I took 83,100 steps during this week according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.
Sunday, 12/3/2017: 14289 steps during the day; 9.35 miles, 1:18:27, 8:23 pace, 36F, 93% RH, 4 mph SW wind, partly cloudy.
I woke up around 7 AM but puttered around enough so that I got out around 9 AM. I'm a creature of habit during the winter and wore what I wore yesterday. I bet people can recognize me: my Brooks pants, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, yellow/black Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. It makes grabbing my gear easier. Anything to make a run when it's cold outside is a good thing. I've been running going on 13 years now so I know that runs don't get done by themselves.
I set up a nice and steady pace. I only saw one runner during the run. My splits were: 8:20, 8:21, 8:26, 8:38, 8:31, 8:16, 8:16, 8:31, 8:29 and 7:25 over the last 0.35 mile. Boom ... done. The coffee that I had programmed before I left was all done ... mmm! I had my mug of coffee on my left side, my feet up and 4 mini-donuts in front of me ... mmm!
Later ... my darling wife, Christine, and I watched the Patriots plays the Bills at New Era Stadium over in Buffalo. The results were predictable ... a 23-3 loss to bring the Bills down to 6-6, link here. The Bills just rip their fan's hearts out every year ... a hot September and October followed by a lackluster November and dismal December. 17 years and counting since the Bills made the playoffs.
Monday, 12/4/2017: 5994 steps during the day, rest day.
Tuesday, 12/5/2017: 14720 steps during the day; 6.45 miles, 52:13, 8:06 pace, 53F, 76% RH, 17 mph SW wind, overcast.
I grabbed my old Brooks Adrenaline GTS15 black/yellow running shoes this morning but they are what I had ... so I ran in them. It was supposed to the mid 50s so I wore shorts, a long sleeve/short sleeve tech combo, yellow/black Brooks light running gloves and my yellow/black Brooks beanie. I was a bit chilly as I headed south in the brisk SW wind for the first 3/4 mile plus my shoe choice felt a bit like concrete but I ran onward and let the run happen. My splits were: 8:22, 8:06, 8:01, 8:20, 8:08, 7:56 and 7:21 over the last 0.45 mile. I took a look at the long range forecast. I bet this will be last time I run in short this year, :-(.
Laundry needed to be done so it was up at 4:45 AM to start 2 loads of laundry and then 2 more after I got home from work. Boom ... done. I'll wash the rest of my clothes this weekend.
Wednesday, 12/6/2017: 6199 steps during the day, rest day.
Runner's World picked up on Jill Jackett's death while running and ran a story about her, link here. Her memorial service was held today from 2 to 5 PM down in the Education building at the Genesse Country Village and Museum in Mumford NY.
I signed up for my second Empire State Marathon. It's a week later next year on 10/14/2018 so it will not conflict with either the Chicago Marathon or Mohawk Hudson Marathon. I used the HOLIDAYFULL coupon to get $25 off. There is also a HOLIDAYHALF to get $20 off the half and a HOLIDAY10K coupon to get $10 off the 10K. So ... the prices are down to $60, $55 and $35 with the coupons. Hopefully, the temperature at the start of next year's race will be 53F instead of 73F like it was this year!
Thursday, 12/7/2017: 15222 steps during the day; 6.45 miles, 50:52, 7:52 pace, 32F, 12 mph SW wind, wind chill 23F, overcast.
I got out before lunch like I usually do. It was a lot colder so I wore my CW-X tights, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, yellow/black Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. I hiked up the speed to keep warm. I actually had a bit of sweat by mile 6, lol! My splits were: 7:25, 7:56, 8:02, 8:11, 8:05, 7:48 and 7:16 over the last 0.45 mile.
Friday, 12/8/2017: 7045 steps during the day, rest day.
Saturday, 12/9/2017: 9631 steps during the day; 2 runs of 2.5 and 3.13 miles, 30F, 59% RH, 6 mph SW wind, wind chill 24F, mostly cloudy.
Today's race was the GRTC Freezeroo #1. It was my sixth. Two were a 5 mile version at Pineways Pond Park (2010 - 36:44 and 2011 - 34:18). The past three and this one were at the current Northstar Christian Academy location on Lyell Ave (2013 - 22:52, 2014 - 21:41 and 2016 - 22:06). Today's weather was Freezeroo-ish: a bit before freezing, light wind and mostly cloudy. I slept in until 7:30 AM. I washed the dishes that didn't make it into the dishwasher, programmed the coffee, had my pre-race bowl of cereal and banana and caught up on Facebook and email. Then I got dressed, kissed Christine goodbye and was out the door by 8:40 AM for the short 20 minute drive down to NCA. I wore my winter usual: CW-X tights, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, yellow/black Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. I added my Brooks jacket for warmth while I warmed up.
I misread the pre-registration list when I got my bib and got #60 and pinned it on. I met up with Prem Kumar and went out for a really nice and easy 2.5 mile warm up run at 8:56 pace, link here. We were taking it easy enough to catch up on what's been going on with each other ... and also complain about how cold the wind was ... lol! His race schedule for 2018 is firming up: the 4 Season Challenge, the Roads are Poison snowshoe races, Sehgahunda, Ontario Summit Trail, Pittsburgh Marathon. I told him about the HOLIDAYFULL coupon that I had used to sign up for the Empire State Marathon (ESM) in October. He has a plan that he can ran a 3:20 at the 2018 ESM he can qualify for the M 45-49 at the 2020 Boston Marathon when he will be 45 (he is 42 now, 43 in April 2018). I told him that I was signed up for the 4 Season Challenge, Mind the Ducks and ESM. I saw Chris and Heather Patterson along with their month old baby. Heather was racing while Chris was watching. Chris told me that they would be taking turns so that they could each race. I stashed my jacket in the car before the race. Heather had taught me years ago that you should be cool at the start of a winter race. You will warm up she told me. Prem told me that I when we met (way back on 11/30/2013 at the RT Turkey Run ... I looked it up) that I had inspired him to run 50+ races a year when I told him I was running my 49th race. We each found out that we had both had run a bit over 1500 miles this year. Prem is slightly behind me by 20 miles ... maybe. Prem also told me that he was leaving right after the race so that he could drive down to Power Mills Park in Perinton so that he could run another race, the WTF 5 mile Trail Run. It's nice to know that I have inspired someone ... sniff, sniff, lol!
A woman came up to me with 6 minutes to go before the race start at 10 AM and told me that I had her bib. We hurried back to registration where I unpinned my bib, gave it to her, got my correct bib, pinned it on and hurried back out to the start with 2 minutes to spare. I got my RoadID ready and ... was off!
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| The start ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com |
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| Heading back ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com |
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| Sprinting for the finish ... photo courtesy of Christina Darlak Ruhland |
The traffic getting back onto Lyell Ave was a bit difficult to navigate at first. I was stuck behind a SUV who was waiting to get onto Lyell like I was. I had time to look at the bumper stickers: 77.7, 26.2 x 20+ and 26.2: what possibly can go wrong? I thought about all the races that I have run in the past 13 years: 435 races and where they are taken me and what they had taught me.
Soon I was home, the coffee was brewed and I had my feet up with a mug of coffee on my left side while I checked out Facebook and my email. The Freezeroo #1 results were posted. I finished 32nd out of 153, link here. I was 1st out of 11 in my M 60-64 age group, link here. My splits were: 7:02, 7:11, 7:11 and 6:36 over the last 0.13 mile.
There were other runners out there being awesome. The WTF had 44 finishers in the 15 mile, 55 finishers in the 10 mile and 56 finishers in the 5 mile. I learned from Facebook some runners had run about the Irondequoit Bay. A lot of runners ran the It's A Wonderful Run 5K out in Seneca Falls ... 4562 finishers, link here!
Me ... I am done with racing for 2017. I ran 36 races and needed to hold back to keep to somewhat of a racing budget. I would love to run more races ... but I did run more when I didn't run race so it's all good!
