Scouting Routes: Rochester Marathon Leg 3

Run: 12 miles in 1:38:18 min. @ 10:30 a.m.

Pace: 8:12 min./per mile avg.
Weather: Cloudy, 54°F
Course: Rochester Marathon Leg 3: from Embankment Park (pictured above) to Clinton Avenue on the Erie Canal Trailway, out and back.

Tomorrow at 6:30 a.m., I’ll be meeting the rest of the people running on the GRTC (Greater Rochester Track Club) Rochester Marathon relay teams outside our city’s minor league baseball stadium, where the finish line will be set up. I woke up this morning with a runny nose and scratchy throat, a condition I will attribute to the quick change in temperature outside. No worries, though…

In staying with my training program which had me schedule to run 10 easy today, I went this morning to scout the leg I will be responsible for running tomorrow. I had not realized it when I asked for the third leg, but it is entirely on the Erie Canal Trail, an area I am fairly familiar with. One piece I had not previously been very familiar with, however, is the Great Embankment Park, where I will be starting from at roughly 8:45 a.m.

I did gain some good insight into what to expect tomorrow; first, I will be running with the sun to my back, which means I don't need to worry about wearing a visor or hat. Secondly, barring a significant change in weather pattern, I will likely be running into the wind. Today it was blowing WNW at 16 mph, and gusting up to 21 mph. At the very least it will be an interesting leg, if not the fastest...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!