Sunday, 11/24/2013 to Saturday, 11/30/2013 - Race with Grace 10K & RT Turkey Run

I ran 4 times this week: 18.02 miles.

Sunday, 11/24/2013: Rest day.

The weather turned really wintry ... like 22F, occasional light blowing snow, windy with single digit wind chills. I could have gone out and run ... but I needed a rest day after drastically upping my mileage last week. Yes ... I did read Facebook posts of fellow runners that went out and enjoyed themselves.

So ... Christine and I cocooned all day. I let her sleep until noon. Then I made her our customary coffee and bagel while we read the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle. Later I braved the elements and got the groceries that we needed.

I got my hair cut at the local OK Barber Shop on Saturday with not so good results. The next day I discovered that I couldn't comb my hair without it looking like crap. So ... my darling Christine looked at a Youtube on cutting a man's hair. I trusted my darling Christine enough to let her cut my hair a bit. She did a good job.

Monday, 11/25/2013: 6.3 miles, 52:13, 8:13 pace, 34F, 39% RH, night, windy.

Garmin Connect Activity for 6.3 miles on dead shoes

I dilly dallied like usual but "a run won't get done by itself" so out I went. I wore my Brooks Adrenaline GTS13 shoes with lots of miles on them. I could feel the lack of cushioning ... now they have 600 miles on them. My legs felt like crap after the run.

Tuesday, 11/26/2013: Travel day

My oldest son, Michael, had asked me to move him back to his mother's apartment in Newark. So I drove out after work at 5:30 PM to his apartment out in Amherst MA into the teeth of a winter storm warning. The weather was a snowy mix until just after Syracuse with the usual slowdowns on the Thruway. Then it became rain the rest of the way. I arrived at 11:30 PM. Michael and I went to seek food and found a Wings over Amherst just 5 minutes before closing for some much needed food. I bunked down on his couch for the night.

Wednesday, 11/27/2013: Move day.

What a day for a move ... 50F and a light rain in Amherst MA! We picked up a UHaul 5'x8' trailer and packed his stuff in. It took a while since the trailer was about 300 feet and 2 flights of stairs away. We started west around 12:30 PM. Just Michael and I with a Chevy Cavalier and a full loaded trailer as we headed down Route 9 and onto the hilly Berkshires of the MassPike. I felt like I was driving the "little Chevy that could" as the engine upshifted and revved every time we approached a hill. It was a struggle to maintain 65mph. I put my 4-way flashers on every time we dropped below 60mph. I conquered the 6 mile hill on the MassPike by driving behind a slow tractor-trailer that was crawling up the hill at 40 mph. The driving got a bit easier as we got back into New York. The weather conditions changed to sleet and light snow as we got between Schenectady and Utica. We got to Newark at 7:15 PM. Newark had 4 inches of snow on the ground with a light lake effect snow. Michael and I unloaded what he needed at his mother's apartment and put the rest into storage. It was a long day by the time I got back up to Rochester to kiss my darling Christine awake.

Thursday, 11/28/2013: 6.24 miles, 45:07, 7:14 pace, 19F, 68% RH, sunny, calm.

I woke up early so I could sweep out the Uhaul trailer and take it back. I was surprised that someone was there to check it in on Thanksgiving morning. I got back home and changed to check out where the Race with Grace OK was being held and left around 8:47 AM ... plenty of time right?



Well ... silly me thought that the race started at 10 AM like the Webster Turkey Trot. When I pulled up near the First Bible Baptist Church at 9:05 AM I found some police barring the way because the race was starting. I sweet talked my way past them, pulled into the parking lot, ran up to get my bib and my long sleeve tech shirt (benefits of early signup), ran back to the car, geared up quickly, ran to the start and started after everyone. So ... I started 10 minutes late. I started out hot and tried to keep it up: 6:58, 7:19, 7:06, 7:30, 7:12, 7:25 and 6:37 over the last 0.24 miles. I ended up passing a lot of runners. Some I knew and I tried to say "Hi" as I passed. The weather was a bit cold but there was almost no wind so I didn't have any trouble. I ended up crossing the finish in 55:15 officially but clocked 45:07 on my Garmin. A 45:07 is a second off my fastest 10K for this year.

Kind of a weird picture ... but that's me alright!

Officially, I was 468th out of 1062, link here. I was 28th out of 60 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Unofficially ... if I had started on time I might have been 126th and 3rd in my age group, maybe. But hey ... life happens and sometimes I'm late. It was all fun anyway. Certainly something to talk about after the race!

Meanwhile ... lots of other runners were out running. The Webster Turkey Trot 4.4 mile had 2535 runners and the 2.5 mile had 2001 runners. The Buffalo Turkey Trot had 11692 runners!

Christine and I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. I hunted and gathered at Wegmans on the way back for some last minute supplies. We had a simple dinner: a small and juicy turkey, sweet potatoes, homemade stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, mixed vegetables along with cherry pie. I helped when I could and carved the turkey. Yummy!

Friday, 11/29/2013: Another moving day.

My daughter, Karen, asked to help her move her new roommate, Lindsay, into her apartment in Newark. The weather was sunny and around freezing. I picked up a UHaul 14' truck from Palmyra at 9AM. I met up with Karen, Lindsay, Michael and my ex in Newark and headed out to where Lindsay was moving from. I got as close as I could but the house was still about 200 feet away and up a hill. I just thought of the hill as doing hill repeats. So loading the truck went slowly. I was led to believe that they wouldn't be much to move ... but as usual there was more than I expected. We took a lunch break at Wegmans. Then we moved a bit of stuff to my ex's storage unit and then unloaded the rest at Karen's apartment. The unloading went a lot faster since I was able to park the truck a lot closer.

Saturday, 11/30/2013: RT Turkey Run, 5.06 miles, 48:07, 9:30 pace, 12F, 92% RH, sunny, calm.
I ran 15 times in 30 days, 116.20 miles, 7.7 miles/run
2013 YTD: I ran 206 times in 334 days, 1202.89 miles, 5.8 miles/run

I got up early like usual on a race morning. It was clear and cold, 9F. But Christine and I got ready quickly. I wore about all the cold weather running gear that I had: CW-X tights, shorts, Darn Tough socks, heavy base layer, Brooks Racing Team t-shirt, heavy gloves, beanie and balaclava. We made it out to Mendon Ponds Park at 7:35AM for the 9AM start. Christine had a therapist appointment out in Webster at 8AM so she dropped me off. I talked with Prem, a reader of this blog, as we waited around, trying to psyche ourselves up for a sunny and cold trail race.

The fireplace inside of Stewart Lodge was hot and inviting ... but a race was to be ran first!

Warmup before RT Turkey Run

The race started out at the Boat Launch so everyone turned that run into a warmup run ... which we clearly needed.

This looks to be early in the race

Six inches of snow outside of Stewart Lodge

Soon the race started. I settled into a trail running groove ... as fast as the conditions let me but still maintaining a bit of reserve. The snow on the 5 mile course was variable. Some parts were packed, some were parts of ski trails and some were fluffy powder. I passed Pete who called out times at the 1 mile mark. I really thought that I had gone 2 miles by then. I walked up Cardiac Hill when I got there. There was a section of field at the 4 mile mark with about 6 to 8 inches of fluffy powder that seemed endless. I caught up to Prem about then and got within 30 feet of him but couldn't catch him. I slipped and almost fell from exhaustion in the finish chute. Prem and I went immediately to Stewart Lodge for some much needed post-race grub. I met up with my darling Christine and we waited around for the awards: Prem won his M35-39 age group and I won my M55-59 age group. We received a mug and a brown t-shirt.

Soon we were home with a well deserved coffee and danish. Christine and I celebrated our first year anniversary quietly with a hug and a kiss ... or three!