Sunday, 2/16/2014 to Saturday, 2/22/2014 - Freezeroo #6

I ran 5 times this week, 29.75 miles.

Sunday, 2/16/2014: 4.2 miles, 49:15, 11:43 pace, 16F, 73% RH, wind chill 5F, overcast.

Garmin Connect Activity for 4.2 miles on snowshoes at the Seneca Park Zoo

I woke up around 8:45AM just like Saturday. My rented Dion snowshoes were due back at Medved by noon so I thought I needed to get another snowshoe run in before I gave them up. Two more inches of fluffy snow had fallen overnight. It was too far to go down to Mendon Ponds Park again so I went over to nearby Seneca Park Zoo instead. I parked in their parking lot, geared up and headed out. My plan was to run the west side of their trail out past the zoo fence and then come back on the east side of their trail back to the parking lot. It was a bit colder, 16F, but I soon warmed up. I mostly followed cross country ski tracks when I could. There was more snow to plow through so I got more snow covered than yesterday. My splits were: 11:55, 11:04, 12:33, 11:36 and 10:35 over the last 0.2 mile. I enjoyed my nice and easy snowshoe run. I gotta give me a pair! I got my rented Dion snowshoes back to Medved at 12:15PM.

Another snowshoe selfie

My darling wife Christine wasn't feeling well so she slept until 2:30PM before getting out of bed. A hot coffee and bagel revived her. We spent the rest of the day watching the Winter Olympics along with an AMC version of "Snakes on a Plane" ... the G rated version off of AMC.

Monday, 2/17/2014: Rest day.

A solid rest day ... well deserved after running 8 miles on Friday, snowshoeing 6.2 miles on Saturday, snowshoeing 4.2 miles on Sunday and walking 12129 steps at work. I was asleep on the couch by 8:15PM  ... watching the Winter Olympics with my eyes shut. My darling wife, Christine, might not be a fan ... she has said more once, "Are they over yet"?

Tuesday, 2/18/2014: 11.1 miles, 1:32:20, 8:19 pace, 27F, 68% RH, wind chill 17F, dark, overcast.

Garmin Connect Activity for 11.1 miles out in the dark of Irondequoit

I thought about bagging this run during the day since I was tired during the afternoon. But ... I was made of sterner stuff or just stubborn. I fueled with my usual cereal, geared up and headed out. I found that the roads were mostly ice-free: the main roads yes, the side streets better with tracks to run in and the sidewalks 90%. So I just struck up a fast pace and tried to keep it up. I did slow a bit on the usual icy sidewalks on Titus. My splits were: 9:39 (stopped a minute and a half or so to mail small packages at the USPS drop box), 8:02, 8:00, 8:34, 8:07, 8:08, 8:25, 8:30, 8:11, 7:57 and 7:14. So I estimate my true time was 1:31:00 for a pace of 8:12. All in all, it was a "zen" run. Runners know what I mean. The miles just seemed to flow!  I felt great afterward ... full of joy and endorphins!!

Wednesday, 2/19/2014 and Thursday, 2/202014: Rest days

Wednesday was a full rest day due to 11.1 miles on Tuesday. Meanwhile I did notice that a total of 217 runners braved the icy conditions down at Cobbs Hill to run Snow Cheap #5.

Thursday was a rest day due to rain. The weather had warmed to 40F and a light rain was falling by the time I got home from work. I just stayed in ... I would have gotten drenched. I would rather be warm and dry than wet and cold. I used the time to keep up to date on my Winter Olympics watching ... which is a chore. I try to set to DVR to tape the late night from 1AM to 3AM, the afternoon from 3PM to 5PM and the evening from 8PM to 11:30PM. I have gotten up early to star watching before work and as soon as I can after work. Just gorging on the different winter  athletic competitions. Though I might get more sleep after it is all over.

Friday, 2/21/2014: 6.2 miles, 49:41, 8:01 pace, 39F, 70% RH, wind chill 32F, dusk to dark.

Garmin Connect Activity for 10K in the dark of Irondequoit

I got home from work a half hour early but had to finish up remotely so it was a wash. I got out around 5:30PM for what I told my darling Christine would be a "nice and slow" 10K. Yeah ... right. It turned out to be nice and easy and kind of fast. I did try to go easy but once I got warmed I turned up the speed a bit. My splits were: 7:47, 8:07, 8:01, 8:15, 8:01, 7:59 and 7:38 over the last 0.2 mile. It's all good.

Saturday, 2/22/2014: 2 runs of 2 and 6.25 miles, 43F, 40% RH, 20 mph SW wind, wind chill 34F, sunny.

I woke up at 7:30AM ... can't sleep too late on a Freezeroo morning! I quietly got ready, kissed my darling wife, Christine, goodbye and headed out to Casey Park in Ontario NY for Freezeroo #6 named the End of the World 10K. I got there in plenty of time at 9AM. I headed out with Prem Kumar for a nice and easy 2 mile warmup run at 8:23 pace ... perhaps too fast in hindsight.

Garmin Connect Activity for 2 mile Warmup before Freezeroo #6

We got back just 6 minutes before the start. I had time for just a quick trip to the car for a drink of water before the start. I made it to my usual starting spot: the right side about 20 feet from the front. I said "Hi" to Mark Herberger and off we went.

Freezeroo #6 ... Go!!!

About a mile in ... Mark Herberger and Joe Ciecierega are stalking me!

I am in the frame at 1:27 to 1:41.
This 10K was really the tale of two 5Ks. Mark Herberger passed me at mile 1. Later he thanked me for letting me draft behind me. I could hear his racing flats behind me until he passed and he was soon out of sight. I passed Joe Ciecierega at mile 1. I ran the first 5K in 22:01, 7:06 pace. I made a turn into the wind at mile 3.5 and all of a sudden my legs felt dead. I took two tiny walk breaks to catch my breath. Soon Joe passed me and then Heather Danielson passed me. She gave me encouragement as she passed, "You can do it, Doug" like she had done before. I gathered myself and headed after them. I gave it my best but I couldn't catch them. The wind definitely bothered me in the second 5K. My second 5K was 24:39, 7:57 pace. My splits were: 6:54, 7:10, 7:29, 7:58, 7:56, 7:24 and 7:11 over the last 0.25 mile.

Mark Herberger in at 44:59.

Joe Ciecierega in at 46:14.

I finished in 46:39.

Prem Kumar in at 48:41.

Bill Beyerbach in at 51:01.

Mark finished 44th in 44:59, Joe finished 50th in 46:14, Heather finished 53rd in 46:20, I was 55th in 46:39 (7:31 pace by my Garmin), Prem was 69th in 48:41 and Bill was 91st in 51:01. The overall results, link here. I was 3rd out of 19 in my M55-59 age group, link here.

Soon I was hanging out in lodge with Prem and Bill Beyerbach. Wilt Alston, the GRTC president, announced the series winners. Mark Herberger won 1st, I won 2nd and Matt Degma won 3rd in the M55-59 age group.

Handing out the M 55-59 age group awards.

I helped pick up chairs and tables before I left. Soon I was home and prepared my customary post race coffee and bagel for my wife and myself. A good way to spend a morning and a bit of the afternoon!

A lot of Winter Olympics watching soon ensued. I watched the 2nd half of the SU-Duke down in NC off of watchespn.com since our DVR was busy recording 2 shows. SU lost 66-60, link here, to go 25-2. The charge call with 10.4 seconds to go that went against SU was absolutely a blown call and sent their coach, Jim Boeheim, absolutely ballistic ... which earned him his first regular game ejection ever.