running a good race! 

   So if you aren't busy next year towards the end of May, please check out the second annual St. Rita's 5K and 10K races! It was a great race in a beautiful town. You may even place. But don't count on it because I'll be running it again (and will also be on the organizing committee)!  

So good to be back!

Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich

   Ok, what just happened? One minute there were blogs being kicked out weekly and then silence for months. Rest assured everything is just fine on my end of the world. Work and life just seemed to have collided for a minute there! 

   So what have I been doing all this time? For one thing I finished up being the lead PT instructor for the newest batch of sheriff's deputy recruits. It was an amazing experience. I learned quite a bit from them and the more experienced instructors. Most of their academy PT time was unfortunately spent running god awful stairs inside the training center and doing cross-fit type workouts due to the remnants of our brutal winter. It was cold enough for a runner like me to get some miles outside. But not them. We did manage to knock out a spectacular six miler. Most of them had never run that far. So it was a great accomplishment that day! We had some injuries. But as long as one of them passes his final test next week I'll be able to say that I had a 100% success rate. It was a little dicey in the final test for some of them. But everyone dug deep and got their required push-up, sit-up and mile and a half numbers that they needed. I'm anxiously awaiting the start of another Fall academy with an additional 40 new recruits. Our department is currently conducting entrance PT tests for that class and I shivered in the pouring rain last weekend to prove it. You know you're a dedicated instructor when you're drying your clothes under a hand dryer between sessions! Can't wait to keep my perfect record intact!

   My training has been progressing very nicely. I'm back up to about 30 plus miles a week and running almost at speeds that I like. After recording HR data for the last two months I've eased up on the 80/20 HR training. I've discovered that I'm already typically running right in my HR sweet spot. So I'm not wearing the chest strap as much and mostly running by feel. Still working hard with my coach and knocking out some solid cross-training twice a week. Last weekend I even managed to take third place in a local inaugural 10K that I registered for on a whim. I'll be posting a race review soon. But let's just say that I was extremely surprised and thrilled to have done something that I've only dreamed of! No more complaining about my coach's speed workouts! This weekend I'll be running my first trail race. It's going to also be a local 10 mile race run on some of the trails that I've run on in the past. A little nervous about it being my first one on a trail. But why do anything easy? Ten miles of dirt, rocks and roots here I come (whether I'm ready or not)!

   Another thing that I've been trying to do a lot of lately is read. So today I'm going to give you my book review of Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich. Heinrich is a biology professor out of the University of Vermont who's written mostly about nature, behavior, biology and ecology. He's also an extremely gifted distance runner who's won numerous event and set some masters ultramarathon records throughout the 80's.

   This book came highly recommended. Why We Run is half of a biology book and half a recounting of his training for and ultimately winning the Golden Gate Marathon in 1979. I'm a nerdy lover of the animal world and most things related to biology. But I have to admit that I found that section of his book challenging to get through. There were times when these sections put me to sleep almost immediately. It was all I could do to get through them. They were mainly focused on describing various animals, their endurance prowess and how that could relate to human running. It was interesting up to a point. Even though Bernd tries, I just didn't make the connections to human running.

   The latter half of the book was much more enjoyable for me. He goes into detail about his experiences while he was training. Even though I'm a techie, results driven type of guy with my running, I'm fascinated about what goes on in the running mind too. Running can be such a mental game sometimes and I think that Bernd focuses too much on the physical aspects in this book. Well, what would you expect from a biologist? If you enjoy seriously reading about that type of thing and are a runner, then I'd say give this book a go. I'll even give you my copy! It just wasn't for me.

   Today's National Running Day and I hope that you managed to get out there to enjoy this wonderful gift that we've been given! I'm so happy to be back! I've been doing it so much that time got away from me here! More to come of both, I promise!