Long on Lester, August 2025 Edition

It's quite probable that two of the most common words in the post titles are "Lester" and "long." It therefore makes sense that they would be used together for many a post. This is one of them.

It's Friday, and my friends and I had decided that today would be the day of a long run for this weekend. Works for me. Oh, it may be tough to run 18 miles after sitting in the car for six hours (driving home from Chicago), but it may work out. Or, it may not.

After ingesting plenty of caffeine, I am able to keep up with the early (5:00 AM) group. A few folks join and leave, but the pace actually gets even faster as the run goes on. My Clif Bloks and hydration drink appear to help, but it's mostly the good company that makes the run successful. 

Yes, successful. We complete the run in less than three hours, although there were a few stops. I'm always happy when I am able to keep up with everyone, and today, I can.

I'm NOT shuffling. And don't call me Shirley.

Surely you're shuffling, Dan tells himself. His retort is, of course, I'm NOT shuffling. And don't call me Shirley. It's a lie. Shuffling is as shuffling does.

Today's Good Friday Lester Rail Trail run had begun fairly well. Dan had been joined by around ten of his best friends, several of whom had run with him for twelve miles. Too bad Dan still had six more to go. On some occasions, Dan manages to continue running well even after everyone else leaves. Today is not one of those days. 

Dan's pace becomes slower and slower. By mile 15, he's barely moving forward. He takes a gel in hopes that it will help him get through the final three miles. Three ain't so bad, right? Anyone can do three. And the gel ought to help. Or will it?

~ Brief Interlude: My First Time ~

Remember your first time? Of course, you do; everyone does. Mine occurred in the early 1990s. The occasion was the Detroit Free Press Marathon. It was late in the race, and I needed a pick-me-up, something to see myself through to the finish. Lo and behold, some volunteer hands me a gel packet. It was probably Gu, since there weren't so many different brands at the time. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I soon figured out that you tear off the top and shoot the stuff down your throat, followed by some water. And guess what? It worked! My pace improved enough for me to finish strong and have myself a pretty good race.

~ End Interlude ~

But would a gel work its magic when Dan is this far gone? There have been times when it didn't. As the shuffling gets progressively worse, Dan begins to understand that today, nothing at all is going to work. 

He does manage to get eighteen miles in, but only twelve of them were decent. Not a very good Good Friday run. 

Looking for loping long on Lester

Hello Lester, my old friend. I've come to run on you again. Because a vision softly creeping. Left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain. Still remains. Within the mound of limestone. 

It's still very dark, but I find Michelle Wolff wandering on Lester Rail Trail. She is looking for Andy and muttering that he must have gotten lost. That's a tough task on LRT, which is only three miles in each direction. We run together for a while, then I take off a little faster.

But not too fast. In fact, I go so slow at this early hour that I begin to doubt my ability to do a long run today. As anyone who knows me will tell you, a long run is 18 or more miles. 17.9 - not a long run. 18.0 - long run. My hope is that Shannon Barnes will help me get up to that mileage.

Shannon shows up at 6:00, and I only have five of the planned six in by that point. We put in eight solid miles together, but then I'm alone again. I still have five to go, and this is the point in the run when I often start slogging.

But today, I don't. I actually speed up a bit, and make it (barely) to the 18-mile mark. It turned out to be a decent long run. Two weeks till Akron, and one week since Erie. Giddyup.

Alone Again, Naturally

Friday morning: It's time to run long on Lester, once again. Things go quite swimmingly, until they don't. You see, they left me all alone. I could be singing the song, Alone Again, Naturally, because I sure felt alone and lonely. You would think I would slow down as I often do when I'm left alone to my own devices. But I had taken a gel and I felt like I was still moving fairly well. Unfortunately, my Garmin begs to differ. I am indeed slowing down. But after having company for those first 14, I can handle 4 more. I can, and I do.

But it wasn't pretty. I averaged 10:29 for those 18 miles, about par for the course for me. But had I maintained that faster pace I did with my friends, my overall average would have been much better.

Sunday morning: 18 miles twice in three days? I did it this way before two weeks ago. And now I'm at it again. This time it's at Hinckley. Many are aware of the vertical challenge the Hinckley 9-mile loop presents. Today, I'm doing it twice, just like I did three weeks ago. And just like then, I've got company. Company for the entire run. Said companionship helps tremendously today.

I actually manage to run the second loop faster than the first. Last time, they were nearly the same. Finishing strong down those last hills really feels good. I'm not even very sore.

Here's to hoping that I can keep improving from here.

The What's the Point Award

It's the early 1990s, and home computing is still somewhat new. Newer still are "windows" with a small 'w', part of a 'Graphical User Interface.' At an Apple user conference, one guy proudly displays his ability to get a screen saver to run within a window. Previously, screen savers would only exist on entire screens. The other conferees subsequently give this person a "What's the Point Award." This takes the form of a six-pack of Caffeine-free Diet Mountain Dew.

During a break between today's six-mile loops on the Lester Rail Trail, my friends see me drinking a Mountain Dew, one that is caffeinated and sugared. They are surprised that I would consume such a disgusting thing. I explain that I don't usually partake; the last time I had one was at the 1996 Towpath Marathon. I don't think they believe me.

I also explain that the only reason I have this one was that it came free with last night's Little Caesars dinner that we shared with the grandkids.

The 1996 Towpath Marathon occurred after that Apple user conference. It is one that I remember well. I drank two 16-ounce high-test Mountain Dews before the race. It was a beautiful fall day, and I ran well. It was the last of seven times that I broke three hours. I'm not sure how much credit I should give to the soda, but it sure didn't hurt. Regardless of its value as a running hack, I hate the stuff; it truly is disgusting. I really believe that I haven't had one during these past 26 years.

Once again, however, I can say that it does not hurt my shot at getting in a decent long run today. With the help of my friends, I get three plus loops done, for twenty miles. It's not super fast, but it's at least decent, and I will take it.

Now, I'll have to recover in time for tomorrow's hilly Hinckley run. I'll do it without Dew.

Like it was yesterday

Today's run - this time on the Lester Rail Trail - is going just like yesterday's. I start slow, then pick it up (a little) each mile. That is, until mile six. Then it all goes haywire, and I hit a wall of sorts. I only do eight because I'm out of time. They can't all be gems.

Change of Venue

Notice that there's no day-number as part of the post title. That's because I'm done with GVRAT, Except for trying to make the distance with running miles only. I'll keep track of that and report back by the end of August.

It's cool, crisp, and clear as I begin my long run on the Lester Rail Trail. For the first time this season, I spot Orion rising in the east. This is about as good as it gets for mid-summer running. I didn't run long or hard the last two days. I've got no injuries to speak of. In short, I've got no excuse for not running well today.

Except that I'm not. I'm moving slowly. Too slowly. The bathroom stops don't help, but I've dealt with those kinds of problems before. Mostly, I just can't seem to wake up. This, despite my usual gallon of coffee this morning. So I'm having a lousy run for no reason at all. 

I'd thought about running 24 here this morning. I often do that, but more often, I wind up settling for 18 as a long run total. Today, I am beginning to doubt that I can even do that. I may need to quit altogether. It's too bad that I don't even have an excuse. Other than quitting early, there's only one possible option left for me: a change of venue.

I like the Lester Rail Trail, and I do a great many of my long runs here. But once in a while, it just doesn't work out. Too bad it's not working out today during this beautiful morning. At least I get eleven in before I decide to drive over to the track. But I don't know whether the Buckeye HS track will even be open. It's been locked up lately, and I haven't been there since last year. I suppose that if it's locked, I can go to another track, or truly quit altogether.

Buckeye track is open. Even so, I begin this part of the run at a speed no faster than what I had been doing. Perhaps I really and truly should quit. I try to run a little faster, and I manage to do that. Somehow. Then I go faster and after. Each mile is better than the last. Some soccer or cross-country high school girls begin showing up. The sun is higher and warmer now. And I keep running. And my miles continue to improve.

Until I get eighteen and change, at which point, I'm done. The change of venue worked.

Day 93: Eat and Run

On today's menu was an eclectic selection of gummies, a couple berries, and a bug. It isn't easy to eat whilst running, but I am up to the task.

The gummies were organic and intended for the grandkids. They don't like them, so Grandpa is happy to use them as runner food. And guess what? They work. Twice I stopped to get some during today's long Lester Rail Trail run. The first time I managed to eat the little things and keep running. The second time my hands and brain were a little shaky, so the ingestion wasn't quite so smooth, and I even lost a couple that fell. But I still ate them and ran. Both times, I seemed to run better after I got them inside me.

The blackberries weren't too plentiful, but they made a nice diversion, although a short one.

Then came the bug. It didn't stop along the way; it just traveled directly to the back of my throat, causing me to immediately cough and choke. I must have been running with my mouth open. Again. Luckily, it was a small one.

The run started poorly, but gradually got better. It's always nice to finish strong.

Day 70: Not Uranus

I did not see Uranus today. Or Neptune. But I did spot Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Oh, yes. And part of Earth. I think that accounts for all of them. At least all the currently designated ones.

Fireflies lit the sky today as I began my run on the Lester Rail Trail. Fireflies, and the Moon and the stars. And the planets.

I got eleven miles in, and it was a nice run. Until the deerflies began to wake up.

Day 37: Nearly Nineteen

One of these weeks, I will get my long run to be over twenty miles. Except for my Medina Virtual Marathon and perhaps one other training run, all of my long runs have been in the eighteen-mile range. Today it was, once again, in that same general timeframe.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I am, so far, keeping up with getting those GVRAT miles in.

Back to today: It took place on the Lester Rail Trail. The first eight were with Andy and Michelle Wolff. It was just like old times! By the time I was running alone, the sun was rising higher and it was getting warmer. But I was warming up as well. By the time I hit about sixteen, I felt like I was flying. My last few were my fastest, and that always feels good. But I couldn't have done much more today.

Maybe I'll hit twenty next week.

Day 2: Due for a Stinker?

The birds are singing. The stars are bright, but the predawn light is already forcing them to begin to wink out. I'm on the Lester Rail Trail, one of my favorite locations for long runs. I've posted many a story about these runs; here's one from fifteen years ago called, I Squashed a Yellow-jacket in my Singlet Today.

Lester Rail Trail (from the Medina County Parks website)

I am pretty sure I won't have time to run 24 miles today. It will probably be closer to the lower end of my long-run threshold of 18 miles. Even so, I'll have to maintain a half-way decent pace throughout, especially considering the several pit-stops that I'm necessarily making. How am I doing? Best not to know, so don't look at the watch. Don't look at the watch. Don't look at the watch. Oooops... I look at my watch. Aargh! - my pace is too darn slow.

It's getting lighter, and now I'm at mile five of the first six-mile out and back loop. I am still going so slow that I'm beginning to think this run may wind up being a complete stinker. I may not even make it to eighteen. Then I look behind me, and the sunrise is spectacular. There are reds, oranges, yellows, blues, and purples, and everything in between. The sight inspires me. But will said inspiration be enough to get me moving?

At the ten-mile mark in the second circuit, I guess I am finally running at the expected pace. Maybe I will make it to eighteen after all.

With only a couple miles to go, I am heading back to the car. I'm moving at my best pace yet. This is surprising, given that poor start. I am thinking about how I miss my running friends. I thought it possible that I may even see Michelle and Andy Wolff, or perhaps some of the others. But no, they must be socially distancing someplace else today. I do see a few other folks walking and running. Ahead of me, I see a guy with silver hair and green shorts. Could it be Tom Bieniosek? Thinking about it, I determine that it couldn't be anyone else.

I catch up and talk briefly with Tom, staying, of course, at the social distance of the width of the trail. I hadn't seen Tom for quite a while. He seems fine.

I move on and finish up. I wind up with nineteen and a quarter miles today. I'll walk for a few more later on.

This is day two of The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K. I'll try to continue to do these daily posts about my experiences.

General Info about The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K
Info about my own participation in GVRAT

What race are you Not Training for?

"How far are you going today?" asks training partner extraordinaire, whom I've probably run more miles with than anyone, Michelle Wolff.

"Twenty-four." It's more than I've done since Buckeye Woods, but we're here on the Lester Rail Trail where I've done other 24-milers, it's early, I've been dancing around the twenty mark during other recent runs, and I think I can.

"What race are you not training for?" asks Michelle. This is interesting since I recently posted about this. Michelle knows me well.

Now the pressure was on. I had to actually semi-commit to something. Okay, I thought. I'll come clean. "Out of all the upcoming races, I suppose the one I've ruled out the least is Inland Trail," I answered. Inland Trail is a good one; I've done it several times in the past. And it's true, I've been thinking about it a little. I haven't registered yet, mind you; I've only been thinking. Maybe I'll think about it some more before committing for sure.

Did I get my 24 in, you ask? Why yes, I did. Thank you for asking. Michelle and other-training partner Debbie Scheel joined me for various parts of the run. It wasn't an easy day, with warmth and a great deal of humidity. But as I say, I made it. And with a good deal of humility as well.