Sunday, 2/5/2017 to Saturday, 2/11/2017 - Freezeroo #5

I ran 5 times this week: 33.37 miles.

Sunday, 2/5/2017: 10.35 miles, 1:28:18, 8:32 pace, 30F, 64% RH, 10 mph WSW wind, wind chill 21F, overcast.

I knew I needed to get out again to clear my head (never mind) so I did.


I put in a "really nice and easy" gear and just ran. The LOSP trail was a bit icy than yesterday so I looped onto Edgemere Drive out to Loyden Point. I saw 5 runners during my run and lots of ice fishermen on the frozen Long Pond.

Later, I watched the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. It looked like the Pats were down for the count when they were down 28-3 with 8:31 in the 3rd quarter. Then the Pats came storming back with 25 points to tie it up. So ... a TD with a missed PAT, a FG and a TD with a 2 point conversion to get within 8 points. All Atlanta had to do run the ball but they passed the ball, got a holding call that put them out of FG range and punted the ball back to the Pats. So ... just 91 yards for Brady. 10 plays in 2:33 to tie it up with an incredible catch en route. The Falcons couldn't move the ball with no timeouts and 57 seconds. The first OT game in Super Bowl history ensued. The Pats got the ball and Brady led them down for the game winning TD. Links here, here and here. I could have posted a lot more links from CNN, Washington Post, the New York Time and the Boston Globe. The Boston Globe made an instant collector's item when their Monday early edition had front page coverage of a Patriot loss printed before the game ended.

Monday, 2/6/2017: Rest day.

I wish I had off Monday like 40,000 employees of Heinz, link here. But ... I also stayed up to watch 24: Legacy which didn't end until midnight. So ... I was a bit bleary eyed in the morning.

Tuesday, 2/7/2017: 7.05 miles, 58:11, 8:15 pace, 34F, 64% RH, 9 mph E wind, wind chill 26F, light rain at the end.


The forecast told of rain in the afternoon so I thought a pre-lunch run would allow me to escape it. Wrong. A few drops were falling when I set out on my 7 mile run out and back from B601. It had progressed to a light rain before I got back. I was not drenched when I got done but I wasn't dry either. The 2.5 miles of the Erie Canal path west of Lee Rd had about an inch of snow with a few tiny patch of easily avoided slick spots. I just took a really nice and easy pace, no problem. My splits were: 8:08, 8:20, 8:14, 8:23, 8:19, 8:32 and 7:53.

It was dark, dreary and raining when I got home so I made the right call about going out when I did. I wouldn't have gone out otherwise.

Wednesday, 2/8/2017: Rest day.

Thursday, 2/9/2017:7.05, 56:47, 8:03 pace, 19F, 57% RH, 16 mph NNW wind, wind chill 5F, sunny.


It had warmed up on Tuesday night (54F by midnight) and then gotten colder again. So I thought that the Erie Canal path would have less snow. It did but the sun wasn't warm and the wind was bitter. There was only a dusting of snow so I could speed up which was good because I needed to keep warm. My splits were: 7:13 (?), 8:01, 8:18, 8:13, 8:11, 8:07 and 8:18.

Friday, 2/10/2017: Rest day ... naturally with a race the next day.

Saturday, 2/11/2017: 2 runs of 2 and 7.97 miles, 37F,

Today's race was Freezeroo #5. The race length was 8 miles on a new course. This was the second time on this course but the first time we had actually run it because the race was canceled last year due to subzero wind chills. The race venue was Braddock Bay Park which was only 10 minutes away via the Lake Ontario State Parkway. I was there by 9:10 AM.

I met up with Andy Ciaio and Prem Kum. We got out for a really nice and easy warmup run of 2 miles at 9:36 pace, link here. It was warm so I changed from a long sleeve tech to a short sleeve tech under my usual yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover. I'm a creature of habit ... I had on my usual CW-X tights, yellow Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. I carried a 20 ounce water bottle (but didn't drink any of it).


I lined up in my usual spot ... a bit to the right and a bit behind the start line. And ... we were off! I got up to speed ... and started a bit too fast. It felt good so I stayed with it. I slowly passed both women that I was keeping pace with around mile 4. The wind kicked up a bit as we turned onto Edgemere Drive. I would have been surprised if it hadn't of, lol! What is a Freezeroo #5 without wind on Edgemere Drive? Andy Ciaio tracked me down and said "Hi" as he passed.

Running on Edgemere Drive after Andy Ciaio had passed me ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

There were at least 20 people ice fishing on both Long Pond and Buck Pond as we ran by. I was getting tired. The road surface changed to about two inches of slushy snow as we made a short jog onto Braddock Rd and Second Ave. The runners who wore trail shoes had more traction for sure! I had to slow down a bit since I wore road shoes. I got back to as much speed as my body could muster as we turned right onto East Manitou Rd ... a bit more than a mile to go. I could see Andy about two hundred yards ahead. The road curved to the left ahead and eventually led to the park entrance. It was still 0.35 mile to the finish. Time to just gut it out until the finish. I could see the timer get to 1:00:00 ... and done with 7.97 miles in 1:00:21, 7:34 pace, by my Garmin.

I slowly walked to the Cruze and put on my yellow Brooks jacket. I ambled over to the lodge and had a bagel with butter along with some water. I looked at the results. 1:00:20 officially, and saw that I was 30th.  I headed home for a mug or two of coffee to upload my Garmin and check the results. My splits were: 7:26, 7:32, 7:25, 7:33, 7:32, 7:42, 7:51 (I guess I didn't slow down by much) and 7:21. I was 30th out of 131, link here. I was 6th out of 16 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. I found another runner's take on this race, link here.

After a bit of a nap, I took my darling wife, Christine, out to get her nails done at New Nails. She had to wait a bit but the results were well worth it ... trust me!

Sunday, 1/29/3017 to Saturday, 2/4/2017

I ran 4 times this week, 36.3 miles.

Sunday, 1/29/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:17:23, 8:16 pace, 28F, 59% RH, 13 mph WSW wind, wind chill 18F, mostly cloudy.


I had contemplated doing a Round the Bay run this morning but my body needed sleep. So I slept in until around 8:30 AM. I puttered around a bit and then decided that I would not be a slug. I dressed and got out there. I decided to do the LOSP trail and IC 15K route. There was about a 1/4 inch of snow on the LOSP trail on the way out but it was melting already on the way back. I thought about adding a run down Janes Rd for an extra 3.1 (or so) miles but the idea of running into wind didn't appeal to me ... so I didn't. I just took it nice and easy as I thought about life and all the Beast of Burden (25 mile, 50 mile and 100 mile) runners out in Lockport.

I got back, made some more coffee and brought it along with some donuts up to my darling wife, A shower soon ensued along with uploading my Garmin. My splits were: 7:57, 8:26, 8:25, 8:21, 8:29, 8:12, 8:13, 8:25, 8:17 and 7:28 over the last 0.35 mile. Boom ... done and not a slug.

Meanwhile, runners out in Lockport were running the Winter version of Beast of Burden (25 mile, 50 mile and 100 mile races). I saw on Facebook that Mike Meynasdasy finished the 100 mile in 26:16:18, Sean Storie finished the 100 mile in 28:22:37; his wife, Kristy Storie finished the 50 mile in 11:26:39. Awesome!

Mike Meynasday (on the left) ... grabbed from Facebook

Sean Storie .... photo grabbed from Facebook

Kristy Storie ... photo grabbed from Facebook

27 runners finished the 100 mile, results here. 32 runners finished the 50 mile, results here. 20 runners finished the 25 mile, results here.

Monday, 1/30/2017: Rest day.

Tuesday, 1/31/2017: 6.8 miles, 55:37, 8:11 pace, 30F, 74% RH, calm, overcast.


I didn't want to back into the end of January without another run so I brought my running gear to work, dressed there and found that I had left my Garmin at home. So ... since I didn't want to run "naked" I went home and got it, put it on and got out there. I thought of just doing my "The LOSP trail and IC 10K"  route so I set out. I found that some bits of the LOSP trail had some black ice. I slowed my pace so I wouldn't slip and fall. I didn't feel like taking a chance and heading back the way I came so I continued on and made a loop. No worries plus I could run faster on road anyway ... boom. My splits were: 8:08, 8:25, 8:17, 8:09, 8:17, 8:05 and 7:51 over the last 0.8 mile.

So ... the stats for January 2017:
I ran 22 times for 134.66 miles, 6.12 miles/run. five were warmups (2, 0.65, 1.15, 1.5 and 2 miles) and one was a cooldown of 2.15 miles. I ran 4 races: Freezeroo #2, Winter Warrior Half, Freezeroo #3 and Freezeroo #4.

Wednesday, 2/1/2017: Rest day ... like usual.

Thursday, 2/2/2017: 7.55 miles, 1:00:55, 8:04 pace, 25F, 54% RH, 10 mph W wind, wind chill 15F, partly cloudy.


Yep ... I am certifiable. I knew it would be cold ... I felt the wind out of the west while I geared up (put on my balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie, reflective vest, headlamp and fired up my eCrumb) at the Greece Athena High School. It was still light so I didn't turn on my headlamp right away. But I run on Thursdays ... so I ran. I had on my old black/yellow Adrenaline GTS shoes with 650 miles on them since that was what I picked up this morning ... but either they adapted to me or I to them after a mile. Yep ... it was cold when I turned into the wind on Janes Rd but I soldered onward ... get 'er done. My pace slowed due to the 10-20 mph cold wind. I saw a slower runner heading in the same direction on the sidewalk on the other side of road. I made the turn back at Long Pond Rd and told her that "It's easier this way". She laughed. Yep ... you can tell the splits that were in and not into the wind. I turned north on Island Cottage to Edgemere Drive ... turn back south on Island Cottage back to where I started ... boom, done. My splits were: 8:01, 8:24, 8:14, 7:47, 7:50, 8:02, 8:09 and 8:01 over the last 0.55 mile.

Friday, 2/4/2017: Rest day ...

Saturdya, 2/6/2017: 12.6 miles, 1:47:26, 8:31 pace, 21F, 62% RH, 13 mph W wind, wind chill 9F, sunny.

I had thought of doing a Round the Bay run but I got involved in trying to getting all my thousands of emails from Yahoo and Gmail into one email program, Outlook 2007. It was a struggle which involved a more than few Google searches for a few error messages and then how to get the Yahoo emails to stay deleted. Both Yahoo and Gmail use IMAP but I already had Poppeeper working so I was able to get the gist of what I needed to set them up. Then I set out deleting a few thousand emails before I went bed at 2:43 AM.

So ... I didn't get up until 9 AM. I puttered around a bit, had a pre-run bowl of cereal and banana, got dressed and got out there.


It was cold and windy so I knew it was going to be tough running into the west wind. But I just put in into the "nice and steady" gear. I headed out the LOSP trail (there was a bit of snow at times so I had to slow up), up Island Cottage until Edgemere Drive, ran back on Island Cottage to Latta, ran back Island Cottage to Janes, ran down Janes to Long Ponds, back on Janes to Island Cottage and back on the LOSP trail. But ... boom, done. My splits were: 8:19, 8:37, 8:21, 8:29, 8:34, 8:25, 8:39, 8:44, 8:38, 8:29, 8:34, 8:44 and 8:06 over the last 0.6 mile.

While I ran I thought of all the runners out at Black Creek Park that were going to tackle the Cast A Shadow snowshoe/trail run. This year it was a trail run due to lack of enough snow. The format was run a 2.5 mile loop as many times as you want in six hours (1 PM to 7 PM) either solo or as part of a relay team. The results are here: men's solo here, women's solo here and team results here. Awesome!

1/22/2017 to 1/28/2017 - Freezeroo #4

I ran 5 times this week, 26.93 miles.

Sunday, 1/22/2017: 6.25 miles, 51:41, 8:15 pace, 43F, 100%, 3 mph ESE wind, overcast with light fog, where is the sun?

I slept in until 9:27 AM which is really late. So ... after puttering around I didn't get out until after 11 AM. It was still foggy so I put on my reflective vest and a RoadID blinker even though it was almost noon.


I thought about doing a 15K on the LOSP and Island Cottage route but settled for a 10K at a really nice and easy pace instead. My justification was running 38.5 miles last week ... and my thighs were a bit tight. My really nice and easy pace ended up to be 8:16 pace anyway. One of these days I just put the pedal down on this route and see what happens. My splits were: 8:04, 8:09, 8:14, 8:28, 8:21, 8:24 and 8:05 over the last 0.25 mile.

The usual mugs of coffee ensued. Later, Christine cooked up some Tony Roma's ribs that I got at BJ's with a $3 off coupon ... mmm! I watched the NFL games between the Packers - Falcons and then the Patriots - Steelers. Both were boring blowouts that were over before halftime. So ... it's the Patriots and the Falcons in the Super Bowl in 2 weeks.

Monday, 1/23/2017: Rest day ... nothing unusual after a 38.5 mile week.

Tuesday, 1/24/2017: Rest day ... due to wet snow and crappy conditions.

I was greeted this morning by the Withings scale, link here, saying that I had gained 2.8 pounds. Well ... I did have 5 pulled pork buns the night before. I had been down to 163.7 pounds on Monday morning. Damn! So ... when 4 inches of wet snow and crappy conditions canceled my run I felt like a slug. Yes, I could have gone the treadmill down at the Greenleaf Meadows fitness room but didn't. So ... I felt like a slug all evening.

Wednesday, 1/25/2017: 7.55 miles, 1:00:16, 7:58 pace, 37F, 87% RH, 6 mph SSE wind, wind chill 33F, overcast.


I was resolved to running after work, had my gear, dressed after work at the RTP, headed to Greece Athena High School, parked, geared up and set forth. I pushed it a bit. I did have a couple miscues. I had to stop about 1/2 mile to tighten the laces on my left shoes. Then I had to stop to pick up my RoadID blinker around mile 5. It had dropped to the ground when I tried to turn it on and then I couldn't get it reattached to my reflective vest. I gave up and ran on. The second stop did stop me down a bit. I was getting tired a bit from pushing the pace. But I got it done. My splits were: 7:27, 7:52, 7:53, 8:19, 8:02, 8:01, 8:07 and 8:11 over the last 0.55 mile. Boom, done.

Thursday, 1/26/2017: 6.25 miles, 51:08, 8:11 pace, 36F, 93% RH, 8 mph NW wind, wind chill 29F, overcast with a bit of light rain.

My Garmin heart rate monitor had stopped working so I have been running without it. I got some CR2032 batteries off of Ebay and replaced the battery ... it didn't work. I tried a second battery ... still didn't work. I Google it and found this link. I ended up shorting out the battery contacts for a few minutes with a bent paperclip. The link also said something about flipping the battery but I didn't like the sound of it. It took a few tries but I was able to sync the heart rate monitor with my Garmin Forerunner 220.


I wanted to get back on the Thursday run schedule so I had all my running gear ready ... or so I thought. I changed at RTP after work and had everything except my running shoes. So I went home and headed out from there. I was a bit stiff for the first 1/2 mile but I loosened up and picked up the pace. I decided to just do the out and back LOSP and IC 10K route. My splits were: 8:39, 8:16, 8:06, 8:08, 7:56, 8:07 and 7:35 over the last 0.25 mile.

Friday, 1/27/2017: Rest day.

Saturday, 1/28/2017: 2 runs of 2 and 4.88 miles,

Today's race was Freezeroo #4, the Hearnish. This was my seventh time running the Hearnish. I have raced 3 previous versions of the Hearnish and today was the fourth. The original Hearnish was 6.385 miles (48:22 in 2011, 27:07 in 2012, 50:11 in 2013 and 50:43 in 2014,), then 5.9 miles (44:04 in 2015), then 6.34 miles (47:21 in 2016). All these previous races were held out at Powder Mill Park. Today we raced a new 5-ish  mile course in Victor. The race venue was the Victor Municipal Park Lodge.

Geeky aside: I should sent the directions to my cell because I drove by this park twice before I found it. I expected the park to be a right off of Brace Rd not a right and then a quick right 100 yards later (I was looking for Parapone Drive not Bradhurst Drive). I researched this and found that a Bing Maps aerial view of this area showed that Bradhust Drive doesn't connect with Parapone Drive and fewer houses on Bradhurst Drive. The Google Maps aerial of this area shows that Bradhurst Drive connects with Paprpone Drive and has more houses. Thus, the two aerial views were taken in two different years. I have never seen this before.

Anyway, I did get to the venue about 50 minutes before the race start at the usual 10 AM. I got out for a nice and easy 2 mile warmup run at 8:34 pace, link here. I had 8 minutes before race start so I took out my Brooks jacket, took a swig of water and walked to the race start. I lined up in the usual spot ... a bit behind the start line and to the right.

The start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews from https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

A couple of seconds later ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews from https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

 And ... we were off! I started a bit too fast ... since I kept pace with Kevin Clinefelter for 100 yards. So I backed off. This course elevations was your basic hump ... uphill for the first 2 miles, then some rolling hills and then a downhill finish. The first hills in the first mile sucked a bit, then the hills in the second mile sucked a bit less. I warmed up and ran well the rest of the way. I said "Hi" or offered encouragement to the early start runners that I passed.

About a mile from the finish ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews from https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

I did enjoy the downhill miles to the finish ... I sped up. Soon I could see the finish line ... over 36 minutes ... and done in with 4.88 miles in 36:29, 7:29 pace, by my Garmin Forerunner 220.

I was a bit winded and went straight to the lodge. I had a banana and a bagel with jelly ... mmm! Then it was off to see my daughter in Palmyra to deal with her laptop. Its issues were that it randomly turned off and it booted slow. I had Googled the issue of her Toshiba Satellite P745 S4102 and found this link. So I disconnected the keyboard connector to her ON/OFF switch (now she needs to press her Play switch). Then I stopped Skype and Ccleaner from starting up on startup which helped a lot with her startup time. I also advised her to not keep so many files on her desktop.

Then it was back up to Rochester for a bit. I uploaded my Garmin and found out the results of Freezeroo #4. My splits were: 7:29, 7:52, 7:32, 7:19 and 7:10 over the last 0.88 mile. Not bad. I was 34th out of 134, link here. I was 5th out of 15 in my M 55-59 age group, link here.

Last on the list for the day was the GRTC Annual Banquet. This time it was held at the Burgundy Basin Inn out in Bushnells Basin instead of the Diplomat Banquet Center in Rochester. The food was better for sure. I won my 2016 GRTC Rochester Runner of the Year (2017 is already posted) M 55-59 age group with 53 out of 60 points by running 8 out of the 12 races in the series. I also received a 2016 platinum mileage patch for running 37 races for 318 race miles. Bill Murphy race/walked 70 races for 740 race miles and Tom Hawkins ran 71 races ... wow!

The GRTC Annual Banquet swag ... 

All in all, a nice week.

Sunday, 1/15/2017 to Saturday, 2/21/2017

I ran 4 times this week, 38.5 miles.

Sunday, 1/15/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:17:21, 8:16 pace, 28F, 74% RH, 5 mph W wind, wind chill 23F, overcast.


I was up around 8 AM which is kind of late for me. I puttered around a bit and thought a couple of seconds about bagging a Sunday run but knew I would feel like a slug if I did. I found my freshly washed running gear and headed out. I took it really nice and easy due to racing the Freezeroo #3 the previous day. I decided to go out on the LOSP trail and then up and down Island Cottage. I thought about doing an out and back on Janes Rd to add another 3.1 miles but decided to not push my left hamstring any further. My splits were: 8:34, 8:22, 8:21, 8:15, 8:17, 8:14, 8:10, 8:10, 8:13 and 7:52 over the last 0.35 mile. I relaxed with the usual mugs of coffee as I recovered. I didn't feel like a slug.

Later I watched both NFL playoff games. Both were exciting. The Green Bay Packers barely beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-31, link here. Then the Pittsburgh Steelers out-FGed the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16, link here.

Monday, 1/16/2017: Rest day.

Tuesday, 1/17/2017: 6.25 miles, 51:15, 8:12 pace, 39F, 93% RH, 8 mph SSE wind, wind chill 34F, overcast, really light mist.



I almost bagged this run. It had rained all day but it had stopped momentarily. So I got out and got it done. A really light mist started on the way back. Boom. My splits were: 8:11, 8:08, 8:02, 8:21, 8:20, 8:17 and 7:45.

Wednesday, 1/18/2017: Rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, got out during the day to get her nails done at New Nails and her hair cut at the nearby Shear Ego International School of Hair Design.

Thursday, 1/19/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:16:01, 8:08 pace, 37F, 81% RH, 5 mph WNW wind, wind chill 33F, overcast.


My boss at Ricoh brought in delicious donuts while she visited me. We each had three. So .. I knew I needed to run after work. I found out that an average donut equals 250 calories, link here. So I just figured one donuts equals running 5K. So 3 donuts would equal running 15K. So I got home, got dressed and got out there. I pushed it a bit to a not so nice and easy pace. My splits were: 8:18, 8:16, 8:03, 8:05, 8:06, 8:01, 8:05, 8:09, 8:14 and 7:57 over the last 0.35 mile.

Friday, 1/20/2017: Rest day.

Political rant: I tried to avoid thinking or watching Trump's inauguration today. DJT's inauguration speech was just like he was still on the campaign trail, link here. The "American carnarge"? I believe America was already great and made greater by the Obama presidency even though he faced Republican obstruction every step of the way. We will see ...

I left work 2 hours early. I have about two weeks of vacation that I have to use before the end of March. I went to get my hair touched up at the OK Barber Shop in Irondequoit. My darling wife, Christine, cut my hair last Sunday. Let's just say it's not her calling.

Saturday, 1/21/2017: 13.55 miles, moving 1:52:38, 8:18 pace, 45F, 93% RH, 3 mph W wind, overcast.


I went to bed early so I could get up early to get to the Swing Bridge by 7 AM to do a Round the Bay run. I met up with 5 other runners and Wilt Alston. I just followed everyone when we started out up the 590 path (the shorter route). I decided to move up a bit and then kept up the front three (Russ, Mike and Patty). I kept up on the flats and downs and fell back on the hills (I walked a bit) on the west side of the Bay. We stopped for about 5 minutes before we turned left to go down Empire Blvd to the Bay. I took off my top layer and tied it around my neck. Then it seemed to be about 10 degrees colder as soon as we started down the hill. Brr! But I warmed up and got used to it. The hill back up Empire Blvd was just as long and relentless as ever. I sped up on the Bay Rd flats. My thighs were screaming as I gutted it out when I turned onto Lake Rd and back across the Swing Bridge. Boom ... done in a moving time of 1:52:38, 8:18 pace. My splits were: 9:17, 8:27, 8:06, 8:45, 7:48, 9:24, 9:30, 9:14, 8:22, 8:09, 7:59, 8:02, 7:56 and 7:57 over the last 0:55 mile. Not bad, but I did walk a portion of all the hills so there is room for improvement.

I stopped at Herrema's on the way home for some comfort food ... a bag of Estenmann's donuts, link here. Mmm ... tasty. Oh, I lost 2.6 pounds during this run and 0.6 pounds by the next morning even after eating half the bag and downing two mugs of coffee.

A dense fog rolled in during the afternoon and stayed for about 24 hours. It seemed just to be around the lake because my brother, Don, rode his Honda 750 out to the East Palmyra Cemetery to visit our parents grave and posted a sunny picture. There were sunny pictures of the Women's march in Seneca Falls and a report of a sunny trail run in Scottsville on Facebook. Yeah ... lots of people marched in Washington DC, around the US and in all 7 continents the day after Trump was inaugurated. He brought the country together ... just not the way he thought he would.

Sunday, 1/8/2017 to Saturday, 1/14/2017 - Freezeroo #3

1 ran 5 times this week, 19.17 miles.

Sunday, 1/8/2017: 5.15 miles. 47:31, 9:14 pace, 18F, 79% RH, 10 mph W wind, overcast, light snow.


I woke up around 7:30 AM and found that about 1/2 inch of snow had followed overnight. I wasn't too sore from the Winter Warrior Half last night so ... I got dressed and got out there. I decided to take it really nice and easy for an out and back on the LOSP trail. There had not been anyone out so I made the first footprints on the LOSP trail, sweet! I should have worn my trail shoes but made due with my road shoes. It was kind of nice hearing the "crunch, crunch" of my footfalls. My splits were: 9:32, 9:21, 9:23, 9:04, 8:52 and 8:51 over the last 0.15 mile.

I found out on Facebook that other runners had got out for more. I saw runs of 12, 13 and 18. Joe Ciecierega was down in AL running the First Light Marathon in 5:01:21, unofficial results here.

Monday, 1/9/2017: Rest day ... well deserved.

How did I spend it? Helping my daughter, Karen, move from her mother's couch in Newark to an apartment in Palmyra. It went OK. I drove the 17 foot U-Haul truck. My ex's boyfriend helped. All she really had was a couch, chair, full sized bed and the usual stuff. We got it done.

Tuesday, 1/10/2017: Another rest day.

The weather was crap: a bit of snow in the morning, freezing rain in the afternoon, howling winds in the evening.

Wednesday, 1/11/2017: 7.35 miles, 1:04:05, 8:43 pace, 46F, 36%, 4 mpd SSE wind, overcast.



This run started out well. What was not to like? It had warmed to 55F(!) during the day. I almost was tempted to go with short instead of tights. It wasn't windy like it had been in the early morning. I debated whether to go for 7 or 10 before the run. What went wrong? Well ... please ask my left hamstring. I had my running gear in the Cruze, dressed at B6 and drove out to the Greece Aradia High School. I wanted to have a well lit place to keep the Cruze while I ran. I struck up a nice and easy pace as I headed up Island Cottage. I could feel some mild discomfort in my left hamstring. I kept on going ... figuring that it would loosen up and go away. Well ... it didn't. I could have cut the run short but being the stubborn runner I am I didn't. It started to hurt worse. My pace slowed. It sucked but I got the run done. My splits were: 8:08, 8:30, 8:32, 8:43, 8:55, 8:57, 9:01 and 8:43 over the last 0.35 mile.

My darling wife, Christine, wanted to know if I wanted to go to Urgent Care when I told her that I was somewhat injured when I came home. I am sorry that I snapped at her. I'm perhaps a bit obsessed when running is concerned.

Thursday, 1/12/2017: Rest day.

Friday, 1/13/2017: Rest day.

Saturday, 1/14/2017: 3 runs of 1.5, 5.02 and 2.15; 23F, 63% RH, 4 mph ESE wind, overcast.

Today's race was Freezeroo #3, a 5 mile race held out in Spencerport at Pineway Ponds Park. This was my 4th Freezeroo at this venue (2013 in 37:04, 2015 in 36:43 and 2016 in 36:18).

I was up relatively early at 7:30AM. I puttered around and then got ready. It was a crisp and cold morning so I wore the usual: my CW-X tights, Darn Tough socks, an old Freezeroo long sleeve tech, my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover. I brought my yellow Brooks jacket for warmup warmth and the usual balaclava and ski mittens. Boom. My darling wife, Christine, was still under the weather with her cold and a cold sore so I kissed her on the forehead and left. But I only got to just before I-390S and Latta before I remembered that I forgot my race bib. I turned around and retrieved it. Then onward.

I got out to Pineway Ponds Park around 9:15AM in plenty of time for the 10AM start. I pinned on my race bib. I found my rolling stick and ran it over my left hamstring. It hurt a bit but it did loosen it up. I dressed a bit warmer and headed out for a nice and easy warmup run at 8:33 pace, link here. My left hamstring felt a bit weird but not outrageously so. I had 20 minutes before the race. I thought about going out for another race but just paced around for 10 minutes. I stashed my Brooks jacket in the Cruze and headed to the start. I met up with Prem Kumar and Andy Ciaio. I didn't think I would see them after the start. Wilt Alston told us about some ice to be careful of one of the last turns.

The start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

A bit after the start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

And ... we were off! I got up to race pace quickly. I didn't know how my left hamstring would react. It still felt a bit weird but it stayed that way so I kept my pace. "One mile Pete" gave a 7:24 first mile. I was running in a small pod of runners. I picked off a couple and kept my pace. I passed some early starters and gave encouragement or said "Hi" to one I knew like Bill Murphy, Tina Pellegrin and Charlie Sabatine. I avoided the ice on that turn and kept my race pace for the final 1/2 mile. I saw that the timer was below 38 ... and done with 5.02 miles in 37:40ish. Nice!

Near the finish ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

I walked up to the Cruze. I thought about heading into the lodge but went out for a rare cooldown run instead to keep my left hamstring loose. I went out for a really nice and easy 2.15 miles at 9:09 pace, link here. I saw Bill Murphy finish in just over 58 minutes (actually 1:18). Bill does a mean racewalk, 5 miles in under 12 minutes/mile! Then I headed into the lodge. I learned from Tina Pellegrin that there was about 1/2 inch of ice down in Jackson, Mississippi that cancelled the Mississippi Blues Marathon (Saturday, 1/7/17) that her and Joe Ciecierega had flown down to last weekend. She said that it would have cancelled any race up here too and that the ice vanished about 20 miles out of Jackson as they travelled to the First Light Marathon in Mobile, Alabama the next day. Then I discovered a new tasty treat for a post-race snack: a bagel with jelly ... mmm!

I headed home for my usual post-race mugs of coffee. The results from Hour Glass Works were soon up on their website. I did OK. I was 39th out of 153 in 37:42, link here. I was 6th out of 18 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. I did see that I ran my slowest Freezeroo #3 at this venue. I felt fast to me. Oh well. I'm out there. Oh, Andy ran a 35:29, Prem ran a 36:00, Charlie ran a 1:02:43, Tina ran a 1:05:04 and Bill Murphy ran a 1:18:03.

I wanted to take Christine to get her nails touched up at New Nails but ... she was still under the weather. So ... I stayed in the rest of the day, did 4 loads of laundry and watched a bit of football. A nice day!

Sunday, 1/1/17 to Saturday, 1/7/17 - Freezeroo #2 and Winter Warrior Half

I ran 6 times this week, 31.91 miles.

Sunday, 1/1/2017: 2 runs of 2 and 7.53 miles, 34F, 64% RH, 9 mph S wind, wind chill 26F, mostly sunny

Today's race was my seventh Freezeroo #2, as known as the Resolution Run. My past times are: 2009 - 1:02:33, 2011 - 57:24, 2012 - 53:26, 2013 - 1:02:13, 2014 - 57:31 and 2015 - 59:44. It's a 7.5 mile race out at Mendon Ponds Park (MPP) on those well-known rolling hills that I have run so many times.

I was up around 7:30 AM. I knew that my darling wife, Christine, wouldn't be coming since she had come down with my cold. I got dressed in my usual winter gear: my old CW-X tights, a short sleeve tech and yellow Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover. I brought along my yellow Brooks jacket (to wear for my warmup), yellow Brooks beanie, heavy running glove and ski mittens. I got down to Stewart Lodge around 9:10 AM in plenty of time for the 10 AM start.

I thought about my glove selection and decided to go with the heavy running gloves. I also donned my running sunglasses. I got out for a longish warmup run of 2 miles at 8:50 pace, link here. I got a swig or three of water, stashed my Brooks jacket in the Cruze, then headed down to the start. There was a bit of confusion where the start was but Wilt Alston told us ... "look for the cone!" ... lol!

I lined up a bit farther up than usual. All of a sudden ... there was a very softly spoken "Go" and off we went! I got up to race pace and tried to hold back.

The start ... photo courtesy of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

Still bunched up just past the turn onto Canfield Rd ... photo courtesy Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

A view up Canfield Rd toward Clover Rd ... photo courtesy of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

The 1 mile mark was a bit too close and Pete yelled out 6:45 as I passed. It was really 7:12 pace. I felt pretty good for the first two miles or so. Wendy Abbott said "Hi, Doug" as she passed me at mile 2.4. Then I started to feel like I had just got out of bed after having a cold for a week ... wait, I did. I was also a trifle bit hot so I had overdressed a bit. I got tired so I slowed and started to take tiny walk breaks to catch my breath.

Canfield Rd before the turn onto Pond Rd ... photo courtesy of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

Just before the finish ... photo courtesy of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

Miles 3, 4, 5 and 6 passed. I was back in MPP so under a mile to go. Last left turn onto Douglas Rd, last hill at the cobblestone house, finish line in sight ... I couldn't pass anyone ... didn't see 1:00 on the timer yet ... done with 7:53 miles in 59:19 ... nice!

A post Freezeroo #2 selfie

Prem bumped fists with me as I started to walk the long walk up to Stewart Lodge. He said that he couldn't catch me. Andy Ciaio asked how I was feeling when he saw me since I hadn't looked so good when he passed me at mile 4. I talked a bit with Joe Ciecierega who told me of his and Tina's plans to run the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson MS on 1/7 and the Mobile AL marathon on 1/8 to get a medal from each marathon plus another for completing the Back2Back Challenge, link here. Joe is certainly a medal junkie, lol! I had some pasta, garlic bread and a banana before I headed out.

I stopped by Fleet Feet Armory on Culver Rd on the way back. Their inaugural Donut Mile, Facebook link here, was being held, video links here and here.

A line of donuts

Wave 4 and 5 is ready to start

I saw the tail end of Wave 3 and the start of last Wave (4,5). It looked like it was a chore to eat a whole donut before heading back out for another 1/4 mile. The Donut Mile had 130 finishers, results here.

I had my usual post-race mugs of coffee while I relaxed on the couch. I uploaded my Garmin data and caught up on Facebook. My splits were: 7:12, 7:45, 8:01, 8:16, 7:52, 8:09, 8:12 and 7:22 over the last 0.53 mile. I was 53rd out of 221, link here. I was 7th out of 30 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. Andy was 34th in 56:23, Wendy was 41st in 57:24, Prem was 67th in 1:00:33. Wilt was 77th in 1:02:05, Joe Ciecierega was 101st in 1:05:55. He had told me that his 2017 goal was to up his pace since he had intentionally slowed it to run the CanLakes 50 back in October.

I'm glad I didn't waste too much of my time watching the final Bills game of the season. The Bills played the Jets down in NYC and lost 10-30, link here. This video link from late in the 4th quarter shows in one play how poorly the play was ... a Bills player named Bill Gillespie lets the kickoff skip into the end zone ... doesn't down it ... and lets a Jets player named Doug Middleton fall on it for another Jets TD. This is the only second time this has happened in the NFL in the past 30 years. So ... the Bills regress to a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs for the 17th consecutive year.

Monday, 1/2/2017: Another sick day.

Today was my last day off. I had 5 days off during Christmas and 4 days off during New Years. I had wanted to get some stuff done around the townhouse ... but didn't because of my cold. Aaarrgghh!

Tuesday, 1/3/2017: A rest day ... I'm still not 100% so what was the point?

Wednesday, 1/4/2017: Stuff day ... I had to get the oil changed and tires rotated on the Cruze. Bob Johnson Chevrolet did a top notch job like always.

Thursday, 1/5/2017: 7.35 miles, 1:00:13, 8:11 pace, 19F, 86% RH, 5 mph WSW wind, wind chill 12F, light snow.


I was already at the Rochester Tech Park and I did have my running gear so I decided to run a couple of loops of the Winter Warrior Halfcourse plus a bit more. There were only three dicey parts. The first was about 1/4 mile in when I wanted to make a left turn on a patch of ice while a RTS bus was making a right turn ... I hopped onto the grass. The second was running on the grass along the side of Manitou Rd for 200 yards. The third was just before the end of the first loop when the call center was letting out its 6 PM shift change. Plus my headlamp could have used a charge. There were lots of people trying to cross the street or going to waiting cars. The second loop was much quieter. My splits were: 8:20, 8:19, 8:11, 8:11, 8:13, 8:09, 8:07 and 7:43 over the last 0.35 mile.

Friday, 1/6/2017: Rest day

Marathon related news: Both the Mississippi Blues Marathon (where Tina Pelligrin and Joe Ciecierega were) and the Walt Disney Half were cancelled due to weather.

Saturday, 1/7/2017: 3 runs of 0.65, 1.15 and 13.23 miles,

Today's race was my third Winter Warrior Half. It held at the Rochester Tech Park for the second year. I ran a 1:50:07 at MCC in 2014 and a 1:47:50 in 2015. So been that, done that. This was a strange race to prep for since it started at 4 PM.

My prep probably wasn't the best. I went down to the "pit" ... err, basement, for 2 hours. I had 2 shelving units that I had put together before I got my cold on Christmas day and I was determined to populate them. I put my boxes on the first one. I did find 7 boxes of old college (CWRU and RIT) textbooks to throw out. I graduated RIT in 1982 and don't want to move them again. I still have to go through the boxes I did save but it's a start. I put most of Christine's boxes on the second one. I need another shelving unit and to re-box some of her boxes since most of them don't have covers.

Before

After. Those are empty boxes in the middle.

I wanted to just have a sandwich for lunch around 1:30 PM but Christine started to make mac'n'cheese. I was hungry so I wolfed it down. Then ... I was worried that I would be too full for my warmup run and race.

It was in the teens with a light wind so I dressed like usual: my old CW-X tights, Darn Tough crew socks, a Freezeroo long sleeve tech, my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover. I put on my yellow Brooks jacket for warmth. I brought along my balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and ski mittens. I kissed my darling wife, Christine, goodbye and headed out at 2:40 PM. She had signed up to volunteer but cancelled on Thursday because she was still sick.

I got down to the RTP at 3 PM so I snagged a close parking spot. I went to pick up my bib and Winter Warrior hat which took just a few minutes. I too a swig of water and put on my fully charged Black Diamond headlamp. I headed out for a short warmup run of 0.65 miles to B6 at 9:15 pace, link here. B6 is a Harris building where I tend to their printers for Ricoh. There was a plotter there that had emailed me about issues but one of the straps on my headlamp broke on the way there. So I fixed it with a paper clip while I was there. I took another warmup run of 1.15 miles at 8:44 pace back to the start, link here. I paced for about 10 minutes, took off my jacket and headed to the start.

I met up with Prem Kumar who told me this was his second race of the day. He been down in the Harriet Hollister Spencer recreation area for a 2 mile warmup and then the 3.5 mile Frozen Asset snowshoe race. Beast!


And ... we were off! I slowly got up to race pace. I just waited for the runners in front of me to sort themselves out. It's a 4 loop race ... no need to rush things.

The start. I think I'm in here somewhere ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

Another shot of the start ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

During Loop 1 ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

There is a slight hill at mile 1/2. The rest of the course is as flat as a pancake. I didn't carry water so I stopped for water at the water stop just past the start/finish as I passed at the beginning of loops 2, 3 and 4. I stopped for a bit longer on each loop as I tired. I had the urge to go pee as I began loop 2. I scoped out areas where I could run off for a pit stop but I never absolutely had to so I didn't. I started to pass slower runners on the later stage of loop 2.

During Loop 2 ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

Bill Murphy finishing his first loop. I am behind him finishing my second loop ... photo courtesy of  Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

Jo Meleca-Vight added this meme. Bill Murphy race walks a LOT of races!

During Loop 3 ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

During Loop 3 from the rear ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I put on my headlamp as I started loop 4 and took my longest water stop ... my thighs ached ... one more loop. My urge to go went away as I concentrated on finishing loop 4.I tried to acknowledge every volunteer on this loop since I wouldn't see them again. My Garmin chirped ... mile 12. Just the turnaround and three more turns ... keep running. It was getting darker but I knew where all the potholes were so I avoided them. One more turn .... keep to the right ... hear Ellen announce my name (just as she had done for loops 1, 2 and 3) priceless ... and done with 13.23 miles in 1:46:14 (by my Garmin). I got my finisher's medal and 4 Season Challenge medal in the chute. I stopped my eCrumb and took a selfie.

A post Winter Warrior Half selfie ... all blinged out!

I was cold so I went to the Cruze to put on my jacket and winter coat. I shivered as I went to the warming tent for some post-race food. I had a bowl of mac'n'cheese as I talked to Prem for a bit. He had finished in front of me at 1:45:27. I had a cookie and a cup of cookie before I headed to a porta-potty and then the Cruze. I was shivering as I put the heater on full blast. I wasn't warming up so I just went home.

I stripped as soon as I got in and headed up to take a hot shower. Three of my fingertips were white. Yes, I have Raynaud's Disease, link here. They hurt a bit. The hot shower helped. Soon they were pink again and tingled for a few minutes. No worries .. used to it in the winter.

The Winter Warrior Half swag

The results from Yellow Jacket Racing were posted by 8:18 PM. I officially finished in gun time of 1:46:12 and chip time of 1:46;06. I was 89th out of 767, link here. I was 3rd out of 25 in my M55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 8:05, 7:48, 7:48, 8:10, 7:51, 7:48, 8:15, 8:01, 7:53, 8:04, 8:47, 8:00. 7:55 and 7:54 over the last 0.23 mile. I saw a video on TWC News that I'm in at the 15 second mark, link here.

All in all, a pretty good day!

2016 - A look back, 2017 - a look ahead

A year end report about 2016 and a look ahead into 2017.

First, let me type that I have been sober since my 59th birthday on September 16th, a span of 107 days. Why? I have faced the fact that I was a binge drinker. It's better off for me that I abstain from any form of alcohol. I would say I feel pretty good ... if I didn't still have this cold.

2016 was a good running year for me. I ran 206 times for 1516.37 miles, 7.36 miles per run. This was my highest miles for a year (148.5 miles above 2015 which was my previous high). I was over 100 miles per month all year (January - 120.89, February - 111.53, March - 127.47, April - 101.29 (kind of close), May - 124.34, June - 125.50, July - 128.09 (21 - most runs) , August - 136.31, September - 145.08, October - 146.66, November - 139.50 and December - 109.71). Oh, I put on my snowshoes 5 times for 11.1 miles and biked 8 times for 128 miles.

The bib wall

The 2016 4 Season Challenge medals and the other 2016 medals

I ran 37 races in 2016. This was 21 fewer races than last year. Why? Well ... I found that I didn't have the money to run so many races so I had to prioritize what races I could run. Yes, I did check the results of some of the races that I didn't run to see where I might have placed. I am a competitive person ... that's why there a clock at the finish line.

The highlights of the races that I can remember: running the Syracuse Half with a mini-blizzard after mile 4, completing the 2016 3+1 Four Season Challenge (Winter Warrior Half in January, Flower City Half in April, Shoreline Half in July and Rochester Marathon in September), completing the Dirt Cheap Stage Race and running the Mendon Ponds Trail Run 50K. I ran 8 out of the 12 Greater Rochester Track Club (GRTC) Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) races. I placed first in my M 55-59 age group with 53 out of 60 points, results here and scoring rules here.

What's in store for 2017? Well ... more running and more races I am sure. I have signed up for 12 races already: the Freezeroo series (#2: 7.5 miles on 1/1, #3: 5 miles on 1/14. #4: 5 miles (new course) on 1/28, #5: 8 miles (new course) on 2/11, #6: 4.4 miles (new course) on 2/25, the Four Season Challenge (Winter Warrior Half on 1/7, Flower City Half on 4/30, Shoreline Half on 7/15 and Rochester Half on 9/17), Mind the Ducks (12 hours) on 5/13, Many on the Genny: 40 trail miles down in Letchworth State Park on 6/24.

I already have a conflict. I saw the Akron Hall of Fame Marathon pricing of $26.20 on 4/30. So I jumped on it thinking the Flower City Half would surely be on 4/23 ... NOT! So ... I guess I will try to defer the HOF until 2018?

My darling wife, Christine, asked to me to sign her up for Mind the Ducks ... so we'll both be competing. This time we'll be there until the finish!

I need to sign up for the usual ones I run: Spring Forward 15K on 3/18, the Dirt Cheap Trail Race series, the Medved 5K to Cure ALS on 6/18, a July 4th race somewhere, Summerfest 12K on 9/2, Dirt Cheap Stage Race on 11/10 to 11/12, Race with Grace 10K on 11/23. I also usually run most of the 2017 GRTC Rochester Runner of the Year races but they won't be announced until the 2016 GRTC Banquet on 1/28. Then there are others: Mess the Dress on 4/22, Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run in late June, the Boilermaker 15K in Utica NY on 7/9, Dam Good Trail Run on 8/13.

Sunday, 12/25/2016 to Saturday, 12/31/2016

I ran once (yes, once) this week, 5.05 miles

Sunday, 12/25/2016: Christmas

My darling wife, Christine, wanted to stay home this year for Christmas. Which was good ... because I came down with a head cold that got worse during the day. I wanted to get out for a run but that didn't happen. No one came over and we didn't go out so we spent a quiet Christmas in our townhouse.

Christmas cookies from my daughter, Karen

Our Christmas breakfast of French toast, scrambled eggs and ham

Our Christmas dinner of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and salad

Christine made it her mission to feed my cold with food and then drown it with juices. I woke up about six times between going to sleep and waking up so I could go to the bathroom and/or blow my nose.

Christine and I sporting our new hats (with small zippered pockets on each side) and eyeglasses 

Monday, 12/26/2016: Sick day.

My head cold got worse. I blew my nose, sneezed and blew my nose some more ... joy. I did pass some time by watching YouTube on the smart TV in the master bedroom. I started with Star Wars commercials (YouTube link here), then made it to Darth Vader shorts (like Darth Vader in Love, YouTube link here and Darth Vader Gets Arrested, YouTube link here) and then some Star Wars fan films. The "Darth Maul: Apprentice" was truly great!

New alert! I went to bed at 7 PM and slept until 6 AM for a solid 11 hours of sleep. I felt like crap so I just decided to go to bed.

Tuesday, 12/27/2016: Another sick day

I did make it outside to take a Netflix DVD to the mailbox on Greenleaf Rd on Tuesday. It was a slow news day ... then the Bills owner fired the coach, Rex Ryan and his twin brother, Rob.

Later, I whined enough to convince my darling wife, Christine, to head out before I went to bed for ice cream and cold medicine. My throat was raw. A cold milk shake felt good before I tried to get any sleep that I could get before I went to work in the morning.

Wednesday, 12/28/2016 through Friday, 12/30/2016: Three more sick days

I made it to work and back on Wednesday and Thursday with a vacation day on Friday. I was slowly getting better. This cold didn't knock me off my feet but sure slowed me down. I haven't "given" it to Christine ... yet. But I may weaken and give it to her soon.

Saturday, 12/31/2016: 5.05 miles, 43:56, 8:42 pace, 30F, 64% RH, 9 mph S wind, wind chill 22F, partly cloudy.


I needed to get one more run in before the end of 2016. I wasn't 100% but I felt a bit better. I went out on the LOSP trail for 2.5 miles and back. I wore my blue Salamon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes just in case but there was only 1/2 to 2 inches of snow on parts of the trail. I struck up a really nice and easy pace. While I ran I just thought about the runs of 2016. My splits were: 8:44, 8:35, 8:44, 8:51 and 8:40.

Later, I managed to get close enough to my darling wife, Christine, to "give" her my cold. She'll say that she got it while she was taking care of me, lol! I'm sorry, honey!

Stats for the month of December: I ran 16 times for 107.71 miles, 6.43 miles per run. One was a warmup before Freezeroo #1 of 2 miles, another was a warmup before WTF of 1.1 miles and another was a snowshoe run of 2.15 miles.
I ran two races during December: Freezeroo #1 (5K) and the Winter Trail Festival (WTF) of 15.29 miles.
Stats for 2016: I ran 206 times for 1516.37 miles, 7.36 miles/run. I put on the snowshoes 5 times for 11.1 miles and biked 8 times for 128 miles.

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.