Sunday, 2/22/2015 - Lake Effect Half Marathon

Sunday, 2/22/2015 - I ran 0.5 mile warmup and 13.24 miles during the Lake Effect Half Marathon, 19F, 92% RH, 7 mph SW wind, wind chill 10F, partly cloudy.

This blog post will be about the Lake Effect Half Marathon (LEHM) in the Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool NY. I had signed up my first running of this race a couple of months ago. I thought it would be nice to be close to the race venue the night before so I booked my darling wife, Christine, and I into the Syracuse Ramada for Saturday night. So the race venue was only 2.7 miles away versus 85.1 miles away. A leisure drive on race morning rather than a "get up way before the crack of dawn, hope you don't forget anything, push, push, hope we get there in time, don't get lost and find a parking spot" drive.

I had set my alarm for 6:30AM and woke up after about 4 hours of sleep. Christine had snored during the night so we had arrived at a unique arrangement that let both of us sleep. The continental breakfast was OK, We packed up, I dressed in my 20F gear, checked out, got going and got to the race venue a bit after 8AM.  The race started at 9:30AM so we got a primo parking spot though it was tough to tell because of all the snow mounds in the parking lots. I got my bib and race tech shirt at the Salt Museum that was opened since for this event. The packet pickup could have been more organized with signs and more room.

My brother Don and I before the race - photo courtesy of Christine

My brother, Don, who lives in Syracuse, met us there. I was surprised. He had never seen me run a race before today. He was quite talkative. Don suggested that I put on my sunglasses and I was glad I did. I did break away when he had to go off to meet someone for breakfast and got in a 0.5 mile warmup run, link here.

I ran around a bit and finally found a free bathroom about 8 minutes before the race start. I rushed back to the start line and then remembered that I had no water or nutrition. I called up Christine and asked her to meet me after my first loop in a hour or so when I came back to the finish after loop 1. I didn't know too many people at this race ... only Steve Levitsky, Joe Ciecierega and Bill Murphy.

Oh, the LEHM course was a double out and back on asphalt inside the Onondaga Lake Park. That means we go out in one direction, come back by the start, go out another direction and come back to the start. We do that twice. The second time we go to the finish line. I didn't know the distance of each out before the race. One of the features of an out and back is that you get to see the leaders running back at you. That can be encouraging or discouraging ... depending on your point of view and how tired you are.

I lined up in my usual spot ... a little bit to the right and about 10 yards from the start line. And ... we were off!

A video from syracuse.com. I cross at about 15 seconds.

The start was like all starts ... a bit congested. I got up to speed and maneuvered around slower runners to get a nice spot to run at my pace. The course for the first two miles was mostly clear with about an inch of snow on the edges so I ran where it was clear like most everyone else. The next mile was snow covered with a bit of slush. The leaders had made the turn and were coming back so I gave them the clear path when they came upon me. The turn was just after mile 3.

One of the three underpasses (the Thruway, Long Branch Rd and John Glenn Blvd) ... clear underneath!

Then it was my turn to see the runners behind me as I ran back to the start. I heard a yell of "DeWeaver" behind me when I passed the start and thought it was Christine. I raised my hand to wave as I continued onward onto a baby loop of 1/2 mile of mainly clear asphalt. Then it was back past the start. It was Christine so we met up very briefly so she could give me my Amphipod pouch with 2 HammerGels in it. My ski mittens were much too bulky to let me carry either hand bottle that she offered me. I slowed to a walk and sucked one down at mile 7. I had a bit of trouble opening it and getting the last bit out so I did the best I could.

Photo courtesy of Tina Pellegrin

Steve Levitsky finished in 47th in 1:41:39 - photo courtesy of Tina Pellegrin

Joe Ciecierega finished 53rd in 1:42:31. He did bring some Hawaiian style to the race!

The second loop was more of the same. Two miles of mostly a clearer path since 555 runners had mushed more of the snow out of the way and then a mile of a still snow covered path before the turn. Then the same back to the start. After the turn I heard someone to my left yell. I looked and it was Don. I was surprised, said "Hi" and continued onward. I saw someone with a chocolate HammerGel at the water stop at mile 10. It was a bit cold so I had a bit of trouble pushing the gel out. I knew there was only 3.1 miles to go so I pushed and didn't stop again. The sun had come out a bit and it was quite bright ... almost nice! I picked up the pace a bit and started picking off runners. Mile 12 (but my Garmin said more than 12.1?)... onward. I could see a crowd of people but I had to pass them by to do the baby loop of 1/2 mile. Mile 13 ... onward. A guy said "Your wife is waiting" ... round the corner ... the clock was under 1:50 ... push ... finish ... LEHM medal around my neck! Done with 13.24 miles in 1:49:39, 8:17 pace!

Christine in her Polar Cat hoodie waiting for me at the finish

Sprinting for the finish - photo courtesy of Christine

A recipient of the LEHM medal - photo courtesy of Christine

I went into the heated(?) tent with Don and Christine. I quickly had a banana, water and chocolate milk. I got chilled and went to the nearby Equinox. I changed out of my wet top layers and put on my coat .. much better! Don, Christine and I talked for a while. I don't think Don will start running at age 62 but he did say that he wants to join a nearby Planet Fitness.

I found the LEHM results posted on the side of a truck ... 7th in my M55-59 age group. So I didn't stick around for the awards. I did notice that the top 3 masters women were all from the Rochester area!

I can usually beat myself up about a race but not today. I ran easy and under control. I wasn't trying to crush this half ... I was just trying to finish. My mental goal was to run sub 1:50 and I did. I was 94th out of 555, link here. I was 7th out of 22 in my M55-59 age group. My splits were: 7:39, 7:57, 8:22, 8:32, 8:02, 8:02, 8:51 (gel), 8:20, 8:16, 9:23 (gel), 8:26, 8:06, 8:01 and 7:18 over the last 0.24 mile. It was my fastest half of the year even with the traction problems on a full 1/3 of the course ... 28 seconds faster than last month's Winter Warrior Half at MCC in Rochester NY. I could have taken my HammerGels faster maybe but that's it. 

Soon we had said "Goodbye" to Don and we were headed back to Rochester via Newark to try to see my two kids who live there. I ended up just seeing my daughter, Karen. I helped her out by shoveling the end of her apartment's driveway so her mother could get her car in and out better. We also stopped at Target in Irondequoit on the way back. I picked up a small gym bag that I will use when I go to LA Fitness. I promise I will start going ... really!!

I fell asleep on the couch but I had set my alarm for midnight so I could wake up to sign up for the Muddy Sneaker 20K on April 18th. The race ended up being sold out in 21 hours. I could have waited to sign up in the morning ... but what fun would have that been?

So ... an epic day for another winter half marathon. The weather on the day before and the day after would have been about 15F colder and windier. It would have been brutal!

Sunday, 2/15/2015 to Saturday, 2/21/2015 - Snow Cheap #5

I ran 5 miles this week, 21.4 miles.

Sunday, 2/15/2015: 2.05 miles on snowshoes, 47:40, 22:26 pace, 0F, 65% RH, 17 mph WNW wind, wind chill -21F, sunny.

Garmin Connect Activity for A 0F snowshoe walk

It was cold ... -2F when I got up. I waited around all morning and a bit of the afternoon before it warmed up to 0F. I had read on Facebook that some runners had made it outside and some had ran on treadmills. I decided to snowshoe. I was unsure of the wind and potentially freezing my face off. I dressed warm with 2 pairs of pants and 3 long sleeve tech shirts along with a heavy hat, neck gaiter and skiing mittens.

So ... I chose to make a snowshoe path along the edge of the apartment complex. I didn't even venture more than 100 yards away. It ended up to be a 0.17 mile loop. The first several loops were spent breaking trail as I sank a foot or more into the snow. I got barely get up to a run on the rest of the loops. I brought my neck gaiter when I turned into the wind. It wasn't so bad ... just kind of boring. Maybe I should have braved the roads but I was outside and put some miles on my Dion snowshoes.

Meanwhile, a local runner named Matthew Roberts was down in Austin, Texas running the Austin Marthon. He ran a 3:03:45, 55th, 12th in his M30-34 age grounp and a BQ! Unofficial 2015 results are here. A woman elite runner, , led most of the race. She fell, refused to quit and crawled 450 feet across the finish link, link here. Truly inspirational!

Monday, 2/16/2015 and Tuesday, 2/17/2015: Rest days.

I have lost my running motivation ... again. It is just too damn cold and windy. Some runners on Facebooks have been lamenting about the same thing. Some are even starting to run ... on treadmills ... gasp of horror!

Wednesday, 2/18/2015: 2 runs of 4.5 and Snow Cheap #5 of 2.45 miles, 18F, 79% RH, 10 mph WNW wind, wind chill 6F, light snow.

Yes, it was sort of cold and it was snowing, but it was a Snow Cheap Wednesday. So down to Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill Park I went! The drive down was slow but I got there in plenty of time. My plan was to go out for a 5 mile warmup run and then run on snowshoes for the race.

I had on the usual clothes: CW-X tights, heavy Sugoi long sleeve, black short sleeve with my Golden Bib, Brooks jacket, full balaclava, Brooks beanie and skiing mittens. I trudged up a partially plowed sidewalk to the reservoir, ran around the reservoir 4 times and then trudged back for 4.5 miles, link here.

I warmed up a bit in Riley Lodge and took off my Brooks jacket. I put on my Dion snowshoes just before the race. My thought was to run in snowshoes to avoid tweaking my ankles like I did during Snow Cheap #4 (I couldn't run for 4 days afterwards).

I lined up close to the start and milled around with everyone else. I heard Ellen say that this was a two loop race. Loop 1 was 1 mile and loop 2 was 2 miles. And ... we were off for Loop 1!

I started off to the side so I wouldn't kick up too much snow with my snowshoes but the snow was deep so I soon moved into the beaten track with everyone else. Running in deep snow in snowshoes was tiring so I wasn't too annoyed when the runners in front of me slowed to a walk. Practically all of Loop 1 was in deep snow. I said "Hi" to Stacey Maier when I passed her. I finished Loop 1 in 12:42. Then it was back out for Loop 2. This loop sent us towards Washington Grove. Joe Ciecierega and I passed each other a couple of times on this loop before he stayed ahead for good. The snow wasn't as deep in the trees so I could actually get up a semblance of a running pace for a while. Then it was back into deep snow ... clump, slide into the hole left by a runner, clump. Onward. We went down the same steep slope into the switchback as last time. A Monroe Miler (a youth running group) who ran through here after I did ended up falling here and required 20 stitches. I slid down and had just a bit of trouble but didn't fall. Back into deep snow until the finish. I finished Loop 2 in 28:18. And ... done with 2.45 miles in 41:00!

Crossing the finish!

Some frosty Dion snowshoes

I went to the Equinox to ditch my snowshoes and then straight away into Riley Lodge to change as much as I could out of my wet clothes. My fingertips turned white per usual for at least 30 minutes.

I had some hot noddle soup (made by Claire) and cookies to warm me up. I ended up just ignoring my fingertips and going to Wegmans for a bit of late night grocery shopping. Eventually they pinked up and were normal again.

I tried to upload my Garmin for my warmup run and Snow Cheap #5 but only got the first one. I was disappointed but it was what it was. My Garmin Forerunner 910XT still has its cracked screen (courtesy of a fall at the start of Airport 5K in 2014. My old Garmin Forerunner 305 is dead with corroded contacts. Should I do nothing, get either fixed or just buy something new?

Anyway, I did OK. I finished 28th out of 166, link here. I was 4th out of 14 in my M50-59 age group, link here. Here is a link to Chris O'Brien's Strava upload of Snow Cheap #6 to get a read on where we ran in Cobbs Hill Park, link here. Chris is training for the Twisted Branch 100K Trail Run on 8/29. He was 6th overall and first in his M30-39 age group.

Thursday, 2/19/2015: 6.2 miles on the dreadmill

It was 5F with wind chills well below zero. Winter won for today. I went to LA Fitness in Irondequoit for the second time ever to use one of their treadmills. I cranked it up to 7.5 mph for most of the run and endured it enough to log 6.2 miles. I had to stop after 0.4 miles to stretch out my right Achilles tendon. Maybe I tweaked it during last night's Snow Cheap. The snow bank at the end of their driveway was quite high so I just had to hope that no one was coming when I exited onto Ridge Rd East to go home. My darling wife, Christine, held off cooking supper until I got home around 8 PM.

Friday, 2/20/2015: 6.2 miles on the dreadmill

It was 4F with wind chills below zero. Winter won again for the second day So I headed back to LA Fitness  in Irondequoit to use the dreadmill. I cranked it to 7.5 mph and just endured the run. I did it in 2 5K chunks to break up the monotony. More mileage towards 100 miles for the month.

Saturday, 2/21/2015: Rest day.

I had signed up my first running of the Lake Effect Half Marathon at Onondaga Lake Park in Syracuse NY a couple of months ago. I thought it would be nice to be close to the race venue the night before so I booked my darling wife, Christine, and I into the Syracuse Ramada for Saturday night.

We had a nice and leisurely drive out. We arrived around 5 PM. It was cold and a bit snowy so I was happy to be only 2.7 miles away from the start instead of 85.1 miles. The hotel was OK. The room was nice with just a queen bed. We didn't use the pool or exercise room. My brother, Don, who lives in Syracuse, told us to go the nearby Flat Iron Grill for supper. We went to the hotel restaurant inside unfortunately. We had to wait 45 minutes for our simple meal of a steak for me and a hamburger for Christine. We weren't happy but just paid our bill and made a mental note to never eat supper at a hotel restaurant again. We made a strange accommodation to Christine's snoring (won't say what) ... but I got 4 hours of sleep.

Sunday, 2/8/2015 to Saturday, 2/14/2015 - Freezeroo #5

I ran 4 times this week, 24.36 miles.

Sunday, 2/8/2015: 5.3 miles, 47:24, 8:56 pace, 19F, 93% RH, 13 mph NE wind, wind chill 6F, overcast, light snow.

Well ... I could give details of a tiff between my darling wife, Christine, and I had but I won't. Suffice to say that the laundry really needed to get done. I got 6 loads done which took all day (9:30AM to 5:30PM). In between all that Christine and I kissed and made up plus I got a run in .. so it was a win, win!

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and easy out and back 5.3 miles

I could finally walk without an ache in my ankles so I really needed to run. I knew that each dryer load took 50 minutes so I got a run in. I headed out and decided to keep it nice and easy plus stick to the main streets so I wouldn't get into the mushy side streets. It was snowing just a bit. Mission accomplished ... plus I was in a better mood than I was when I left. It is true that I get a bit cranky if I don't run for 4 days.

Monday, 2/9/2015: snow equals rest day

At least 6 inches of fluffy snow fell during the day. Then there was a train stuck across 104 on the west side of Rochester ... on I live on the east side. So there was a big traffic snarl ... I crawled south, then east, then north to get around it ... which took a while.

Tuesday, 2/10/2015: 10 miles, 1:26:20, 8:38 pace, 21F, 78% RH, 6 mph NE wind, wind chill 14F, overcast, real light snow

Yes, pizza was in the oven when I got home. But I needed to run so run I did.

Garmin Connect Activity for A gorgeous 10 miles

I got dressed, had a bit of an energy bar and got out there. It was absolutely gorgeous! The main streets were mainly clear and the side streets were just a bit slushy. I just took it easy and let the run happen on my usual 10K route. I stretched it to 15K and then added a little more to get to a nice even 10 mile. My splits were: 8:39, 8:30, 8:38, 8:25, 8:43, 8:26, 8:52, 9:00, 8:41 and 8:26. Sweet!

And yes, the pizza was warmed up and all was good!

Wednesday, 2/11/2015: Rest day ... yada, yada, yada.

Thursday, 2/12/2015: 8 miles, 1:09:28, 8:41 pace, 9F, 66% RH, 15 mph WNW wind, wind chill -8F, overcast, light snow.

The cold is in Rochester with a vengeance. So, it was cold and windy ... but I run and I'm a bit crazy so I went out to run anyway. I wore my CW-X tights, Brooks pants, Darn Tough sock and blue Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes on the bottom. I wore a black ls tech, heavy Sugoi ls tech and my 1/4 zip Sugoi ls tech pullover for the top along with a full balaclava, Beanie, face shield and headlamp. I was warm enough to pull down the face shield and hike up my sleeves a bit. It was light when I started but dark when I finished. I thought about going for a full 10 but cut it short to 8 when I was running into the wind and snow on the way back. I took it easy. The main streets were a bit snow covered and slushy, the side streets were snow covered and the sidewalks were worse. The traffic was moving slower and avoided me ... thankfully. My splits were: 8:12, 8:53, 8:29, 8:35, 9:30 (sidewalk on Cooper Rd and Titus Ave), 8:57, 8:34 and 8:17. An OK run. I wasn't really chilled to bone because I dressed well.

Friday, 2/13/2015: Rest day and the day before a race.

It was 0F when I went to work and "warmed up" to 10F by the time I went home. Tonight was a rest night, plus I took my darling wife, Christine, to get her nails done at New Nails while I shopped for groceries at nearby Wegmans.

Saturday, 2/14/2015: 2 runs of 1 and Freezeroo #5 of 8.06 miles, 21F, 79% RH, 14 mph SSW wind, wind chill 8F, light snow with large flakes

It was a Freezeroo kind of Saturday morning so I was up around 7AM. The race venue for Freezeroo #5 was the Greece DPW on Long Pond Rd. This was my 4th Freezeroo #5. I broke 1 hour last year with a 59:28.

It had warmed up during the night so it could have a colder Freezeroo #5 ... 21F, come on! So ... I got up, had my usual pre-race bowl of cereal, got dressed, kissed my wife good-bye and headed out. I had on my usual: CW-X tights with GRTC shorts, heavy Sugoi long sleeve tech, 1/4 zip Brook long sleeve pullover, full balaclava, Brooks beanie and skiing mittens. I got there a full hour early so I had plenty of time to get my bib, timing chip and warmup with a nice and easy 1 mile warmup run, link here. I changed into my blue Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes for added traction before the race (and was glad I did).

Just milling around before the start

The weather conditions were interesting ... 21F, windy with large snow flakes. But it's a race ... so off we went!

Go!!

Soon we were obscured by the snow

The road conditions on Long Pond were a bit slippery with about an inch of snow on the road. I started out too fast with a 7:12 first mile. I could see bare pavement as we turned right onto Janes Rd for 1.5 miles. Then a left onto Island Cottage Rd for just over a mile. I started to tire and stopped for a tiny walk just after the turn. The pavement disappeared as we ran in about an inch of new snow in the footsteps of previous runners.

Running on Edgemere Drive

Then another left onto Edgemere Drive for just over another mile. Lake Ontario was just across the road. I took another tiny walk break. The wind wasn't too bad. It could have been a lot worse.

Turning the corner into the finish chute

The final left turn was back onto Long Pond Rd at mile 5 on the right hand side of the road for the last 3 miles (another couple of tiny walk breaks). The road going south was worse. The only clear path was on the white line or farther to the left in the road. I was running in the footsteps of other runners except for an occasional pass. Traffic went by sometimes a bit too close for comfort. I was tired but kept going. The last mile seemed to last forever.

It was Valentine's Day after all!

And .. done with 8.06 miles (by my Garmin) in 1:01:56, 7:45 pace. I had thought that I could break a hour but I was glad to be done. I went straight to the Equinox and changed into some dry clothes above my waist. I headed inside for a bit of food: a cupcake, a half bagel with peanut butter and jelly, a cup of soup and some water. I did OK, 30th out of 134, link here. I was 5th out of 10 in my M55-59 age group. My splits were: 7:12, 7:14, 7;23, 7:27, 7:53, 8:20, 8:08. 7:58 and 7:34 over the final 0.06 mile.

I headed home. I stripped when I got in the door, put on some warm clothes and soon had a mug of hot coffee. My darling wife, Christine, and I vegged the rest of the day.

Sunday, 2/1/2015 to Saturday, 2/6/2015 - Snow Cheap #4

I ran 3 times this week, 6.1 miles.

Sunday, 2/1/2015: A rest day.

I felt like crap most of the day. My stomach was not happy but I did manage to eat. My darling wife, Christine, made a package of Lloyd's Big Ribs along with some zucchini and salad just the Super Bowl came on. It would have been better if my stomach had felt better.

The Super Bowl was between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. I liked the Patriots the least so I kind of rooted for them. They were down 14-24 as they entered the 4th quarter. The Patriots won 28-24 in a close finish. The Seahawks had the ball at the 1, 2nd and goal, a time out and about 30 seconds to go. They should have gave the ball to "Beast Mode" Lynch but ... they tried to be cute and pass over the middle ... intercepted and game over. Lot of links ... here, here, here, here and here. The commercials were pretty good, link here.

Monday, 2/2/2015: 3.4 miles, 52:52, 15:32 pace, 12F, 78% RH, 9 mph NW wind, chill chill 2F, overcast, light snow.

Garmin Connect Activity for A run/walk on snowshoes in deep snow

It snowed about a foot of fresh powdery snow during the day so I needed to get out. I thought up another run/snowshoe/run over to nearby Seneca Park. It was cold but I have the clothes for the cold. I ran 0.9 miles over to Seneca Park before I put on my Dion snowshoes. Then I was off ... a foot into the snow with every step ... wow! There were some spots that weren't a foot deep and some that were deeper. I soon found that you can't run ... you can only walk. I did find a spot on the trial where a cross country skier had been. This was easier and I could run. But I only went about a mile before I turned back and snowshoed home. I just kept to the edge of the unplowed edges of the side streets and walked slowly across the main streets.

Tuesday, 2/3/2015: Rest day.

The usual rest day before a Snow Cheap. I declared a "Cabin Fever" day and met up with my darling wife, Christine, at Salvatore's after work where we had fish. I had the Haddock Parm and she had the Haddock dinner.

Wednesday, 2/4/2015: 2 runs of 0.43 and Snow Cheap #4 of 2.27 miles, around 32F, light wind, light snow, overcast.

It was a Snow Cheap Wednesday so I had my customary pre-race bowl of cereal when I got home. I dressed like hundreds of time before, threw extra clothes in a bag and headed out to Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill Park. I arrived in plenty of time to snag a relatively close parking spot.

It was a bit breezy so I changed into my heavy Sugoi long sleeve tech under my short sleeve tech along with the usual CW-X tights, full balaclava, beanie, skiing mittens and black Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes with screws. I headed out for a 0.43 mile warmup run, link here. I found that it was going to a run through deep snow with lots of slipping and sliding.

And ... we were off! This start was a bit of a scrum. There is a choice ... go out fast and have break trail in snow or go slower and follow slower runners on the stomped down trail. I chose a bit of both and got pretty winded.

A line of runners running ....

Cowbells are always appreciated!

There was a spot up just off the Resorvoir Rd that I got in a group of slower runners with no place to pass. We were slogging through foot or more snow for a good 200 yards. I finally got past and got into a groove where I could run my pace along with the usual slipping and sliding. The snow was definitely deep and slippery. The Snow Cheap #4 course was similar but definitely shorter than Snow Cheap #3.

About 200 yards from the finish.

And ... done with 2.27 miles in 32:36! I headed inside and hung out a bit with Chris O'Brien and Mike Meynadasy.

Soon I was home with my feet up. I tried to upload my Garmin Forerunner 310XT data to Garmin with no success. It would always fail at 51% or so. I tried deleting all the Garmin software (Communicator, USB drivers and ANT agent), rebooting and reloading all the Garmin software. It had to try reload all the data from my Garmin which took 20 minutes before it failed at 98%. I deleted all but last month's data with no joy. I deleted all data but Snow Cheap #4 with no joy. So I deleted everything, put on a dummy 15 seconds of data and then tried to upload ... success! Somehow my Garmin data from Snow Cheap #4 was corrupt. I was a bit pissed but what can I do? I spent 2 hours working on this software issue and didn't go to sleep until 12:30AM. Ugghhh!!

Anyway after all that, I did OK. I was 46th out of 232, link here. I was 5th out of 15 in my M50-59 age group, link here.

Thursday, 2/5/2015 through Saturday, 2/7/2014: Rest days.

The "fun" of Snow Cheap #4 affected me more than I knew. My ankles ached the rest of the week. I could still barely walk on Saturday. I talked with Bill Beyerbach and he told me that probably the stabilizer muscles in my ankles were strained.

I had thought about running either the 4 mile or 2 hour relay version of Cast A Shadow out in Black Creek Park but I just wasn't up to it. I read a lot of Facebook posts about it though.

Sunday, 1/25/2015 to Saturday, 1/31/2915

I ran 2 times this week, 21.75 miles.

Sunday, 2/15/2015: 14.45 miles, 2:04:50, 8:37 pace, 19F, 73% RH, 15 mph NNW wind, wind chill 5F, partly cloudy.

Bill Beyerbach and I had cooked up a plan earlier in the last year of running around the Irondequoit Bay at 2PM (which I didn't want to do) and then 9AM. He called the previous day about 7AM and meeting up with other runners at 7AM at MacGregor's on Empire Blvd in Webster at the bottom of Irondequoit Bay. I agreed ... that would get the run out of the way early in the morning.

So ... that meant an early bedtime and an absurdly early wakeup alarm of 5:30AM. I quietly got up, got dressed and got ready. It was 19F so I put on my CW-X tights on the bottom along with my medium weight long sleeve tech and 1/4 zip pullover. I wore my New Balance 860 road shoes and brought along my full balaclava, beanie, skiing mittens, 20 oz water bottle and blue Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes (just in case). I went outside to the Equinox and immediately went back inside to change into my heavy Sugoi long sleeve tech as my base layer. That wind was nasty cold!


I got down to MacGregor's around 6:50AM and got ready. I brought a couple of HammerGels and wore them close to my body in an Amphipod pouch. It was still dark as other runners came. Soon there were about 20 runners congregated. It was a serious crowd of fast runners. I recognized some: Tim Dwyer, Chris Petterson, Dan Giblin. Others seemed familiar. All were covered in various tech layers for warmth.

And ... we headed out. Bill and I started out behind the leaders, Tim and Chris, as we started up the mile plus long Empire Blvd hill towards Webster. Bill told me we couldn't keep up with Tim and Chris so ... we fell back. Soon at least 15 runners were in front of us. We were running alone the rest of the way. We ran up Empire Blvd to Bay Rd past Old Ridge Rd and 104. Then we took a left onto Volk Rd, right onto Dewitt Rd to add distance before turning left back onto Bay Rd. I stopped for a quick drink of water just before turning left onto Lake Rd. The wind off Lake Ontario really hit us as we took turns leading. We ran across the Swing Bridge as we crossed into Irondequoit at mile 7. I ran/walked the Culver Rd hill. A left onto Titus just after mile 9, a right onto Kane Dr, a left onto E Ridge Rd and onto Bay Shore Blvd. A downhill down to Irondequoit Bay and then I ran/walked back up Bayview Dr. Bill just powered up this hill. I decided to bypass the hills of Glen Haven Rd (maybe next time). Onward to a left onto Helendale Rd, a left onto Empire Blvd. Down the steep hill to Irondequoit Bay with MacGregor's in sight. And ... done with 14.45 miles in 2:04:50 at 8:37 pace. My splits were: 9:15, 8:32, 8:27, 8;23, 8:24, 8:34, 8:26, 9:03, 8:30, 8:30, 8:32, 9:36, 8:33, 8:02 and 7:31 over the last 0.45 mile.

Man ... was I cold! I changed out of my damp upper clothes right outside the Equinox into my yellow Dirt Cheap Stage Race hoodie. I followed Bill to his favorite restaurant, the Liberty. Soon we were devouring our meals of choice. I had the Liberty Special (2 pancakes, 2 scrambled eggs and 2 sausage patties) along with coffee. Bill had 2 poached eggs on whole wheat and oatmeal with a pitcher of water and coffee. Yum!

Soon ... I was back home. My darling wife, Christine, had coffee ready and warmed me back up. Mmm! We celebrated her 57th birthday a day early with a KFC take out meal ... double Mmm!

Monday, 1/26/2015: A full rest day.

A definite rest day. I walked OK in the morning but was a bit gimpy and tired during the afternoon. My darling wife, Christine, snored last night. It was her 57th birthday. We did our celebrating yesterday so ... nothing much tonight except an early bedtime along with maybe a hug and kiss.

Tuesday, 1/27/2015: Another full rest day.

I was still a bit gimpy while I walked plus I was still tired.

Wednesday, 12/28/2015: Yet another full rest day.

I am fighting a case of "blah, I am too tired to run" ... kind of sucks. My motivation and gumption have vanished.

Thursday, 12/29/2015: Yes, yet another full rest day.

My little sister, Diane, turned 55 today. She and her husband, Jim, live out in Lexington KY. Christine and I had little motivation so we were slugs. We celebrated the return of "TGIT" by watching "Grey's Anatomy", "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder" off of the DVR so we could skip through the commercials.

Friday, 12/30/2015: 7.3 miles, 1:21:59, 11:14 pace, 12F, 78% RH, 16 mph WNW wind, wind chill -4F, light snow.

I posted on Facebook before I went to work about my lack of running motivation. Other runners posted that they had been fighting it too. Chris O'Brien looked at my Strava log and mentioned that I only needed "10 little miles" to get over 200 km for the month. That was motivation!

It was cold and dark ... but I am a runner. It had snowed about 3 inches during the day so I thought up a plan to run over to Seneca Park while I carried my snowshoes, put them on, run around on the trails and then run home while I carried my snowshoes. It was 12F with a wind chill of -4F so I wore a lot. My usual CW-X tights and GRTC shorts on the bottom along with my heavy Sugoi long sleeve tech, a short sleeve tech and my Brooks jacket on top. I choose my full balaclava, beanie, headlamp and skiing mittens. I wore my black Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes with screws. I eCrumbed my darling wife, Christine, so she would know where I was and set out.


I ran 0.95 miles out to the edge of the east trail at Seneca Park. I put on my Dion snowshoes and set out nice and easy. I clipped the inside of my right ankle three times before I learned to keep my feet more apart when I ran. It was cold, crisp and quiet in the woods as I ran about 3 miles out before I turned to head to the east trail. It was very quiet and peaceful. I surprised 3 deer and a cat (I think). I had to make up a trail for about a mile because there was no trail so I just headed south along the Genesee River and far enough away from the edge of the river gorge. My calves were getting a bit tired. The running motion on snowshoes is different. You are running more flat footed. I ran up to the corner of St Paul and E Ridge Rd before I stopped to take off my snowshoes, 5.65 miles. Then it was just 0.7 miles back to the apartment ... and done with 7.3 miles on a night that a lot of non-runners wouldn't even dream of doing anything outside. My splits were: 9:18, 10:00, 10:28, 13:23, 11:48, 12:16, 11:45 and 10:00 over the last 0.3 mile. Nice!

Saturday, 1/31/2015: 6.3 miles, 53:12, 8:26 pace, 10F, 78% RH, 5 mph W wind, wind chill 2F, overcast.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice 6.3 miles

I needed more miles to get me over 124 miles or 200 km for the month of January so out I went. I took it nice and easy on my usual 10K route. It was cold but I heated up enough so I was actually too hot. I unzipped my Brooks jacket and took my skiing mittens off for a bit. The main streets were clear while the side streets and sidewalks were packed snow so it was not too bad for running. My splits were: 8:45, 8:34, 8:31, 8:26, 8:25, 8:07 and 7:55 over the last 0.3 mile. And ... done with 126.6 miles for the month of January!

People stop riding bicycles in the winter in upstate NY right? Wrong! Some friends rode in the Sweden Fat Bike Criterium in Sweden Town Park out in Brockport, link here. News links are here and here. I read that the riders had to run beside their bike in shin deep snow for much of the course. It sounds exhausting ... but fun!

Barry Cherney (in white) - photo courtesy of Ron Heerkens Jr

My darling wife, Christine, surprised me with her cooking skills. She took a rotisserie chicken from BJ's and added Penne with Butternut Squash and Goathead Cheese. A trip to Wegmans was required for some ingredients that I had to hunt for. It all headed up in my stomach ... yummy!

Sunday, 1/18/2015 to Saturday, 1/24/2015 - Winterfest 10K, SnowCheap #3 & Freezeroo #4

I ran 10 times this week, 32.35 miles (3 were warmups of 1, 0.7 and 1.3 miles; 1 was a snowshoe run of 1 mile and 1 was a cooldown of 1 mile).

Sunday, 1/18/2015: 3 runs of 1, Winterfest 10K of 5.97 and 1 miles, 41F, 56% RH, 12 mph WSW wind, mostly cloudy.

It was a lot warmer than the yesterday's -2F so I dressed a bit different but mostly the same. I wore the usual CW-X tights on the bottom along with my Muddy Sneaker 20K long sleeve tech, Medved Madness short sleeve tech and 1/4 zip pullover. I brought my beanie and heavy running gloves. I knew I would ditch the 1/4 zip pullover before the race. I brought all my traction choices: new blue Salamon Speedcross 3, old black Salomon Speedcross 3 with screws and my "virgin" unused Dion snowshoes.

Today's race was a newbie for me, the Winterfest 10K down in Mendon Ponds Park. It was a "no frills" Roads Are Poison trail race. Their races are always well done with a low key vibe. A different crowd shows up and it's cool. I got down to Cavalry Lodge on Douglas Rd just before 10AM in plenty of time for the 11AM 10K start. I saw the 5K runners head out at 10AM. I got my bib and waited. There wasn't enough snow for snowshoes so I went with my black Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes with the screws for traction.

Some runners had shorts on ... I wish I had thought of that! I got out for a nice and easy 1 mile run at 12:25 pace to warm up, link here. I found that my traction choice was spot on. The footing was about 2 to 3 inches of packed snow. I should have done some strides to keep my heart rate up just before the race but didn't. I lined up towards the front with a lot of Medved's Dion snowshoe team.



And ... we were off! I started off a bit hot like usual and had to back off a bit. Boom ... about 10 members of the Medved Dion snowshoe team passed me ... whoosh (it seemed like it).

Some of the Medved Dion snowshoe team - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

Being chased by a couple of Dion women - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

Just trail racing - courtesy of Ron Heerkens Jr

The course was the usual blue and green trail that I had run so many times before. But it was a bit different running it with packed snow though. I mostly kept my position the rest of the way. I walked a few of the hills and made sure I ran the downs and flats at a nice and easy but definitely racing trail pace. The aid station with water or Gatorade just before mile 3 was most welcome. Onward ... up, flat, down ... onward. I got passed by a woman in the Dion snowshoe team and I heard more behind me. I knew that the race was almost over so I kept up with her. And ... done with 5.97 miles in 56:10, 9:24 pace.

A happy snowman - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

I stayed outside for a bit to watch a big snowman being built. Then it was into the Cavalry Lodge for a bit of post-race grub: Fritos and a brownie muffin. The two Red Bull girls showed up again giving out free Red Bull. I was talked into trying my first Red Bull. I didn't sprout wings but it did taste OK.

The Red Bull girls - courtesy of "I am Lesher"

I did OK. My splits were: 8:41, 9:52, 9:17, 10:07, 9:37 and 8:53. I was 31st out of 64, link here. I was 2nd out of 4 in my M50-59 age group.

I talked with Prem Kumar after the race. He said that he had gotten out for a 2.5 mile snowshoe run before the race on his "virgin" Dion snowshoes. So ... I knew my set of "virgin" Dion snowshoes were in the trunk. I broke them out, put them on and headed out. I took it nice and easy for a mile at 11:54 pace around a field near the parking lot at Douglas and Pond Rd, link here. Man, do you kick up a lot of snow when running in snowshoes!

A pair of "virgin" Dions ... what to do?

Soon it was home for a bit of rest, coffee, a shower and then out again. Christine and I headed down to Sticky Lips in Henrietta to meet up with my youngest son, David, at 5PM. We ate with one eye on a TV in the distance that was past a light fixture. I knew that the score of the Packers - Seahawks game was 16-0 when we came in. The lead was to 19-7 late in the 4th quarter. Well ... David and I both wish that we could have had a better seat because Seattle mounted a historic comeback to take the lead 22-19. The Packers tied it at 22 to force OT. The Seahawks got the ball at the beginning of OT and scored the winning TD to win 28-22, highlights link here. Here are more lnks: here, here, here, here and here. We watched the next game: Colt - Patriots at home. A boring game ... the Patriots won 45-7, link here.

Monday, 1/19/2015: 6.2 miles, 49:15, 7:56 pace, 28F, 68% RH, 11 mph NW wind, wind chill 19F, partly cloudy

Garmin Connect Activity for A cold and crisp 10K

I got out after work for a needed run. I wore the usual gear plus I added a headlamp and off I went. I struck a bit harder than nice and easy pace to start kept it going. My splits were: 7:57, 7:59, 7:57, 8:10, 8:03, 7:40 and 7:17 over the last 0.2 mile. Sweet!

Tuesday, 1/20/2015: Rest day.

My darling wife, Christine, made bowtie pasta with homemade sauce for supper ... yummy!

Wednesday, 1/21/2015: 2 runs of 0.7 and Snow Cheap #3 of 3.08 miles, 25F, calm and partly cloudy.

I had to interrupt work for an emergency dentist visit to the Dr. Randy Raetz, the "running dentist". I found out yesterday that I could wiggle my back left bottom molar ... never a good sign. He welcomed in, numbed me up, explored and told me the past news. It was cracked below the gum line and was not salvageable. He referred me to a oral surgeon for an implant.

My cracked left bottom molar ... kind of gross! I'm definitely chewing on the right side!

I momentarily thought of bagging this Snow Cheap race but ... it was a scheduled race and I try not to Did Not Start (DNS). Two races this month is two too many. So I ate my customary pre-race bowl of cereal and got dressed. It was the mid 20s so I wore my usual: CW-X tights, long sleeve Sugoi tech and short sleeve tech with my golden bib attached. I brought my full balaclava, beanie, headlamp, 1/4 zip long sleeve tech pullover (just in case) and skiing mittens. I wore my new blue I arrived at the Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill Park around 6:30PM in plenty of time for the 7:15PM start.

I got out for a nice and easy 0.7 mile warmup run at 10:52 pace, link here. I found the snow around the start to be rutty and hard to run on. It was easier to run in the loose 2 or 3 inches of snow off of the trail and less hazardous to my ankles. My black Salomon Speedcross 3 trail shoes with screws were the correct traction choice again. I got a drink of water from the car and got back to the start line.



And ... we were off! I didn't start as fast as I usually do and just followed the leaders for about a mile.

A bunch of headlamps at Cobbs Hill ... must be Snow Cheap #3!

I'm just off to the right behind 57

Then I started to pick off runners one by one when I could find an opening. There weren't as many flags as there could have been and my group had to stop twice to hunt for flags. I didn't really have to stop for any hills. I was running under control on both the ups and downs. There was one pretty steep downhill as we entered the switchback. The trail went straight down at about a 45 degree angle for about 50 feet before we made a hard right turn. Luckily someone was there to warn us of what lay in wait. I could hear the finish as we made our way down the switchback. I kicked it up a notch and finished strong. And ... done with 3.08 miles in 28:21, 9:12 pace.

I headed into Riley Lodge and had a bit of the post-race grub ... soup and a couple of cookies. I knew all was right with the world ... Tom Butler ran the race in compression shorts and no shirt. He said that he forgot his gloves and that his hands got cold. He also said that his group had to search for flag four times so my group was fortunate.

I did OK. I was 37th out of 265, link here. I was 4th out of 12 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Soon I was home at 9PM. Some people would have stayed home ... I am not some people. Running on trail in the woods on a weeknight with a headlamp is fun ... lol!

Thursday, 1/22/2015: Rest day ... though I do believe that I "shoulda, coulda but didn't" instead.

Friday, 1/23/2015: 6.2 miles, 48:29, 7:49 pace, 28F, 63% RH, 8 mph SW wind, wind chill 20F, partly cloudy.

Garmin Connect Activity for A nice and kind of fast 10K

I had to get out so I did. I wore the usual and got out at the usual pace for the usual distance on the usual 10K route. I'm so predictable. My splits were: 8:02, 7:55, 7:46, 7:58, 7:45, 7:37 and 6:54 over the last 0.2 mile.

Saturday, 1/24/2015: 3 runs of 1.3, Freezeroo #4 of 5.9 and 1 miles, 27F, 80% RH, 9 mph W wind, wind chill 18F, mostly cloudy

It was a Freezeroo kind of Saturday so I was up around 7:30AM to just wake up a bit, catch up on Facebook, eat my usual pre-race bowl of cereal, get dressed, kiss my darling wife goodbye, get dressed and head out the door by 8:50AM. It's all kind of automatic when you've done 308 races.

The race venue for Freezeroo #4 was the Rand Lodge of Powder Mill Park, map link here. It's called the Hearnish 10K and is actually 6.385 miles at its past reincarnations. I have raced this race 4 times (2011 to 2014) with my fastest time being 2012's 47:07. Well ... this year's course was slightly modified. It seems that GRTC was told a couple of weeks ago by Ontario County that since this course was in two counties that they needed a $5 million insurance policy which would have cost $4K. So ... GRTC modified the course to keep us out of Ontario County ... but the Railroad Mills Rd hill up to Fisher Rd was left out, :-(.

I got out for a nice 1.3 mile warmup run at 9:03 pace, link here. Then I walked over to the start on Corduroy Rd. I got in one stride before the start and lined up in my customary spot ... off to the right and about 5 yards from the front. The race suddenly started ... we were off!


I got up to speed quickly. Down Corduroy Rd, then a hard left onto Park Rd, past the Rand Lodge.

Just before the Rand  Lodge on Park Rd - courtesy of MRWarephotos

Just past the Rand Lodge on Park Rd - courtesy of Alex Tong

I could see Heather Danielson about 10 yards ahead and decided to keep pace with her. Bill Beyerbach, Prem Kumar and Andy Ciaio passed me. Up the hill on Park Rd with mile 1 at 7:17 pace. Then a right onto East St and up the long hill with mile 2 at 7:53 pace. I had passed Bill, Prem and Andy back as I got closer to Heather. She knew I was there, behind and to her right and we ran together for the majority of the race. Some rolling hills were endured on East St, then a left onto Probst Rd with mile 3 at 7:39 pace. Probst Rd was mostly downhill until we turned left onto Miles Cutling Lane. Then it was up a curvy hill that I knew well. I almost slowed to a walk at the top. Heather encouraged me and I didn't. Onward! A nice down ... mile 4 at 7:15 pace. We turned left onto Railroad Mills Rd (instead of right like last year) and went right onto the Auburn Trail for about 1/2 mile. It was icy so I slowed down until we made a hard right onto Woolston Rd. I snuck a quick look and could see Andy and Bill behind me. Some small rolling hills on Woolston Rd with mile 5 in 7:34 pace. Then a left on Conduroy Rd. Heather and I picked up the pace. We came up on where the finish line usually was ... and kept sprinting ... no finish line yet. A hard left onto Park Rd. The finish line was at the Rand Lodge. Heather crossed at 44:03 just before my 44:04. Done!

Sprinting for the finish ... Heather finished in 44:03, I finished in 44:04 - courtesy of Alex Tong

Another view of Heather and I sprinting for the finish - courtesy of MRWarephotos

Andy Ciaio finished in 44:26

Bill Beyerbach finished behind Andy Ciaio ... but forgot his timing chip. "No chip, no time" as Ellen would say! - courtesy of Alex Tong

Prem finished in 45:26 - courtesy of Alex Tong

Charlie Sabatine, the "old goat" and 81 years young, finished in 1:04:14 - courtesy of Alex Tong

Andy cruised in right behind us at 44:26, then Bill and Prem in 45:32. Bill had forgotten his timing chip so he was not in the results.

Heather suggested a cooldown run so we headed right back out for a mile at 8:54 pace, link here. Heather told me of her 3 day per week running plan as she prepares for Boston in April. She had run 16 miles on Thursday and wanted 8 on Saturday. I would say that she is healing from her stress fracture. She will probably be faster than me again soon. I didn't eat too much post-race ... just a half bagel with peanut butter.

Soon it was home for coffee and a bit of lunch before my darling wife and I had to get dressed for the GRTC Banquet at the Diplomat Banquet Center.

Christine and I - courtesy of Tim Matthews

Christine wore a purple dress which I supplemented with her birthday gift of an amethyst necklace and bracelet set. They matched very well. We met up with Bill Beyerbach, Tina Pellegrin and Tom Butler and his wife, Amy. It was nice to see fellow runners in their street or dress-up clothes. Well deserved awards to well deserving runners were given out.

(l-r) Bill Beyerbach, Wilt Alton, myself and Lou Beato

Bill won our Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) 55-59 age group, Wilt Alton was second and I was third, Mike Sayers was fourth (not present) and Lou Beato was fifth. A link to the 2014 RROY standings is here.

2014 GRTC Banquet swag

Bill, Tom and I also received our platinum mileage patches for greater than 300 racing miles and RROY glassware. Tom ran the most ... 1206 racing miles from 65 races. I had 394 racing miles from 57 races. Bill had 301 racing miles from 53 races.

All in all, a pretty epic week with 3 races and the GRTC Award Banquet!

Oh ... meanwhile ultrarunners were running the Beast of Burden out in Lockport NY. It's the winter version of a either a 25, 50 or 100 mile jaunt 12.5 miles out and back on the Erie Canal. Here are the results, 30 runners finished the 100 mile, link here; 40 runners finished the 50 mile, results here; 19 runners finished the 25 miles, results here.

Sean Storie - running in the Beast of Burden - courtesy of Ron Heerkens Jr

Sean Store ran 70 miles before his support team pulled him. One of his pacers, Eric Eagan, wrote a blog post, link here. An awesome run on such a not so awesome day and night!