Sunday, 12/25/2022 to Saturday, 12/31/2022

I walked once this week, 1.5 miles.

I ran 6 times this week, 20.17 miles.

I didn't bike indoors this week.

I didn't bike outdoors this week.

I took 56,189 steps this week according to my Garmin Venu smartwatch.

My Venu gives me steps, heart rate, hours slept and floors climbed (take those last 2 data points with a grain of salt). My Withings WS-50 Smart Body Analyzer scale gives my weight.

WALKING/RUNNING/BIKING: I am back to short walks (1.5 miles), runs (< 6.2 miles) or bike rides (< 20 miles). A run or a bike is better than a walk in my 65-year-old mind but any exercise is good in the end.

Walk/Run/Bike electronics: Garmin Venu (backup for the bike) and Shockz Air bone conduction headphones (discontinued on the Shockz website).

Trek Bike electronics: Garmin Edge 530 sensor bundle, Garmin Varia RVR315 rearview radar, Livall EVO21 smart helmet, and Redshiftsports Arclight pedals.

I don't buy my electronics retail. I buy my Garmin stuff used off of eBay or an online vendor when it's a generation or more old. I bought the helmet and pedals off of Kickstarter or Indiegogo so I got them at about a 40% discount. I usually buy my running shoes online or on sale at Fleet Feet.

BTW, I am on a 914 day streak of either a walk, run or bike of greater than 1 mile (as of Saturday night, 12/24). There were more than a few days when a mile was all I could walk or limp.

Sunday, 12/25/2022

7921 steps, 46/137 avg/max HR, 7:50 hours sleep, 180.1 pounds, 18 floors climbed

Run: 4.56 miles, 40:50, 9:11 pace, 65 feet elevation gain, 127/140 avg/max HR, 160/168 avg/max cadence, 18F, 79% RH, 18 mph SW wind, wind chill 3F, partly cloudy

Shoes: Salomon blue SpeedCross 4 trail shoes: 221.63 miles 

I got out for a run on my "Out by the pier and around" route. It was slightly warmer so I didn't put on a second pair of pants but I still went with my Brooks tights, Craft shorts, Brooks baselayer, long sleeve tech, balaclava Brook beanie and ski mittens. I pretty much know what I need to wear based on the temperature and wind. I stuck up an easy pace and headed out. I held my pace easily and fought any urge to stop. My splits were 9:29, 9:03, 9:23, 9:02, 8:47 over the last 0.56 mile.

Monday, 12/26/2022

9241 steps, 42/137 resting/max HR 7:39 hours sleep, 180.2 pounds, 22 floors climbed

Run: 4.66 miles, 42:14, 9:04 pace, 67 feet elevation gain, 126/138 avg/max HR, 157/168 avg/max cadence, 18F, 73% RH, 13 mph SW wind, wind chill 5F, partly cloudy

Shoes: Salomon blue SpeedCross 4 trail shoes: 226.29 miles 

Yes, it was cold and windy. But ... I am a runner and a runner has got to do what a runner does. So ... I got dressed in the running clothes that I knew would work for me and got out for a run on my usual "Out by the pier and around" route. I stuck up my usual pace and settled in. The wind was a bit chilly but I warmed up after a mile like usual ... no worries. My splits were 9:37, 8:53, 9:12, 9:03 and 8:22 over the last 0.66 mile.

Tuesday, 12/27/2022

11117 steps, 43/136 resting/max HR, 6:23 hours sleep, 179.9 pounds, 19 floors climbed

Run: 4.55 miles, 40:05, 8:48 pace, 66 feet elevation gain, 127/140 avg/max HR, 162/171 avg/max cadence, 21F, 79% RH, 14 mph WSW wind, wind chill 9F, cloudy

Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS20 grey - 717.07 miles

I was back from vacation after 10 days so I was back to running in the pre-dawn darkness. So .. I was out at 6 AM. I struck up an easy pace as I wondered what the hell I was doing out there. Anyway ... I got it done. My splits were 8:57, 8:42, 8:52, 8:52 and 8:31 over the last 0.55 mile.

(L to R) My cousin, Sandy Bastian, me and my wife, Christine

My darling wife, Christine, and I went to Aunt Pat's calling hours at Yost Funeral Home in Palmyra. Christine doesn't like funerals but she went with me to be by my side. It was sad but OK. Lea Ann and his sister Shirley are taking their mother's death hard. Christine and I met up with my cousin, Sandy Bastian. She told us where Bill was (Colorado Springs, CO0, where her kids were (2 in CO and 1 in Utah).

Wednesday 12/28/2022

5978 steps, 42/135 resting/max HR, 6:26 hours sleep, 180.0 pounds, 19 floors climbed

Run: 3.15 miles, 27:16, 8:39 pace, 38 feet elevation gain, 126/138 avg/max HR, 160/168 avg/max cadence, 28F, 74% RH, 6 mph SSE wind, wind chill 23F, cloudy

Shoes: Salomon blue SpeedCross 4 trail shoes: 229.44 miles 

I got out a bit late for my run so I opted for my "Out to Stutson St Overlook" route. It was a bit warmer and I ran a bit faster. I still wore my Salomon SpeedCross 4 trail shoes. It was overkill but I didn't have any trouble with the tiny snow patches on the LOSP Trail either. My splits were 9:05, 8:41, 8:22, 7:23 over the last 0.15 mile. A negative split!

Thursday, 12/29/22

10375 steps, 43/134 resting/max HR, 7:07 hours sleep, 180.3 pounds, 13 floors climbed

Run: 3.16 miles, 27:15, 8:37 pace, 40 feet elevation gain, 126/136 avg/max HR, 162/172 avg/max cadence, 37F, 52% RH, 8 mph SSW wind, wind chill 32F, clear

Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS20 grey - 720.23 miles

I got out a bit late again so another run on my "Out to Stutson St Overlook" route. It was a bit warmer and I thought about wearing shorts for a second or so but went with my Brooks tights, Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, Brooks beanie and heavy running gloves. The wind was a bit col

Friday, 12/30/2022

4344 steps, 42/98 resting/max HR, 9:04 hours sleep, 180.3 pounds, 5 floors climbed

Walk: 1.5 miles, 19:40, 13:07 pace, 18 feet elevation gain, 90/102 avg/max HR, 124/185 avg/max cadence, 55F, 62% RH, 12 mph SW wind, cloudy

Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS20 grey - 721.73 miles

A day off from Ricoh (thanks to L3Harris being off). I got out for a brisk walk on my usual "Out to Ling Rd" route. A walk day was definitely needed after 5 run days. It was much warmer so I wore shorts, my Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover and Brooks light running gloves. My splits were 13:11 and 12:59 over the last 0.5 mile.

Pat VerPlank's soon to be grave and a candle that Lea Ann had made

My Mom and Dad's grave about 50 feet away from Pat and Elmer's

Today was my Aunt Pat's internment at the East Palmyra Cemetery. She and Elmer are buried about 100 feet from where my parents are buried. The short service by Bob Yost was sad. Then we went to Lea Ann's for lunch. She works at Todds and they really gave her a bereavement spread of food. We took home 4 slices of Mark's pizza and 4 chocolate chip cookies from Topps. Mmm!

Saturday, 12/31/2022

7944 steps, 43/145 resting/max HR, 8:18 hours sleep, 180.8 pounds, 10 floors climbed

I checked my running spreadsheet and found that I had 97.9 racing miles and was eligible for a bronze (50 miles) racing GRTC patch. Well ... I really wanted to get to 100 miles so I could get a silver (100 miles) patch. But ... there weren't any races until Freezeroo #2 on New Years Day. Then I got an email on December 27th from Race Management Solutions about the New Years Eve 5K. I thought about it and thought I was crazy ... but I signed up.

The race venue was Fort Niagara which was 80 miles away or 1:38 driving time. The race start was noon so Christine and I started around 9:40 AM. It was a boring drive in an on/off mist but Google Maps got us there around 11:15 AM. I got my bib and got ready. 

Run: 3.19 miles, 24:59, 7:50 pace, 33 feet elevation gain, 138/149 avg/max HR, 162/170 avg/max cadence, 52F, 94% RH, 3 mph SSW wind, overcast

Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS20 grey - 724.92 miles

And ...we were off! I didn't know anyone there but I did what I usually do. I tried to start slow .. and didn't like usual. I slowly passed slightly faster runners in the first mile. I wanted to take a tiny walk break but gutted it out until the finish. And ... done!

I ran 3.19 miles, 24:59, 7:50 pace according to my Garmin Venu. I ran a 25:00, 8:02 pace officially. I did OK. I was 25th out of 112, 1st out of 7 in my M 65-69 age group. Christine and I stayed around for the awards and I got a first place age group sticker for my finisher medal. I also found out that the M 65-69 age was competitive since 2nd place was 25:13 and 3rd place was 25:34. 

A nice selfie of Christine and I in Fort Niagara with Canada visible across the Niagara River

Truth in neon at the Flip Burger in Lewiston where we ate excellent burgers and fries!

It was just as long a drive back but I got to 101.0 race miles for 2022.

Today was the last day of December and also the last day of 2022 so it's double stat time!

I walked once on the treadmill for 1 mile and twice for 2 miles in 2022.

I walked 8 times for 9.65 miles, 1.21 miles/walk in December and 131 walks for 182.79 miles, 1.4 miles/walk in 2022.

I ran 25 times for 107.1 miles, 4.28 miles/run in December and 197 runs for 741.66 miles, 3.76 miles/run in 2022.

I ran 2 races in December

 12/10 Freezeroo #1, 3.1 miles, 24:39, 7:57 pace

 12/31 New Years Eve 5K, 25:00, 8:02 pace

I didn't bike in December and 64 bikes for 835.05 miles, 13.05 miles/bike in 2022.

I walked 250,111 steps in December and 2,455,544 steps in 2022.

I ran 24 (23 road and 1 trail) races in 2022. They were one 1 mile, 14 5Ks, one 4.4 mile, one 4.89 mile, two 5 mile, two 10Ks, one 7.5 mile, one 8 mile and one 9.41 mile trail race.

My plans for 2023 are to keep my walk/run/bike streak going. I will be running one of my bucket races in May, the Fly by Night Du in Watkins Glen NY.