Sunday, 11/30/2014: Happy 2nd Anniversary!
My lovely wife, Christine, and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary. We didn't do much. I headed down to Newark to see my daughter, Karen, and oldest son, Michael. I enjoyed seeing Karen's cats, Boots and Hermonie, and catching up with her. I also enjoyed seeing Michael and catching up with him. I watched most of the first half of the Browns - Bills game with him before I headed back up to Rochester. I had DVRed the game so I watched the second half with my honey. The Bills fan in me was happy that the Bills won 26-10, link here. The Browns fan in Christine ... maybe not so much.
Monday, 12/1/2014: Another rest day.
Yada, yada, yada ... didn't run. I am in a much better mood when I run every other day. Well, both Saturday and Sunday on a weekend too.
My new winter coat arrived today from Duluth Trading. The coat is very warm and chuckles at the bitter winds of winter.
I found that my older brother, Don, posted something disturbing on his Facebook page. He had something that mentioned someone had passed away that he knew.
Tuesday, 12/2/2014: 9.6 miles, 1:17:10, 8:03 pace, 32F, 86% RH, 9 mph SW wind, light sleet to light rain.
Garmin Connect Activity for A "Gotta get out there" run
Yes, it was sleeting out. Yes, it was dark, Yes, it was a bit windy. But ... a runner has got to do what a run had got to do plus a run doesn't get done by itself. So I geared up with tights, long sleeve tech, Brooks jacket, Brooks beanie and my heavy gloves. Christine knew I needed to run. She does like it when I "eCrumb" her though ... that way she can track me. I bet she knows all my routes by now.
Anyway, I got out there. There was a light sleet out that reflected in my headlamp. I was a bit careful at first in case there was ice but there wasn't any so I struck up a nice and easy pace as I settled in on my usual 15K route. It actually turned out to be 9.6 miles. My splits were: 8:12, 8:02, 7:59, 8:16, 7:54, 7:53, 8:03, 8:04, 7:58 and 8:01 over the last 0.6 mile.
It's kind of interesting how my "usual" runs are getting longer and longer. I have been running at least 9 years now. My "usual" run has gone from 5 miles to a 10K and now to a 15K. This is pretty good because I have already signed up for 6 half marathons in 2015. I have found more to sign up for ... maybe.
I found out that Ron Ambrose, a lifelong friend of my brother, Don, had died of a heart attack at the Newark High School on Monday, 12/1/2014. I had met Ron a number of times over the years. I remember that he always had a smile on his face. My oldest son, Michael, who lives with his mother in Newark said he remembered hearing sirens on Monday afternoon.
Wednesday, 12/3/2014: Rest day.
Why and how can I lose things? I wanted to charge up my Black Diamond headlamp before I went to bed. But ... where is the charger? It was by the kitchen table plugged into a power strip before Thanksgiving. It got moved so we could load up the kitchen table with all the Thanksgiving food. Now ... it's missing! We live in a one bedroom apartment ... where could it go? Well ... some place where I can't find it! I did find another charger (not the right one) that fit so I could charge it. But I looked for about 90 minutes and didn't get to sleep until 1AM.
I learned that Ron's funeral service was going to be at Pusateri Funeral Home on Saturday with calling hours from 10AM to 12PM, a service at noon and internment at the Newark Cemetery afterward. My mother had her service at Pusateri's back in 2004.
Thursday, 12/4/2014: Work got in the way ... rest day.
I didn't get home until about 6:30PM and was not in the mood for anything but food and a beer.
I did something geeky at work. I went "old school" and upgraded the firmware of two networked HP Laserjet 4700 printers by command prompt and really "old school" and upgraded the firmware on another by FTP. You can upgrade the firmware on newer networked Lexmark printers by just clicking on the Upgrade Firmware link on their webpage.
Friday, 12/5/2014: Rest before a race day.
I don't like to run on the day before a race ... Freezeroo #1, a 5K race at the Northstar Christian Academy.
Saturday, 12/6/2014: 2 runs of 1 mile and Freezeroo #1 5K
My darling wife, Christine, and I had got to bed relatively early the night before so I was relatively well rested when the alarm went off at 6:45AM. I pressed the sleep bar three times before I got up. I let Christine sleep. I saw that the weather was a bit above freezing with a light mist of a rain. Joy ... but there was a race so I quietly got ready for Freezeroo #1 which was a 5K at the Northstar Christian Academy. I wore my CW-X tights, long sleeve tech, short sleeve tech, Brooks jacket, "lucky" yellow hat and my heavy gloves. I packed up a change of clothes because I was heading out to the Pulsetri Funeral Home in Newark afterwards.
I got over to NCA around 9AM, a good hour before the 10AM start. I got my bib and almost forgot the chip around my ankle to record my time. But I heard in my heard Ellen Brenner's voice; "No chip, no time" and I went back to get my ankle chip. I met up with Prem Kumar and saw the usual running friends: Andy Ciaio, Tom Butler, Bill Beyerbach, Bob Dyjak, Wilt Alston and the 81 years young Charlie Sabatine.
Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Freezeroo #1
I got out for a nice and easy 1 mile warmup run at 8:08 pace. The weather conditions were: 37F, 100% RH, 5 mph N wind with a real light mist. I ditched my Brooks jacket before the race.
I waited at the start line for a while and quietly got ready. I had run this course a number of times. I knew it was a turny and twisty out and back but you do see the faster and slower runners. It's not my favorite course but it was a race, I was signed up and so I raced, my 54th race of the year. And ... we were off!
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| Freezeroo #1 Start - courtesy of Alex Tong |
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| Freezeroo #1 Start - courtesy of runnerpics.shuttlefly.com |
running4morefun's YouTube video, part 2 - I'm in the frame from 4:23 to 4:34
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| Sprinting for the finish - courtesy of Alex Tong |
I said my goodbyes, changed in the back seat of the Equinox and headed out to Newark for Ron' Ambrose's calling hours and funeral at the Pusateri Funeral Home. I met up with my brother, Don, and talked with him and some other people that I knew. Ron was a "Harley Man" so a lot of people in attendance wore their Harley gear including my brother. Ron had a open casket funeral and looked very nice. The funeral service was a bit profound with some good readings and a few funny stories of Ron.
I didn't go to the cemetery afterward but said my goodbyes and headed over to see my oldest son, Michael. We had a good time catching up ... even after only a week. I headed back up to Rochester but I made some stops to enrich the Rochester economy on the way. I bought a pair of Dion snow shoes and dropped off my old pair of Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes to have screws put in them for winter running at Medved. Here is what some people think of snowshoe racing, here and here. I also bought a pair of Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes at Fleet Feet Armory and a nice snow brush/scraper at Black's Hardware.
So it was an expensive week .. full of presents that I ... err, Christine, has bought me for Christmas, lol!
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