Sunday, 1/7/2018 to Saturday, 1/13/2018 - Freezeroo #3

I ran 4 times this week, 18.91 miles.
I took 65,281 steps this week according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 1/7/2018: 2427 steps during the day, rest day.

I got out early to BJs and Wegmans before the first Bills playoff game since 1999. It seemed that most of Greece decided to hit up Wegmans around noon also.

So ... the Buffalo Bills versus the Jacksonville Jaguars Wild Card game. It was close. The Bills had the ball at the 1 and they ran right? Wrong, they passed and got called for offensive pass interference. The end result? A FG instead of a TD. So ... Bortles, the Jag QB, ran for 88 yards, 1 more than he passed (2nd time in the playoffs since Michael Vick did it for the Eagles in 2004). So ... Taylor was knocked out in the 4th quarter. What did Peterson do? Throw a game ending interception! So ... the Bills lost 3-10. Links here, here, here and here.

Monday, 1/8/2018: 6559 steps during the day, rest day.

Just your normal non-running Monday. Bah!

Tuesday, 1/9/2018: 6901 steps during the day, an unscheduled rest day.

I had all intentions of running today but just couldn't do it. I think I was suffering from epic race letdown ... aka the 2018 Winter Warrior Half.

Wednesday, 1/10/2018: 15236 steps during the day; 7.55 miles, 1:03:20, 8:23 pace, 45F, 70% RH, 10 mph SSW wind, wind chill 39F, overcast.

Christine, my darling wife, received sad news this morning around 3 AM. Her father, John Wisniewski, died in Ravenna OH. He was 96 years young and until the past 6 months or so had been pretty spry and volunteered at the Center of Hope food bank. I enjoyed hearing his stories of WW II and his service in the Phillipines. May he rest in peace.


I needed to run so I got out after work. I dressed just before 5 PM and got to my usual night time haunt, Greece Arcadia High School, around 5:20 PM. I probably overdressed with CW-X tights, a long sleeve tech, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, yellow/black Brooks beanie and ski mittens. I wore my Nathan Tracer360 and InnoGear headlamp. My pace varied on this run. My legs grew tired either due to the Winter Warrior Half 4 days ago or old road shoes with 550 miles on them ... or both. My splits were: 7:41, 8:07, 8:18, 8:22, 8:39, 8:37, 8:46 and 8:44 over the last 0.55 mile.

Thursday, 1/11/2018:  15083 steps during the day, 4.05 miles, 36:54, 9:07 pace, 54F, 62% RH, 15 mph SW wind, overcast.


The weather have gotten warmer over the past day ... so I thought maybe I would take a pre-lunch run on the Erie Canal path. It's gotta be somewhat free of snow ... right? That would a solid NO! Yes, I wore shorts, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover and heavy running gloves along with road shoes. Well ... the Erie Canal path had some tiny sections of pavement but the vast majority of it was covered with 2 to 3 inches of wet snow along with a bit of ice. So ... my road shoes and socks were soaked in short order. It was a tough slog out with my shoes slipping and sliding for a mile until my 220 clicked to 2 miles ... and then I turned around and went back. I didn't see the need to punish my legs any farther. My splits were: 8:35, 9:38, 10:22 and 7:59. You can tell that miles 2 and 3 were on the Erie Canal path!

Friday, 1/12/2018: 4686 steps during the day, rest day.

A really weird weather day in Rochester. The high was 60F around noon and then the temperature fell. Rain and then freezing rain by 5 PM and then snow after dark. The forecast was for at least 6 to 12 inches of snow by morning.

Saturday, 1/13/2018: 14389 steps during the day; 5.11 miles, 14F, 81% RH, 10 mph NW wind, wind chill 1F, mostly cloudy.

Today's race was Freezeroo #3 out at Pineways Pond Park in Spencerport. I trolled Facebook and there were posts that the roads in Spencerport were clear so ... I geared up for a cold weather run, kissed Christine goodbye and stepped out the door. A foot of snow greeted me. I had the foresight to put on my boots so I hoofed out to the 2018 Cruze, cleared it off and headed out.

I got to the race venue early enough that I helped set up the tables and chairs. I brought in my running gear bag so I could take off my boots and put on my trail shoes. I wore my usual "really cold" running gear: CW-X tights with shrts, long sleeve tech, Craft long sleeve tech, yellow/black Brooks pullover, balaclava, Winter Warrior hat along with goggles and ski mittens. The turnout was light because many people were still digging out from the overnight snowfall.

The start ... photo courtesy of Christina Darlak Ruhland

I didn't warm up and just headed to the start. It was cold. And ... we were off! I almost slipped and fell on my ass ... but I didn't and got up to some semblance of a race pace. The footing was not the best with about an inch of snow on the road.

The turn around mile 1 ... photo courtesy of Vicky Beaver

The footing didn't improve much on the various roads that the course was on. Luckily there wasn't much wind. I went into a "get it done" race pace. I wasn't getting passed and I could pass anyone as stretched out. And ... done in 42:03 according to my Garmin (I forgot to turn off for a few seconds).

Just before the finish ... photo courtesy of Christina Durlak Ruhland

Crossing the timing strip ... photo courtesy of Vicky Beaver

I walked up to the lodge and just sat for a while. I had a cup of chicken noodle soup and a bagel with peanut butter ... delicious. I am not normally a soup man after a run but today it spoke to me. I forgot to bring my wallet so I went straight home.

The results were posted shortly after I had relaxed with a mug of coffee. My official time was 41:46, xx pace, 14th out of 64, link here. I was 1st out of 5 in my M 60-64 age group, link here. My splits were: 8:04, 8:14, 8:20, 8:16, 8:03 and 9:46 over the last 0.11 mile (with a bit of walking). The Relive link for Freezeroo #3 is here.

I didn't think that I should rest on a mere 5.11 miles on a Saturday. But what to do? I thought a snowshoe was in order. So ... I geared up and got out there again. It was still cold but I settled into a snowshoe walk out on the Lake Shore Country Club. The weather conditions were: 12F, 66% RH, 12 mph WNW wind, wind chill -2F, overcast.


The snow wasn't so deep that I couldn't break into a slow run ... so I did when I could. Boom. My splits were: 18:59, 17:36 and 15:03 over the last 0.2 mile.

Christine and I had thought abut heading out to Ravenna OH for her father's funeral the night before but we didn't. She had trouble sleeping so she was up most of the night. I had trouble sleeping also.