Sunday, February 1st to Saturday, February 7th

Sunday, February 1st to Saturday, February 7th: 19.6 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 30, Tue: 21, Wed: 27, Thu: 19, Fri: 17, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: -, Mon: 16436, Tue: 11994, Wed: 16865, Thu: 8078, Fri: 14879, Sat: -

I ran 4 times this week.

Sun: 8.7 miles, 74:57, 8:37 pace, 1.5 Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-2 Pond-Collingwood-Seneca run, 42F, windy, 3 stops, no pain. I upped my long run from 6.2 last week to 8.7 this week ... probably more than I should have. But that is just how I roll. The Super Bowl was awesome! Pittsburgh won 27-23, link here and the commercials were great too, link here.

Mon: 4.3 miles, 34:23, 8:20 pace, 2 x Seneca Ave, 28F, night, calm, no stops, no pain. A great night run.

Tue: My right Achilles tendon felt weird all day. Sometimes when I started walking my tendon would hurt. So I decided to play it safe and not run.

Wed: 2.5 miles, 31:34, 12:37 pace, Snow Cheap #4, 11F, calm, no stops, no pain. It was easier than the last race or maybe I can getting better. I finished 67th in 31:34, results here. I won a "special" water bottle during the raffle afterward. I took a lot of ribbing when I said that I was going to gnaw on the nipple ... of the water bottle. The best suggestion was that I should "gently tug and play with the nipple".

Fri: 4.1 miles, 34:00, 8:18 pace, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 28F, night, calm, 2 little stops, no pain. I stuck with the lead group except a couple of walking breaks but caught back up. It was a bit warmer and easier to run.

Sat: A rest day. I went to the Inikori Dance Studio Open House tonight. The instructor gave twenty minute intros of the waltz, cha cha, salsa, foxtrot, argentine tango and east coast swing. Man, the latin dances are so much faster! The weather warmed up a lot today. Right now at 10PM it is 48F and very windy! A lot of the snow melted today!

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, January 25th to Saturday, January 31st

Sunday, January 25th to Saturday, January 31st: 25.5 miles
Month of January: 105.4 miles, I ran 22 out of 31 days, 4.8 miles/run

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 7, Tue: 9, Wed: 10, Thu: 20, Fri: 15, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: -, Mon: 14797, Tue: 17806, Wed: 8370, Thu: 18876, Fri: 15722, Sat: -

I ran 5 times this week.

Sun: 6.2 miles, 51:15, 8:16 pace, 1.5 Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca Run, easy, 14F, sunny, a little windy, 1 stop, no pain. A great Sunday morning run ... kind of makes up for being a slug yesterday.

Mon: 4.2 miles, 35:24, 8:26 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Ridge Run, easy, 15F, night, calm, no stops, no pain. Icy sidewalks and driveways.

Tue: 6.1 miles, 53:05, 8:42 pace, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, easy, 21F, calm, 2 stops, no pain. The sidewalks on Monroe Ave to and from Cobbs Hill were very icy. Baked a batch of cookies. Mmmm ... oatmeal raisin cookies!

Wed: Baked another batch of cookies. Need to remember to turn the timer on when baking cookies. The second batch are a bit ... crispy.

Thu: 4.9 miles, 44:08, 9:00 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca Run, easy, 24F, dusk, a bit of snow on the sidewalks, no stops, no pain. Nice run, a little hot outside.

Fri: 4.1 miles, 34:30, 8:25 pace, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 18F, easy, snowy sidewalks on Monroe Ave, no stops, no pain.

Sat: My youngest son, David, had his appendix out at 3AM on Friday morning. He is doing well now. He was in some pain from the three little incisions. I also saw my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home in Lyons.

Sunday, January 18th to Saturday, January 24th

Sunday, January 18th to Saturday, January 24th: 22.3 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 17, Tue: 6, Wed: 20, Thu: 9, Fri: 20, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: -, Mon: 12848, Tue: 21879 Wed: 16438, Thu: 10381, Fri: 14091, Sat: -

I ran 5 times this week.

Sun: 5.1 miles, 45:04, 8:50 pace, 1.5 Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca, Slow, 25F, calm, slushy, 3 stops, no pain. The run was harder than usual, the snow was slushy and hard to run through. The rest of the day was a vegfest. I watched the divisional championship football games between Arizona and Philadelphia (Arizona won) and Pittsburgh and Baltimore ( Pittsburgh won). So it's Arizona vs Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

Mon: 4.1 miles, 35:30, 8:40 pace, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca, easy, 20F, dusk, calm, no stops, no pain. A little bit slushy, a good run. Nothing unusual.

Tue: 6 miles, 54:03, 9:00 pace, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, 3 loops, 15F, a little windy, multiple stops, no pain. I am troubled with my lack of wind lately. It seems I can't keep running when it gets cold. Fleet Feet had a spur of the moment Inaugural Ball with champagne, after running food and nice conversation.

Wed: 3 miles (I guess), 44:36, 14:52 pace, FF Snow Cheap #3, 18F, wore my Yaktrax, no pain. I finished in 44:36, 109th out of 129, results here. The snow was kind of deep and tough going at the start. I ran better on the hard packed snow when there was some. The hills were steep and slippery. I got separated and got lost so I estimate I added 0.6 miles to my run, let's just call it 3 miles ... oh well, it's all good. I wore ankle supports to help protect me from kicking my inside ankles which seemed to help. My trail shoes and socks were soaked. My feet were cold when I got back to my apartment so I changed right into my sweats and thawed out with some hot chocolate. One thing about running events at night ... if there is food afterward you can usually eat enough so that you don't need to fix supper!

Fri: 4.1 miles, around 34:00, 8:20 pace, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 40F, easy, a little windy, 4 stops, no pain. Not really happy with my running as of late. I can't seem to keep my breath and have to stop every mile or so! Kind of frustrating. But I am out there in all kinds of weather ... which is more than most people can say.

Sat: The temperature really dropped from last night to today. It was 10F today, right now it is 6F according to Weatherbug. Another rest day. Tried to go through the stuff in my apartment. Got some stuff done ... not as much as I hoped. I moved some boxes of books down to my basement storage unit. For some reason, I can't get rid of books. I can read them years and years ago but I don't want to get rid of them or give them away. Another Saturday night spent watching TV and surfing the internet.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, January 11th to Saturday, January 17th

Sunday, January 11th to Saturday, January 17th: 22.5 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 16, Tue: 17, Wed: 19, Thu: 16, Fri: 12, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: 9802, Mon: 13857, Tue: 17879, Wed: 14284, Thu: 8234, Fri: 10479, Sat: -

I ran 5 times this week.

Sun: 4.1 miles, 2 x Seneca Ave, 34:03, 8:19 pace, 18F, easy, calm, no stops, no pain. It snowed about 4 to 6 inches overnight so I got out early and got a nice, easy run in before I went out to Newark to see my kids and Lyons to see my father. Karen went back to Houghton College. About 11AM I realized that I totally forgot about the Polar Cat #3 in Webster. Oh well!

Mon: 4.2 miles, 2 x Seneca Ave, 32:56, 7:50 pace, 26F, easy, dusk, calm, no stops, no pain. A nightly run is becoming a healthy habit.

Tue: 6 miles, Fleet Feet Cobbs Hill run, 25F and falling, easy, night, windy, light snow, 3 loops, 3 stops, no pain. The cold snap was making its way in, the temp was falling, light snow was falling, the wind was picking up. I took it easy, no IT band wrap, slipping and sliding on the sidewalks to and from. I went out to The Otter Lodge afterward with fellow FF runners.

Wed: Rest Day. Didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I gave blood today for the 66th time (64th according to the official record). My pulse was 50, blood pressure was 116/64. You can sign up to donate here.

Thu: 4.1 miles, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Collingwood-Seneca run, 10F, calm, no stops, no pain. Nice run out in the cold, sweet! I did my laundry ... how exciting!

Fri: 4.1 miles, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 5F, a little windy, easy, multiple stops, no pain, 8:47 pace. It was windy during the day sending the wind chills plummeting below zero. But either I was shielded during the run or the wind died down. I was overdressed ... drenched when I got back to Fleet Feet.

Sat: Rest Day. I took my oldest son, Michael, back to Ithaca College. I stopped and saw my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home. I also enriched the local economy. I thought about going out for a run but vegged instead.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, January 4th to Saturday, January 10th

Sunday, January 4th to Saturday, January 10th: 23.5 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 15, Tue: 12, Wed: 8, Thu: 15, Fri: 12, Sat: -

Steps:
Sun: 13701, Mon: 9171, Tue: 6621 (not on run), Wed: 10750, Thu: 7008 (not on run), Fri: 8361 (not on run), Sat: -

I ran 5(!) times this week.

Sun: 6.5 miles, 3 x Seneca Ave, 50:25, 7:45 pace, a little hard, 20F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain, sweet! I just went up and Seneca Ave from Ridge Rd to Titus three times. I didn't chance the sidewalks ... just keeping to the wide shoulders of Seneca. After a bit I went out to Newark to see my kids and my father in Lyons.

Mon: I took a break from running, doing unimportant stuff like paying bills. I also copied Dark Knight and then tested the copy.

Tue: 6.0 miles, Cobbs Hill run - 3 loops, 50:20, 8:23 pace, easy, 30F, night, calm, a bit icy, no stops, no pain. A bit icy on the sidewalks to and from. I had a late start ... had to search for the top to my headlamp after I dropped it.

Wed: 2.7 miles, Snow Cheap #2, 31:55, 11:49 pace, easy, night, calm, no pain, slipping and sliding. An easy trail run full of slushy, slipping and sliding goodness around Cobbs Hill Park. I was 61th out of 138, results here.

Thu: 4.2 miles, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo run, 35:56, 8:33 pace, 22F, easy, night, light snow, calm, no stops, no pain. Yes, it was cold. Yes, it was lightly snowing. Yes, the run was sweet.

Fri: 4.1 miles, Fleet Feet Happy Hour run, 33:15, 8:06 pace, 20F, a little hard, full moon, 1 stop, no pain. A nice full moon for a frosty night! I wore my headlamp and blinker so I was seen for sure! It's all good!

Sat: A rest day after 4 straight day of running. I lazed around ... I should have done stuff but didn't. I did manage to keep busy ... sitting on my butt, surfing the web and chatting.

Lately all my runs have been sweet. I have running pain-free and have been just running for the sheer enjoyment of being out there ... in the moment.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, December 28th to Saturday, January 3rd

Sunday, December 28th to Saturday, January 3rd: 23.7 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 10, Tue: 9, Wed: 10, Thu: -, Fri: 8, Sat: -

Steps
Sun: -, Mon: -, Tue: 4045 (not on run), Wed: -, Thu: -, Fri: 13450, Sat: 3739

I ran 4 times this week.

Sun: Our 60F weather disappeared ... chased away by winds of 50 to 60 mph! I sat inside the apartment listening to the wind howl! I watch the Buffalo Bills finish out their season in typical fashion ... with a loss. They started out in grand fashion at 5-1. Then went 2-8, (0 for the AFC East), the rest of the way to finish at 7-9 for the third straight season.

Mon: 5.3 miles, 41:55, 7:55 pace, 40F, night, calm, no pain, no stops. I went out for the Seneca-Titus-Saint Paul-Zoo route plus a bit. The conditions were ideal! I pushed it, 7:55 pace.

After work I went to Medved to buy a pair of Yaktrax Pros for $30. Maybe during the next Snow Cheap I won't be slipping and sliding!

Tue: 6.8 miles, 54:25, 8:00 pace, 28F, Cobbs Hill run, 4 loops, night, calm. I think I held a 8:00 pace. I didn't start my Garmin until I got to Cobbs Hill. I was slowing on the third and fourth loops. A good workout!

Wed: More snow, more cold. By nightfall, the temp was around 15F plus windy. I stayed in for New Year's Eve ... in bed by midnight.

Thu: 7.5 miles, 62:33, 8:20 pace, 10F, Freezeroo #2, sunny, calm, 4 stops, nice! It was 8F and I was on the fence but I went down to Mendon Ponds Park and ran. I am glad I did along with 287 other runners! It was 10F, sunny, calm. The roads inside the park were snow covered and the road outside were a bit better. You usually could find bare pavement. I did a little run/walk trick at the end ... walking a bit to catch my breath then catching up to where I was before. I finished 107th in 1:02:33, results here.



Fri: 4.1 miles, 33:26, 8:09 pace, 32F, FF Happy Hour, night, calm, slushy. I took it easy, the snow was slushy making it hard to run ... but I didn't stop except for traffic. I wore my new Yaktrax ... I was not impressed. I don't know if they helped.

Sat: rest day from running. I changed my oil, checked my air pressure and then went on a road trip.

Keeping active, Doug

Happy New Year, 2009!

Time to look back ... lots of changes this past year. Let's see ... my divorce was finialized, living in a one bedroom apartment up in Rochester close to work and play, new job (twice), more stuff that I just can't think of.

A good year in the running department. I ran 1144.8 miles during the year, high of 145.7 in August, low of 57.3 in November, average of 95.4 miles per month. I ran 163 out of 365 days with an average of 7 miles per run. I ran 15 races, set lifetime PRs in the 5K, 5 Mile, 10K, 15K and 20K. I ran my first marathon, the hot and humid Rochester, two days before my 51st birthday. I have a nagging injury in my right knee that I seem to have thwarted with my IT band wrap. I ran some trail races during the year. Trail races are a challenge ... my long legs seem to be built for road races.

I need to start working out my upper body. I need to unpack my apartment and toss the stuff that I don't need.

I am the lookout for a woman who shares my desire to be in the best shape of their life. I know she is out there ... somewhere.

I have my faults ... procrastination being one of them. I need to start doing stuff, making decisions of the way I want to live life instead of accepting whatever comes my way.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, December 21st to Saturday, December 27th: 15.5 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Sun: -, Mon: 10, Tue: 8, Wed: 12, Thu: -, Fri: 14, Sat: -

Steps
Sun: 2304, Mon: 4144, Tue: 4367, Wed: 7682, Thu: 10411, Fri: 10219, Sat: 14198

I ran three times this week.

Sun: Caught up on my sleep ... 11 hours. Lazed around ... sick with a head cold and sore throat. I listened to the wind howl around the apartment. Outside it was 15F (or lower) with 10 to 30 mph winds sending the wind chill below zero. I do know someone who snowshoed in the AM. I haven't tried snowshoeing yet ... but that will have to wait until I am better.

Mon & Tue & Wed: Getting better. Tuesday was the first day I actually felt close to 100%. I put up some Christmas decorations, strung some Christmas lights and played some Christmas music. I made me feel in the spirit of things. I could have gone running down at the Fleet Feet Cobb's Hill run but decided to play it safe. Wednesday I was all ready to head out in the 50F weather after work but it started raining! So I played it safe ... again!

Thu: 4.4 miles, 36:28, 8:17 pace, 32F, easy, sunny, a little windy, nice and easy, icy, mild left knee pain, no stops. I took a nice and easy Christmas morning run. It was a bit icy so I made sure of my footing. I wore my neck warmer ... I looked like a running robber when I wore it over my nose! I went out to see my kids, my father, then back to a cousin's house for Christmas dinner. A nice Christmas day but sort of empty in a certain sort of way.

Fri: 4.1 miles, 32:07, 7:50 pace, 36F, a little hard, mild left knee pain, no stops. Your usual Friday night Fleet Feet happy hours run. Just letting it loose, no stops ... a good run!

Sat: 7 miles, 58:16, 8:19 pace, 53F, easy, mild left knee pain, no stops. A nice Saturday morning run that I squeezed in between rain showers. I went out easy, kept it going, a bit overdressed. I felt a mild left knee pain early but it went away. I wore the IT band wrap on my right knee. I had to be careful of the odd icy patch plus puddles.

I took my 36-36 dress pants to Mens Warehouse to have the waist taken in. I think my waist is around 34 now. I also got three 50% off 15.5 / 34-35 dress shirts at Sear's. Then I headed out to Newark to work on my youngest son's laptop that had a corrupt config/system file. It turned out the config folder had issues. I ran chkdsk which fixed the problem. I also got my haircut and had a couple of beers with my best friend from high school who was home from KY for the holidays. The weather is really balmy tonight. Right now at 11:30PM it is 61F!

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, December 14th to Saturday, December 20th: 18.7 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Mon: 29, Tue: 9, Wed: 29, Thu: 10, Fri: 16

Steps
Mon: 11360, Tue: 19595, Wed: 15321, Thu: 7669, Fri: 7899, Sat: 7687

I ran 3 times this week.

Sun: 9 miles, Seneca-Titus-St Paul-Zoo-Pond + Seneca-Titus-St Paul, easy, 40F, morning, 4 stops, it band, 8:12 pace. I didn't eat anything before heading out so I bonked to four stops, no energy. Lesson learned ... have a little something to eat before a long run. It's been a while since I have run long.

Tue: 6.7 miles, FF Cobbs Hill Run, easy, 25F, night, calm, no stops, 4.24 miles in 8:14 pace. I went out for 3.5 loops: 4 right side, 3 left side. I wore exactly the right stuff for the conditions but I forgot to wear my IT band wrap. Not too much pain, a little on my left side instead of the right.

Wed: 2.7, Snow Cheap #1, 29:55, 11:04 pace, easy, 30F, night, calm, some stops. We had about 3 inches of wet snow in the morning so there was snow. I ran an easy 29:55, walked some hills, good for 50th out of 124, results here. I was slipping and sliding! I walked some hills. Trail races just hammer my legs. I need to buy some Yaktraks (so I won't slip and kill myself) and leg gaiters (so I won't nick up my ankles).

Thu, Fri & Sat: Real life gets in the way of running as it will do on occasion. I am not feeling 100%. I have a head cold that came on after the Snow Cheap race ... a running nose, headache and cough. Joy ... not.

Fri: I drove down to Ithaca College to pick up my oldest son, Michael. The conditions were not good. The Rochester area got about 10 inches of snow. It took about 3.5 hours to get down there and 2.5 hours to get back. Michael stayed at his grandparents for the night while I ended up heading back up to Rochester.

Sat: I lended a helping hand to my kids and ex and helped them move. It was not the best day to move: 20F and falling, a light snow to make the ramp slippery. I ended up falling and hurting my right knee when I fell while pulling up the appliance dolly with a portable dishwasher on it. That's not to mention the usual cuts, aches and pains. All in all, a long day.

I am finding out living up near Irondequoit has its disadvantages in the winter ... almost a daily occurrence of lake effect snow.

Keeping active, Doug

Sunday, December 7th to Saturday, December 13th: 21.6 miles

Flights (24 steps/flight)
Mon: 16, Tue: 30, Wed: 15, Thu: 19, Fri: 29

Steps
Sun: 6241, Mon: 11249, Tue: 18282, Wed: 9950, Thu: 21239, Fri: 12129, Sat: 2081

I ran 4 times this week.

Sun: 3.1 miles, Polar Cat #1, 24:14, 7:49 pace, 15F, very windy, too cold to feel any pain! I ran the first Polar Cat #1 5K down in Honeoye Falls. It was a little sunny and very windy with wind chills probably sub-zero. I didn't warm up ... too cold. We turned the corner at mile 1 so the wind was in our face and then turned another corner so the wind was on our left ... brutal! I had to stop twice ... my face almost froze off plus I was almost blown over! Anyway, I finished 16th out of 44, 4th in my age group, results here. The free hot chocolate provided by the Brewery Resturant was much appreciated.

Mon: I baked some bake-n-stick cookies and an apple pie. I also pounded some nails in my bookcase ... the shelves needed more support for my books and magazines. I posted it on Facebook so I was urged to bring the cookies into work. The apple pie was mine ... all mine!

Tue: 6.1 miles, FF Cobbs Hill run, 4.81 miles in 41:14, 8:32 pace, 48F, slushy, calm, no stops. I wore my trail shoes and headlamp. I ran 3 loops before heading back. I forgot to wear my IT band wrap.

Thu: 8.3 miles, 2 x Seneca-Titus-St Paul + Seneca, 69:53, 8:25 pace, 25F, easy, icy, no stops, it band. I needed some major endorphins so I just put on the IT band wrap and ran. Perhaps I shouldn't have added the extra up and back on Seneca. But the extra pain was worth it.

Fri: 4.1 miles, FF Happy Hour run, 34:29, 8:25 pace, 25F, a little hard, light snow, no stops. The FF Happy Hour run was light snowy goodness. I like to just go out and run. I tend to leave the pack behind ... I can't run slow. There are people who run faster (mostly young whippersnappers) but most don't.

Sat: I needed sleep so I didn't do the first Freezeroo out in Spencerport. I heard that the conditions were great ... 20F, sunny and calm. I went down to Lyons in the afternoon to see my father at the Wayne County Nursing Home in Lyons and also took more of my empty boxes to my ex. That's one way to get rid of all my empty boxes in my apartment! I will be helping her and the kids move from a 2 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom house next Saturday. I will be driving the 14 foot Uhaul truck she is renting. She will have plenty of help from what she tells me. So it should be an easy move.

Right now I am watching It's a Wonderful Life. I have never watched it from the beginning before. Even with all the commercials that NBC is throwing in I will be sniffling by the end.

Oh, gas prices are great! I filled up at the Deltasonic on Ridge Rd E by Hudson for $1.79 after I passed gas stations at $1.99 on the way back ... sweet!

Keeping active, Doug

P.S. I like to think that I am active ... but there are people that I have met that make me look like a slug! They inspire me sometimes or discourage me other times ... but not enough to go back out after a 5K with sub-zero wind chills! I definitely need to get more and/or better cold weather gear! Today I got a Drylete Neck Warmer from Dick's Sporting Goods. It should help next time there are subzero wind chills!