Sunday, 2/26/2017 to Saturday, 3/4/2017

I ran 4 times this week, 37.93 miles.

Sunday, 2/26/2017: 7.35 miles, 1:02:38, 8:32 pace, 28F, 74% RH, 14 mph W wind, wind chill 17F, overcast with light snow.


I slept in a bit before getting out for a nice and easy run out on the LOSP trail and half of Island Cottage. My darling wife, Christine, had given me a bit of incentive to come home quickly but my right hip hurt a bit so I kept it at a relatively easy pace. The weather had changed ... again ... for the colder. The light snow that felt did look pretty. My splits were: 8:25, 8:24, 8:22, 8:34, 8:47, 8:33, 8:39 and 8:16 over the last 0.35 mile.

I kept busy for a bit afterward doing three loads of laundry. I discovered that there was benefits of having Christine help fold ... we got it done faster, :-).

Monday, 2/27/2017: Rest day.

Tuesday, 2/28/2017: 10.68 miles, 1:31:05, 8:32 pace, 57F, 31% RH, 5 mph SE wind, overcast.


The last day of February and I ran for the fourth(!!) time in shorts. My Facebook feed told me that I ran in -2F, wind chill -17F weather two years ago! Other crazies rode their bicycles ON Irondequoit Bay two years ago! So I took a hour of vacation and got out for a long run from Greece Athena High School. I took it really nice and easy. I almost regretted not taking my headlamp but got back before I needed it. My splits were: 7:59, 8:27, 8:30, 8:36, 8:29, 8:34, 8:33, 8:39, 8:45, 8:33 and 8:47 over the last 0.68 mile.

My running stats for the month of February: I ran 18 times for 136.9 miles, 7.6 miles/run. Two of these run were warmups of 2 and 1.05 miles. I ran 2 races (Freezeroo #5 and Freezeroo #6).

Wednesday, 3/1/2017: 5.05 miles, 42:14, 8:21 pace, 64F(!), 56% RH, 18 mph WSW wind, overcast.


I don't usually run on Wednesday but the forecast called for the temperatures to tumble into the 20s overnight so ... I did. I brought all (almost again) my running gear to work so I could run before lunch. I started to change and realized I didn't have any running socks. What to do? Run in my dress socks, of course! I soon discovered that my thighs didn't appreciate running so I cut the road short a bit and stayed at a nice and easy pace. I did enjoy being out in shorts and my yellow 2015 Phelps Sauerkraut tech shirt with no gloves and no hat! My splits were: 8:27, 8:31, 8:41, 8:26 and 7:46.

A light rain moved in just as I got home and the wind really start to blow during the night ...

Thursday, 3/2/2017: Rest day ... thankfully.

I know that a true runner runs in any conditions but ... I am glad that I ran yesterday. It was 23F when I woke up and the wind was still blowing around 20 mph. The peak wind gust was 64 mph at the Rochester Airport and I saw news coverage of blown down gas station awnings (Rochester and Batavia), numerous downed trees and power outages. There was at least 11 downed power lines near the intersection of Lee Rd and Lexington Ave. This had an impact on me since I support the Ricoh printers at a Harris building (B601) right near there.

Friday, 3/3/3017: Rest day ...

Saturday, 3/4/2017: 14.85 miles, 2:14:01, 9:01 pace, 18F, 67% RH, 18 mph NNW wind, wind chill 3F, overcast at the start to mostly sunny at the end.

Today was the "official" Round the Bay run. I have done this run every year since 2009. It's not a race just an gathering of runners from the Oven Door, Gold Rush, Bagel Bunch and anyone else that start at the Swing Bridge in Irondequoit and well ... run counter-clockwise around the bay. There are two different routes that take in all the hills on the west side of Irondequoit Bay. The first goes up 590 (which saves 0.85 mile) and the second goes up Culver Rd. I took the second to get the full mileage (go big or go home).

But first ... let's back up. I set my alarm for 5:30 AM. A couple of inches of fluffy snow had fallen overnight plus it was cold and windy. I had my pre-run bowl of cereal and banana along with a glass of OJ while I questioned my sanity. I looked outside while my lovely wife, Christine, slept peacefully and questioned my sanity. I thought about bagging the run ... the wind chill was in the single digits or less. The roads were going to be crappy. But ... I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep and I would regret not getting out ... so I started to get dressed. I wore my CW-X tights along with shorts, my red long sleeve GRTC Freezeroo tech, my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover and my yellow Brooks jacket. I brushed the snow off the Cruze and headed out. I got down to the Swing Bridge in Irondequoit at 6:50 AM. There weren't as many cars as usual ... odd (lol). I sat in the car and put on my balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and mittens. I tucked my Hammer Gel flask with what was left of my Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel in an AmphiPod in my waist and filled my 20 ounce hand bottle with water. I also changed my running glasses to the clear lenses and put them on to protect my eyes from the wind. I didn't stretch at all and just walked over to where everyone was gathering ... maybe for warmth. The wind was really blowing from the north off Lake Ontario ... or maybe the polar icecap. Matt Kellman took a selfie of the group before we started. I guess maybe 30 to 40 runners took part. There have been years when there were over 100.

Matt Kellman used a selfie stick to take several pictures before we started out

Anyway ... we started. The run up the hill on Culver Rd was slow. The shoulder was snow covered so I ran in the road and only moved over for oncoming traffic when I had to. The footing was variable and changed between OK to slippery. Sometimes the snow was kind of changing to slush or a bit of ice so I had to be careful and not push off so I just set up a really nice and easy pace. Yes, it was cold in the first few miles but I warmed up. The wind was mostly at my back so it was really a factor. The hills on west side were the usual ups and downs. Thankfully, there weren't too many cars or trucks out yet. I walked the usual parts of the two major hills. This is the third time I had run Round the Bay this year and 12th time in total so I knew the route. I walked at mile 7 so I got suck down some Hammer Gel and drink some water. I noticed that the water in my hand bottle was starting to ice up. I ran down the Empire Blvd hill and passed Tom Butler. He wasn't shirtless but he was wearing shorts! He must have started early! The wind was my left and then started to be in my face as I turned kind of north to head back up the long hill into Webster. Empire Blvd and Bay Rd was a bit dangerous because it was later and there were more cars out. I was glad to get off of Bay Rd onto Volk and Dewitt for miles 11 and 12. Back onto Bay Rd ... Lake Ontario was in sight. A left onto Lake Rd. The wind was really blowing from the right now. I was in "get 'er done" pace while running on a narrow shoulder as cars came off the Swing Bridge. And ... done with 14.85 miles in 2:14:01. I was cold and tired so I went straight to the Cruze. I usually stretch after a run or wait for other runners but not today. It was just too cold.

A selfie to prove that I was there. I guess I had my balaclava on a bit crooked the whole way.

I went straight home. I did stop at the Herrema's parking lot where I tried to open my 20 ounce hand bottle to get a drink of water. The top of the water had iced over and I heard a snap as I opened it ... I broke the plastic nozzle. Arrgghh ... I won that hand bottle in a Dirt Cheap raffle several years ago. Christine was up when I got home. I went in, said "Hi, it was cold" (or words to that effect), dumped my running bag in the kitchen and headed straight up to the bedroom. I stripped and then took a hot shower and bath. My fingers were starting to turn white and I think my toes were too. Then it was time for hot coffee and a couple of donuts. I uploaded my Garmin and found that this was one of my slowest Round the Bay runs ... undoubtedly due to the weather. My splits were: 9:04, 8:37, 8:39, 8:23, 9:29, 8:18, 9:26, 9:11, 10:08, 9:38, 9:07, 8:54, 8:44 and 8:31 over the last 0.85 mile.

Later, I took Christine out to have her nails done at New Nails. She decided to have them cut back ... but there are still sexy, :-)!

Sunday, 2/19/2017 to Saturday, 2/26/2017 - Freezeroo #6

I ran 5 times this week - 28.4 miles

Sunday, 2/19/2017: 7.35 miles, 1:02:22, 8:29 pace, 46F, 71% RH, 10 mph W wind, wind chill 42F, sunny.



I slept in and didn't get out until after 9 AM. But I did get out. It was a bit warm but decided to go with my CW-X tights, a long sleeve tech, a short sleeve tech, my yellow Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. I probably could have gotten by with shorts. I decided to let my body dictate the pace and length of this run. My thighs were still tight from yesterday's 15 mile Round the Bay run so I went nice and easy and shortened the run from 15K down to just over 7 miles. My splits were: 8:26, 8:36, 8:29, 8:33, 8:30, 8:35, 8:20 and 8:08 over the last 0.35 mile.

A couple of mugs of coffee soon ensued along with a LOT of episodes of "Star Trek Voyager". The DVR had a lot more episodes because BBC America is playing all of the episodes. A lot of these episodes are new to Christine and I. She had worked nights back in the day so she missed them. I had missed them because it wasn't broadcast on cable for a few years back in the late 90s so I couldn't tape them. Yes, I taped all the Star Trek episodes that I could (ST TOS, ST TNG, ST DS9, ST Voyager) back in the day. I don't think I taped many ST Enterprise episodes.

Monday, 2/20/2017: Rest day.

My youngest son, David, took Christine and I out to dinner at The Distillery on West Ridge Rd. He caught us all up with what has been going on with his new job as Cash Room Lead at the del Lago Casino. He works 6 PM to 2 AM but doesn't usually get out until 5 AM or so. So ... he is raking in the OT.

Christine went straight to our respective bedrooms once we got home. It is sad to say that we don't sleep together too much. We were both tired. I guess getting only 6 hours of sleep catches up to me after a while.

Tuesday, 2/21/2017: 8.6 miles, 1:10:31, 8:12 pace, 48F, 37% RH, 9 mph S wind, wind chill 44F, overcast.



The forecast was for mid 50s today and 60s through Friday so I wore shorts today. I didn't feel 100% for some reason but I just motored in my "get it done" mode all the out to Elmgrove Road and back. My splits were: 8:22, 8:04, 8:17, 8:16, 8:30, 8:13, 8:26, 8:03 and 7:10 over the last 0.6 mile.

Wednesday, 2/22/2017: Rest day.


Thursday, 2/23/2017: 7.05 miles, 54:45, 7:46 pace, 64F, 68% RH, 15 mph WSW wind, overcast.


I got out a bit early for my pre-lunch run so I could do a 8.6 mile run out to Elmgrove Rd but ... I decided to do a "pedal to the medal" 7 mile run instead. The weather was in the mid 60s with a stiff wind somewhat out of the south. I don't particularly like out and back runs but it's the route that I have so far. Anyway, my splits were: 7:59, 7:43, 7:54, 7:59, 7:44, 7:41 and 7:26.

Friday, 2/24/2017: Rest day ... the usual before a race the next day.

Saturday, 2/25/2017: 2 runs of 1.05 and 4.35 miles, 52F, 87% RH, 17 mph W wind, overcast.

A word about the weather that I report at the start of each run. This weather is picked up by Garmin from the Rochester International Airport, call sign KROC. This is NOT where I was running today. It was closer to 60F at race start and probably colder than that when we finished. A cold front went through during the race. It was low 40s by nightfall and snowed during the night.

Today's race was Freezeroo #6, aka the White House Challenge. This was another new race location, the third of this year's six race Freezeroo series. The venue was the Webster Town Park and the race headquarters was the White House shelter across Lake Rd from the two parking lots at the corner of Holt Rd and Lake Rd at the White House ... hence the race name. The course was 2 loops of the old Polar Cat 2.2 mile course, link here. I looked it up (well, Strava did) and I ran a 32:21 in 12/19/2010 and a 30:23 in 12/18/2011.

I got to the race venue around 9:15 AM in plenty of time for the 10 AM start. It was warm, around 58F, with a light rain that ended about 15 minutes before the race started. I just wore my Brooks shorts and a yellow 2015 Phelps Sauerkraut short sleeve tech shirt. I got out for a nice and easy warmup run of 1.05 mile at 8:19 pace, link here. I stopped to go to the bathroom, take a swig of water and cross the street to the start. This course is all right turns so the traffic was at our back ... which I don't think any runners like but it was the course so we raced it.

The start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

And ... we were off! I started fast and just tried to hold the pace the entire way. This course is a bit brutal with some rolling hills on the second mile and an uphill back to the start that we hit not once but twice. Andy Ciaio passed me at mile 1 and said "I don't feel so good" (or something like that). I told him "You look fine to me". I did keep him in sight. It started to sprinkle as we finished the first loop.

Running up the last hill before the end of loop 1 ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

Running up the last hill in a light rain before the end of the last loop ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

The rain come harder during the second loop. I didn't have a hat so I had to blink a lot. I was drenched by the time I got done with 4.35 miles (a bit light in distance) in 31:20. I walked over to the White House and had a couple pieces of delicious pizza, a donut and a couple cups of apple cider ... nice! I stayed for a bit and talked with Andy and Prem.

My next stop was to see my daughter, Karen, in Palmyra. She was having hard drive along with overheating issues with her Toshiba Satellite P752-5102. I decided to give her a "new to her" used Dell Latitude E6420 with Windows 10. I had some issues connecting to her wireless router which I fixed by connecting to it via a network cable and changing its security and password. The transfer of her 200 GB data took about 3 hours. I got lucky because the destination hard drive was only 250 GB. So ... I guess I should look for a bigger hard drive for her. She paid me with delicious cookies ... mmm! I work cheap, lol!

My last stop was to see my oldest son, Michael, in Newark. I took him out to supper at Parker's Grille. We had a nice table for two in the back where we caught up on stuff.

Then it was back to my lovely wife, Christine. We spent a quiet evening together. I didn't talk much and she didn't ask much about my day. I uploaded my Garmin and checked the results. I finished 24th out of 119, link here. I was 6th out of 14 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I placed 5th out of 15 in in the series M 55-59 age group, link here.

Sunday, 2/12/2017 to Saturday, 2/18/2017

I ran 4 times this week: 35.9 miles.

Sunday, 2/12/2017: 7.05 miles, 59:39, 8:27 pace, 30F, 93% RH, 7 mpph E wind, wind chill 23F, overcast with light mist/sleet.



Today was a travel day to OH but I got out in the morning. It was cold and windy with a light mist that stung my face. I wanted to do my Greenleaf 15K on the LOSP trail and Island Cottage but the LOSP trail was kind of crusty so I exited it at Dewey Ave and just ran around until I got 7 miles. My thighs were sore from yesterday's Freezeroo #5 so I ran really nice and easy. My splits were: 8:26, 8:40, 8:22, 8:28, 8:36, 8:31 and 8:08.

A leisurely rest of the morning ensued with coffee and a bit of a nap with my darling wife, Christine. But then it was up and at 'em. We left for Lakewood OH to spend the night at the Glaude's (Christine's daughter, Beth, and her husband, Nick) at 1 PM. The trip was uneventful until we got into Lakewood. All of a sudden, the Cruze reported that the right right tire was 24 psi. It was dropping fast. We quickly had to stop at a gas station to pump up the tire. The tire was at 5 psi when we got to Beth's. Nick had to put air in the tire to move the Cruze closer to his garage so he could work on it. We could hear the air hissing out of the tire and saw a bolt in the bottom of the tread. Luckily, Nick had tools, an air compressor and the talent to put a "slim jim" patch in the tire and pump it back up. We hoped it would hold.

The bolt that found the right rear tire of the Cruze

Then Beth and Nick took us out to a fancy pizza parlor in Rocky River named the Mellow Mushroom. The pizza that I had (the Maui Wowie - Pesto base with ham, pineapple, jerk chicken, banana peppers, Applewood smoked bacon and mozzarella cheese), was a bit too spicy for my taste but I was hungry and ate my fill.

Beth and Nick Glaude were camera shy

Then we went back and watched a thought provoking episode of Black Mirror on their Kodi. The episode, "15 Million Merits", links here and here, was about a world where everyone seemed to exist by riding an exercise bike to accumulate merits that they had to use to buy anything. They were exposed to advertising 24/7 that they had to watch or incur financial penalty. The only way out was to try out for a game show (ala Who's Got Talent) that cost 15 million merits (thus the title). One girl got urged into soft porn because "there were already enough above-average singers" and one guy got out by becoming "An Angry Guy" who ranted with a pane of broken glass at his throat for 15 minutes twice a week. Definitely British.

Monday, 2/13/2017: Birthday and travel day.

I was up around 7:30 AM and had some coffee with Beth before I went out to check the air pressure in the patched tire ... 19 psi. So ... it didn't hold. Christine suggested that I take it a local Chevy dealer named Pat O'Brien Chevy West, link here, about 4 miles away. So I pumped up the tire to 35 psi and drove over. They said that they had bigger patches and would try to patch it else replace it. Well ... an hour later I had a patched tire. Then Christine and I bid Beth good bye and thanked her for her hospitality. We drove over to Ravenna. I didn't follow her instructions and we took the scenic route. Luckily, the traffic wasn't too bad and I got back on track ... though some "discussions" did ensue.

We got out to Ravenna around 1:30 PM and went to the food bank where her father, John Wisniewski, volunteered. He had already had a 96th birthday party there and was getting out at 3 PM. So we had a bite to eat at Subway and then went to see Christine's sister-in-law, Patty. She was caring for two of her grandchildren, Michael Jr (who is 4 almost 5) and Genevieve (who is 15 months). They were incredibly cute!

Christine with Michael Jr and Genevieve

Then we went over to see her father for a while and listened to his stories. He is a spry guy who volunteers at The Center of Hope food bank, link here, 3 days a week.

Christine, her father and I

Christine's father made the local paper. The picture was emailed by her brother, Bill.

We left for Rochester around 5 PM and got home just after 10 PM. I drove both ways. It's the way I roll ... I guess I like to be in control (Christine is shaking her head yes). Christine was glad that we went out to see her Dad since we didn't on Christmas due to my cold (and then her cold a couple of days later).

Tuesday, 2/14/2017: 6.25 miles, 50:05, 8:01 pace, 41F, 56% RH, 11 mph W wind, wind chill 34F, overcast.



It was Tuesday so I brought almost all my running gear to work so I could either run before lunch or after work. It was busy during work so I decided to run after work. I found almost everything that I needed to run ... except my tights. It was 43F and windy ... a close call for shorts. I think I could have done it but I chickened out. So ... I went home and got my tights. I thought about an 8 mile run but decided to do a fast, out and back 10K on my Edgemere Drive and Island Cottage route. My splits were: 8:04, 8:02, 8:05, 7:56, 7:57, 8:06 and 7:41 over the last 0.25 mile.

My darling wife, Christine, and I spent a low key St. Valentine's Day. She cooked up Tony Roma's spare ribs for supper (that fell out the bone ... mmm!) along with yams and mixed vegetables. We had her father's birthday cake for dessert. Cake ... mmm! He had insisted that we take some home with us yesterday.

Wednesday, 2/15/2017: Rest day ... like usual.

Thursday, 2/16/2017: 7.55 miles, 59:46, 7:56 pace, 27F, 58% RH, 17 mph WNW wind, wind chill 14F, overcast


I brought ALL my running gear to work this time and succeeded in getting dressed and getting out to run right after work at the Greece Athena High School on Island Cottage and Janes Rd. Sure ... it was cold and windy but it was Thursday and I run on Thursdays. I ran hard because it was cold and I wanted to get the run done and over. My splits were: 7:53, 8:12, 7:57, 7:46, 7:52, 8:03, 8:07 and 7:57 over the last 0.55 mile. You can tell which miles were into the wind. But ... boom and done.

Friday, 2/17/2017: Rest day ... naturally.

I went to bed early since I was going to get up early to run long.

Saturday, 2/18/2017: 15.05 miles, 2:08:59, 8:34 pace, 37F to 48F, 70% RH, 7 mph SW wind, wind chill 32F, sunny.

I succeeded in get up at 5:45 AM. I proceeded to do the dishes from the previous night, had a bowl of cereal and banana, got a bit overdressed and got out the door. I got down to the Swing Bridge at 7 AM to find no other runners ... just fishermen. So ... I geared up solo. It was 34F so I had on the usual ... CW-X tights, a long sleeve tech, my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and my ski mittens. I also brought a flask of Hammer Gel and my 20 ounce hand bottle of water. I knew that forecast was for 60F in the afternoon but I didn't think it would get there by the time I got done.


I decided to do the long version of the Round the Bay route, all 15 miles of it. I took it nice and easy to start up Culver Ave and just let the run happen. I sped up on the downs and didn't walk as much on the ups on the west side of Irondequoit Bay. I walked just past mile 7 so I could have a couple of gulps of Hammer Gel and water before I headed down the Empire Blvd hill and into Webster. The up on Empire Blvd was just as long as usual ... just like Bay Rd, Volk Rd, DeWitt Rd and Lake Rd as I ran back to where I had started. I set my running gear on "nice and easy" and just motored. I was a bit tired and my form probably sucked during the last two miles but I "got 'em done". Boom. My splits were: 8:59, 8:24, 8:17, 8:01, 8:53, 7:47, 9:32, 9:31, 9:14, 8:34, 8:03, 8:25, 8:19, 8:29 and 8:05.

The temperature had warmed to 48F according to the Cruze by the time I got done at 9:20 AM and skyrocketed to 61 F by noon. Spring fever, baby!

Christine and I just lazed the rest of the day. We did a whole lot of watching the DVR as we caught up on the past 6 episodes of "Rosewood".

Sunday, 2/5/2017 to Saturday, 2/11/2017 - Freezeroo #5

I ran 5 times this week: 33.37 miles.

Sunday, 2/5/2017: 10.35 miles, 1:28:18, 8:32 pace, 30F, 64% RH, 10 mph WSW wind, wind chill 21F, overcast.

I knew I needed to get out again to clear my head (never mind) so I did.


I put in a "really nice and easy" gear and just ran. The LOSP trail was a bit icy than yesterday so I looped onto Edgemere Drive out to Loyden Point. I saw 5 runners during my run and lots of ice fishermen on the frozen Long Pond.

Later, I watched the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. It looked like the Pats were down for the count when they were down 28-3 with 8:31 in the 3rd quarter. Then the Pats came storming back with 25 points to tie it up. So ... a TD with a missed PAT, a FG and a TD with a 2 point conversion to get within 8 points. All Atlanta had to do run the ball but they passed the ball, got a holding call that put them out of FG range and punted the ball back to the Pats. So ... just 91 yards for Brady. 10 plays in 2:33 to tie it up with an incredible catch en route. The Falcons couldn't move the ball with no timeouts and 57 seconds. The first OT game in Super Bowl history ensued. The Pats got the ball and Brady led them down for the game winning TD. Links here, here and here. I could have posted a lot more links from CNN, Washington Post, the New York Time and the Boston Globe. The Boston Globe made an instant collector's item when their Monday early edition had front page coverage of a Patriot loss printed before the game ended.

Monday, 2/6/2017: Rest day.

I wish I had off Monday like 40,000 employees of Heinz, link here. But ... I also stayed up to watch 24: Legacy which didn't end until midnight. So ... I was a bit bleary eyed in the morning.

Tuesday, 2/7/2017: 7.05 miles, 58:11, 8:15 pace, 34F, 64% RH, 9 mph E wind, wind chill 26F, light rain at the end.


The forecast told of rain in the afternoon so I thought a pre-lunch run would allow me to escape it. Wrong. A few drops were falling when I set out on my 7 mile run out and back from B601. It had progressed to a light rain before I got back. I was not drenched when I got done but I wasn't dry either. The 2.5 miles of the Erie Canal path west of Lee Rd had about an inch of snow with a few tiny patch of easily avoided slick spots. I just took a really nice and easy pace, no problem. My splits were: 8:08, 8:20, 8:14, 8:23, 8:19, 8:32 and 7:53.

It was dark, dreary and raining when I got home so I made the right call about going out when I did. I wouldn't have gone out otherwise.

Wednesday, 2/8/2017: Rest day.

Thursday, 2/9/2017:7.05, 56:47, 8:03 pace, 19F, 57% RH, 16 mph NNW wind, wind chill 5F, sunny.


It had warmed up on Tuesday night (54F by midnight) and then gotten colder again. So I thought that the Erie Canal path would have less snow. It did but the sun wasn't warm and the wind was bitter. There was only a dusting of snow so I could speed up which was good because I needed to keep warm. My splits were: 7:13 (?), 8:01, 8:18, 8:13, 8:11, 8:07 and 8:18.

Friday, 2/10/2017: Rest day ... naturally with a race the next day.

Saturday, 2/11/2017: 2 runs of 2 and 7.97 miles, 37F,

Today's race was Freezeroo #5. The race length was 8 miles on a new course. This was the second time on this course but the first time we had actually run it because the race was canceled last year due to subzero wind chills. The race venue was Braddock Bay Park which was only 10 minutes away via the Lake Ontario State Parkway. I was there by 9:10 AM.

I met up with Andy Ciaio and Prem Kum. We got out for a really nice and easy warmup run of 2 miles at 9:36 pace, link here. It was warm so I changed from a long sleeve tech to a short sleeve tech under my usual yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover. I'm a creature of habit ... I had on my usual CW-X tights, yellow Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. I carried a 20 ounce water bottle (but didn't drink any of it).


I lined up in my usual spot ... a bit to the right and a bit behind the start line. And ... we were off! I got up to speed ... and started a bit too fast. It felt good so I stayed with it. I slowly passed both women that I was keeping pace with around mile 4. The wind kicked up a bit as we turned onto Edgemere Drive. I would have been surprised if it hadn't of, lol! What is a Freezeroo #5 without wind on Edgemere Drive? Andy Ciaio tracked me down and said "Hi" as he passed.

Running on Edgemere Drive after Andy Ciaio had passed me ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shutterfly.com

There were at least 20 people ice fishing on both Long Pond and Buck Pond as we ran by. I was getting tired. The road surface changed to about two inches of slushy snow as we made a short jog onto Braddock Rd and Second Ave. The runners who wore trail shoes had more traction for sure! I had to slow down a bit since I wore road shoes. I got back to as much speed as my body could muster as we turned right onto East Manitou Rd ... a bit more than a mile to go. I could see Andy about two hundred yards ahead. The road curved to the left ahead and eventually led to the park entrance. It was still 0.35 mile to the finish. Time to just gut it out until the finish. I could see the timer get to 1:00:00 ... and done with 7.97 miles in 1:00:21, 7:34 pace, by my Garmin.

I slowly walked to the Cruze and put on my yellow Brooks jacket. I ambled over to the lodge and had a bagel with butter along with some water. I looked at the results. 1:00:20 officially, and saw that I was 30th.  I headed home for a mug or two of coffee to upload my Garmin and check the results. My splits were: 7:26, 7:32, 7:25, 7:33, 7:32, 7:42, 7:51 (I guess I didn't slow down by much) and 7:21. I was 30th out of 131, link here. I was 6th out of 16 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. I found another runner's take on this race, link here.

After a bit of a nap, I took my darling wife, Christine, out to get her nails done at New Nails. She had to wait a bit but the results were well worth it ... trust me!