Sunday, 1/1/12: Freezeroo #2, 7.5 miles, 53:26, 7:07 pace, 2 stops, no pain.
Christine was still felling poorly with a head cold so I headed down to Mendon Ponds Park solo. I got there about 20 minutes early and got ready. This Resolution race is always well attended.
Coming down Douglas Rd, I appear around 1:00.
I started out hot with a 6:36 first mile as we ran out Douglas Rd, then Canfield Rd toward Clover Rd. I slowed a bit with mile 2 and 3 at 7:02 and 7:17. Mile 3 was announced as 20:50. I took a couple of cups of water around mile 3. I also took a slight walk of 10 seconds around the halfway point. Two people passed me so I kicked back into gear with mile 4 at 7:33. I exchanged pleasantries with Steve Levitsky as he passed me during the hills on Mendon Center Rd. I shortly passed him back on a downhill and kept him behind me on the uphill, mile 5 and 6 at 7:20 and 7:07. I started to "tunnel run" ... just kept it cranked and put one foot in front of the other. The uphill turn up onto Canfield Rd almost broke me. Heather Danielson was amused about how I talked to myself as she passed me. I just gutted out the uphill without giving into the urge to stop, mile 7 at 7:10. I knew the race was almost over. I cranked it up more and finished the last half mile at 6:22 pace. I crossed the line at 53:26 ... about 50 feet behind Heather. I did pretty well, I set a 4 minute PR from 57:24 last year. I was 43rd out of 375, results here. I was 6th out of 43 in my M50-54 age group, results here. The post race grub was excellent. Though I thought I should have gone out for another 7.5 miles after I polished off 2 donuts, bread, pasta and an apple. I met up with Bill Beyerbach and Tom Butler and talked about running and our past exploits before I ended home.
Afterward, I actually thought that the Buffalo Bills, 6-9, had a chance going into facing the New England Patriots, 11-4. The Bills were playing out the string, the Patriots were playing for a 1st round bye and home field advantage throughout the NFL playoffs. The Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter. The Patriots climbed back to 21-17 by half, then just poured it on in the 2nd half to win 21-49, link here. Why do I root for the Bills, now 6-10? The New England Patriots are now 12-4 with the Bills just a speed bump after spotting the Bills 21 points.
Monday, 1/2/12: Rest day.
Just a lazy day with my darling Christine. We watched a bit of college football, OSU vs Florida (17-24) and a bit of college basketball, SU vs DePaul (87-68). Christine cooked a delicious lamb roast with sauerkraut and potatoes. Later we watched Blind Side before hitting the hay a bit early. A week off from week from work was quite nice ... though I did not get quite done what I wanted to get done. Do I ever?
Tuesday, 1/3/12: Rest day.
A week of vacation between Christmas and New Year's made for a hectic catch-up day of work. I felt run down during the day. I think that I caught the head cold that Christine had. I really didn't try to avoid it ... ;-) Christine went out to Macy's and bought me some dress shirts on clearance. Unfortunately she bought them in 16-16 1/2 neck instead of 15-15 1/2 neck. I love that she tried! Anyway, I declared a rest night and we went to bed at 8:45PM after a late supper.
Wednesday, 1/4/12: Snow Cheap #2, 2.7 miles, 23:07, 8:35 pace, 28F, night, calm, a bit of snow, no pain.
Christine was still feeling sick and so was I. A head cold ... but tonight was a race night. So I headed down to Cobbs Hill solo for Snow Cheap #2. The usual night trail racing types were there, 240 strong. It was 28F, just a bit of snow on the ground, so no snowshoes. I wore just running pants, long sleeve tech top, heavy cap, heavy gloves along with my Brooks Racing Team arm warmers and singlet ... which was just enough after I warmed up. The start was fast on a familiar course ... just backwards. I ran pretty well, I only tripped twice. I think I need a brighter headlight. I was passed by a handful of runners ... mostly I kept up. My Garmin gave me fits trying to upload. I tried a soft and hard reset but it just froze up during the upload. So I ended up just deleting all the data.
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| Tom Butler, me and Christine |
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| Me, Brendan (Bill's son) and Bill Beyerbach |
Thursday, 1/5/12: Rest day.
Christine and I really have to do several things ... laundry, have her nails done and take the dress shirts she got at Macy's back ... but things just kept popping up to get in the way. I really can't breathe too well ... oh well!
Friday. 1/6/12: FF Greece, 6.0 miles, 44:17, 7:23 pace, 48F, night, a bit windy in spots, no stops, no pain.
Garmin Connect Activity for FF Ridgeway run, Hendrick with another loop
Christine was still feeling down so I headed out to Fleet Feet Ridgeway for the usual Happy Hour run. I went out a bit easy but kicked it up and did the Hendrick route with a loop. My lips were a bit chapped but I soldiered onward.
Christine and I did venture forth to Walgreens and Wegmans after I got home. We happened upon an accident when we got to Walgreens. A truck had just hit a woman pedestrian just outside the door. She was moaning on the ground. Soon a lot of emergency crew were there: an ambulance, fire truck and 3 police cars. We were blocked in for a bit. Hopefully the woman is OK. Then it was onward to Wegmans for food, then a late supper.
Saturday, 1/7/12: Hearnish 10K route, 7.3 miles, 59:23, 8:09 pace, 46F, sunny, a bit windy, 2 or 3 stops, no pain.
Christine and I are not early Saturday morning risers on non race mornings ... so we slept in. But I did have a plan for a practice run in the afternoon.
Garmin Connect Activity for Hearnish 10K + 1 mile
Bill Beyerbach came over and he drove us down to Powder Mills Park. We parked at the Fish Hatcherie, stretched and headed out on the Hearnish 10K course. Just nice and easy ... as much as I could. I am not a nice and easy runner. The major hills were challenges met especially the one at mile 5. We got a bit lost at the end and had to backtrack but all in all, another great run with Bill! Maybe next time we can do a second loop for a Hearnish Half?
Afterward a quick shower and supper Christine and I headed out to get her nails done, exchange the shirts she got at Macy's for three that fit me and hit BJ's for a bit of groceries.
