Sunday, 2/9/2014 to Saturday, 2/15/2014

I ran 4 times this week, 24.8 miles.

Sunday, 2/9/2014: 1 measly mile on the hotel treadmill

We woke up late at the Millennium Hotel in Buffalo. I trudged downstairs to do one, yes one, measly mile on the treadmill. I was strapped for time since checkout was 11AM. Yes, we didn't use the hotel pool ... again. There was no continental breakfast so we went across the street to Jim's Truck Stop to have breakfast before we headed home.

Meanwhile ... back in Rochester over 2000 people took part in the 14th annual Polar Plunge, link here. Yes, the Brooks Racing Team was there ... according to pics from Facebook.

Luen, Katie, Suzanne and Kate before ...

Luen, Suzanne, Katie and Kate after!

Later ... I thought about heading out for a Sunday long run and felt like a slug when I didn't.

Monday, 2/10/2014: Rest day ... with another 3 loads of laundry.

Tuesday, 2/11/2014: Another rest day ... the couch's pull was too strong!

Wednesday, 2/12/2014: 9.6 miles, 1:24:48, 8:50 pace, 21F, 45% RH, wind chill 13F, dark, clear.

Garmin Connect Activity for 9.6 miles out on the streets of Irondequoit

The morning was cold, -4F, cold even with a wind chill. Anyone went for a run in the morning deserved triple badasss points! I waited until after work. It had warmed up to the mid 20s during the day so ice had formed or was in the process of forming by the time I stepped foot outside at 6PM. I wore my trail shoes and set forth at a really nice and easy pace. I found that the main streets were mostly clear, the side streets were mostly snow covered and the sidewalks were mostly icy. So I was mostly careful. I slipped a bit here and here but didn't fall. My splits were: 8:10, 8:24, 8:27, 8:28, 9:51, 9:08, 8:50, 9:39, 8:46 and 8:28 over the last 0.6 mile.

My darling wife, Christine, had cooked a roaster chicken along with mixed vegetables ... yum! We promptly devoured most of the chicken while we watched the Winter Olympics.

Thursday, 2/13/2014: Rest day. I thought about heading out but didn't.

Friday, 2/14/2014: 8 miles, 1:05:42, 8:13 pace, 27F, 74% RH, wind chill 16F, twilight to dusk, clear.

Garmin Connect Activity for 8 miles out in the twilight of Irondequoit

It had warmed up a bit to 30F during the day so I hurried to get out before it got dark and the ice started to set in. So I headed out around 5:30PM into the twilight. I set up a nice and easy pace. I found the main streets were clear, the side streets were still mostly snow covered but better than Wednesday and the sidewalks were still icy on Titus. So I was careful where I needed to be. I saw the full moon rise ... it looked pretty. My splits were: 8:12, 8:09, 7:54, 7:59, 8:39, 8:39, 8:14 and 7:55.

Oh ... it was Valentine's Day. Some people don't celebrate it. They say that it's a made up holiday and that you should celebrate with your honey every day. Well ... I got my darling wife Christine a gift certificate to Massage Envy and an amber necklace. It's how I roll.

Oh ... a feel good story from the Winter Olympics tonight was the story of Noelle Pikus-Pace, link here. She was 4th by 0.1s at the 2010 Winter Olympics, retired, had a miscarriage in 2012, came back to training and racing with her family, came to Sochi, won silver in Skeleton and climbed into the stands to celebrate with her family.

Saturday, 2/15/2014: 6.2 miles, 1:11:45, 11:34 pace, 25F, 74% RH, wind chill 15F, overcast to light snow.

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K on snowshoes at Mendon Ponds Park

I woke up late around 8:45AM. I did last nights dishes and watched the US-Russia hockey game. The US won 3-2 in a 8-inning shootout ... what a game! I put stuff off ... I had to get out and get stuff done. So I got my hair cut. I walked right in, sat right down, got it done ... boom.

Then I changed and went to Medved to rent some snowshoes. Why? Well ... Medved rents them for $10/day and Fleet Feet is $15/day. Simple economics. While I was there they asked if I had signed up for the Muddy Sneaker 20K yet. I hadn't and was going to do it on my iPhone when they suggested I do it at ultrasignup.com on their salescounter computer. Sign up had opened up at 3PM. I was 147th out of 200 at 4:30PM.

A pic from the Muddy Sneaker 20K website ... hopefully it will be as snow free on April 19th!

I continued onward to Mendon Ponds Park. There were lots of people down in the park ... sledding, walking their dogs, cross country skiing and snowshoeing (just me). I geared up and headed out nice and easy on the blue and then the green trail. You can't go as fast on snow shoes but it was a good workout. It was getting dark and it had started to snow by the time I got done.

A nice pair of Dion snowshoes!

We watched "Undercover Boss" so ... I only got to watch the last 20 seconds of the NC-Syracuse mens basketball game. The game was delayed to 7PM from 3PM when NC didn't land in Syracuse until 3:07PM. What a last 20 seconds! SU was down by 1 with the ball. Ennis drove the lane and was called for an offensive foul. NC passed the ball long and SU fouled NC before the shot went in (NC disagreed). It wasn't 1-1 yet so it was side out. SU stole the inbound pass and Ennis made the layup with 6.7 seconds to go up 1. SU's D only allowed an off balance 3. SU won to go 25-0, link here. SU has danced on the edge of the knife to win at the last second the past two games.

Sunday, 2/2/2014 to Saturday, 2/8/2014 - Freezeroo #5

I ran 5 times this week, 31.97 miles.

Sunday, 2/2/2014: 7 miles, 58:14, 8:18 pace, 32F, 81% RH, wind chill 25F, overcast.

Garmin Connect Activity for 7 miles on icy roads of Irondequoit

I got out a bit early on Sunday morning. I found the shoulder of Seneca Ave OK but a bit icy whenever I crossed a side street. Then I turned left onto Scofield Rd ... and found ice. Lots of ice. I didn't expect ice so I had on my road shoes with no traction. I skated over to Saint Paul St and knew that I was going to have to make up a different route. So I looped around back to Seneca Ave and just went up and down to Titus Ave twice to get some speed and miles. My splits were: 8:13, 9:23, 8:33, 8:10, 8:03, 8:08 and 7:45. Kind of boring going up and Seneca Ave! But a run is a run!

After a quick shower I was out and about. First was a trip to Fleet Feet Armory to check out the new store! Wow ... it's huge! I got the nickel tour from Barb, the GM, along with Krista and her husband. As the car commercials say ... it's HUGE!

The new Fleet Feet Armory at 155 Culver Rd

Boot's badass truck!

His and her offices

Ellen and Boots at their wedding on 2/1/2003

Ellen and Boots 11 years later!

Next up was a quick trip out to Lyons and Newark to see my father and kids. I saw the father at the Wayne County Nursing Home in Lyons at 2 PM. He was falling asleep already and didn't recognize me. Kind of depressing. My kids and I caught up on events in our lives.

Soon I was back up in Rochester ... just in time to watch the Super Bowl. Or ... the Super Bore as Seattle absolutely pounded Denver, 43-8, link here. The commercials were more exciting, link here.

Monday, 2/3/2014: Rest day.

Yes, I watched "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful". It was nice with lots of SI swimsuit models ... and loaded with lots of commercials. Their top three covers: Tyra Banks (#3), Kate Upton (#2) and from 1989 - Kathy Ireland (#1), link here.

Tuesday, 2/4/2014: 9.3 miles, 1:15:10, 8:04 pace, 25F, dark, overcast, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for 15K out on the streets of Irondequoit

It was Tuesday night so it was a run night. I was unsure about the road conditions so I wore my trail shoes. I was also unsure of the side street conditions so I was up for creating a new route. Well .. I got about 100 yards down Schofield Rd and encountered the same ice that I found on Sunday so I just turned carefully around and ran back to Seneca Ave. I did note that the left inside of the right knee hurt a bit for a couple of My new route was sticking to the shoulders and sidewalks of the main streets which were 95% clear. I kept up my pace and ran kind of fast. My splits were: 7:58, 8:36, 8:16, 7:52, 8:19, 8:15, 7:58, 7:55, 7:48 and 7:27 over the last 0.3 mile.

Wednesday, 2/5/2014: Rest day.

A foot of snow fell during the day. I slid our car home and was glad to there. My darling Christine and I cocooned the rest of the night. Meanwhile, 176 runners were down at Cobbs Hill for Snow Cheap #4, links here and here. As I say, runners run, no matter the weather!

Thursday, 2/6/2014: 6.6 miles, 56:09, 8:30 pace, 18F, overcast, dark, 61% RH, wind chill 5F

Garmin Connect Activity for 6.6 miles out to the Zoo and 3 times around the pond

It was Thursday night so it was a run night. Again I was unsure of the road conditions so I wore my trail shoes. I even tried out some traction that I bought at BJ's. The road surface on the main streets was bare and the side streets was plowed down to a scraped snow cover so I don't know if I needed my added traction. After running in the traction device I am not a real fan ... you can definitely feel that you are running on spikes. Though if there were real ice underfoot I am sure that I would be a real fan of not falling.

Anyway, I changed up my route again. I headed out to the Seneca Park Zoo and ran 3 times around the pond. I knew that this would provide me with about a 6.5 mile run. I noted that the gate down to the pond was closed as I went around it. I knew it would be quiet down there.

As I was heading down to the pond I saw about a dozen headlamps coming toward me; 2 from the left and the others from the right at the fork. I waved at the large group and headed left. One of the left runners yelled out as I approached: "That must be Doug DeWeaver, I recognize his gait!" I puzzled over this the rest of the run ... do I have a recognizable gait? My darling Christine says I do.

When I got back at the apartment I found that I had a bloody nose. I stretched outside at our car and found that I dripped blood onto my keys, glove and jacket. I went in and yelled to Christine as soon as I got in the door for Kleenex and laid right down. It's weird ... I haven't had a bloody nose after running ever. Christine promptly soaked my jacket in cold water and got out the blood.

Friday, 2/7/2014: Rest day ... plus 3 loads of laundry.

Saturday, 2/8/2014: 2 runs of 1 and 8.07 miles, 9F, 61% RH, 9 mph WSW, wind chill -5F, sunny.

It's a Freezeroo Saturday morning so ... off I went. Yes, it was cold. It was 0F with a -10F wind chill at 8:15AM. I just wore more layers ... but not too many. I didn't want to overheat. It's a fine art to knowing what to wear on race mornings. It all depends on how fast you run, how long you are going to run and what the weather conditions are before, during and after the run. I chose a light base layer, my heavy tech long shirt and my Brook Racing Team short sleeve tech shirt along with my usual CW-X, Darn Tough socks, Brooks beanie, balaclava and heavy gloves. I brought along a Hothands hand warmer too (they do help!).

I got out to the Greece DPW building, the shelter for Freezeroo #5, around 9:10AM. This race was 8 miles. It heads up Long Pond to Janes Rd to Island Cottage Rd to Edgemere Drive and back down Long Pond.

I got out for a mile warmup run, 9:28 pace. I was trying to get to 1.0 mile on my Garmin in the parking lot. I was almost there when I went around a van, went into the shade, encountered ice, slipped and went down on my left side in a heap. Ouch! I got up, made sure all my body parts still moved, winced and continued onward to get my mile. Only ten minutes to race time so I was unsure about how well I would run.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Freezeroo #5


I met up with the usual people before the start of the race: Mark Herberger, Prem Kumar, Erik Julliani and Bill Beyerbach. The race started like hundreds of others ... "Go!".

Milling around before the start

I'm in the frame from 1:58 to 2:05.
I got up to speed and found that I was running just fine despite the fall on my left hip. The wind was at our back for the start. I ran beside Erik for about a mile before I sped up. I stretched out and gobbled up the course. Mark Herberger passed me at mile 3. The wind was on our left as we hit Edgemere Drive so it wasn't too bad. I was slowing down but still plugging. The wind was in our face as we headed down Long Pond toward the finish. Heather Danielson said "Hi" as she passed me at mile 7. I knew the finish was close so I tried to bring it in hard. My splits were: 6:49, 7:08, 7:11, 7:18, 7:32, 7:54, 7:39 and 7:34. I noticed that the time was sub 1 hour as I got in, 59:29! Wow, a course PR by 12 seconds!

Mark Herberget on his way to 59:01.

Heather Danielson on her way to 59:18

I'm cruising in to a 59:29.

Prem Kumar on his way to a 1:04:08

Erik Julliani on his way to a 1:04:35.

Wilt Alston on his way to a 1:04:53

Bill Beyerbach on his way to a 1:12:50.

The shirtless Tom Butler on his way to a 1:19:43.

80 year old Charlie Sabatine on his way to a 1:28:42. I want to be like Charlie when I grow up!

I did pretty well. Mark finished in 59:01, Heather in 59:18, Prem in 1:04:08, Erik in 1:04:35 and Bill in 1:12:50. I said "Hi" to the shirtless Tom Butler, who was readjusting his shirt at mile 7.5, and Charlie Sabatine as I passed them. I finished 47th out of 174, link here. I was 4th out of 16 in my M 55-59 age group. A good day for all!

I headed home for my customary coffee and bagel with my darling wife, Christine. Soon we were dressed (change of clothes for me), packed and ready to head back out. We were off to Buffalo for my company's Employee Appreciation Dinner at the Millennium Hotel. I wanted to leave at 3PM but was happy to leave when Christine was ready at 4:15PM. We still got there before 6PM. We are definitely not party people ... we headed up to our room when the music got loud though we did do dessert and the photo booth.

The dual selfie before the party

One thing about our hotel room ... it was huge! It must have been 30' x 30'! We didn't even get around to sitting in any of the leather chairs, the table or the desk.

A nice comfy king size awaited us.

A view of the pool was behind the curtain.

Nice, comfy leather couch

The ballon was a leftover from a previous guest.

I also found that my left hip started to show a nice bruise after my fall in the morning. My left arm and wrist are also started to ache. 

My left hip looks a lot worse than it feels

Update: 4 days later, 4" x 3" ... nice!

But ... Ice and falls sometimes happen.

But meanwhile back in Rochester, the Cast A Shadow snowshoe race was held from 2PM to 8PM, link here. You could solo snowshoe for 6 hours or be part of 3 person team for 2 hours each. Maybe next year!