Sunday, 3/1/2015 to Saturday, 3/6/2015 - Snow Cheap #6

I ran 4 times this week, 32.42 miles.

Sunday, 3/1/2015: 9.3 miles, 1:21:52, 8:48 pace, 18F, 79% RH, calm, light snow

Garmin Connect Activity for A warmer 15K

I slept in more than yesterday but I knew I was still going out anyway. I did the dishes from the previous night and had a bowl of well earned Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It was 20F warmer than the previous morning so I only wore my heavy Sugoi long sleeve tech and 1/4 zip Brooks long sleeve tech on top. I set out nice and easy. My thighs were a bit tight and it didn't go away. It got worse instead. I slowed down, just endured it and didn't walk. I was more than happy to stop. My splits were: 8:27, 8:40, 8:39, 8:58, 8:59, 8:45, 9:12, 8:57, 8:38 and 8:31 over the 0.3 miles.

Soon I was drinking a nice mug of coffee with my feet up. My darling wife, Christine, and I lazed around the rest of the day. We just enjoyed the day.

Monday, 3/2/3015: Rest day ... yada, yada, yada ...

I thought of going to LA Fitness to work on the machine ... but didn't. It felt warm outside ... because the temperature got above freezing for the first time in 20 days according to Accuweather.com.

Tuesday, 3/3/2015: Another rest day ...

The weather during the evening commute sucked. I had all my gear (again) to go to LA Fitness after work. But the weather had other plans. During the afternoon; first it snowed a couple of inches of wet snow ... then freezing rain started. I spent 30 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic going from the Hess station on 104E to the intersection of Lake Ave ... a distance of less than a mile. Why? There was no accident. As soon as I got to where 104E become an expressway traffic sped right up to at least 40-50 mph. I just went home ... whatever.

Wednesday, 3/4/2015: 2 runs of 6 and Snow Cheap #6 of 1.62 miles, 32F, 69% RH, 10 mph W wind, wind chill 24F, overcast.

Tonight was the final Snow Cheap of the 2014-2015 series and also the last time I could wear my Golden Bib that I bought last year. I raced 24 out of 27 possible races with it. Yellow Jacket Racing did not offer it again in 2015 but it was fun while it lasted!

My "Golden Bib" survived 24 races pretty well!

I wanted to get some pre-miles in so I brought all my gear that I could possible need with me so I could go down to Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill Park right after work. I changed at work and got down there around 5:30PM. I met up with Carl Camillo and Chris O'Brien for a bit and talked running. Carl had to go mentor No-Boundaries and Chris had to get up to run a bit of the course backwards to gauge the conditions. It was 32F and felt warm compared to the weather in the weeks before. I decided to head up to reservoir and run the road around the reservoir to get pre-miles. The sidewalk up the east side of Culver was crap so I headed up the long way at a nice and easy pace but mindful of cars since there was no shoulder due to the snow. When I got up to the reservoir I decided to run loops. I was on my third loop when I saw the driver of a car just dump garbage out the passenger window ... what? I picked up the garbage and dumped it into a garbage can on my last loop. It was getting dark and I was wearing little reflectivity and had no headlamp so I headed carefully back to the Equinox. I took the short way back, down Monroe Ave and Culver Rd. I got 6 miles in, link here. My splits were: 8:50, 9:02, 8:35, 8:40, 8:12 and 9:02 ... just nice and easy to get miles in the tank. Gotta get to 100 miles in March you know!

I had 30 minutes to get ready for Snow Cheap #6. I saw Chris O'Brien and he told me about the snow conditions. He said that the snow was deep and that he was going to run with snowshoes. So ... I went out to the Equinox and got mine too. I had taken a layer off so I was a bit chilly standing around before the start. I took a bit of a run out from the start. Wow ... did I kick up snow! Some of it landing on my back and was it cold! Runners that didn't have snowshoes remarked that they wanted to avoid runners with snowshoes because of all the snow they kicked up ... can't blame them but it was my traction choice of the night.



And ... we were off! It was a bit of a scrum like usual. I tried to run out of the beaten down track for a while but that was strenuous so I got in behind everyone after a couple hundred yards.

A line of runners seen from the start line

Then it was just a matter of running when I could and walking when I had to either because someone was walking in front of me or because I just couldn't run ... which did happen a couple of times. The snow was crusty and a bit icy but deep in spots. The trek up the switchback and along the side of the Reservoir Rd was mainly just walking due to the hill or the deep snow. Later in the race sometimes I could pass by breaking out of the track when the snow bore my weight but other times I just sank and couldn't move so I just went back into the track with everyone else. I mainly tried to get going at a semblance of a run.

Close to the end!

I could hear Ellen announcing at the finish ... push ... deep snow ... push ... finish. And ... 1.62 miles done in 22:20. A bunch of runners passed right me at the finish but I broke the finish before them. I did OK, 41st out of 196 and 6th out of 15 in my M50-59 age group, link here.

I ditched my snowshoes and changed into my Snow Cheap series hoodie before I could get chilled. My fingertips didn't get white this time. The post race pizza party was quite filling ... nice! I stuck around for the Winter Warrior and Snow Cheap awards while I talked running with Amy Lord, Tom Butler and Chris O'Brien.

Soon I was home. I dragged all my gear back in the apartment in one trip ... which was quite an accomplishment. I hung everything that was wet up and stowed everything else, stripped, changed into my sweats and put my feet up ... done for the day.

Oh, today was also my brother, Don, 64th birthday. He said that the warmth today was due to the candles on his birthday cake!

Double Oh! Courtney Wagner, the Canandaigua senior who has brain cancer got to Ellen! Links here from Ellentube, here from the D&C, here from whec10 and here to a fundraiser.

Thursday, 3/5/2015: Date night!

My darling wife, Christine, and I attended the Trail Film Festival at the Little Theatre hosted by Fleet Feet Rochester. We treated it as a date night. We had never been in the Little Theatre. It was an old style theatre with old style,  high school type seats. I still fit though!

The TFF was presented by Rainshadow Running from the Pacific Northwest. Here is a selection of the film lineup with links: 2013 Mt. Marathon, The Traveler, The Barkley Marathon: The Race That Eats Its Young, The Crossing, 2014 Gorge Waterfalls 50K, 100: Head/Heart/Feet, 3022, Around Patagnoia and The Long Haul (had trouble finding a link to this movie about Mike Wolfe and Hal Koerner's attempt on the John Muir Trail). The movies made me want to find a trail!

Friday, 3/6/2015: Rest day

The usual rest day before a long run the next morning ... in this case, the Round the Bay run.

Saturday, 3/7/2015: 14.5 miles, 2:01:21, 8:21 pace, 21F, 58% RH, 7 mph SW wind, wind chill 12F, overcast

I got up a bit earlier than when I go to work, around 5:45AM. Time for my seventh (yes, 7) Round the Bay run. I checked the temp, just 19F. I ate just a banana, got dressed with the usual cold weather gear, kissed Christine and headed out.around 6:30AM. I got down to the west end of the Swing Bridge in Irondequoit around 6:45AM. I geared up with a hand bottle and a HammerGel that I put in a Amphipod tucked in my CW-X tights.


The parking lot was congested and some late arrivals had trouble finding a place to park. There seemed to be around 100 hardcore runners. I recognized some. Then just like that we headed out. The run up Culver Rd was an eye opener and a warmup for the legs. We all sorted out after a mile or so by our speeds as we ran down Culver Rd. I had made up my mind that I was going to do the long route with all the hills so I headed down Bayshore and GlenHaven. Bill Beyerbach said "Hey" as he passed me at mile 4. I kept him in sight as I ran down the hills and walked a bit on the uphills. I would pass a couple runners on the downs and get passed on the ups. I stopped at the impromtu aid station at mile 7 on Orchard Park Blvd and had my HammerGel and some water. Then it was down Empire Blvd and back up the mile long hill on the other side of Irondequoit Bay. I took a few walk breaks for 100 feet or so more than once. Then I turned down Bay Rd and tried to bring it in the best I could. On and on ... 13.1 miles in about 1:50:00. The wind kicked up as I turned onto Lake Rd. It was bone chilling and froze my face but I knew the Swing Bridge was near ... in sight ... over the steel grating ... run until 14.5 miles ... done. I looked at my Garmin for my pace: 8:21 min/mile, not bad. I ended home after downing a few brownies. Soon ... I had a mug of hot coffee and my legs were up. A nice way to start a morning!