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".