Sunday, 3/24/2019 to Saturday, 3/30/2019

Common abbreviations: OMEP is my Orange Mud Endurance Pack, NT360 is my NoxGear 
Tracer360 vest, UWRG is my usual winter running gear: CW-X tights, Darn Tough socks, long sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, balaclava and Brooks beanie.

I ran 4 times: 27.61 miles.
I took 76,328 steps according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 3/24/2019: 8715 steps during the day, 5.05 miles, 42:11, 8:21 pace, 129 avg HR, 161 avg cadence, 45F, 42% RH, 15 mph W wind, wind chill 38F, overcast.

Well ... running 4 days in a row (Thursday - 6.25 miles, Friday - 6.25 miles and Saturday - 5.05 miles and today - 5.05 miles) was not such a good idea). None of these previous were very long or hard but they did catch up to me. Today's run was stubborn and probably ill advised but I did it anyway. It had warmed up a bit but I still wore my CW-X tights, a short sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. Maybe I would have better served with shorts? I knew that the run was not going to be a good one when I had to stop for about 3 or 4 tiny walk breaks on the way out to Island Cottage. I wisely decided to turn around there. I managed not to take any tiny walk breaks on the way back. My splits were: 8:37, 8:30, 8:28, 8:09 and 8:03.

I did manage to get out for a much needed haircut at Sport Clips and to grocery shop at Wegmans and Herrema's with a list that Christine made for me. So ... I guess Christine and I won't starve ... we had been living on love there for a bit, lol!

Monday, 3/25.2019: 4087 steps during the day, rest day.

I was on PTO from Ricoh. I didn't run today since I had run the four previous days. I bused myself doing 5 loads of laundry though. I did get some steps in!

Tuesday, 3/26/2019: 6726 steps during the day, rest day.

Well ... back to the salt mines looking after the 182 Harris SIS printers for Ricoh. Don't get me wrong ... I like my job. But ... I have been looking after the Kodak/ITT/Exelis/Harris printers for Synergy (7.5 years) and Ricoh (almost 3.5 years now) for going on 11 years now. It is different in the day to day but on the whole it does get a bit routine just keeping everything running smoothly.

Wednesday, 3/27/2019: 19328 steps during the day, 8:05 miles. 1:07:43, 8:24 pace, 132 avg HR, 160 avg cadence, 45F, a bit breezy, sunny.

 A rare Wednesday run ... I wanted a run a bit longer so I went with the Janes, Long Ponds, Edgemere Drive, Island Cottage loop from Greece Arcadia High School (GSHS). The sunny weather was quite deceptive. It was 55F at Harris B601 when I left work so I had changed into shorts, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover and wanted to wear my Fleet Feet hat and light running gloves. Well ... it was only 45F and a bit breezy when I got up to GAHS. I ran about a 100 yards before I went back to the 2018 Cruze to change from my hat to my Brooks beanie. I did enjoy the run though ... it felt good to just run at a steady pace. It was 39F when I got back to my car. My splits were: 8:08, 8:20, 8:23, 8:29, 8:30, 8:28, 8:29 and 8:29. It really felt like I was running faster but I guess not.

Thursday, 3/28/2019: 13057 steps during the day, 5.16 miles, 42:40, 8:17 pace, 131 avg HR, 162 avg cadence, 57F, 37% RH, 15 mph W wind, overcast.

It was Thursday so I ran. I got up to GAHS before 5 PM. It was warmer so I wore shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt. No hat and no gloves ... yay! No sunglasses either since it was overcast. It was a bit windy but it was a warm wind! There was pole work on Island Cottage when I headed north so I made a loop of Island Cottage, Janes Rd, Long Pond Rd and Latta Rd to avoid it. I kept to the sidewalk on Long Pond Rd and Latta Rd to avoid all the traffic. I set up a steady pace but my thighs were tight after a mile. Heading into the wind bothered me too and I took a few tiny walk breaks. So ... the run was just OK. But ... it was good to get out there anyway. My splits were: 8:03, 8:24, 8:38, 8:22, 8:03 and 7:33 over the last 0.16 mile.

Friday, 3/29/2019: 6908 steps during the day, rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, came down with a cold sore on her lip along with swollen glands. I had asked her to take my two oldest kids, Michael and Karen, grocery shopping but I knew she would be unable to handle it.

Saturday, 3/30/2019: 17507 steps during the day, 9.35 miles, 1:18:17, 8:22 pace, 133 avg HR, 165 avg cadence, 38F, 100% RH, 5 mph ENE wind, wind chill 34F, overcast.

The forecast was for a warm afternoon with temperatures in the 60s with a cold front moving through and the tempertures in the 30s by Sunday morning. But ... it was only 38F when I went out at 6 AM. I don't normally get out in the dark but my darling wife, Christine, was sick so I had to get my Saturday run in before I headed out to take my 2 oldest kids, Michael and Karen, on their biweekly grocery shopping trips. So ... I was up at 5:30 AM, had my usual pre-run bowl of cereal, got dressed and got out. I put on my NT360 lighted vest and my headlamp from eBay. Well ... my headlamp from Ebay didn't have its lens on so I had to go back inside to search for my old headlamp that really didn't have a good battery charge. I had barely enough light but I knew sunrise was coming in a hour so onward I ran. I wanted a bit longer run so I chose my 15K route. My splits were: 8:24, 8:17, 8:14, 8:21, 8:19, 8:24, 8:20, 8:31, 8:32 and 8:14 over the last 0.35 mile.

But ... no rest for the weary. I got inside, had a bit of coffee and a banana, took a shower, dressed and got on the road by 8:15 AM. There was a bit of rain on my way to Macedon. I got to Macedon a bit early. Michael was ready and we proceeded to the Macedon Walmart for his grocery shopping trip. It had warmed up to the mid 50s so I left my coat in the 2018 Cruze. I people watched while I waited for him. I chuckled to myself when I saw a young kid ride his new bicycle with training wheels past me while his father kept a wary eye on him. We talked a bit while he put his groceries away back up in his apartment. Then it was onward to Palmyra for Karen's turn. I helped take out her recycling. Her kitten, Cina, actually saw me for a few minutes before heading under a bed. Her cat, Hermoine, ignored me. Her dog, Pooka, gave me his seal of approval by licking my hand. It had warmed up even further to the mid 60s. Karen went outside with her laptop to work on a paper when I went out to leave.

Then ... back up to Rochester. It was 69F when I stopped at the Durand Eastman Beach long enough to walk about a 1/4 mile on the beach. It was overcast but .... it was warm! Christine looked a lot better when I got back. She didn't make it downstairs so I took beverages and food up to her to when she requested them. She mainly slept and/or rested.

Sunday, 3/17/2019 to Saturday, 3/23/2019

Common abbreviations: OMEP is my Orange Mud Endurance Pack, NT360 is my NoxGear 
Tracer360 vest, UWRG is my usual winter running gear: CW-X tights, Darn Tough socks, long sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, balaclava and Brooks beanie.

I ran 5 times: 33.55 miles.
I took 70,110 steps according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 3/17/2019: 12386 steps during the day, 8.55 miles, 1:10:01, 8:11 pace, 133 avg HR, 164 avg cadence, 26F, 48% RH, 10 mph W wind, wind chill 16F, mostly sunny

I combined practicality with running ... I mailed the Netflix DVD (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) and took back my Redbox DVD (A.I. Rising) along with a longish run. I wore my UWRG minus the balaclava but plus the heavy running gloves and sunglasses. I set up a nice and steady pace ... got it done. My splits were: 7:59, 8:08, 8:40, 8:23, 8:04, 8:19, 8:06, 8:07 and 7:41 over the last 0.55 mile.

Later, I went down to the basement and put together the shelving unit that Christine brought back from her late father's basement last year. Yes ... it sat in the trunk of her car and then in the basement for that long. It was a double rivet shelving unit and I had no instructions or any clue about how to put it together. She had to come downstairs and give me some ideas about how to orientate the parts onto the support rails. My initial idea was 90 degrees out of sync. A couple of email to her two brothers gave me ideas also. It didn't help that there were 5 wood shelf planks and only parts for 3 shelves. So ... I made a bottom, middle and top shelf. The hardest part was the middle shelf where I had to get the bottom support rail, top support rail and double rivet support together at the same time with no one else to hold things steady. But ... I managed. I don't know if our neighbors on either side appreciated my hammering onto metal though. The end result is 18"D x 36"W x 72"H.

My first double rivet shelving unit!

Later, my darling wife, Christine, cooked up the ready made St Patrick's Day dinner that I bought the previous day from Wegmans.

Mmm ...

It had all the usual trimming: corned beef, potatoes, cabbage and carrots. It was a bit pricey at $22 but ... it was good.

Monday, 3/18/2019: 4647 steps during the day,

My lovely wife, Christine, made it back to Polish Me Up (Facebook page here and Yelp reviews here), to get her nails done at long last. She picked a color named Maui Sunset by IBD for her new nails ... nice and sexy! There are more images of Maui Sunset here.

Mail Sunset from IBD

Tuesday, 3/19/2019: 15553 steps during the day, 7.45 miles, 1:00:47, 8:09 pace, 134 avg HR, 160 avg cadence, 34F, 96% RH, 5 mph E wind, mostly cloudy with 2 bursts of light snow

Well ... it was Tuesday so I was out for my usual run.. It was 40F so I wore shorts, a long sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves ... and regretted the shorts! The weather at Harris B601 was different than the weather about 6 miles north at Greece Arcadia High School. A light wet snow started when I began my run ... I thought I was crazy to be in shorts and probably any drivers that passed me thought so too. I kept on running. The snow quit for a while and then started up again. I had to blink to keep the snow out of my eyes. It was pretty though ... if you weren't running into it. I think I was under a lake effect snow band. But I kept on running until I got done. My splits were: 7:58, 8:14, 8:10, 8:14, 8:13, 8:13, 8:05 and 8:06 over the last 0.45 mile. Brr ... I was a bit wet and cold from getting snowed on so I took a warm shower when I got home.

Later ... I took all of Christine's boxes that she had brought from her late father's house that had cuddled together underneath the dining room table for a year and put them on the bare shelving unit in the basement. It was a bit tough ... up and down the basement stairs ...  after a run but I managed. Now maybe we can sit at the dining room table again! UPDATE a month later: not yet.

Now ... maybe I will get the gumption and ambition to get some of MY junk cleared, sorted and maybe tossed out. It's only stuff ... and you can't take it with it when you're gone ... or so they say.

Wednesday, 3/20/2019: 6576 steps during the day, rest day.

Thursday, 3/21/2019: 10376 steps during the day, 6.25 miles, 50:44, 8:07 pace, 166 avg cadence, 42F, 74% RH, 9 mph SSE wind, wind chill 36F, overcast.

Well ... Ricoh is forcing me to take all of my vacation time before the end of March so I will be off on Thursday, Friday and Monday for 5 total days off. OK ... maybe not force but strongly encourage me since it's a "use it or lose it" situation. I guess I don't schedule vacation very well?

So ... what better way to kick off my vacation but by "sleeping in" until 6:40 AM and getting out for a run at 8:00 AM? So ... I did. It was bit warm so I celebrated the first full of spring by running a simple out and back 10K in shorts. I ran in my old Brooks Transcend 5 shoes with over 600 miles. I could tell the difference. I set up a steady pace and got it done. My splits were: 8:24, 8:04, 8:01, 8:09, 8:08, 8:06 and 7:39 over the last 0.25 mile.

Karen got a free chocolate ice cream with whipped cream!

Then ... it was to Palmyra to help celebrate the 31st birthday of my daughter, Karen. She had just received a nice "Buy 1 Entree, get 1 Free" coupon from Applebee's that morning. So we headed to the Perinton Applebee's. She had 2 Four Cheese Mac & Cheese with Honey Pepper Chicken Tenders (1 to take home) while I had the Clubhouse Grille.

Friday, 3/22/2019: 10757 steps during the day, 6.25 miles, 51:25, 8:14 pace, 164 avg cadence, 38F, 94% RH, 5 mph WNW wind, wind chill 34F, overcast.

Fridays are usually a rest day but I just couldn't help myself. I slept in until after 8 AM and got out a bit after 10 AM. It was a bit colder and windier than yesterday so it was back to all my UWRG. It run with my heavy running gloves instead of ski mittens. I wore my newish Brooks Adrenaline GTS18 shoes with about 50 miles and could definitely tell the difference. I set up a light and easy pace just to pass the time and get the same out and back 10K in. My splits were: 8:21, 8:32, 8:15, 8:10, 8:12, 8:01 and 7:35 over the last 0.25 mile.

Saturday, 3/23/2019: 9815 steps during the day, 5.05 miles, 43:50, 8:41 pace, 169 avg cadence, 24F, 63% RH, 14 mph WSW wind, wind chill 12F, sunny.

I slept in a bit longer than usual. It was colder and windier than yesterday so it was back to the UWRG. I wore my Craft long sleeve tech and a Frezeroo long sleeve tech just to change things up a bit. An inch or two of crusty wet snow had fallen. I thought the LOSP Trail would be icy so I stuck to road. The road shoulder was there was slushy snow and a bit of ice to boot. So I took up a careful and steady pace. My splits were: 9:08, 9:15, 8:34, 8:11 and 8:20.

Christine's daughter, Beth, had come up from Lakewood OH to spend some time with her friends from Niagara University, Diane and Bridget. We met up with them at the George Eastman House. It was my first time past the lobby. I had run the Photofinish 5K in 2013 and 2014 which used the lobby as the headquarters. We went with the guided tour at 2 PM. George Eastman certainly had a nice house! I thought there would be more photographs though.

The living room and its player organ

The Kodak slogan

George Eastman associated locations in Rochester

Hat boxes from companies long gone ... Sibley's, McCurdy's and B. Forman

I'm in support of that!

Truth!

I wouldn't mind reading a biography on George Eastman

Then we went to Black Button Distilling on Railroad St. We attended the brief tour and tried a flight of 4 liquors:  Citrus Forward Gin (yuck), All American Corn Vodka (meh), Apple Pie Moonshine (yum) and Bespoke Bourbon Cream (yum).

A couple pictures from Black Button Distilling

We went to Salena's Mexican Restaurant for supper. I am not one for Mexican food so I had a chicken fajita. Then it was back home ... Christine was all tuckered out and went straight to bed. I stayed up a bit and watched Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi off of Netflix.

Sunday, 3/10/2019 to Saturday, 3/16/2019 - Runnin' of the Green

Common abbreviations: OMEP is my Orange Mud Endurance Pack, NT360 is my NoxGear 
Tracer360 vest, UWRG is my usual winter running gear: CW-X tights, Darn Tough socks, long sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, balaclava and Brooks beanie.

I ran 5 times: 21.42 miles.
I took 71,637 steps according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 3/10/2019: 2320 steps during the day, rest day

Yes ... a rest day. I ran Round the Bay (14.95 miles) the day before and my calves told me about it all day. I did busy myself doing 4 loads of laundry though.

I did find my Garmin heart rate strap hiding on the floor of Christine's closet. I married it up to my Garmin Forerunner 220. So ... more data!

Monday, 3/11/2019: 7644 steps during the day, rest day.

I was a bit sad today. My Facebook feed told me that 5 years ago that I was boxing up my late father's belongings at the Wayne County Nursing Home. I hit me that my Mom has been dead since 1/14/2004 and Dad since 3/10/2014. You can find Dad's obituary by searching for "Bernard DeWeaver obituary. I used to be able to find Mom's but not any longer. I just wish I could talk to them. I wonder what they would think of what has happened to me, my siblings and our lives since they have died. What really happens when you die? I sense a "Why I blog" blog post coming up soon. Who reads this drivel anyway? I just hope someone gets inspired to exercise after reading this blog.

Our Time Warner/Specturm cable modem/router/phone died. I called them up and went through their troubleshooting steps ... basically, no lights and a reset didn't work. I was going to go get a replacement the next day but had the idea to pop out to Best Buy to buy (and not rent) a replacement cable modem/router. So I bought an Arris SBG10 cable modem/router. It took a bit on the phone with Spectrum but I was able to get the wireless network back up.

Tuesday, 3/12/2019: 16365 steps during the day, 8.15 miles, 1:11:00, 8:43 pace, 161 avg cadence, 132 avg HR, 36F, 52% RH, 13 mph W wind, wind chill 27F, partly cloudy.

It was Tuesday so I brought my running gear to work like usual. And ... like usual I forgot my tights the first time I wanted to run after I had done the laundry. So ... I had to go home to retrieve them from the basement before I went out for my first Daylight Savings Time (DST) run. And ... I really needed to get out for my run since I had a little tiff with my lovely wife, Christine, in the time it took me to get ready. The subject is best left out of the scope of this blog. It was minor as are 99.999% of our tiffs. I set up a really nice and easy pace once I did get outside. I needed some time to myself ... just me, my pace and the outdoors. The LOSP trail was already 90% free of ice ... though it did have some slippery patches in the section between Dewey Ave and Island Cottage. I pushed the distance up to 8 miles ... because I needed both distance and time away. My splits were: 8:37, 8:43, 8:38, 8:40, 8:39, 8:54, 8:53, 8:43, and 8:10 over the last 0.15 mile. I was much calmer when I got back. It was nice running in the daylight after work and not having to worry about wearing my NT360 lighted vest and my headlamp from eBay.

I got our printers (a HP 1102w laser printer and a Canon Pixma MX492 all-in-one printer) up on my laptop. I had to connect with a USB cable for each install since they were the first printer on the network.

Wednesday, 3/13/2019: 8030 steps during the day, rest day.

Scenic!

There was a beautiful sunrise this morning. Eric Eagan captured a couple of pictures of the sunrise over Cranberry Pond.

Double mmm!

My boss brought in 6 donuts from the Boxcar Restaurant just because. I ate two (a maple bacon portion and a peanut butter creme). I brought another one home for the next day ... a oreo crumb mint. I think a road trip to the Boxcar Restaurant is warranted sometime in the future! She just got a promotion to Area Operations Manager where she manages a bunch more Ricoh accounts than just my Harris account ... I hope she doesn't forget to bring donuts in occasionally!

I got the printers back onto Christine's laptop. They went lickety-split since they were already on the network. Then I got our Withings Smart Scale on our wireless network. The wireless network appears to be solid at around 30 to 40 Mbps.

Thursday, 3/14/2019: 15090 steps during the day, 6.6 miles, 55:44, 8:26 pace, 163 avg cadence, 65F, 33% RH, 12 mph S wind, mostly cloudy

The one day I don't turn on the TV in the morning before I go to work is the day the temperature rockets up to 70F! I put on my winter jacket when I went out the door. Luckily I stuffed in shorts and a short sleeve tech shirt into my running bag because I needed them.

I went over to Rochester Running Company near URMC and the U of R to pick up my Johnny's (now known just as Runnin' of the Green) bib and long sleeve t-shirt after work. It was 67F so I had to go for a run. I just made up the run as I went along. I went into the Mt Hope Cemetery for a bit and got a picture of the graves of Freddy and Sue (Frederick Douglass and Susan B Anthony).

Fredick Douglass (top) and Susan B Anthony (bottom)

I very rarely stop to take pictures but today I did. Then I headed out to the Ford St Bridge and down onto the U of R and Genesee Valley Park trails. The sidewalk on Mt Hope Ave was flooded in spots so I had to run in the muddy section close to the road. I didn't slip and fall ... thank goodness. It was weird sweating during a run ... it's something you don't have to worry about during the winter 90% of the time. I noticed that the Mt Hope Cemetery gates were closed and locked when I went back by ... luckily I was outside the gates! The closing hours of that cemetery do vary ...link here. My splits were: 8:33, 8:40, 8:09, 8:26, 8:21, 8:25 and 8:30 over the last 0.6 mile.

03/15/2019: 6492 steps during the day, rest day.

03/16/2019: 15696 steps during the day, 2 runs of 1.65 and 5.02 miles, 169 avg cadence, 143 avg heartrate, 34F, 54% RH, 28 mph W wind, wind chill 21F, partly cloudy

Today's race was my ninth Johnny's Runnin' of the Green. My previous 8 times were: 2007 - 37:34, 2011 - 34:35, 2012 - 33:58 (lifetime PR), 2013 - 36:23, 2015 - 36:18, 2016 - 35:40, 2017 - 37:10 and 218 - 37:46. The Johnny's Restaurant had closed last year. The Rochester Running Company had taken the race over and the YMCA was the new sponsor. The race will henceforth be known as Runnin' of the Green. D&C news article here.

The race start time was at 9:30 AM. I was up around 7:00 AM and puttered around like usual with my pre-race bowl of cereal along wit catching up on Facebook and email. It was around freezing so I wore my UWRG minus the balaclava but plus my ski mittens. I parked about 3 blocks away on State St a bit after 8:30 AM. I walked down to the Blue Cross Arena and just looked around to pass the time.

Most people don't know this but the Blue Cross Arena (full name is Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial) was named the Rochester Community War Memorial when it was built in 1955, wiki here. There is a war memorial set off to the left on the first floor ... not too noticeable or well trodden but it's there. I walked over to take a look and get some pictures. There are plaques, an endless flame along with pictures of foreign and domestic veteran cemeteries. Here is a D&C link here (it is behind a paywall so it may or may not open).

The eternal flame, 2 plaques and a plaque about the 4 clergyman who gave up their life vests during WWII

I didn't know that the 1956 NBA All-Star Game was held here. Rochester was home to the Rochester Royals from 1945 to 1956 and won the NBA Championship in 1951. The Royals moved on to Cincinnati (Royals) in 1957, Kansas City (Kings) in 1972 and Sacramento (Kings) in 1985, wiki here. Liberace in 1956, Sinatra in 1993, Elvis in 1976, 1977 and the Rolling Stones in 1965 (concert length was allegedly 7 minutes) have played concerts (among hundreds of other performers) here. A D&C articles says that the Rolling Stones concert was stopped after 6 songs due to a near riot, link here (again ... behind a paywall so it may or may not open) while another D&C article repeats the 7 minutes along with stories of other infamous performances in Rochester, link here (yada about the paywall). Interesting note; a 15 year old Lou Grammatico (Gramm), of pre-Foreigner fame, attended the Stones concert with his girlfriend.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones at the Community War Memorial on 11/1/1965 ... photo courtesy of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle by staff photograher

A complete(?) list of 648 Rochester Community War Memorial concerts from 12/31/1957 (Fats Domino) to 4/5/1998 (Sarah McLachlan), link here. A complete(?) list of 220 Blue Cross Arena concerts from 11/3/1998 (Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men) to 11/29/2018 (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), link here. The list of performers is staggering to say the least.

Well ... back to the race. I got out for a little 1.65 mile warm up run at 8:37 pace, link here. I found that the wind was going to be an issue but ... that's a given at this or any race in the winter in Rochester.

I lined up near the front. I had given up on my earbud and MP3 player, started my RoadID eCrumb and was trying to get my ski mittens back on when suddenly we were off. I struggled to get both my ski mittens on and not drop my water bottle all while I was trying to get up to race pace, not run over anyone and not get run over myself (plus my Garmin got paused for about 25 seconds). So ... I managed but not well. The Fleet Feet cheering section was at the 1/4 mile mark (not their usual 1.25 mile mark on Wilson Blvd).

The Fleet Feet cheering crew ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com

Bottom two photos courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

 Anyway ... I never really felt in sync the whole race. I ran slightly ahead of Jim McLaughlin, who was the RRC 8:00 pacer, on the way up to the turnaround. I stopped to take a sip of water from my water bottle ... Jim passed me. I got going again, passed him and kept him in my rear view mirror so to speak.

Pushing down Exchange Blvd with 1/2 mile to go ... photo courtesy of Tim Matthews of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com

I kept pushing though ... down Exchange Blvd ... the I-490 overpass ... Court St ... no finish arch or chute ... clock under 39 ... done with 5.02 miles in 39:32 (actually 39:56). I was happy to be done. I had just a banana and a pint of water. I am no fan of green bagels. I looked at the results and saw that I was 8th in my age group ... so no awards. My splits were: 7:32, 7:52, 7:52, 7:42 and 7:27. PCR-timing did the timing like usual. I finished 180th out of 1155, link here. I was 8th out of 45 in my M 60-64 age group, link here. I was a full minute slower than 2018 ... I still did my best ... but slower this year.

I had places to go so I headed to the 2014 Cruze. Boom ... I was on my way out to Macedon and Palmyra for my biweekly grocery shopping trip with two of my three kids. My oldest son, Michael, in Macedon was first. He did his grocery shopping at the Macedon Walmart. My daughter, Karen, in Palmyra was next. She did her grocery shopping at the Newark Walmart and Wegmans.

Sunday, 3/3/2019 to Saturday, 3/9/2019 --- Round the Bay

Common abbreviations: OMEP is my Orange Mud Endurance Pack, NT360 is my NoxGear 
Tracer360 vest, UWRG is my usual winter running gear: CW-X tights, Darn Tough socks, long sleeve tech, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, balaclava and Brooks beanie.

I ran 5 times: 38.7 miles (most in a long time).
I took 84,678 steps according to my Pebble 2 HR smart watch.

Sunday, 3/3/2019: 16778 steps during the day, 12.15 miles, 1:43;52, 8:33 pace, 162 avg cadence, 27F, 73% RH, 4 mph WNW wind, wind chill 23F, light overcast

My alarm woke me out of a sound sleep at 6:45 AM. I puttered around and couldn't get my butt moving for a couple of hours. I had to talk myself into going out for a run. I knew I would be a "runhole" if I didn't so I got dressed and got out there just after 9 AM.

I had on my UWRG plus my sunglasses. Yes ... I do wash my running clothes ... just not as often I probably should, lol.

I set up a nice and steady pace. I wanted to do something long so I ran out to East Manitou Rd and back. Old Edgemere Drive was snow covered and a bit icy so I had to slow down on this stretch going out and coming back. However ... in hindsight ... this run was about 3 miles too long. I just ran out of energy and will power after 9 miles. I sucked it though and got it done. My splits were: 8:31, 8:31, 8:35, 8:30, 8:31, 8:35, 8:24, 8:33, 8:44, 8:38, 8:34, 8:32 and 8:10.

My darling wife, Christine, was still asleep. I brought her up a mug of coffee and a kiss to tell her that I was home. Coffee and relaxing soon ruled the afternoon. Christine didn't feel well later in the day so I watched the original 1937 version of "A Star is Born" with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, off of the Spectrum OnDemand free movie section. One of these days I will get around to watching the 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason; the 1976 version with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson and the 2018 version with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Monday, 3/4/2919: 4252 steps during the day, rest day.

Tuesday, 3/5/2019: 13959 steps during the day, 5 treadmill miles.

Winter continued in upstate NY ... it was 20F with a 20 mph W wind so the wind chill was around 0F. I got all dressed in my UWRG and drove up up to Greece Arcadia High School like I usually do. I got out of the 2018 Cruze, looked at the west wind blowing the US flag ... and just couldn't get out there. I thought of the west wind in my face as I turned left onto Island Cottage and just couldn't face it. I felt like a wimp as I drove home. I changed out my gear for warm weather running gear (shorts and short sleeve tech) and tried to get into our complex exercise center ... my fob wouldn't work. Luckily one of the two guys in there let me in. I still like a wimp while I pounded out 5 miles at 9:00 pace ... but I was a warm and sweaty wimp by the time I got done.

Wednesday, 3/6/2019: 7231 steps during the day, rest day.

I thought about doing a snowshoe walk/run after work would be nice since it was still cold. My snowshoes were sitting right by the front door after all.  But ... Christine suggested that since it was Ash Wednesday that I get a fish dinner from somewhere and bring it home. Well ... my knees were a bit cranky from yesterday's treadmill run so I stopped by Wegmans and complied with her wishes.

Thursday, 3/7/2019: 13590 steps during the day, 5.45 miles, 45:40, 8:22 pace, 164 avg cadence, 22F, 52% RH, 11 mph W wind, wind chill 10F, mostly cloudy.

It was a bit warmer and a bit less windy so I got back out for yet another run from Greece Arcadia High School. I did modify my route to keep me on as much a north/south route as I could to keep me from heading into the west wind. I just kept a steady pace and let the run happen. I forgot my Darn Tough socks so I had to make due so a pair of crew socks that left about an inch between the top of the socks and my CW-X tights ... I did feel the cold for a while. My splits were: 8:17, 8:19, 8:21, 8:29, 8:24 and 8:26 over the last 0.45 mile. Boom ... done.

Friday, 3/8/19: 10698 steps during the day, 2.15 miles, 30:09, 14:00 pace, 125 avg cadence, 27F, 51% RH, 6 mph NE wind, wind chill 20F, fair

Well ... it was supposed to be a rest day but there was still snow on the ground that wasn't going to be there much longer. So ... I got out for a nice and easy snowshoe run/walk around the Lake Shore Country Club right behind our Greenleaf Meadow townhouse. I didn't go out all since I knew that I was going to run Round the Bay the next morning. It was around freezing so I went with CW-X tights, Darn Tough socks, Craft long sleeve tech, balaclava, Brooks beanie and ski mittens. The wet snow was a bit cold but manageable. My splits were: 13:50, 13:53 and 16:04 over the last 0.15 mile.

Saturday, 3/9/19: 18170 steps during the day, 14.95 miles, 2:08:05, 8:34 pace, 163 avg cadence,

Today was my 10th Round the Bay run and my 15th time running the route. Five were either started from the Bay Front Restaurant at the bottom of Irondequoit Bay or from the Swing Bridge by myself. There are several variations of the route but today's run was the usual 14.9 mile route with all the hills on the west side of Irondequoit Bay.

The Round the Bay run is a long run that "happens". Someone sets the date (before the swing bridge swings on April 1st, before Daylight Savings Time begins and doesn't interfere with the Runnin' of the Green) and posts it to Facebook pages of the three running groups in Rochester (Bagel Bunch, Goldrush Runners and Oven Door) along with their old school email lists. The turnout varies from year to year depends on how many are up for a long run along with the weather. There are some runners that run this route every weekend from the Bay Front Restaurant.

I was up at 5:40 AM with my alarm but I think I was up for about 30 minutes before that. It was 14F so I dressed in my UWRG. I know what works so I don't mess with it. I got to the Irondequoit side of the Swing Bridge around 6:50 AM just a bit after sunrise. It was going to be sunny plus it was a bit windy so I added my sunglasses and GRTC neck gaiter. I would say maybe 50 people came out for this year's edition. I knew some but then it was a bit hard to recognize runners with all their cold weather gear on.

Matt Kellman took a selfie just before we started. I'm in there in the left middle.

We headed out at 7 AM on the dot. My warm up was running up Culver Ave. I settled in as I set up a nice and steady pace. I knew the course so I sped up on the downhills on the west side of Irondequoit Bay (Bay Shore Blvd and Glen Haven Rd) and suffered on the uphills. I took some walk breaks on the uphills. There was a whole bunch of trucks along the side of the road on Glen Haven Rd as I got closer and down by Irondequoit Bay. There must have been a lot of ice fishers out on the Bay. I saw some walking out and trailing the sleds holding their gear behind them. I stopped for a few minutes at the water stop at mile 7 just before Empire Blvd to have a few gulps of my Hammer Gel and a fig newton. Then .. it was onward. The mile long Empire Blvd hill into Webster was just as long as ever. But ... onward, left onto Bay Rd. A guy in a pickup truck gave me the middle finger in between Ridge Rd and 104 when he couldn't pass a car on the right ... whatever. There wasn't any shoulder or sidewalks so I had to run as far to the left as possible ... what can I do?. I hit the half marathon mark at 1:53:00. Under 2 miles to go, soon a left onto Lake Rd. I pushed past three runners that I had passed before ... 1/2 mile to go ... swing bridge in sight ... done with 14.95 miles. That was my longest run in quite some time. My splits were: 9:04, 8:29, 8:15, 8:02, 9:11, 7:54, 9:47, 8:09, 9:33, 8:33, 8:14, 8:18, 8:20, 8:19 and 8:21 over the last 0.95 mile.