Sunday, 3/5/2017 to Saturday, 3/11/2017 - Johnny's Runnin' O' The Green

I ran 9 times this week, 25.7 miles.

Sunday, 3/5/2017: Travel day to Corning

I could have ran today but didn't. I was up at 5:30 AM because I thought that my lovely wife, Christine, wanted to leave early enough to get down to Corning to maximize the 9 AM to 5 PM Sunday hours of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG). She didn't feel well so I didn't push her. I have learned to set "soft" travel plans whenever possible. We did get down to the CMOG by close to 2:30 PM. We saw the Contemporary Art & Design Galleries, most of the Amphitheater Hot Shop Demo, the Innovation Center and Contemporary Glass by 5 PM.

Then we used the $25 gift card that we received from her brother, Bill Wisniewski, at Applebee's. I had a half rack of ribs (ehh ... too many small bones) and she had some type of chicken and potatoes.

We spent the night at the Country Inn & Suites in Big Flats. We simply vegged out ... I fell asleep while Christine played a slide show of all the CMOG pictures that she took that day. I guess we have become an old married couple, lol.

Monday, 3/6/2017: 4.25 miles, 34:08, 8:02 pace, 28F, 39% RH, 3 mph E wind, mostly sunny


I needed to run. I was tempted to just use the nearby treadmill rather than search for a running route. Christine suggested that I run around the adjacent mall. That seemed easy ... so I ran 3 times around the Arnot Mall. It was closed at 8 AM so there was minimal traffic. I dressed in my usual for the 28F weather: CW-X tights, short sleeve tech, yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and ski mittens. I took it really nice and easy but it was still a 8:02 pace ... boom. My splits were: 8:09, 8:01, 8:09, 7:56 and 57 over the last 0.25 mile.

Christine was waiting for me in the hotel's breakfast nook when I got done. I sat down for a nice and leisurely breakfast of a waffle, sausage, egg, fruit, coffee and orange juice. I wanted to use the hotel pool but couldn't because it was being shocked. Oh well. We took a little nap before we headed back over to CMOG. We arrived at noon and spent the rest of the day in the 35 Centuries of Glass gallery. I ended up taking a lot of pictures and drained the battery in my personal cell and most of the battery in my work cell. There is certainly a lot to see!

Still smiling the next day after seeing hundreds or thousands pieces of glass!

Our unused tickets to the Rockwell Museum are good for a year ... as long as we don't lose them. We took the scenic (what scenery there was until it was dark) route home up 414N to Watkins Glen, 14N to the NYS Thruway and home.

Tuesday, 3/7/2017: Rest day.

I could have ran but ... I was a bit tired from lack of sleep plus the need to do a bit of grocery shopping. A rest day is a good thing I have been told.

Oh, the Lee Rd - Lexington Ave intersection near B601 where I manage Ricoh printer for Harris was finally open after being closed for 6 days due to 12 downed power lines.

Wednesday, 3/8/2015: 7.05 miles, 57:00, 8:05 pace, 52F, 40% RH, 20 mph WSW wind, mostly cloudy.



I needed to run. There was a high wind warming for later in the afternoon so I ran before lunch. There was already a stiff wind that tried to blow me back several times but I "got 'er done". My splits were: 8:30, 8:04, 8:22, 8:19, 7:55, 7:55 and 7:35.

Thursday, 3/9/2017: 7:05 miles, 57:16, 8:07 pace, 37F, 44% RH, 19 mph W wind, wind chill 27F, mostly cloudy.

Well, Christine and I didn't get blown away by yesterday's winds. There was a gust of 82 mph at the Rochester International Airport and sustained winds of 50 mph for 5 hours. There were a lot of downed trees, power lines (S Winton Rd in Henrietta and Long Pond Rd in Greece). traffic lights either out or blown down and lots of people (RG &E - 98K as of 6 AM) without electricity. We didn't lose power but my Facebook feed had plenty who had downed trees, lost power or both, news links here and here.



It was Thursday ... so I ran. The power poles that were down last week for 6 days around the intersection of Lee Rd and Lexington Ave took a beating. 5 of them were leaning and braced by RG & E trucks as I ran by. The intersection of Lee Rd and Emerson St was still without a traffic light or even a portable stop sign. Someone is going to get hit there for sure. It wasn't me today. It was colder, the wind was a bit lighter and I survived. There were more twigs and branches down on the Erie Canal path. My splits were: 8:14, 8:04, 8:27, 8:32, 7:49, 7:52 and 7:56.

Friday, 3/10/2017: Rest day ... the usual before a race the next morning.

Saturday, 3/11/2017: 4 runs of 0.52, 1.25, 5.06 and 0.52 miles, 16F, 67% RH, 7 mph NNW wind, wind chill 6F, overcast with light snow.

Today's race was my seventh Johnny's Runnin' of the Green (2007 in 37:34, 2011 in 40F, 34:35, 2012 in a lifetime PR of 55F, 33:58, 2013 in 26F, 36:23, 2015 in 39F, 36:18 and 2016 in 36F, 35:40). It was the kickoff race for the 12 race Greater Rochester Track Club's Rochester Runner of the Year series. It does appear that today was the coldest Johnny's I have run and it was definitely colder than any of the six 2016-2017 Freezeroos (the coldest was 23F for Freezeroo #3 on 1/14). Brr! I wore the usual for under 20F weather: my CW-X tights with a pair of shorts over, red Freezeroo long sleeve tech, yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, yellow Brooks jacket, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie, ski mittens and sunglasses.

There was a real light snow for the 20 minute drive down to the Blue Cross Arena (BCA). The parking lot on Exchange Blvd and Court St where I (and a lot of other runners) usually park was closed so I had to park 1/2 mile away ... hence a 0.52 mile warmup run at 8:50 pace to the BCA, link here. When I removed my mittens inside the BCA I discovered that I had somehow cut my left thumb knuckle. It bled and I got a bit on my pullover for sure and probably some on my jacket. It hadn't stopped when I went out for my second warmup run of 1.25 miles at 8:20 pace, link here. I didn't have a nearby car to stash any clothes so I just wore what I had ... it was certainly cold enough. This St Patrick's race had the usual runners in colorful costumes! I heard an announcement about a course detour due to a downed tree on Wilson Blvd before I headed out to the start line.

I lined up in the usual spot ... a bit back from the start line and off to the right. I bumped fists with Andy Ciaio before the start .... and we were off!

The start ... photo courtesy of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com

I got up to speed quickly and settled in for the usual 5 mile out and back course down Exchange Blvd to Ford St, across the Ford St bridge, right on Wilson Blvd for 1.5 miles before the turnaround and back. I had a good first mile at 7:04 just after we turned onto Wilson Blvd. I could see the tree up ahead but it didn't block the whole road and there was no path leading off. We just moved a bit to the left. Boots and Barb Boutillier from Fleet Feet Rochester were there along with a sign that said "FF loves you!". I later learned that Boots took a chainsaw to some of that tree to clear a path for us. I had a bit of trouble in the miles that followed. It wasn't enough to stop and walk a bit but just enough to slow a bit. I realized this and just let the run continue onward. I tried to keep up with the group that I was with and for the most part did. Andy passed me and then Prem Kumar. So ... up Wilson Blvd to the turnaround and back. Now I could everyone behind me as we ran back to the start.

The way on Wilson Blvd was cleared by Boots and his trusty chainsaw ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

Around nmle 3.75 on the way back ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

Back down Wilson Blvd, left onto Ford St and the Ford St bridge, right onto Exchange Blvd. A mile to go ... don't speed up yet ... too soon. I could see the Freddie-Sue bridge ... the I-490 overpass ... keep going ... the stop light at Court St and Exchange Blvd ... a little faster. I could see the finish line ... I didn't have much left but I put it out there. I saw the timer click past 37 ... a bit disappointed ... and done in 37:10, 7:26 pace. I bumped fists with Andy and Prem. Then straight into the BCA ... it was cold and I was a bit damp. I grabbed and guzzled down a bottle of water. There wasn't any bagels because the place where Johnny's gets the bagels didn't have power. I checked out the results and saw that I was 90th and 8th in my M 55-59 age group. I didn't stay long and slowly ran the 0.52 mile back to the Cruze.

A post race selfie

I passed about ten Central Maine power trucks as I drove home. There are still lots of homes without power. I went straight to the shower. My fingers were white for a white like usual until I warmed up. PCR Timing soon had the results up: I was 90th out of 876, link here. I was 8th out of 61 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 7:04, 7:22, 7:34, 7:31, 7:17 and 7:10 over the last 0.06 mile. So ... I ran my second slowest Johnny's. I have raced enough in the past 12 years to know that some races are better than others. I went out there and ran the best I could. That's all you can do.

Christine and I watched a couple of movies. One called "Water for Elephants" with Reese Witherspoon was quite good. She found for FREE off of Time Warner's OnDemand. The other called "Arrival" from Redbox was so-so. It was a bit boring.