Sunday, 12/10/2017 to Saturday, 12/16/2017

I ran 4 times this week, 33.7 miles.
I took 73,426 steps this week according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 12/10/2017: 12905 steps during the day; 11.45 miles, 1:34:34, 8:16 pace, 30F, 64% RH, 21 mph W wind, wind chill 17F, mostly cloudy

I slept in until 8:30 AM. I have a feeling that if and when I ever retire that I will eventually become a night owl and sleep everyday until noon! But ... I ate my usual pre-run bowl of cereal with banana, puttered around a bit on Facebook. But ... I dragged myself upstairs and got ready for a long run outside in December.

It looked cold and blustery outside but ... a runner has to do what a runner has to do. I dress warmly: CW-X tights with shorts over, yellow/black Brook 1/4 zip pullover, balaclava, yellow/black Brooks beanie, ski mittens and sunglasses. "A run doesn't get done by itself" I muttered as I stepped out the door.



Did I say it was cold? Yes, I could have turned around and made it a 5 mile when I got to the end of the LOSP trail. Yes, I could have made it a 10K or a 15K. But ... I wanted at least 10 miles. So ... I added my 10K loop. Yes ... it was cold heading into the wind on the LOSP trail, Edgemere Drive and down Long Pond Rd. But ... it wasn't so bad on the way back on Janes Rd and the LOSP trail. My splits were: 8:15, 8:26, 8:19, 8:29, 8:27, 8:31, 8:17, 7:49, 8:01, 8:14, 8:13 and 7:51 over the last 0.45 mile. Boom ... done!

My darling wife, Christine, was already downstairs when I came inside. She let me do my normal routine ... pour my coffee, grab 5 mini-donuts and sit down. We listened to some Christmas music before we turned on the Indianapolis Colts - Buffalo Bills game at exactly 1 PM. Wow! The game was played in a Lake Erie snow belt snow storm! Some runner friends were at the game and posted pictures on Facebook ... crazy!

A image grab from si.com

Matt Wittmeyer of Brighton took this picture of a Buffalo Bills fan ... photo courtesy of Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

The groundskeepers ran onto the field during timeouts to shovel and blow the yard markers. It helped a bit but you still had to rely on the TV to tell you where the ball was. There was a whole lot of slipping and sliding, punts just dropping in the snow and not so much scoring. The Bills had their backup AB, Peterson, in at QB. The Bills grabbed a 7-0 lead just before halftime. Peterson was knocked out in the third quarter. The Bills had their backup, backup QB, Joe Webb, in. Back and forth with no team scoring. Meanwhile, Christine was cooking up a storm in the kitchen. She served Greek Pastitsio from greek.food.com during the 4th quarter. It looked like the Bills would hold the Colts but they scored after a 19 play drive with under 2 minutes to go. They lined up for a 2 point conversion to win the game. The pass was good ... FLAG ... offensive pass interference!!! The Colts then tied the game with a 43 yard PAT. The Colts almost won the game when they got an interception but missed a 43 yard FG attempt with 6 seconds to go. OT! The Bills got the ball and drove to the Colts 41. They punted on 4th and 1 ... what? But ... the Bills held and the Colts punted the ball back. Time for the Bills to drive the ball. McCoy won the game with a 21 yard burst up the left side with 1:33 left! Bills win 13-7!! Wow ... EPIC game! The Bills (7-6) crawled into the sixth spots in the AFC playoff picture with 3 games to play. Lots of links; here, here, here, here (no snow pictures, upi.com?), here, here, here, here, here, here, here and Peterson is in concussion protocol, link here.

Monday, 12/11/2017: 5856 steps during the day, rest day.

Tuesday, 12/12/2017: 14324 steps during the day; 6.25 miles, 55:57, 8:56 pace, 21F, 62% RH, 13 mph W wind, wind chill 9F, overcast.


I brought my gear to work so I could have run before lunch but just wasn't feeling it. I wanted to test out the new InnoGear headlamp I bought off of Ebay and my new Nathan Tracer360. I dressed after work: CW-X tights with shorts over them, long sleeve tech, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, Darn Tough socks and my Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes (they still feel OK and they have LOTS of traction). But ... I didn't have my balaclava or my yellow/black Brooks beanie. So I headed home to get them. I went inside, dumped my stuff, grabbed the head gear, announced my intentions to Christine (who by now knows I'm crazy) and headed back out. I lit up the Tracer360 and the headlamp (which seemed dim) and set up a slow and steady pace. The footing in the parking lot was icy and the complex plow guy probably thought I was crazy. I went out onto the LOSP trail. It was about 2 inches of snow on it and about 4 inches in sheltered areas. The footing was OK so I set up to do my 10K out and back. The only part of me that was cold was my face. Well ... my headlamp got dimmer and quit with about a mile to go (more on the headlamp on Thursday. So ... I ran the rest of the LOSP trail by the glow of my Tracer360! There were street lights when I got to the Greenleaf Meadow complex.  One car didn't move over as I ran up toward my townhouse so I had to take to the snow ... I did turn around and yell at the car but ... it did no good as usual. My splits were: 9:07, 9:04, 8:41, 8:42, 9:11, 9:00 and 8:22 over the last 0.25 mile. My darling wife, Christine, had a supper of chicken, beans and salad along with a mug of hot chocolate ready when I came in from the cold ... priceless!

Wednesday, 12/13/2017: 4673 steps during the day, rest day.

I found that I could charge my Ebay headlamp (which had no charging LED) using one particular USB charger so the cord is good. This cord also worked to charge my old Black Diamond headlamp (but is super slow).

Thursday, 12/14/2017: 18217 steps during the day; 7.55 miles, 1:04:37, 8:33 pace, 18F, 62% RH, 9 mph WSW wind, wind chill 9F, overcast.


Yes, it was cold and dark but it wasn't so windy or snowing ... so I ran. I dressed after work and drove out to Greece Arcadia High School for my IC and Janes route. I wore my winter usual for 18F: CW-X tights with shorts over, long sleeve tech, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, balaclava, yellow/black Brooks beanie and ski mittens. I wore my Nathan Tracer360 for reflectivity. I wanted to use my new headlamp but I forgot it so I used my old Black Diamond headlamp that didn't quite have a charge (more on that later). I set up a nice and easy pace ... and set forth in the darkness. The wind wasn't too bad and I warmed up quickly. My splits were: 8:17, 8:38, 8:34, 8:30, 8:27, 8:34, 8:40 and 9:00 over the last 0.55 mile. My darling wife, Christine, had tracked me on RoadID and had hamburgs cooking and a mug of hot chocolate ready ... priceless!

Oh ... about my headlamp choice. I had broken one of the blades in the transformer (no longer sold) that charged my old Black Diamond headlamp (no longer sold) so I was forced to get another headlamp.

I must have twisted the plug when I pulled it out ... :-(

So I bought a InnoGear 5000 lumen headlamp from Ebay for $21.95 about 2 weeks ago, link here. It is widely sold online and uses 2 18360 rechargeable batteries. I like to run before lunch during the daylight but the snow and ice on the Erie Canal path has forced me to run after work in the dark. The InnoGear headlamp worked when I got it but it had no charging LED so I had no idea whether it charged or not before I took my Tuesday run. It died with a mile to go. I ordered a separate 18360 battery  charger off a Ebay for $3.95 so I can know that the batteries are fully charged.

I did find that the USB charging cord for the InnoGear headlamp does fit into my old Black Diamond headlamp but I know that the broken transformer was about 12V which is definitely a bit higher than the voltage that a USB charger puts out. This could be why the Black Diamond headlamp is charging so slowly when I try to charge it with a USB charger. So ... I measured the InnoGear plug (it's 3.5 mm) and ordered a 12V 2 Amp transformer with a 3.5 mm connector off of Ebay for $5.99. Running is just a cheap hobby ... lol! But ... it's always best to be see (with a spare headlamp just in case) and to be seen (with a lighted reflective vest)!

Friday, 12/15/2017:  6753 steps during the day, rest day.

Saturday, 12/16/2017: 10698 steps during the day' 8.35 miles, 1:11:51, 8:36 pace, 27F, 68% RH, 8 mph WSW wind, wind chill 18F, snow.

I slept in until 7:50 AM ... I guess I needed the sleep. I ate my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana while I puttered around and looked at Facebook and email. I saw that a lot of people were getting ready for the Reindeer Run 5K downtown. Been there, done that, have the antlers. But ... a run doesn't get done by itself. So .. I headed upstairs, got dressed in my usual winter running gear and got outside. I added my Nathan Tracer360 running vest even though it was daylight. I lit it up but it didn't seem to help too much. It did start snowing later in the run so maybe it helped. I set up a nice and easy pace on the LOSP trail. It was a bit of a slog so I didn't go back that way. I headed down Island Cottage, Latta, Dewey Ave, Beach Ave and Greenleaf Rd instead. I did find that drivers DO NOT look when they are turning right ... and especially when it is snowing. I could see that the two drivers were going to pull out right in front of me so I just stopped and held up my arms when they looked my way. I guess they think that there are no pedestrians or runners out when it's snowing? Anyway ... there were no further incidents. My splits were: 8:47, 9:17, 8:57, 8:26, 8:01, 8:14, 8:09, 9:01 and 8:25 over the last 0.35 mile.