Sunday, 12/19/10 to Saturday, 12/25/10

I ran 3 times this week, 15.5 miles.

Sun, 12/19: 4.3 miles, 31:31, 7:10 pace, 18F, cloudy, a bit windy, no stop, no pain.

CJ and I went out to Webster for the Polar Cat #2 race. The course was 2 loops of 2.2 miles, actually 4.3 miles. It was a bit chilly and the race started suddenly. I got out well and settled into a 6:47 first mile. I think I was around 16:00 when I came around for lap 2. I held on and finished strong. I was 16th out of 56, results here. I was 2nd out of 7 in my age group, results here. Many thanks to CJ for braving the elements and taking some pics.

Mon, 12/20: Rest day.

CJ and I went out Christmas shopping for my oldest son. We ended up at Target and bought a queen-sized air mattress. He will be home on Thursday and needed a bed to sleep on.

Tue, 12/21: 6.2 miles, 26F, no stops, no pain.

I headed down to Fleet Feet for the usual Cobbs Hill run. I ran the usual 3 Y's with no stops. The run up and down Monroe Ave was a bit slushy, ice and a bit uneven but not if you were careful about where you ran. I didn't start my Garmin until I had run a mile. Oops!

Wed, 12/22: Rest day. I found out that I have 34 Winter Warrior points down at Fleet Feet.

I worked with my new USB turntable. I converted the following albums to MP3s: The Cars - Candy-O, The Cars - The Cars, Boston - Boston. I converted The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band a couple of nights ago. I have gotten hang of it. I use EZ Vinyl Tape Converter initially. I use Audacity to split any tracks that don't get split ... which happens on every side of every album. Then I upload the album to ITunes. Meanwhile I finished up loading my son's laptop.

Thu, 12/23: Rest day. I wanted to run but ran out of time. CJ and I picked up my oldest son at the bus station in Rochester and took him out to Newark. He had to take 3 buses to get home from UMass in Amherst MA. CJ and I exchanged gifts. I got her a Brooks Nightlife jacket to go with the one I bought myself and she got me a pair of CW-X Insulator Stabilyx Running Tights that we both got at Fleet Feet, of course. She thinks it might help me recover better.

Fri, 12/24: 5 miles, treadmill, 3 miles @ 8:34, 1.75 @ 8:00, 1/4 @ 7:30.

CJ and I drove out to Cleveland for Christmas. We stayed overnight at a Radisson near the airport. Within 30 minutes of getting there I was on the treadmill. I so needed to run!! I watched National Treasure on USA on the TV to while away the time. We had a king size Sleep Number bed ... I am not a fan. We had an excellent dinner at Cafe Stratos in North Olmsted, then saw her daughter.

Sat, 12/25: Merry Christmas!

CJ and I visited her son and daughter (again) in Bedford then her brother, his family and her father in Revenna. We enjoyed our time together. We headed back at 6:30PM. We got back to Rochester at 11:30PM, unpacked by midnight. Nice trip, nice weather!

Sunday, 12/12/10 to Saturday, 12/18/10

I ran 4 times this week, 19.7 miles

Sun, 12/12: 5 miles, 36:44, 7:21 pace, 40F, cloudy, 3 mini stops, no pain.


CJ and I went out to Spencerport for the first of six Freezeroos. This one was a 5 miler. I went out hard: mile 1 in 6:36 (at least that's what was shouted out), mile 2 in 14:10, mile 3 in 21:04. I broke down a bit in mile 4 and did 3 mini walks to catch my breath. I got back into a slow jog and gutted out to the finish in 36:44 which is my fastest 5 mile of the year and just 5 sec off my lifetime PR back in 2008. I was 48th out of 175, results here. I was 4th out of 23 in my age group, results here.

After we got back, we did the rest of our laundry ... towels, bed sheets and my running clothes. CJ made a nice supper of ribs and sweet potatoes. Amazingly, the Buffalo Bills won the third game of the season against the Cleveland Browns.Mon, 12/13: Rest day. A return to winter, temp fell to 12F with a wind chill of 0F during the day.

Tue, 12/14: 5.5 miles, 46:40, 8:29 pace, 16F, night, light snow, just a bit of a breeze, 1 mini stop, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to the Zoo, 2 times around the pond.

Winter fun ... 4 inches of snow fell during the night, 4 more inches fell during the day, in the low teens all day. A truly horrible day to drive. I must have spent at least 2 hours in my car driving between buildings. I had no desire to get back into my car to drive down to Fleet Feet. So after a bit of procrastination I put on my running gear and headed out to the Seneca Park Zoo, then 2 times around the pond and back. I put on the pair of YakTrak Walkers that CJ bought me for traction. I warmed up pretty quickly. A sweet run!

CJ had a mug of hot chocolate ready for me when I got back! We had the usual pasta dinner. Later ... dutch apple pie a la mode! Mmmm!

Wed, 12/15: 2.5 miles, 26:19, 10:32 pace, 22F, night, a bit windy, 1 stop, no pain


CJ and I went down to Cobbs Hill for Snow Cheap #1 with about 180 other fellow runners. I ran in the no showshoes category, just my trail shoes and YakTraks Pro. The start was blinding ... lots of snowshoes kick up lots of snow! I settled into a rhythm once we strung out. I followed a snowshoe runner for a while ... he packed down the snow for me. When a girl passed him I took off after her. We picked off some runners with a nice pace. When we broke into the clear for the finish 3 guys past me like I was standing still. I finished 17th out of 97 runners, results here. I finished 1st out of 8 in my 50-59 age group, results here. Another great event put on by my home around from home, Fleet Feet!

Thu, 12/16: Rest day. I set out our Christmas decorations. CJ helped put up the lights. It looks nice!

Fri, 12/17: 6.7 miles, 54:28, 8:20 pace, 28F, night, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to the Zoo, 3 times around the pond

I needed to run. I thought about heading out to run up Winona but decided that the road would be too slushy. So I went to the tried and true route out to the Seneca Park Zoo and around the pond. The road at the zoo and around the pond was mostly packed snow with some bare patches but very runnable at my pace. Sweet!

Sat, 12/18: Rest day.

Just a lazy day. CJ baked up a pound of bacon while I made the toast, cut the tomato and lettuce. So we had luscious BLTs with apple pie a la mode for dessert.

Sunday,12/5/10 to Saturday, 12/11/10

I ran 2 times this week, 11.7 miles.

Sun, 12/5: Rest day, of course.

I lazed around most of the day, watching it snow outside. I watched the Buffalo Bills knock Brett Favre out on the 3rd play and score a TD to go up 7-0 against the Minnesota Vikings. Good, right? Well, the Vikings went up 31-7 at half and won 38-14. CJ and I brushed off her car and went out around 6PM to Wegmans ... we needed food.

Mon, 12/6: Another rest day.

It continued a light snow most of the day. There are about 5 to 6 inches of snow on the ground now. Winter has really come to upstate NY with a vengance ever since December 1st!Tue, 12/7: Rest day.

I had a splitting headache when I came home from work so I bagged my usual run. I did make it down to Fleet Feet for Men's Night. There was beer, wings and shoe pong ... what more could you ask for? Oh, stuff to buy! Which I did.

Wed, 12/8: Rest day. Another splitting headache. CJ thinks that it may be from the diet cola that I drink for lunch. After a bit we caught up on a DVR of Castle. It was a pretty good episode.

Thu: 12/9: 6.6 miles, 54:53, 8:19 pace, 13F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Out to the Zoo, 3 times around the pond

I was getting antsy after 5 days without a run. After work I headed out to the Seneca Park Zoo to be out of the traffic flow, ran 3 times around the pond and back. It was a sweet run, clear, calm as a bell, with a pretty crescent moon in the sky! Mmm, feel the endorphins!

CJ made a nice post-run dinner of salmon, rice, peas and a salad with mushrooms, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Fri, 12/10: 5.1 miles, 42:40, 8:22 pace, 34F, night, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Happy Hour run + 1 loop

I went down to Fleet Feet for the usual Happy Hour run. The run was strenuous due to the slush, especially once I got to Monroe Ave. I much preferred yesterday's run when it was 13F ... hard snow is easier to run on. Still, it was a nice run!

After a supply run to the local Wegmans, CJ and I had a rotisserie chicken, baked otato and salad for super. Later, we had cherry pie a la mode for dessert.

Sat, 12/11: Rest day.

After CJ got her nails done, we headed out to Newark to pick up my father's mail, then out to the Wayne County Nursing Home in Lyons to see my father. I was sorry that I hadn't see him in a month but CJ and I didn't want to give him the cold that we have both been fighting. We had a nice visit. Then we headed back to Newark to see my youngest son before heading back up to Rochester.

Later, we purchased our first Movie on Demand, Knight and Day. Then we watched the last half of It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Yes, I shed a tear at the end like I always do.