Sunday, 3/9/2014 to Saturday, 3/15/2014

I ran 2 times this week, 12.5 miles

Personal note: This post will be torn between running, the blizzard and my father's passing. My father had been in the Wayne County Nursing Home for almost seven years. His passing was not unexpected but still sad and hard to process.

Sunday, 3/9/2014: Rest day.

I took a rest day. I think my darling wife enjoyed having me all to herself all day! We made it out around supper time to get something to eat. 

Our first try was at Bathtub Billy's. We went in and sat right down in the empty dining area. The Nascar race out in Las Vegas had 20 laps to go. The bartender came over 10 to 15 minutes later when there was one lap to go to tell us that the kitchen was closed. Obviously it was too much trouble to tell us any earlier or to put up a sign that the dining area was closed. We were miffed but didn't say anything as we left. Our next attempt was Famous Dave's ... score! We sat right down, got our water, ordered and had our food in three minutes ... no lie! I had the Feast for One (pulled pork on cornbread, 1/4 BBQ chicken, 3 spare ribs, fries, baked beans, coleslaw, a three inch section of corn on the cob along with a small muffin. My darling wife, Christine, had the beef brisket. We rolled ourselves out of there! I felt like I should have taken a long run but couldn't have if I had tried!

Monday, 3/10/2014: 1 mile warmup at 8:00 estimated pace, 5.2 miles, 39:55, 7:40 pace, 46F, 57% RH, overcast, daylight! 

Garmin Connect Activity for 5.2 miles on the streets of Irondequoit

I needed to run and it was warm for March so I wore my shorts, long sleeve tech, Brooks vest, Brooks beanie and light gloves. My Garmin didn't start up right away so I fired up MapMyRun and headed out on my usual 10K route. . When my Garmin finally started up I hit Start and continued running. I laid out a fast pace for the entire run that the Garmin picked up though I did back down a bit on the fourth and fifth mile. My splits were: 7:45, 7:30, 7:34, 7:43 and 7:48. I noticed that my 5 mile time was 38:20, 7:40 pace. I decided to only do a 10K because my thighs were a bit tight.

Later ... sad news. My father, Bernard DeWeaver, passed away at the Wayne County Nursing Home at 8:15PM. I got the call from my sister, Diane, at 9PM. I texted my kids and my ex-wife. I exchanged calls and texts with Diane, my older brother, Don, and my kids for the next couple of hours. I posted the sad news to Facebook before 10PM and soon my phone was bouncing with alerts as my social media friends expressed my condolences. My heartfelt thanks.

Tuesday, 3/11/2014: A busy rest day.

I went to work in the morning but my mind wasn't in it. I spent a lot of the morning talking to Diane, Don and the Yost Funeral Home as we tried to plan the first stages of the funeral and obituary. I took the afternoon off to get Fetzner Collision to do an estimate on fixing the right rear of our 2000 Chevy Cavalier and so that my lovely wife, Christine, and I got go to the dentist. Then we went out to the Wayne County Nursing Home so that I could box up my father's belongings. I took pics of everything before I boxed it.

Wednesday, 3/12/2014: Blizzard day

I ended up taking the next three days off for bereavement. The blizzard named as Vulcan by the Weather Channel barreled down on the upstate NY. The weather at 8AM deteriorated during the day. It snowed and it got colder. The forecast called for 14 to 18 inches with 25-35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Which it certainly was. I saw Facebook posts of other runners who went out on snowshoes. I busied myself by scanning old pictures that I took down from my father's room. My darling wife, Christine, made comfort food during the day: BLTs for lunch and mac'n'cheese for supper.

A scene from Leroy

Rt 250 up by Webster almost impassable

A satellite picture from mid February of the Great Lakes (about 85% frozen over).

The Great Lakes were 92.19% frozen over as of 3/6/2014, link here, which is second to the 95% of 1979.

The Weather Channel's Mike Siedel broadcast from the Irondequoit Bay Swing Bridge (where we ran 5 days ago)

 

A bit of Photoshop magic by somebody, somewhere

 

Thursday, 3/13/2014: Prep for Funeral, day 1

I met up with my brother, Don, and sister, Diane, at the Yost Funeral Home in Palmyra NY at 1PM. The roads were variable. The Thruway was as dry as a bone. The north-south main roads were not so great. Village streets in Palmyra and Newark were better than the town roads outside of the villages.

We met up with Bob Yost for a while to discuss the funeral. Dad was cremated like Mom. Our next stop with The Settlers Post out on Goldsmith Rd to arrange for the flowers. Then we headed out to Jim's (Diane's husband) sister's home to look at old pictures. Our plan was to make up two poster boards with pictures to place near the urn and a digital presentation of scanned pictures to play on a LCD TV. I brought my laptop and 4"x6" ImageBox scanner so I was in charge of scanning old pictures that we liked. We had a hoot of a time looking at old pictures of ourselves, Mom, Dad and other relatives.

Friday, 3/14/2014: 6.3 miles, 48:30, 7:41 pace, 46F, 42% RH, sunny, wind chill 40F.

Garmin Connect Activity for 6.3 miles - 2 days after the blizzard

My darling wife, Christine, and I lazed around a bit before we started our day. I made her a coule of waffles and a mug of coffee for our breakfast. She headed out to do "girly" stuff: get her hair cut and colored and her nails touched up. I started our laundry. During the first load in the dryer I snuck out for a fast loop of my 10K course. The weather had warmed up to above 50F so I just wore shorts, a 1/2 zip long sleeve tech, light gloves and a hat. The main roads were clear with a bit of slush, the side streets were slushy and the side walks were slushy with areas of water to splash around or through. I struck up a fast pace and navigated my way through or around the slush. I was a bit surprised by my fast pace. I kept it up except on Cooper Rd and Titus Ave where I had to pick my way around the slush on the sidewalks. My splits were: 7:45, 7:42, 7:27, 7:29, 8:11, 7:41 and 7:25 over the last 0.3 miles.

An aside: what a five days in Rochester! Running in 50F plus weather on Monday, my father's passing on Tuesday, a blizzard on Wednesday with 16 inches of snow and temperatures falling 40F to 12F from the day previous, looking through pictures of my father on Thursday and running in 50F plus weather on Friday. Wow!

When I got back I continued doing the laundry, 5 loads in total. Christine came home with and less hair (about 1 inch) but blonder. Her nails were colored with OPI Quarter Cent Cherry. Nice! She cooked up a nice supper: tuna loaf, potatoes and peas.

I fiddled with the scanned pictures and made up the digital presentation file. I will have to take my laptop and feed the LCD TV via Windows Media Player and the proper VGA to VGA cable.

Saturday, 3/15/2014: My father's funeral

My father's obituary:

Bernard J. DeWeaver
(September 21, 1925 - March 10, 2014)

PALMYRA: DeWeaver, Bernard J., died on Monday, March 10, 2014 at the age of 88. Family and friends are invited to call from 11am – 2pm on Saturday, March 15 at the Robert L. Yost Funeral Home, Inc., 123 West Main Street, Palmyra where a funeral service will follow calling at 2pm. Burial will be in East Palmyra Cemetery in the summer. Bernie was born on September 21, 1925 in Palmyra the son of Francis and Stella Groffman DeWeaver. A veteran of the United States Navy, the funeral home proudly flies the navy flag in honor of his service to our country. Bernie was a member the James R. Hickey American Legion Post 120 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6778. Mr. DeWeaver was predeceased by his wife Doris VerPlank DeWeaver. He is survived by his daughter Diane (Jim) DeMent; sons Doug (Christine) DeWeaver and Donald (Sherri) DeWeaver and eight grandchildren.

My darling wife, Christine, and I got to the funeral home just after 10:30AM. I hooked up my laptop to the LCD and started the video presentation. I don't know if many people watched it but I enjoyed putting it together. My sister, Diane, assembled two poster boards of pictures, enlarged several pictures to put into frames.

 

Flowers for Dad

 

Flowers from the grandchildren

 

Flower from the company where I work

 

The first posterboard

 

My sister, Diane, and I

 

My brother, Don, and I

 

My oldest son, Michael; my daughter, Karen; my youngest son, David

I was the "official" photographer so I busied myself taking pictures of everything and almost everyone that arrived. I didn't get everyone. I also tried to talk to everyone. The American Legion sent over a honor guard at 1PM and gave a short heartfelt presentation. The funeral service at 2PM was sad yet uplifting. The minister, Diane, gave a perfect service and my sister gave a short and heartfelt eulogy. My sister and brother cried and I had tears in my eyes. We adjourned to the American Legion on Cuyler St for a buffet lunch. There were plenty of leftovers which we tried to split up.

 

Back up in Rochester, 1764 runners ran in Johnny's Runnin' of the Green, link here. I wasn't there ... there will be other races.