Sunday, 2/19/12 to Saturday, 2/25/12

I ran 5 times this week, 25.93 miles.

Sunday, 2/19/12: Polar Cat #4, 3.1 miles, 22:14, 7:10 pace, 28F, light snow, calm, no stops, no pain.

Christine and I headed down to one of our homes away from home, Mendon Ponds Park, for the Polar Cat finale. We were at Stewart Lodge this year so the course was modified to be an out and back from the exit of the Beach parking lot on the rolling hills of Douglas Rd which is a bit simpler. We didn't get there too early so neither of us had any time to stretch.

Bob Haas, Marty, myself and Bill Beyerbach

My darling Christine

So the race started out creaky for me. So the mild uphill south on Douglas Rd was a bit painful. It took a bit to get into race speed but I did manage a 7:06 first mile. Bill Beyerbach and I raced side by side for the first 1.4 miles or so. We turned at 1.65 miles and started to come back. I opened it up and started to pick off runners, mile 2 at 7:15. I saw Christine on the way back when she was at about 3/4 mile. I kept it cranked, mile 3 at 7:04. I hit the finish at 22:14 which isn't too bad for such a rolling road. I finished 12th out of 65, link here. I finished 2nd out of 7 in my M50-54 age group, link here.

Sprinting for the finish!

Bill Beyerbach sprinting for the finish!

I headed out for a nice and easy 5k cool down run on the course after a couple of minutes. I saw Christine on the way out and told her she was 1.05 miles from the finish. I came back upon Christine when she was 1/4 mile from the finish and told her that the finish was in sight. I took a pic of her at the finish. Yes, she finished last but she wants to get faster. She is a trooper and lapped everyone on the coach!

Christine at the finish!

I went out with Bill Beyerbach for another cool down run after a bit. We headed out with our Garmins turned off. Later I mapped it out on runningahead.com as 2.3 miles. We wanted to go out nice and easy ... which didn't happen. I think we went out 1.25 miles around 8:00 pace and came back around 7:30 pace or faster. We just don't run slow together. But it felt good!

We all went out to breakfast/lunch at the Liberty Restaurant. Then we went to Bill's house when we showed him how to upload his Garmin. We had some misadventures with not knowing his username or password, plus we had to soft reset his Garmin. But he did manage to upload his 244 runs successfully.

Once Christine and I got home, we just vegged and vegged some more.

Monday, 2/20/12: Rest day.

A rest day for me and a rest day for Christine from her No-Bo. We watched the latest episode of Fringe and and the season finale of Pan Am. Will Pan Am be back next year?

Tuesday, 2/21/12: Sehgahunda Training, 5.33 miles, 1:01:33, 11:33 pace, 38F, night, light snow, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Sehgahunda Training in Washington Grove

Sehgahunda Training ... so it begins. We met up with Boots outside Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill. We went up into Washington Grove where Boots laid out a loop course in the dark with no flags, just landmarks. He took us through it once real slow. Then he set us loose on it ... so I got lost once before I memorized it so I could concentrate on the footing. I looped it five times before Boots let us stop. Our lessons were: check our batteries before we run in the dark, pick up our feet and pay attention to our surroundings to pick up landmarks. I could have sworn that I turned off my Garmin before I got in the car but ... I guess I didn't. I had to use the Garmin Player to figure out the mileage and time.

A bit of Wegmans shopping ensued afterward. Christine ordered Pizza Hut delivery which soon calmed my hunger.

Oh, I got a new BlueAnt T1 Rugged Bluetooth. It is really cool. It uploaded my contacts so it can tell me who is calling. Plus it can actually understand me and do my bidding ... like call my contacts, send texts, etc.

Wednesday, 2/22/12: FF Ridgeway run, 5.7 miles, 44:28, 7:48 pace, 34F, night, calm, light wet snow, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Ridgeway run - Pickdale + Pickdale

Christine and I headed down to Fleet Feet Ridgeway for her No-Bo run and my Sehgahunda Training "slow, easy" run. There were the usual crew of No-Bo walkers/runners so I headed out early. I just did my usual Pickdale - Pickdale route kind of nice and easy. The light wet snow became heavier which made me wish I had worn a hat instead of ear warmers. Christine had her own troubles ... blocked in by a bunch of walkers that would not move over, walkers wearing no reflectivity, fogged up glass, a headlight that needed batteries. The net result was that she fell on her left side. Luckily it was into a muddy lawn. She was kind of pissed. Her back started to spasm later. She wants to get out tomorrow on her own so she can pound out her frustrations.

The LA Lakers were on the road playing the Dallas Mavericks ... the result was a win, link here.

Thursday, 2/23/12: Rest day.

Christine didn't make it out during the day or after I came home. USPS delivered an Amphipod Micropack Satallite. It will be good for clipping to my shorts in the summer for holding my cell, money and gels.

I settled down for an evening of NBA basketball. Christine tolerated it. The first game was the NY Knicks with Jeremy Lin at the Miami Heat. The Heat manhandled the Knicks, link here. The second game was the LA Lakers at the Oklahoma Thunder. The Thunder won, link here. 

Friday, 2/24/12: High winds = rest day

I had some major excitement at work. Around 3PM I rebooted the PC that runs my printer scanning software ... the PC died. It wouldn't even count its RAM. I tried different RAM in different slots but nada. So I found a similar PC and switched the hard drive. I crossed my fingers ... it booted and I went home. I will have to get a new license key on Monday.

I got some more toys via USPS. I really needed a brighter headlight for night running so I bought a Black Diamond Icon Headlight along its NRG Rechargeable Battery Kit. I had a bit of trouble putting it all together. It would have helped to have instructions in bigger type. I can't wait to test it out!

I thought about going out for my prescribed run but a high wind warning from 5PM to 2AM cut that out. I felt bad but ... I don't think it would have been safe.

Saturday, 2/25/12: Freezeroo #6, 6.2 miles, 46:35, 7:31 pace, 28F, light snow, windy, no stops, no pain.

Christine and I got up and out early for her No-Bo run at Mendon Ponds Park. She headed out early for her 2.15 mile run. It was the same route that Bill Beyerbach and I ran on Sunday. She came back, got back into the car and off we went to Churchville for Freezeroo #6. The roads were variable ... tending towards bad the closer we got to Churchville. The drive took 50 minutes.

The start of Freezeroo #6

I appear around 1:50.

I didn't warm up at all before the race. Luckily, the heavy snow became light snow in time for the race at 10AM. The course was an out and back. The start was downwind on Bromley Rd. This road was mostly clear with a bit of slush so I started out pretty well, mile 1 at 7:04, mile 2 at 7:12. The footing on Attridge Rd road was more snowy so my speed fell, mile 3 at 7:41, mile 4 at 7:51. I saw someone fall in front of me twice within 50 feet. The turn back onto Bromley Rd put us into the wind ... and it was brutal, gusting to around 20-30mph. I just put one foot in front of the other, told myself that I was not going to walk, started counting my steps, didn't look up, anything to keep moving, mile 5 at 7:43, mile 6 at 7:51. I thought I was running faster going in ... but the Garmin says differently. I think I picked it up at bit too soon after I crested the hill at mile 5.3. I had nothing left in the last 0.5 mile into the finish.

Running toward the halfway point on Attridge Rd

But still ... I ran a 46:35 which is a 7:31 pace under not so great winter conditions. It's all good. I finished 40th out of 175 hardy runners, link here. I was 7th out of 23 in my M50-54 age group. GRTC Freezeroo series wise, I was 35th out of 175 males overall, link here. I was 5th out of 30 in my M50-54 age group, link here, and finished out of the money. We sat, ate pizza, swapped running stories and talked about our upcoming races ... sweet!

Christine and I headed home ... but not before a side trip to BJ's. Later Christine cooked up a nice and filling beef stew for supper while we caught up on the lastest episodes of Castle, NCIS and Hawaii Five-O off of the trusty DVR.

We went to bed early, believe it or now! Tomorrow is more Sehgahunda Training ... Hell on Hills in Ellison Park. Sounds like fun!