Sunday, 8/26/2018 to Saturday, 9/1/2018

I ran 2 times this week, 20.1 miles.
I took 59,985 steps during this week according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 8/26/2018: 2282 steps during the day, rest day.

A needed rest day since it hurt to go up and down stairs for a bit of the day. My lovely wife, Christine, and I spent some time relaxing before we made it out to eat brunch at the CharBroil Restaurant on Island Cottage. I had the steak and eggs while Christine had a BLT. It was OK.

Well ... the seventh Black Diamond Express 5K and Half Marathon was held out in Mendon. I ran this race back in x when it was just a 15K. There were 149 finishers of the half, link here. Jason "Jmac" McElwain was 4th in 1:23:52, Wendy Abbott was 11th in 1:38:53, Prem Kumar was 13th in 1:40:50 and Bill Sandow was 25th in 1:47:29. Speedy times on a flat course! There were 70 finishers of the 5K, link here. Maybe next year!

Later I watched the third Buffalo Bills preseason game versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Ouch ... the Bills offensive line sucked and their secondary wasn't much better. They gave up a touchdown on the first Bengals play! It was never competitive. The Bills lost 13-26.

Monday, 8/27/2018, 6268 steps during the day, rest day.
Tuesday, 8/28/2018, 4108 steps during the day, rest day.
Wednesday, 8/29/2018, 7734 steps during the day, rest day.

What can I say? A combination of just needing to take a bit of time off combined with some really hot and humid "dog days of August". I don't think my running fitness will suffer much.

Thursday, 8/30/2018: 16665 steps during the day; 8.05 miles, 1:06:46, 8:17 pace, 68F, 68% RH, 7 mph wind, overcast.

A Thursday run after 5 days off. It was cooler but just as humid. I set up a nice and steady but a bit faster pace on my 8 mile loop. I was kind of dripping with sweat when I got back to the '14 Cruze. My splits were: 8:20, 8:16, 8:17, 8:11, 8:22, 8:14, 8:19 and 8:21. A pretty steady pace.

Friday, 8/31/2018: 3401 steps during the day, rest day.

I took today off as a floating holiday. I went down to see my daughter, Karen, in Palmyra. She had hurt her back bending down to unleash her dog, Pooka, and needed some help cleaning her apartment. So I did. Her dog had discovered chewing cardboard so her place was quite the mess. But I got to work and soon it was better than when I came. I also took out the garbage and recycling. I also put together a Bissell Power Lifter Powerbrush Upright Carpet Cleaner and cleaned a section of rug in her bedroom. It seemed to work but I don't know if it took away the urine odor. I also learned more about her mother's upcoming move to Hickory NC next month.

A sunflower that I saw by Karen's recycling bins

Fleet Feet Rochester and Yellow Jacket Racing had their first First Responders 5K out in Webster tonight. Boots had a lengthy Facebook post about how this race was on his bucket list for several years since he knows a lot of fire fighters and first responders, link here. A charity named FRST (First Responders Special Treatment ) Agency was formed to help Monroe County first responders with PTSD. It was a great success with 604 finishers, link here. Maybe next year ...

Well ... it's the end of August and time for the stats of the month and so far in 2018.

I ran 15 times for 132.1 miles, 8.8 miles/run.
I ran one race in August:
 Dirt Cheap #5 at Black Creek Park, 4.53 miles, 9:38 pace.
I have run 144 times so far in 2018 for 991.6 miles, 7.2 miles/run.
I took 336,758 steps during August and 3,043,783 steps so far during 2018 according to my Pebble 2 HR smart-watch.

Saturday, 9/1/2018: 19527 steps during the day; 12.05 miles, 2:04:34, 10:20 pace, 70F, 94% RH, 4 mph wind, sunny.

Well ... this run really sucked. It's been a long time I have had a run like that. Why? Well ... I slept horribly so I pushed my wake up alarm from 5 AM to 6 AM. I had a bowl of cereal like I usually do. My earbud wouldn't turn on. I forgot to drink much of any water before I headed out at 7;30 AM. It was warm and humid ... joy. I wanted to do another 18 mile run ... but I just couldn't. I lasted until around mile 5 when I began a run/walk. It was just humid AF. I decided to turn around and head back at East Manitou Rd. I walked for about a mile. I did make a try at a run/walk but didn't have the gumption for that either. I saw a group of 5 runners on Beach Rd just before Greenlead Rd. I walked all the way up Greenleaf Rd and right back into the townhouse. Whatever ... this run sucked ... a run best forgotten! My splits were: 8:32, 8:20, 8:23, 8:12, 9:21, 8:27, 11:30, 13:00, 9:18, 9:52, 11:44, 17:02 and 18:24.

Christine and I watched the John McCain funeral, YouTube link here. The eulogies by Meghan McCain (PBS link here and transcript link here), President George W Bush (PBS link here) and President Obama (PBS link here) were poignant. Renee Fleming sang "Danny Boy", link here. Trump wasn't invited (he tweeted and went to his Bedminister golf course according to Trump Golf Counter) but he was referred to but not named directly. By the way ... I roll way to the left on the political spectrum so I enjoyed it. Some might say that the eulogies should have avoided politics but McCain was a politician so it was to be expected.

Christine and I watched a lot of TCM. We just let the movies wash over us ... The Time Machine (1960) with Rod Taylor, The Black Swan (1942) with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara along with Captain Blood 1935) with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Old time movies for sure!