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!