Doug's Running Blog: Monday, 2/23/2015 to Saturday, 2/28/2015

I ran 4 times this week, 28.9 miles.

Monday, 2/23/2015: A full rest day.

The day after the Lake Effect Half Marathon (LEHM) ... a bit achy in my thighs and Achilles tendons. I found that if I had sat for a while that I limped for about 100 yards before I could get my legs walking normally. My thighs were a bit tight when I walked down stairs.

I had a "well" doctor appointment at 7:40AM. I was double-teamed by my regular doctor and a fourth year resident. My stats were: BP was 121/76, my pulse was 61, height was still 6' 4", my weight at home was 174.6 (I could lose 10 pounds).

Tuesday, 2/24/2015: 7.2 miles, 1:02:03, 8:37 pace, 27F, 26% RH, 9 mph SW wind, wind chill 18F, partly cloudy.

Garmin Connect for Cobbs Hill run, 2 Ys and 3 loops

I needed to run miles to get to 100 miles by the end of the month. So I loaded enough gear to run either inside or outside. It was 25F so I decided to run outside. There was a Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill workout I went down to Fleet Feet Armory. I went in to look at the winter sale (didn't find anything) and said "Hi" to Chris O'Brien. He said that his plan was to run 7:30 pace for 6 miles. He was going to run up on the reservoir 0.69 mile loop. I told him that I was going to run hills on the reservoir road. I headed up and found that the sidewalk had not been plowed and was tough to run on. When I got up to Cobbs Hill I just ran easy ... 2 loops, then 2 Ys and another loop. I took the long way back to the Armory via Highland Ave, Cobbs Hill Drive, Hillside Drive and Norris Drive. It's hard to believe but it actually felt warm.

When I got home I learned that Freezeroo #6, a 10K which was going to held in Ontario, was canceled. The Ontario Town Supervisor had told GRTC that the roads were not going to be safe, link here.

Wednesday, 2/25/2015: 6.2 miles on the treadmill

It had turned colder yet again ... down to 13F. So I went to the dreadmill at LA Fitness again. I endured 6.2 miles with 90% of it at 7:30 pace. My LEHM short sleeve tech shirt was drenched with sweat when I got done.

Thursday, 2/26/2015: 6.2 miles on the tradmill

Still cold ... 12F but almost no wind. So another night to the treadmill at LA Fitness again. I ran 6.2 miles at 8:00 pace. Another sweaty short sleeve tech shirt instead of slipping and sliding outside and freezing my face off.

Friday, 2/27/2015: Rest day ... needed after 3 days of running.

Saturday, 2/28/2015: 9.3 miles, 1:18:22, 8:24 pace, -2F, 77% RH, 8 mph SW wind, wind chill -17F, bright sun

Garmin Connect Activity for A Subzero 15F

I wore up a bit early at 5:50AM due to my darling wife, Christine. She was snoring ... but no matter. I had my alarm set for 6:05AM anyway since I needed to run. I did the dishes from last night and ate breakfast. I found that the temperature was 0F so I dressed warmly. I wore my usual CW-X tights and GRTC shorts on the botttom. I wore 3 layers on top: my heavy Sugoi long sleeve tech, my medium Brooks long sleeve tech and 1/4 zip Brooks long sleeve pullover. I paired it with my full balaclava, Brooks beanie and ski mittens. I waddled outside ... just kidding! I stuck up a nice and easy pace as I headed out on my usual 10K route. I mixed it up a bit by heading down and back up Chapel Hill Drive. The footing was good: the main streets were clear and the side streets were covered with hard packed snow. The miles just clipped along. It was a bit chilly on my face when I turned into the wind. My thighs were a bit tough when I get done. My splits were: 8:27, 8:24, 8:21, 8:21, 8:39, 8:34, 8:28, 8:25, 8:21 and 7:48 over the last 0.3 mile.

So ... I got to 102.5 miles for the month of February. I needed 20 runs to get there: 4 were warmup runs of 0.43, 1, 4.5 and 0.5 miles; 3 were snowshoe run of 2.5, 2.05 and 2.45 miles; 4 were treadmills run of 6.2 miles each, 4 were races (Snow Cheap #4, Freezeroo #5, Snow Cheap #5 and the Lake Effect Half Marathon). It was a struggle to continue my streak of 18 months of at least 100 miles per month.

A bit later after some coffee, a bagel and a shower I headed back out to meet up with my youngest son, David, at the Blue Cross Arena. His landlord had given him a couple of tickets to the Rochester Razorsharks - Philadelphia Flight basketball game, links here and here. The local Canandiagua senior, Courtney Wagner, who is battling stage IV brain cancer, was signed to a one day contract with the team.

Courtney Wagner on her way to dunking for the first two points of the game - photo courtesy of the D&C

The twitter hashtag #getcourtneytoellen was everywhere!

She stared the game and was boosted up by two team members so she could score the ceremonial first basket. The undefeated Razorsharks won in a huge blowout, 152-98.

David and I had supper at Famous Dave's along with some pleasant conversation. Mmm ... tasty!

I had a 1/2 slab of ribs while David had a pulled pork chickens sandwich

I kind of like winter ... but it is beginning to wear on me. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle posted an article that said that February was the coldest month in Rochester on record ( around 12.3F), had only 6 hours above 32F, 5 record lows set or tied and was the 4th snowiest February (44.8 inches). Accuweather had that the month of February with 11 lows of 0F or below and only 2 day with a high of 32F or higher, link here.

I did find a lot of winter memes from Facebook. Some (one was NSFW) were quite amusing!