Sunday, January 25th to Saturday, January 31st

Sunday, January 25th to Saturday, January 31st: 25.5 miles
Month of January: 105.4 miles, I ran 22 out of 31 days, 4.8 miles/run

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 7, Tue: 9, Wed: 10, Thu: 20, Fri: 15, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: -, Mon: 14797, Tue: 17806, Wed: 8370, Thu: 18876, Fri: 15722, Sat: -

I ran 5 times this week.

Sun: 6.2 miles, 51:15, 8:16 pace, 1.5 Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca Run, easy, 14F, sunny, a little windy, 1 stop, no pain. A great Sunday morning run ... kind of makes up for being a slug yesterday.

Mon: 4.2 miles, 35:24, 8:26 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Ridge Run, easy, 15F, night, calm, no stops, no pain. Icy sidewalks and driveways.

Tue: 6.1 miles, 53:05, 8:42 pace, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, easy, 21F, calm, 2 stops, no pain. The sidewalks on Monroe Ave to and from Cobbs Hill were very icy. Baked a batch of cookies. Mmmm ... oatmeal raisin cookies!

Wed: Baked another batch of cookies. Need to remember to turn the timer on when baking cookies. The second batch are a bit ... crispy.

Thu: 4.9 miles, 44:08, 9:00 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca Run, easy, 24F, dusk, a bit of snow on the sidewalks, no stops, no pain. Nice run, a little hot outside.

Fri: 4.1 miles, 34:30, 8:25 pace, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 18F, easy, snowy sidewalks on Monroe Ave, no stops, no pain.

Sat: My youngest son, David, had his appendix out at 3AM on Friday morning. He is doing well now. He was in some pain from the three little incisions. I also saw my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home in Lyons.

Sunday, January 18th to Saturday, January 24th

Sunday, January 18th to Saturday, January 24th: 22.3 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 17, Tue: 6, Wed: 20, Thu: 9, Fri: 20, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: -, Mon: 12848, Tue: 21879 Wed: 16438, Thu: 10381, Fri: 14091, Sat: -

I ran 5 times this week.

Sun: 5.1 miles, 45:04, 8:50 pace, 1.5 Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca, Slow, 25F, calm, slushy, 3 stops, no pain. The run was harder than usual, the snow was slushy and hard to run through. The rest of the day was a vegfest. I watched the divisional championship football games between Arizona and Philadelphia (Arizona won) and Pittsburgh and Baltimore ( Pittsburgh won). So it's Arizona vs Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

Mon: 4.1 miles, 35:30, 8:40 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca, easy, 20F, dusk, calm, no stops, no pain. A little bit slushy, a good run. Nothing unusual.

Tue: 6 miles, 54:03, 9:00 pace, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, 3 loops, 15F, a little windy, multiple stops, no pain. I am troubled with my lack of wind lately. It seems I can't keep running when it gets cold. Fleet Feet had a spur of the moment Inaugural Ball with champagne, after running food and nice conversation.

Wed: 3 miles (I guess), 44:36, 14:52 pace, FF Snow Cheap #3, 18F, wore my Yaktrax, no pain. I finished in 44:36, 109th out of 129, results here. The snow was kind of deep and tough going at the start. I ran better on the hard packed snow when there was some. The hills were steep and slippery. I got separated and got lost so I estimate I added 0.6 miles to my run, let's just call it 3 miles ... oh well, it's all good. I wore ankle supports to help protect me from kicking my inside ankles which seemed to help. My trail shoes and socks were soaked. My feet were cold when I got back to my apartment so I changed right into my sweats and thawed out with some hot chocolate. One thing about running events at night ... if there is food afterward you can usually eat enough so that you don't need to fix supper!

Fri: 4.1 miles, around 34:00, 8:20 pace, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 40F, easy, a little windy, 4 stops, no pain. Not really happy with my running as of late. I can't seem to keep my breath and have to stop every mile or so! Kind of frustrating. But I am out there in all kinds of weather ... which is more than most people can say.

Sat: The temperature really dropped from last night to today. It was 10F today, right now it is 6F according to Weatherbug. Another rest day. Tried to go through the stuff in my apartment. Got some stuff done ... not as much as I hoped. I moved some boxes of books down to my basement storage unit. For some reason, I can't get rid of books. I can read them years and years ago but I don't want to get rid of them or give them away. Another Saturday night spent watching TV and surfing the internet.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, January 11th to Saturday, January 17th

Sunday, January 11th to Saturday, January 17th: 22.5 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 16, Tue: 17, Wed: 19, Thu: 16, Fri: 12, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: 9802, Mon: 13857, Tue: 17879, Wed: 14284, Thu: 8234, Fri: 10479, Sat: -

I ran 5 times this week.

Sun: 4.1 miles, 2 x Seneca Ave, 34:03, 8:19 pace, 18F, easy, calm, no stops, no pain. It snowed about 4 to 6 inches overnight so I got out early and got a nice, easy run in before I went out to Newark to see my kids and Lyons to see my father. Karen went back to Houghton College. About 11AM I realized that I totally forgot about the Polar Cat #3 in Webster. Oh well!

Mon: 4.2 miles, 2 x Seneca Ave, 32:56, 7:50 pace, 26F, easy, dusk, calm, no stops, no pain. A nightly run is becoming a healthy habit.

Tue: 6 miles, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, 25F and falling, easy, night, windy, light snow, 3 loops, 3 stops, no pain. The cold snap was making its way in, the temp was falling, light snow was falling, the wind was picking up. I took it easy, no IT band wrap, slipping and sliding on the sidewalks to and from. I went out to The Otter Lodge afterward with fellow FF runners.

Wed: Rest Day. Didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I gave blood today for the 66th time (64th according to the official record). My pulse was 50, blood pressure was 116/64. You can sign up to donate here.

Thu: 4.1 miles, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca run, 10F, calm, no stops, no pain. Nice run out in the cold, sweet! I did my laundry ... how exciting!

Fri: 4.1 miles, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 5F, a little windy, easy, multiple stops, no pain, 8:47 pace. It was windy during the day sending the wind chills plummeting below zero. But either I was shielded during the run or the wind died down. I was overdressed ... drenched when I got back to Fleet Feet.

Sat: Rest Day. I took my oldest son, Michael, back to Ithaca College. I stopped and saw my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. I also enriched the local economy. I thought about going out for a run but vegged instead.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, January 4th to Saturday, January 10th

Sunday, January 4th to Saturday, January 10th: 23.5 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 15, Tue: 12, Wed: 8, Thu: 15, Fri: 12, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: 13701, Mon: 9171, Tue: 6621 (not on run), Wed: 10750, Thu: 7008 (not on run), Fri: 8361 (not on run), Sat: -

I ran 5(!) times this week.

Sun: 6.5 miles, 3 x Seneca Ave, 50:25, 7:45 pace, a little hard, 20F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain, sweet! I just went up and Seneca Ave from Ridge Rd to Titus three times. I didn't chance the sidewalks ... just keeping to the wide shoulders of Seneca. After a bit I went out to Newark to see my kids and my father in Lyons.

Mon: I took a break from running, doing unimportant stuff like paying bills. I also copied Dark Knight and then tested the copy.

Tue: 6.0 miles, Cobbs Hill run - 3 loops, 50:20, 8:23 pace, easy, 30F, night, calm, a bit icy, no stops, no pain. A bit icy on the sidewalks to and from. I had a late start ... had to search for the top to my headlamp after I dropped it.

Wed: 2.7 miles, Snow Cheap #2, 31:55, 11:49 pace, easy, night, calm, no pain, slipping and sliding. An easy trail run full of slushy, slipping and sliding goodness around Cobbs Hill Park. I was 61th out of 138, results here.

Thu: 4.2 miles, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo run, 35:56, 8:33 pace, 22F, easy, night, light snow, calm, no stops, no pain. Yes, it was cold. Yes, it was lightly snowing. Yes, the run was sweet.

Fri: 4.1 miles, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 33:15, 8:06 pace, 20F, a little hard, full moon, 1 stop, no pain. A nice full moon for a frosty night! I wore my headlamp and blinker so I was seen for sure! It's all good!

Sat: A rest day after 4 straight day of running. I lazed around ... I should have done stuff but didn't. I did manage to keep busy ... sitting on my butt, surfing the web and chatting.

Lately all my runs have been sweet. I have running pain-free and have been just running for the sheer enjoyment of being out there ... in the moment.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, December 28th to Saturday, January 3rd

Sunday, December 28th to Saturday, January 3rd: 23.7 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 10, Tue: 9, Wed: 10, Thu: -, Fri: 8, Sat: -

Steps
Sun: -, Mon: -, Tue: 4045 (not on run), Wed: -, Thu: -, Fri: 13450, Sat: 3739

I ran 4 times this week.

Sun: Our 60F weather disappeared ... chased away by winds of 50 to 60 mph! I sat inside the apartment listening to the wind howl! I watch the Buffalo Bills finish out their season in typical fashion ... with a loss. They started out in grand fashion at 5-1. Then went 2-8, (0 for the AFC East), the rest of the way to finish at 7-9 for the third straight season.

Mon: 5.3 miles, 41:55, 7:55 pace, 40F, night, calm, no pain, no stops. I went out for the Seneca-Titus-Saint Paul-Zoo route plus a bit. The conditions were ideal! I pushed it, 7:55 pace.

After work I went to Medved to buy a pair of Yaktrax Pros for $30. Maybe during the next Snow Cheap I won't be slipping and sliding!

Tue: 6.8 miles, 54:25, 8:00 pace, 28F, Cobbs Hill run, 4 loops, night, calm. I think I held a 8:00 pace. I didn't start my Garmin until I got to Cobbs Hill. I was slowing on the third and fourth loops. A good workout!

Wed: More snow, more cold. By nightfall, the temp was around 15F plus windy. I stayed in for New Year's Eve ... in bed by midnight.

Thu: 7.5 miles, 62:33, 8:20 pace, 10F, Freezeroo #2, sunny, calm, 4 stops, nice! It was 8F and I was on the fence but I went down to Mendon Ponds Park and ran. I am glad I did along with 287 other runners! It was 10F, sunny, calm. The roads inside the park were snow covered and the road outside were a bit better. You usually could find bare pavement. I did a little run/walk trick at the end ... walking a bit to catch my breath then catching up to where I was before. I finished 107th in 1:02:33, results here.



Fri: 4.1 miles, 33:26, 8:09 pace, 32F, FF Happy Hour, night, calm, slushy. I took it easy, the snow was slushy making it hard to run ... but I didn't stop except for traffic. I wore my new Yaktrax ... I was not impressed. I don't know if they helped.

Sat: rest day from running. I changed my oil, checked my air pressure and then went on a road trip.

Keeping active, Doug

Happy New Year, 2009!

Time to look back ... lots of changes this past year. Let's see ... my divorce was finialized, living in a one bedroom apartment up in Rochester close to work and play, new job (twice), more stuff that I just can't think of.

A good year in the running department. I ran 1144.8 miles during the year, high of 145.7 in August, low of 57.3 in November, average of 95.4 miles per month. I ran 163 out of 365 days with an average of 7 miles per run. I ran 15 races, set lifetime PRs in the 5K, 5 Mile, 10K, 15K and 20K. I ran my first marathon, the hot and humid Rochester, two days before my 51st birthday. I have a nagging injury in my right knee that I seem to have thwarted with my IT band wrap. I ran some trail races during the year. Trail races are a challenge ... my long legs seem to be built for road races.

I need to start working out my upper body. I need to unpack my apartment and toss the stuff that I don't need.

I am the lookout for a woman who shares my desire to be in the best shape of their life. I know she is out there ... somewhere.

I have my faults ... procrastination being one of them. I need to start doing stuff, making decisions of the way I want to live life instead of accepting whatever comes my way.

Keeping active, Doug