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.