Sunday, 12/18/2016 to Saturday, 12/24/2016

I ran 5 times this week, 31.55 miles.

Sunday, 12/18/2016: 7.4 miles, 1:01:03, 8:15 pace, 30F, 93% RH, 16 mph WNW wind, wind chill 19F, overcast.

I was still a bit apprehensive about the road conditions and I needed to run. What to do? So ... I geared up with the usual attire, brushed off the car and drove out to where I figured that there would be wide shoulders. Where? I knew Janes and Island Cottage roads would have wide and plowed shoulders.


I headed out west to start off right into the west wind ... which practically blew me backwards. I just put my head down and ran. It was a cold 1.5 mile run into the wind but a sweet run back and then I ran up and down Island Cottage before I headed back to the Cruze. I saw a couple of other runners that enjoyed the wide shoulders ... nice! My splits were: 8:57, 8:22, 7:53, 7:51, 8:18, 8:09, 8:10 and 8:15 over the last 0.4 mile. Then I hit up Wegmans for groceries ... which included 4, yes 4, donuts to split between my lovely wife, Christine, and I (myself?).

Later we watched the Brown - Bills game. I had thought about buying tickets to this game off of Stubhub.com but I was glad to watch it from the warmth of the couch. Christine was a bit conflicted being a Cleveland girl but the Bills kept the Browns winless on the season, 33-13, link here. The Bills kept their very slim playoff hopes alive at 7-7 with just a home game against Miami next weekend and a road game against the Jets the weekend after that.

Monday, 12/20/2016: Rest day ... nothing unusual.

Tuesday, 12/21/2016: 7.4 miles, 1:00:03, 8:06 pace, 34F, 40% RH, 14 mph SSW wind, wind chill 24F, partly cloudy.

I had all my running gear and I had thought about running around B601 again but I got to deal with a printer just before lunch and had to deal with that instead. So ... I was left with running after work. Where to run? My two choices were either run Cobb's Hill or run where I ran on Sunday which is close to home. My mind and body tried to rebel but my will won out. I dressed at work, drove out there and got it done.


It was just getting to be dark when I started. I started a bit slow and then really pushed it for a bit. My splits were: 8:40, 8:03, 7:53, 7:59, 8:01, 8:20, 8:04 and 7:29 over the last 0.4 mile.I like this route because it has wide shoulders. That doesn't mean that drivers always keep on the road though ... one car came by on Island Cottage a full foot past the fog line which startled me a bit.

Wednesday, 12/21/2016: Rest day ... moving on.

Thursday, 12/22/2016: 7.4 miles, 59:14, 8:00 pace, 36F, 80% RH, 10 W wind, wind chill 28F, partly cloudy.


Back to my new old usual. I left work a couple hours since it was my last wor day before Christmas. It was daylight. I thought I was going a bit slower than Tuesday but I ended up faster. My splits were: 8:29, 8:16, 7:57, 7:57, 7:52, 7:54, 7:49 and 7:29. So I almost pulled off a negative split run ... kind of sweet!

Friday, 12/23/2016: 2 miles on the treadmill

What to do with 5 days off? Well, I wanted to either run or work out on all 5 days. So today, I worked out. I warmed up with a treadmill mile at 8:00 pace, then a mile upper workout, another treadmill mile at 8:00 pace and then 10 minutes of elliptical.

Earlier I have braved the W Ridge Rd traffic to get to Greece Ridge Mall. I took me 10 minutes to get from the I-390S exit to the nearest entrance and then turn left. I picked up my new eyeglasses at Sterling Optical. They are progressive bifocals with progressive lenses that tint. It was quite easy to get used to them. I just tilt my head to bring close stuff into focus. I also have to remember to tilt my head down to bring far away things in focus. Then I braved grocery shopping at Wegmans on Latta with a list with tiny type that Christine had printed out. Wegmans was quite busy to say the least. I just took my time. I managed to get about most of what was on the list.

Saturday, 12/24/2016: 9.35 miles,


I set my alarm for 6:45 AM but it didn't go off and I woke up around 7:30 AM. I found that I had set my MTWTF alarm instead of my SatSun alarm. I forgot that today was Saturday. So ... I got out later than I expected. But I did get out. It was sprinkling and in the lower 40s so I overdressed a bit with a short sleeve tech under my Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, a balaclava and ski mittens. I struck up a really nice and easy pace but was forced to take three teeny walk breaks. I just felt sluggish. My splits were: 8:12, 8:19, 8:03, 8:18, 8:35, 7:53, 8:03, 8:07, 8:22 and 7:55 over the last 0.35 miles. I got a bit wet when the sprinkles became a light rain for a little while. Nothing a hot shower couldn't cure.

My darling wife, Christine, and I went down to Newark to see my oldest son, Michael, and daughter, Karen. We took them out to eat at our usual haunt, Parker's Grille. The food was excellent like usual. We caught up but some of their news was quite disconcerting. I will not elaborate on it.

We watched a bit of the Dolphins - Bills game that was played on Saturday instead of Sunday (due to Christmas). The Bills were down most of the game. When we left Parker's to take them home the Bills were down, 21-28. I had to go to Wegmans in the Newark Plaza so I turned on WCMF to listen the game. Well, the Bills were 24-28 with the ball late the 4th quarter. So I listened while sitting in the Cruze in the parking lot. The Bills scored to go ahead 31-28. Then the Bill's porous defense allowed the Dolphins to tie it up at 31-31 to force OT. The Bills had their chances but had a missed FG and then didn't go for it on 4th and 2 from the Dolphins 41 with 4 minutes to go. The Dolphins promptly drove down the field thanks to porous tackling and then kicked the game winning FG to win 34-41, link here. The Bills had 589 yards of total offense but allowed over 500 yards themselves. The Bills rushed for 272 yards and allowed the guy who rushed for 214 yards in Miami's first win against the Bills to rush for 206 yards again.