I'm a 67 year old runner. I ran 1183, 1318, 1361, 1366, 1516, 1662, 1423, 1016, 778 and 483 miles in the last 10 years. I like to run but I walk when I have been injured during the last 2 year. I bike during the spring, summer and fall to mix things up.
I blog about my running, life and experiences. Sorry about any spelling and syntax errors! The opinions expressed in my blog are my own.
Inspirational Quote: “Obsessed is just a word that the lazy use to describe the dedicated."
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, 1/6/2018: 22216 steps during the day; 2 runs of 0.71 and 13.22 miles, 3F, 78% RH, 11 mph WNW wind, wind chill -13F, overcast with light snow after loop 2.
Today's race was my fourth Winter Warrior Half (2015 at Monroe Community College in 1:50:07, 2016 at Rochester Tech Park (RTP) in 1:47:44, 2017 at RTP in 1:46:06). It's an epic race ... so it deserves its own blog post.
I was up around 8 AM. There was no need to get up early ... the race wasn't until 4 PM. I had a mug of coffee and a muffin with one side of peanut butter and one side of strawberry jelly.
I read Facebook posts about people testing out their cold weather gear and it made sense. It seemed like a bother but I thought it would give me more confidence if I knew that all this gear actually did its job ... keep me kind of warm. So ... I got found all the "really cold" running gear, dressed and got outside. I added my new ski goggles and Innogear headlamp (even though it was daylight). Then I set out to take the Netflix DVD to the mailbox on Greenleaf Road around 10:30 AM. I found that my goggles fogged up but I could still see about 10 feet in front in me. I went 0.71 miles at 8:44 pace, link here. It was cold: 1F, 77% RH, 15 mph WNW wind, wind chill -18F, overcast. My running gear seemed to be spot on: blue Salamon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes (with close to 800 miles on them), CW-X tights with shorts, long sleeve tech, Craft long sleeve tech, yellow/black Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, balaclava, 2015 Winter Warrior hat, goggles, headlamp and ski mittens. It all felt OK so I decided that I would not afford myself the option of doing only 1, 2 or 3 loops but would attempt all four no matter the conditions.
Flat "Doug" ... all my gear except I wore the new green Winter Warrior hat (Ellen said we could)
Test run selfie
I whiled around the time just lounging around. Christine got a cowbell, went outside and started yelling "Go, runners", etc. I didn't know what she was doing. She was quite cold when she came back inside. She explained she was doing her cheer for me from home. She had trouble uploading it to Facebook so she uploaded it to her laptop and emailed it to me to upload.
Christine cheering for Winter Warrior Half ... from the front of our townhouse 13.6 miles away from RTP
I started to get ready around 2 PM. I put on all my running clothes except the head gear. I put a Foot Warmer in my trail shoes (they didn't feel any warmer AT ALL). I put warm water in my Nathan SpeedDraw water bottle and also brought my Hammer Gel flask. I took the 2018 Cruze down to the Rochester Tech Park (RTP). The traffic was light and I arrived around 2:45 PM. So ... I got a close parking spot right by the porta-potties within 100 yards of the warming tents.
Boots setting out traffic cones ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester
Ellen Boutillier arriving ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester
It was 3F when I arrived at the RTP and it didn't get any warmer!
I pinned my bib onto my shorts and put a Hand Warmer in each ski mitten (they worked a little). I spent most of the time before the 4 PM start right inside the car just chilling. I got out twice to "hit the head" but that's about it. I just people watched.
I got out at 3:45 PM, locked the car with the side door locking button (note that fact), adjusted all my gear (turned on my Nathan Tracer360 vest, pulled up my GRTC neck gaiter, made sure that my goggles were tight, put on my ski mittens) and headed over to the start/finish line. I didn't take my water bottle or Hammer Gel ... too much bother. Man ... was it cold!!! I met up with Prem Kumar. We talked a bit as we jumped around to keep warm. There were a minimum amount of announcements ... and we were off!
The start ... courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester
I got up to some semblance of a race pace. The road was covered with about an inch of snow so my trail shoes handled it OK with just a bit of slipping and sliding. The course was 4 loops so any wind would be felt (and enjoyed ... NOT) 4 times. The wind was felt in the face just as soon as we turned left onto Les Harrison Drive E and ran up the incline to Les Harrison Drive W. The traction varied so I had to move around a bit to find the best spot to run. There was a little bit of ice too so I had to be careful. It didn't help that my goggle fogged up a bit. The 200 yard section on Manitou Road was the clearest section of the course. Then we turned out of the wind onto Creative Dr. I always seemed to speed up when I was going downwind. There was a volunteer woman by Harris B101 (I found out that she was Meghan Smith) who must have danced the whole time to keep warm as she gave us encouragement. Then there was the jog left onto Innovation Way to add a bit of distance before turning around and heading back over to a left onto Initiative Drive. Then another left onto Lazar Drive and another left into the start/finish line.
Lazar Dive about 1/4 mile from the end of Loop 1 ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester
So I stayed left the first 3 times and right the last time ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester
Boom ... loop 1 done. I either yelled out (sometimes no words ... my voice got a bit frozen) or waved every time I went by a volunteer. Only 3 more loops ... as it got darker. I started to lap slower runners about halfway into loop 2. I stopped to have some sips of icy water after loop 2. I felt a bit sick to my stomach so I didn't stop after that. I just put my legs and body into a "get it done" pace. I turned on my headlamp as it got darker. It started to snow. I was amazed that some runners wore no reflective gear or a headlamp! I had to keep my head up to make sure that I didn't run into other runners. I started to get passed by the faster runners on loop 3. I felt a bit hungry during loop 4 but I just sucked it up and kept on running at whatever pace I could muster ... forward.
Ellen gave me (and almost everyone else according to her) a high five each time when I went through the start/finish line. Soon it was my time to head into the right lane as I approached the start/finish line .... and done in 1:55:17 (according to my Garmin)! I accepted the finishers medal and the 4 Season Challenge medal with pride (and a bit of exhaustion). I stopped my eCrumb, took a selfie and walked toward the 2018 Cruze.
The start/finish line ... photo courtesy of "Boots" Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester
This video of the finish line is almost like being there ... minus the cold and wind chill of course!
End of Loop1 at 9:08, Loop 2 at 37:30, Loop 3 at 1:07:12, Finished at 1:36:36. (The video did not catch the start and was started later).
Number of finishers was 269, number of male finishers was 130
A bundled up post race selfie
Then everything went to shit (for a bit). I reached into my Nathan Zipster for my car key ... and didn't find it! I was a bit wet from sweat so I was cold and shivering out there in the elements. I made my way back to the start/finish line and then into a heated lobby. I told a Yellow Jacket Racing staff member that I had lost my keys. He sent out a text for everyone to be on the lookout for them. I called Christine so she could come down to get me. I warmed up for a while next to a heating grate (ahh!) and then realized that I needed to eat something. I made my way to the warming tents where the food was staged and had 2 bowls of mac'n'cheese along with 4 cookies. It's kind of tough to eat mac'n'cheese when your hands are shaking from the cold ... a fork really helped! I stopped by the award table and found that I had won my M 60-64 age group. I got a plaque and a jar of Once Again peanut butter. More peanut butter ... mmm! I now have 4 jars with different levels left in each.
The roads were treacherous so it took Christine a while to get down to the RTP with the 2014 Cruze and then a bit for her and I to find each other once she got down there. She unlocked the 2018 Cruze ... and there were my car key safe and sound in the ignition! We were both a bit cranky toward each other ... mostly from the cold. She hadn't expected to go outside and I was just really cold. But we were also relieved that the keys were found! I put on my coat and cranked up the heater fan in any car that I happened to be sitting in. Christine made me drive the 2014 Cruze home since she hadn't driven the 2018 Cruze yet.
Soon ... we were both home. I got home about 10 minutes before Christine did. She got stuck behind some slow pokes. Christine heated up some leftovers (chicken thighs and lamb roast) and also made up a pizza for supper. I complained a bit but realized I was hungry and went in for seconds a couple of hours later. I was also thirsty and had 2 mugs of milk. My right foot hurt and I complained about that too ... Christine made me take off my sock so she could make sure that it wasn't frostbite. I think I picked up two more black toenails from them hitting the toe box as I slipped and slid during the race. The socks I had on Saturday night certainly did hurt my toes!
The results were posted in a couple of hours. Yellow Jacket Racing outdid themselves trying to get all the results together. I finished in 1:55:15, 33rd out of 267 solo finishers, link here. There were a lot of runners in the overall results that didn't start, dropped after 1 loop, dropped after 2 loops and dropped after 3 loops. I was first out of 15 in my solo M 60-64 age group, link here. Loop times were: Loop 1: 27:46, 8:29 pace; Loop 2: 28:22, 8:40 pace; Loop3: 29:42, 9:05 pace and Loop 4: 29:27, 9:00 pace. My splits were: 8:35, 8:12, 8:17, 8:44, 8:23, 8:29, 9:30, 8:47, 8:42, 9:01, 9:02, 8:39, 9:06 and 8:28 over the last 0.22 mile. The Relive link to Winter Warrior Half is here.
There was a 1 loop race with 251 finishers, link here; a 2 loop or quarter marathon race with 44 finishers, link here; and a 3 loop race with 1 finisher, loop here. There was also a relay race with 7 male (link here), 12 female (link here) and 11 coed (link here) teams.
The Winter Warrior Half bling (4 Season Challenge, Finisher's Medal, hat and bib)
The Winter Warrior Half Age Group Winner bling (plaque and Once Again peanut butter)
I started to read all the Facebook posts. There were lots of stories of epic adventures! I would like to touch on two. One, Bill Murphy, a 69 year rock star walker. I passed Bill twice during the race. I said, "Hi, Bill!" as I went by. He replied in his customary "Go! Go! Go!". Bill was on an epic adventure in 2017. He had 1340 race miles, did 26 full marathons, 48 half marathons and did races with Mainly Marathons in 48(!!) states! Second, is a little girl that I passed on loop 3. I didn't really notice her but I remember a little girl all bundled up wearing fairy wings with lights on them. Well .. she was 10 years old and ran her second half marathon. Her mother posted on Facebook that she was nervous about letting her run but that she wanted to do it, would wear what clothes her mother wanted, would run with someone and would stop to be checked every lap. Awesome!
I would like to thank Fleet Feet, Yellow Jacket Racing, their staff, all the volunteers along with the ambulance crews and police who helped keep us safe!
Fleet Feet was selling this design until Tuesday, 1/9/2018, for $13/$18/$25 (ss shirt, ls shirt and hoodie)
There were new crews there also: RochesterFirst.com link here, WROC link here, 13Wham link here, Spectrum News link here (you can see me run by at 0:17 to 0:19 seconds).
