Sunday, 3/27/2017: 17.45 miles, 2:31:01, 8:39 pace, 37F, 93% RH, 9 mph E wind, wind chill 31F, overcast.
I set my alarm for 5:40 AM. Yes, it was dark, Yes, this is earlier that I set it for work M-F. But ... I didn't run yesterday so I made sure that I got out this morning. I got down to the swing bridge in Irondequoit at 7AM. I tried to link up my work Samsung with my Garmin Forerunner 200 but I couldn't get them to pair up. So I just sent a RoadID eCrump from my personal Droid.
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| I bet this sign is right and the website is wrong. |
There was a lot of posts on my Facebook feed from people that ran the fifth Syracuse Half, link here. I ran this half in 2015 and 2016. The 4651 finishers had great weather with partly cloudy skies and temps in the low 40s. Yeah ... there was a snow squall in the middle when I ran it last year.
Monday, 3/27/2017:Rest day ... needed.
I surprised my darling wife, Christine, with pancakes and coffee. I ruined the surprise when the smoke detector went off. I used the big frying pan at first with not enough oil to grease the pan. I switched to the smaller frying pan after I used Pam to grease it. I was getting better before I used all the batter. All but one of the pancakes were edible. I soaked the frying pans for a pan and had to use steel wool (and lots of elbow grease) to clean them.
I put together a 4 shelf shelving unit down in the basement. That was the extent of my organization so far.
I got a new of ASICS GT-1000 4 running from Fedex today. Note: Fedex just rings the doorbell and runs without waiting for you to answer the door. This is how a package can get stolen. Yes, I know and I did read the emails from Fleet Feet Rochester about how I should buy locally. I run locally at local races. Well ... I got an email from rauketen.com that listed these shoes for $50 along with a $15 MasterPass discount that brought the final price down to $35. I read positive reviews so I pulled the trigger and ordered them. I just can't afford the MSRP of $120 per running shoe. I put 500 to 600 miles on my running shoes before I buy replacements so I buy two to three pairs a year. The last two pairs of Brooks Adrenaline GTS running shoes that I bought were last year's model that I bought from www.roadrunnersports.com using their VIP program. I did buy my just retired pair of Pearl Izumi M3 running shoes from Fleet Feet Rochester on a closeout sale for $50. I was not impressed with how these shoes wore. I am a heel striker as you can see.
Tuesday, 3/28/2017: 6.25 miles, 49:42, 7:57 pace, 52F, 82% RH, 3 mph NW wind, overcast.
I got out on my virgin ASICS. They did feel comfy. I didn't want to push a first run so I just did a 10K out and back. I tried to keep it nice and easy but I sped up on the way back. My splits were: 8:19, 8:01, 7:52, 7:54, 7:59, 7:50 and 7:09 over the last 0.25 mile. I did wear shorts, heavy running gloves and a hat (instead of tights, mittens and a beanie) but I overdressed on the top with 2 long sleeve tech shirts.
Wednesday, 3/29/2017: Rest day.
Thursday, 3/30/2017: 11.5 miles, 1:32:57, 8:04 pace, 37F, 48% RH, 14 mph ESE wind, wind chill 29F, overcast.
I am sleeping in more and more as my week long vacation goes on. Today I slept in until almost 8 AM. I puttered around a bit while I ate my pre-run bowl of cereal and banana and waited to digest my breakfast. But ... long runs don't get done by themselves. So I dressed for the conditions ... except I decided to wear two long sleeve techs inside of one and my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover (it needs washing). I decided to try out a new route that I figured would be about 11.3 miles. I set up a nice and easy pace but hiked it up a bit the further I got. I found that my darling wife, Christine, can tell how long I run by how much I groan when I get back. She guessed 8 or 9 ... I answered 11.5. My splits were: 8:13, 7:57, 8:05, 8:03, 8:02, 7:53, 8:01, 7:59, 8:08, 8:51 (water break), 8:00 and 7:55 over the last 0.5 mile. The new route wasn't too bad.
Friday, 3/31/2017: The usual Friday rest day.
I was glad it was a rest day. It rained all day. I did get downstairs for about 2 hours to work in the "pit" ... err, basement. I finished the back room of the basement pretty much. Does it count if I haven't taken out the stuff to be thrown out yet? Then I managed to make a bit of sense of the front room of the basement where all my computer stuff is strewn. This room is not done ... for sure!
Time to roll out the stats. I ran 21 times for 142.1 miles in the month of March, 6.77 miles per run. One of those runs were on snowshoes for 2.7 miles, another run was a snowshoe walk for 2.6 miles (a really cold walk). Two runs were warmups (1.25 and 0.5 miles) before two races (Johnny's Runnin' O' the Green 5 mile and the Spring Forward 15K). I ran around the Irondequoit Bay twice (14.85 and 17.45 miles) during the month. I have run 61 times for 413.66 miles, 6.78 miles per run.
Saturday, 4/1/2017: 11.1 miles, 1:29:58, 8:06 pace, 36F, 93% RH, 11 mph NE wind, wind chill 28F, overcast.
I debated on whether to set my alarm. There was a Fleet Feet run, the Flower City Half preview run #1, set for 7 AM. But I did set my alarm for 5:30 AM. I got about 5 hours of sleep and off it rang. It was dark and I debated for 22 minutes whether to get up or go back to sleep. I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep and if I did I would feel like a slug until I ran. So ... I got up, had half a bagel, got dressed, kissed Christine goodbye and drove the Cruze down to the Blue Cross Arena. I was there around 6:50 AM and congreated with about 100 to 150 other runners. There were pace groups from 7:30 to 15 minute mile.
I started just after the 8:00 pace group (about 12 strong) led by Kevin Clinefelter. I caught up to the group after 1/2 mile and hung with them the whole way. The route mapped out by Fleet Feet followed the Flower Half route up until the Mt Hope cemetery (about 8 miles) and then went back to Blue Cross Arena. I started to get tired around the usual spot at 7 miles in the rolling Highland Park area. I tweaked my right Achilles a bit at mile 10 which slowed me a bit. I ran onward ... it went away. Most of Kevin's group went back out for 7 or 9 more miles. I was OK with 11 miles. My splits were: 49, 59, 51, 04, 59, 8:17, 8:36, 55, 8:01, 8:24, 8:18 and 7;32 over the last 0.1 mile.
I walked up to look at the Genesee River on Broad St before I left and then stopped to take pictures of the High Falls from the Pont de Rennes bridge and the Lower Falls from the Driving Park bridge.
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| The Genesee River from the Broad St bridge |
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| The High Falls of the Genesee River from the Pont de Rennes bridge |
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| The Lower Falls of the Genesee River from the Lower Falls Park |
Christine and I got out to do some grocery shopping at Wegmans and for her to get her nails done at New Nails. All went well ... except for stopping for something to eat. Here is what I messaged Burger King via Facebook (they never answered):
"I visited BK in the Greece Ridge Mall in Rochester NY at 2 PM. I presented a coupon for $3.99 for 2 double cheeseburgers and 2 fries. I ordered a medium iced tea and a medium orange Fanta to drink. I was told the bill was $12.06!! Hmm ... I ordered 2 drinks and the price goes up to $12.06?? I balked and asked to see a manager. I was told that I ordered cheese and bacon on each double cheese burger (which I did not) and the drinks were $1.99 and $2.49. I had to take their word for it since there was no itemized bill yet. I was hungry so I gave $15 and said "Whatever." The manager refused to fulfill the order. I believe I was the victim of a hard upsell. I don't have the names of the trainee, her trainer or the manager. I went to your competitor, McDonalds and got the following for $5.97: a filet-o-fish, double cheeseburger and 2 small drinks. I was not upsold at all. I had my order almost before I put my change away and the manager thanked me for coming in. McDonald's wins ... today."
So ... beware of upselling! Hey, BK ... a person who presents a coupon for $3.99 might get a bit ticked off if the bill is $8 more when all they do is order 2 drinks!!
I caught up on Facebook. I marveled at the pictures from the Fifthly Formal 10K held out at Black Creek Park, link here. I passed on this TrailsROC trail race though I have done it twice in the past. I would have been drenched. There were pictures of runners in knee high water! It did look like fun though.
