Saturday, 4/9/2017 to Sunday, 4/15/2017 - Dirt Cheap #1

I ran 5 times this week: 39.29 miles.

Sunday, 4/9/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:16:17, 8:09 pace, 43F, 49% RH, 10 mph SW wind, wind chill 37F, sunny.

I slept in until 7 AM. The sun was starting to peek into the room so I wouldn't have been able to sleep anymore. So ... up and at 'em. I had my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana, started the coffee, dressed and got out there. It was 43F and was forecast to go to 73F during the day so I wore shorts but two long sleeve tech shirts, my yellow Brooks beanie, heavy running gloves along with sunglasses. The wind felt brisk on my legs but it's SPRING!


There was a nagging bit of slight pain behind my right knee so I kept the pace really nice and easy while I waited for it to work itself out. It didn't get any worse so I pushed past the 3.1 mile turnaround and went for 9.3 miles. I thought about turning down Janes Rd to push it out to 13.1 miles but didn't. I already have 54 miles for the month of April with a lot more month to go. My splits were: 8:09, 8:05, 8:01, 8:14, 8:15, 8:12, 8:02, 8:15, 8:19 and 7:49 over the last 0.35 mile.

I sat down to a mug of coffee and half of a Giant Cinnamon Bun (purchased yesterday from Herrema's after yesterday's Flower City Half preview run #2). I brought a mug of coffee and the other half up to my darling wife, Christine, when she woke up.

We watched "Rogue One" twice. I rented it off of Spectrum On Demand and it's good until Tuesday at 6:45 PM so why not? Meanwhile, it warmed up to 73F and I started to see Facebook posts about fellow runners running in shorts. Yeah ... so did I when it was 43F, lol!

Later she cooked up my favorite food ... wait for it ... ribs along sweet potatoes and spinach. Mmm!!! We ate them when I watched the Masters. It was gripping golf as Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose battled in match play the last several holes down in Augusta GA, links here and here. They both had birdie putts to win on the 18th. It down went to the first playoff hole. Justin got into trouble and Sergio needed two putts to win. He only needed one.

Monday, 4/10/2017: Rest day ... nothing unusual after running 13.2 miles on Saturday and 9.35 miles Sunday.

Tuesday, 4/11/2017: 7.5 miles, 1:01:49, 8:14 pace, 64F, 73% RH, 15 mph SW wind, overcast.


I was a bit grumpy because I had missed running before lunch but I had some printers to look at so that took precedence. A part of my mind started to make up excuses about not running ... like you will be tired, you have a trail race tommorow or you are hungry but I didn't have any part of that. I got dressed after work and headed up to Greece Arcadia High School to do my 7.5 mile route. Boom! My splits were nice and easy: 7:59, 8:09, 8:10, 8:12, 8:14, 8:15, 8:36 and 8:14 over the last 0.5 mile. No more grumpy! But I did fall asleep on the couch ...

I signed up at the last minute on the Dirt Cheap Trail Race Series. Another 12 hours and I would have had to pay $10 more which would not have pleased me too much. This is my 9th year running the DCTR series.

Wednesday, 4/12/2017: 2 runs of 1.2 and 4.64 miles, 48F, 62% RH, 16 mph W wind, wind chill 42F, overcast.

Tonight's race was Dirt Cheap #1 down at Devil's Bathtub in Mendon Ponds Park. This is my ninth time running the Dirt Cheap Trail Race Series so I knew what to expect ... mud ... especially with the wet spring Rochester has had. Oh, Strava says that I have run this course 14 times since 2010.

I dressed after work ... well technically just before work ended and then drove down to MPP. I was 45 minutes early so I drove past the people parking on the road and drove up the hill toward the lodge. I was rewarded with a prime parking spot about 3/4 up the hill. Oh, I wore my Brooks shorts, calf sleeves, Darn Tough socks, a long sleeve tech, a short sleeve tech and my Brooks gloves. I noticed that plenty of people went with tights. I couldn't blame them because it was right on the borderline with the wind chill. Everyone is different.

I got out for a really nice and easy 1.2 mile warmup run, link here. There was a tree down across the course about 1/4 in so I knew I had to go out relatively hard to beat the crowd. I had 5 minutes before the race start so I took out my yellow Brooks jacket and drank some water.


I moved up towards the front and saw "Hi" to Andy Ciaio, Joe Ciecierega and Danielle Feligno. And ... Ellen yelled "Gooooooo"!

The start ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I got up to trail speed pretty quickly. The wait at the downed tree was only about 15 seconds and then it was off again. I passed Andy. He said that he was a bit tired. I saw a mirage at mile 1 ... a clean shaved Boots, lol! He showed up twice more at the top of Cardiac Hill (from both directions). The bog section had some water so I took the path above it about 50% of the time along with everyone else. I jockeyed back and forth with Danielle. Joe passed me when I walked for a couple of seconds at the top of a hill.

No mud yet on the 'dry" portion of the course ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

There was a lot of mud on the second half of the course. I followed Joe right through it while other tried to avoid it. Splash! Splash! The bridge across a creek was taped off so I followed Danielle right through the shin high water of the creek ... which washed all the mud off! My shoes were full of water so it was hard to run for a bit afterward. I passed Danielle on a downhill before the infamous Devil's Bathtub stair finish. Hearing Ellen call your name at the finish ... priceless. And ... done with 4.64 miles in 44:36, 9:37 pace, overall results here. My splits were: 8:02, 9:52, 10:39, 8;31 and 11:37 over the last 0.64 mile.

Runners on the infamous stair climb finish ... photo courtesy of Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I was parched so I went back to the Cruze to get some water and to put on my yellow Brooks jacket before I got cold. Then I ambled back to the lodge for a couple of hot dogs and cookies. I didn't stay long since it was getting cool and dark. I stripped and changed into dry clothes when I got home. I needed something to eat ... so I chose potato chips. I guess my body needed salt, lol!

Thursday, 4/13/2017 and Friday, 4/14/2017: Rest days.

A couple of days off while I contemplated a new long run. My idea was to run from the Swing Bridge down to MacGregor's on Empire Blvd and back. I figured that it would be 16 miles if I took the route up Culver Rd. I told me idea to Bob Dyjak. He suggested adding the long Empire Blvd hill up to Bay
Rd too! I didn't say he should run it too ... lol! But it put the idea in my head ... hmm.

Saturday, 4/15/2017: 16.6 miles, 2:23:34, 8:38 pace,

I set my alarm for 5:20 AM. Sometimes, runners set their weekend alarms earlier than their weekday alarms, lol! Well ... I was up so I got out of bed, weighed myself (what? up 2.6 pounds to 167.5? I chips and the rest of the apple pie was a bad idea last night.) and ate my usual pre-run bowl of cereal and banana. I checked the temperature: 41F going to mid 60s ... so I put on my Brooks shorts, a long sleeve tech, a short sleeve tech. I put on my yellow Brooks running jacket for warmth. I kissed my sleeping wife, Christine, goodbye and headed out. I brought an assortment of running gear. The drive down to the Swing Bridge was short. It was a bit cold and windy down on Irondequoit Bay. But ... I was here. I put on my yellow Brooks beanie, my heavy running glove, hitched my Amphipod with 2 Hammer Gels in my waistband, filled my 20 ounce water bottle, put on my sunglasses and headed out.


I decided to go up the I-590 hill instead of the Culver Rd hill to cut down about 1.5 miles (0.75 each end). I took it out nice and easy. I ran up most of the hill on Bay Shore Blvd. Then down again on Glen Haven Rd. I stopped to take the picture (gasp!) on Bay Front St below. It just spoke to me.

It seems a bit eerie ... A bird was on every post out there.

I had rested a bit taking the picture so I ran up the whole Orchard Park Blvd hill. I did take a brief walk to catch my breath at the top. Then it was down the Empire Blvd hill. I ran all the way back up the long Empire Blvd hill. I stopped at Plank Rd at 8.3 miles and had my two Hammer Gel packets along with most of my remaining water. I started to run back. I found the hill back up Empire Blvd to be a bit dangerous. It's a tight corner and the traffic was blazing down that hill at 45 to 55 mph and I was running up with a 5 foot wide shoulder (at best). Next time I will cross over to the right hand side that has a sidewalk. My back would be not facing traffic but I would be farther off the road. The run back was just as fun ... just in the opposite direction. I ran most of the hills with tiny walk breaks. I took off my yellow Brooks beanie when I was about a mile out. It felt like it had gotten a bit warmer. I was right ... the Cruze told me that the temperature was 61F. So ... 16.6 miles done! My splits were: 9:06, 8:33, 8:30, 8:27, 8:19, 9:09, 7:47, 8:51, 9:51 (2 Hammer Gels and water), 8:08, 8:55, 9:17, 8:16, 9:15, 8:39, 8:06 and 7:36 over the last 0.6 mile.

I didn't stop at Herrema's on the way home but I did walk the 0.35 mile to and from the mail box at the corner of Greenleaf Rd to mail back my latest Redbox DVD. It loosened my legs a little bit. My post-run fuel of coffee and a bagel with jelly had to wait a bit while I changed our coffee maker back to the old Black and Decker. The Mr Coffee coffee maker had refused to make the programmed coffee that I had set up before I left. Good thing I didn't throw the old one out! I have no idea why the old one had not made coffee ... everything seemed to all OK.

A long and lazy day ensued with lots of shows watched off the DVR. Some Star Trek: Voyager episodes along with our staple of like "NCIS" shows.

Sunday, 4/2/2017 to Saturday, 4/8/2017

This blog entry is labelled IN PROGRESS and published to turn off Blogger's Auto Save "feature" that can delete the entire contents of a blog post if you accidentally delete it and "auto save" kicks in. I have done this more than once ... and it sucked each time.

I ran 5 times this week, 33.55 miles.

Sunday, 4/2/2017: 6.25 miles, 47:52, 7:39 pace, 34F, 86% RH, 5 mph SW wind, wind chill 29F, mostly sunny.

I slept in a bit but still got out there a bit after 8 AM. I thought I was going on a nice and easy run but ... I decided to put the hammer down (about 90%) for a fast out and back on the LOSP trail and a bit of Island Cottage. Boom ... I picked it them and laid them down! My splits were: 7:35, 7:49, 7:35, 7:39, 7:39, 7:49 and 7:02 on the last 0.25 mile.

Then it was a bit of a quick turnaround so I could head out to Palmyra to be a computer technician for my daughter, Karen. My services were: replace her battery (the old one had moderate health), replace her power supply (nicked cord), put on a hard drive cover and replace her 250 GB (with 220 GB of data) hard disk drive (HDD) with a roomy 1 TB HDD. The first three were trivial ... the last took 9 hours. I had looked at the instructions on www.howtogeek.com and printed them out, link here. They use Macrium Reflect Free  (MRF), link here, to clone the drive from the smaller HDD (in the laptop) to the larger HDD (hooked up via USB 2.0). It went well until Karen moved the hard drive suddenly when she got up. It didn't hit the carpeted floor but the clone failed at 70% after 3 hours. No worries ... I got it going again and the clone succeeded after 4 hours. But ... there was two partitions on the 1 TB HDD; one of 250 GB and one unused one of 653 GB. The instructions said that I should be able to adjust it after I was done. Well ... I finally found the User's Guide for the version of MRF that I downloaded. It told me that I should have adjusted the destination drive size before I started ... not afterward. What to do? I knew I had a copy of Partition Magic that could do the job ... at home somewhere where it couldn't do me any good right now. But ... Google is my friend so I found a copy of EaseUs Partition Master, link here. I had a hiccup of thinking the program was resizing the 1 TB HDD partitions for about 20 minutes ... until I figured out that you had to click APPLY NOW to get it to do anything. Then it was just a matter of putting the 1 TB HDD in the laptop and I was done.

Karen and I watched 3 DVDs while I was working: "Hidalgo", "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers". I also walked up to Mark's Pizza to get a medium pizza (half extra mozzarella and half pepperoni) for us to chow down on when I waited for the hard drive to clone on the second attempt. I was not crazy about how Mark's cooked the pizza ... too greasy and soggy.)

Monday, 4/3/2017: A rest and "get your butt back to work" day.

Looking back at last week: I got a lot of running done, 52.55 miles. Did I get a lot done around the townhouse? Well ... I got a bit done. I gotta get more done before the good weather comes ... trust me.

Tuesday, 4/4/4027: 7.05 miles, 55:04, 7:48 pace, 63F, 72% RH, 12 mph SW wind, partly cloudy with a light mist from time to time


I had an inkling that I needed to take my Tuesday run during lunch not after work. It was certainly nice out when I went out to get my gear. There was a real light mist by the time I started and it had gotten windier. I struck up a nice and easy pace into the wind and headed out. The clouds parted for a bit midway through and were clouding up again by the time I got done. I don't do nice and easy too well so my splits were: 8:13, 7:51, 7:49, 7:54, 7:41, 7:46 and 7:30. I was a little sweaty when I got done. It will be a change when the weather stays warmer.

By the way, I was right. I had to do stuff when I got home. I would have been extremely rushed if I had gone straight to Greece Arcadia High School to run my usual 7.5 miles. It seems that if I want stuff done I have to do it myself ... that way I know it will get done. I might complain, I might mutter under my breath, it might not be done "correctly" but it will get done.

Wednesday, 4/5/2017: 7.05 miles, 53:35, 7:36 pace, 43F, 75% RH, 8 mph NNW wind, wind chill 38F, overcast.



The forecast for Thursday is rain all day so I got out today. I had expected it to warm up to the mid 50s so I took out my CW-X tights, yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover (which still needs to be washed) and mittens from my gear bag. Well ... it didn't warm up. It was 20F colder than yesterday! So ... I put on shorts, 2 long sleeve tech shirts, a hat and my heavy running gloves and got out there anyway. I did push it to keep warm. So ... my splits were a bit quick: 7:53, 7:37, 7:39, 7:35, 7:35, 7:36 and 7:19.

Thursday, 4/6/2017: Rest day ... rain day.

My oldest son, Michael, moved in a new 1 bedroom apartment in Macedon run by Lakeview Health Services, a news link here. He didn't need my help and even moved his digital piano. He did say it was quite heavy. I personally can vouch for that since I have moved it once or twice myself.

Friday, 4/7/2017: Rest day ... nothing unusual.

Saturday, 4/8/2017: 2 runs of 1.2 and 12 miles, 30F, 80% RH, 7 mph WNW wind, wind chill 23F, sunny.

Today was the Flower City Half preview run #2 put on by Yellow Jacket Racing. I set my alarm for 5:20 AM and was out the door by 6:25 AM. My cell seemed to know where I was going since it asked whether I wanted the travel time to the Blue Cross Arena when I woke it up to check the temperature so I knew what to wear. It told me a travel time of 22 minutes. I must have made all the lights because I only took 16 minutes. I had enough time to get out a really nice and easy warmup run of 1.2 miles at 8:30 pace, link here. Then I headed into the Blue Cross Arena and posed for Ellen's pre-run picture. We were out the doors by 7:05 AM.

I'm the tall guy in yellow about 3 rows up towards the right middle.

Kevin Clinefelter was our 8:00 pace leader again. He didn't dawdle starting up. I had to start up my eCrump and my Garmin Forerunner 220 first! So I had to pass the 9:00 and 8:30 pace group to catch up to the group of 10 runners clustered behind him. It was a beautiful morning: sunny with the sun just rising in the east and pretty calm. This preview run was scheduled for 12 miles. The first 3 was just around towards the Mt Hope Cemetery, the next 5 was the back half of the Flower City Half course. We went right by the Blue Cross Arena after 8. We stopped for a second to see if anyone wanted to drop out. No one did so Kevin led us out on the Flower City 5K course (which I had never ran before). For some reason I couldn't really keep up today so I lagged behind a good portion of the run. I almost lost the group in the cemetery (I was about 100 yards behind at that point) so I had to put on a bit of speed to catch up. I picked up a glove that a guy dropped in the cemetery. He figured that he had dropped something about a 1/4 mile later. There was a water stop just before we got out of the cemetery where I had a Hammer Gel packet. I picked up a pair of what seemed a pair of ladies gloves just outside the cemetery. I gave this pair of gloves back to a woman when we stopped. I was surprised to see that my lagging pace was really 7:53! It certainly didn't feel it. My splits were: 7:30, 7:54, 8:04, 7:46, 743, 7:39, 50, 46, 8:31, 8:00, 8:08 and 7:45.

I stopped by Herrema's on the way back to get a couple of Giant Cinnamon Buns (just like I did last week) and an Easter lily. Christine and I split one of the buns ... mmm!

These Giant Cinnamon Buns from Herrema's are decadently delicious! I can only eat half of one after a run ... well, maybe a whole one.

I caught up with Facebook and uploaded my Garmin data. I scratched my right eyebrow and encrusted salt came off ... so I decided to take a shower. Then it was off to Bob Johnson Chevrolet. The Cruze needed a NYS inspection (it had expired last month) and the Equinox needed an oil change and tire rotation. We dropped off the cars and walked a 1/4 mile down W Ridge Rd to Olive Garden. We had a leisurely pasta lunch. I had angel hair with meat sauce along with salad while Christine had spaghetti with meat sauce along with milestone soup. Christine's knees were bothering her so I walked back to pay for the cars, drive back with the Equinox to pick up Christine and take her back to the Cruze.

I started the laundry once back home. My tech stuff desperately needed washing. We watched "Rogue One" off of Spectrum On Demand. I just couldn't wait for it to get to Redbox or Netflix. It was $5.99.but still cheaper than going to the movies. I took a couple of laundry breaks while we watched the movie. The movie was quite good. It provided the back story of how the rebels got the Death Star plans that started off the whole Star Wars saga with the first Star Wars movie: "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" back in 1977. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and General Tarkin (Peter Cushing) were digitally inserted into Rogue One, link here.

Sunday, 3/26/2017 to Saturday, 4/1/2017

I ran 4 times this week, 46.3 miles.

Sunday, 3/27/2017: 17.45 miles, 2:31:01, 8:39 pace, 37F, 93% RH, 9 mph E wind, wind chill 31F, overcast.


I set my alarm for 5:40 AM. Yes, it was dark, Yes, this is earlier that I set it for work M-F. But ... I didn't run yesterday so I made sure that I got out this morning. I got down to the swing bridge in Irondequoit at 7AM. I tried to link up my work Samsung with my Garmin Forerunner 200 but I couldn't get them to pair up. So I just sent a RoadID eCrump from my personal Droid.

I bet this sign is right and the website is wrong.

I saw a road sign that said "Bridge Closing 3/31/9AM which disagrees with the swing bridge website, link here. I set out solo at a nice and easy pace up the Culver Rd hill like I have 4 times this 2016/2017. Usually I only do one RtB but not this year. The run progressed. I took a bit of joy in running up the two big hills on the west side (I took a break at the tops to catch my breath) and the long hill up Empire Blvd without stopping. I stopped for some water at mile 4 and a Hammer Gel and water at miles 7 (just before going down the Empire Blvd hill) and mile 13.1 (1:51:50). I decided to go across Bay Rd to do the full Round the Bay run. I usually just turn left onto Bay Rd and then left on Lake Rd to "get it done". I got a bit lost when I didn't turn onto Vosburg Rd. I lost a bit of my mojo but I did get back to where I started with just an extra 1.5 mile. My splits were: 8:45, 8:22, 8:22, 8:08, 8:44, 7:54,  9:07, 8:53, 9:07, 8:12, 8:05, 8:55, 8:20, 9:58, 9:22, 8:36, 8:27 and 8:17 over the last 0.45 mile.

There was a lot of posts on my Facebook feed from people that ran the fifth Syracuse Half, link here. I ran this half in 2015 and 2016. The 4651 finishers had great weather with partly cloudy skies and temps in the low 40s. Yeah ... there was a snow squall in the middle when I ran it last year.

Monday, 3/27/2017:Rest day ... needed.

I surprised my darling wife, Christine, with pancakes and coffee. I ruined the surprise when the smoke detector went off. I used the big frying pan at first with not enough oil to grease the pan. I switched to the smaller frying pan after I used Pam to grease it. I was getting better before I used all the batter. All but one of the pancakes were edible. I soaked the frying pans for a pan and had to use steel wool (and lots of elbow grease) to clean them.

I put together a 4 shelf shelving unit down in the basement. That was the extent of my organization so far.

I got a new of ASICS GT-1000 4 running from Fedex today. Note: Fedex just rings the doorbell and runs without waiting for you to answer the door. This is how a package can get stolen. Yes, I know and I did read the emails from Fleet Feet Rochester about how I should buy locally. I run locally at local races. Well ... I got an email from rauketen.com that listed these shoes for $50 along with a $15 MasterPass discount that brought the final price down to $35. I read positive reviews so I pulled the trigger and ordered them. I just can't afford the MSRP of $120 per running shoe. I put 500 to 600 miles on my running shoes before I buy replacements so I buy two to three pairs a year. The last two pairs of Brooks Adrenaline GTS running shoes that I bought were last year's model that I bought from www.roadrunnersports.com using their VIP program. I did buy my just retired pair of Pearl Izumi M3 running shoes from Fleet Feet Rochester on a closeout sale for $50. I was not impressed with how these shoes wore. I am a heel striker as you can see.

Tuesday, 3/28/2017: 6.25 miles, 49:42, 7:57 pace, 52F, 82% RH, 3 mph NW wind, overcast.


I got out on my virgin ASICS. They did feel comfy. I didn't want to push a first run so I just did a 10K out and back. I tried to keep it nice and easy but I sped up on the way back. My splits were: 8:19, 8:01, 7:52, 7:54, 7:59, 7:50 and 7:09 over the last 0.25 mile. I did wear shorts, heavy running gloves and a hat (instead of tights, mittens and a beanie) but I overdressed on the top with 2 long sleeve tech shirts.

Wednesday, 3/29/2017: Rest day.

Thursday, 3/30/2017: 11.5 miles, 1:32:57, 8:04 pace, 37F, 48% RH, 14 mph ESE wind, wind chill 29F, overcast.


I am sleeping in more and more as my week long vacation goes on. Today I slept in until almost 8 AM. I puttered around a bit while I ate my pre-run bowl of cereal and banana and waited to digest my breakfast. But ... long runs don't get done by themselves. So I dressed for the conditions ... except I decided to wear two long sleeve techs inside of one and my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover (it needs washing). I decided to try out a new route that I figured would be about 11.3 miles. I set up a nice and easy pace but hiked it up a bit the further I got. I found that my darling wife, Christine, can tell how long I run by how much I groan when I get back. She guessed 8 or 9 ... I answered 11.5. My splits were: 8:13, 7:57, 8:05, 8:03, 8:02, 7:53, 8:01, 7:59, 8:08, 8:51 (water break), 8:00 and 7:55 over the last 0.5 mile. The new route wasn't too bad.

Friday, 3/31/2017: The usual Friday rest day.

I was glad it was a rest day. It rained all day. I did get downstairs for about 2 hours to work in the "pit" ... err, basement. I finished the back room of the basement pretty much. Does it count if I haven't taken out the stuff to be thrown out yet? Then I managed to make a bit of sense of the front room of the basement where all my computer stuff is strewn. This room is not done ... for sure!

Time to roll out the stats. I ran 21 times for 142.1 miles in the month of March, 6.77 miles per run. One of those runs were on snowshoes for 2.7 miles, another run was a snowshoe walk for 2.6 miles (a really cold walk). Two runs were warmups (1.25 and 0.5 miles) before two races (Johnny's Runnin' O' the Green 5 mile and the Spring Forward 15K). I ran around the Irondequoit Bay twice (14.85 and 17.45 miles) during the month. I have run 61 times for 413.66 miles, 6.78 miles per run.

Saturday, 4/1/2017: 11.1 miles, 1:29:58, 8:06 pace, 36F, 93% RH, 11 mph NE wind, wind chill 28F, overcast.

I debated on whether to set my alarm. There was a Fleet Feet run, the Flower City Half preview run #1, set for 7 AM. But I did set my alarm for 5:30 AM. I got about 5 hours of sleep and off it rang. It was dark and I debated for 22 minutes whether to get up or go back to sleep. I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep and if I did I would feel like a slug until I ran. So ... I got up, had half a bagel, got dressed, kissed Christine goodbye and drove the Cruze down to the Blue Cross Arena. I was there around 6:50 AM and congreated with about 100 to 150 other runners. There were pace groups from 7:30 to 15 minute mile.





I started just after the 8:00 pace group (about 12 strong) led by Kevin Clinefelter. I caught up to the group after 1/2 mile and hung with them the whole way. The route mapped out by Fleet Feet followed the Flower Half route up until the Mt Hope cemetery (about 8 miles) and then went back to Blue Cross Arena. I started to get tired around the usual spot at 7 miles in the rolling Highland Park area. I tweaked my right Achilles a bit at mile 10 which slowed me a bit. I ran onward ... it went away. Most of Kevin's group went back out for 7 or 9 more miles. I was OK with 11 miles. My splits were: 49, 59, 51, 04, 59, 8:17, 8:36, 55, 8:01, 8:24, 8:18 and 7;32 over the last 0.1 mile.

I walked up to look at the Genesee River on Broad St before I left and then stopped to take pictures of the High Falls from the Pont de Rennes bridge and the Lower Falls from the Driving Park bridge.

The Genesee River from the Broad St bridge

The High Falls of the Genesee River from the Pont de Rennes bridge

The Lower Falls of the Genesee River from the Lower Falls Park

Christine and I got out to do some grocery shopping at Wegmans and for her to get her nails done at New Nails. All went well ... except for stopping for something to eat. Here is what I messaged Burger King via Facebook (they never answered):

"I visited BK in the Greece Ridge Mall in Rochester NY at 2 PM. I presented a coupon for $3.99 for 2 double cheeseburgers and 2 fries. I ordered a medium iced tea and a medium orange Fanta to drink. I was told the bill was $12.06!! Hmm ... I ordered 2 drinks and the price goes up to $12.06?? I balked and asked to see a manager. I was told that I ordered cheese and bacon on each double cheese burger (which I did not) and the drinks were $1.99 and $2.49. I had to take their word for it since there was no itemized bill yet. I was hungry so I gave $15 and said "Whatever." The manager refused to fulfill the order. I believe I was the victim of a hard upsell. I don't have the names of the trainee, her trainer or the manager. I went to your competitor, McDonalds and got the following for $5.97: a filet-o-fish, double cheeseburger and 2 small drinks. I was not upsold at all. I had my order almost before I put my change away and the manager thanked me for coming in. McDonald's wins ... today."

So ... beware of upselling! Hey, BK ... a person who presents a coupon for $3.99 might get a bit ticked off if the bill is $8 more when all they do is order 2 drinks!!

I caught up on Facebook. I marveled at the pictures from the Fifthly Formal 10K held out at Black Creek Park, link here. I passed on this TrailsROC trail race though I have done it twice in the past. I would have been drenched. There were pictures of runners in knee high water! It did look like fun though.

Sunday, 3/19/2017 to Saturday, 3/25/2017

I ran 3 times this week, 27.7 miles.

Sunday, 3/19/2017: 12.2 miles, 1:41:26, 8:19 pace, 34F, 80% RH, 5 mph NE wind, wind chill 29F, partly cloudy

I slept in so I didn't get out until just before 10 AM. But I didn't want to be a slug so I got out.


I decided to run my "Out to East Manitou and back" route. I livened it up a bit by doing "2 telephone pole pickup" about 6 times on the way out on Edgemere Drive. I just picked up my pace for the distance of 2 telephone poles and then went back to my normal pace. I ran out of energy after mile 9. I got back by lapsing into a mostly slower pace with a few walk breaks ... but I got it done. My splits were: 8:18, 7:55, 8:06, 7:47, 8:18, 8:09, 8:07, 8:24, 8:33, 8:44, 8:51, 8:37 and 8:04 over that last 0.2 mile.

Situation awareness ... or why I don't run with headphones. I started running down Greenleaf Rd towards Beach Ave. I saw up ahead a woman running on the sidewalk about 1/4 mile away. I was running really nice and easy but I knew I would catch her. I caught up to her just after we turned left onto Beach Ave just after 1 mile into my run. I saw the curve of headphones on her neck when I was about 20 feet away. We were both running on the left side of the road now. I swung wide to the right (no car was coming) when I passed her ... and scared her ... "Oh I didn't hear you!" Well ... duh!!!

Oh, there was 8 ice fishermen on Long Pond and 8 ice fisherman on Cranberry Pond. Both ponds were completely frozen over.

Monday, 3/20/2017: Rest day.

Tuesday, 3/21/2017: 6.25 miles, 52:02, 8:19 pace, 39F, 75% RH, 6 mph W wind, wind chill 35F, overcast.

A rare day off. I have 6 more vacation days to take before the end of March. I am in a "use them or lose them" situation ... so I will use them. What to do with myself? Well ... take a run of course.


My legs and ankles were a bit achy so I set out in a really nice and easy pace for the first 2 miles. My body was trying its best to get me to turn around and go back inside. But ... I am made of sterner stuff. I did cut it short to a 10 but I did pick up the pace on the way back. I think I need to order a new pair of road running shoes. My splits were: 8:33, 8:31, 8:26, 8:16, 8:04, 8:08 and 8:04 on the last 0.25 mile.

I was a quiet mood and didn't want to talk. My darling wife, Christine, insisted on talking and "winning" any discussion on the day or what we had planned for the day. She misinterpreted my sighs and silence for disapproval at whatever she did. She had a doctor's appointment and luckily left soon. It put a damper on the entire day off. I had to out to Palmyra to wish my daughter, Karen, a happy 29th birthday. We went out to eat to IHOP in Henrietta where we met up my youngest son, David. A bit of driving but it's what I do for my kids.

Wednesday, 3/23/2017: Rest day ... the Wednesday usual ...

Thursday, 3/24/2017: 9.35 miles, 1:16:23, 8:10 pace, 28F, 46% RH, 5 mph N wind, wind chill 23F, sunny.


Today's run was brought by you by "getting it done". I had another day off. It was 15F when I got up and I did putter around a bit until I got up and out. I set up a nice and easy pace and set out on my LOSP trail and IC 15K course. It was a bit chilly at first but I warmed up after a mile. The LOSP trail only had two spots with crusty ice. I could have cut it short to 10K but didn't. My monthly mileage is over 100 miles again ... all is well. My splits were: 8:23, 8:12, 8:05, 8:12, 8:18, 8:05, 7:51, 8:13, 8:13 and 7:29 over the last 0.35 mile.

Friday, 3/24/2017: Rest day ... nothing unusual.

Saturday, 3/25/2017: Arrgghh ... rest day.

I slept in and blew off a morning run. It was cold and rained all morning. It stopped around noon. I could have gotten out in the afternoon but didn't. Yes, I felt like a slug. I am off all the next week. I need to step it up if I am going to get the stuff done around the townhouse that I want to get done.

Sunday, 3/12/2017 to Saturday, 3/18/2017 - Spring Forward 15K

I ran 6 times this week - 34.52 miles.

Sunday, 3/12/2017: 13.3 miles, 2:22:02, 10:41 pace, 12F, 61% RH, 10 mph NW wind, wind chill -1F, partly cloudy.

I don't usually do social runs. I'm more of a solitary runner. But this "fat ass" event spoke to me. It started as a Facebook invitation labeled "Maybe the First and Maybe The Last (MFAMTL) 360 minute challenge" which denoted a 6 hour (8 AM to 2 PM) on a one mile trail loop down at Durand Eastman Park put on by Mike Vallone and Eric Eagan along with their wives.

It was cold ... again. So ... I dressed in what I wore for yesterday's Johnny's Runnin' of the Green: my CW-X tight, shorts, long sleeve tech, yellow Brooks 1/4 zip long sleeve pullover, yellow Brooks jacket, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie, ski mittens and clear sunglasses. I put on my Salamon Speedcross 3 trail shoes for the first time since 12/31. I slept in so I didn't get down there until 9 AM. My lovely wife, Christine, was still asleep when I left.



There was trees and wires down on Lake Shore Blvd so I had to detour into the parking lot along Lake Ontario on the way. We were instructed to park in the parking lot along Lake Ontario across from Horseshoe Rd. I took my small running bag that I had stocked with Hammer Gel, water, some energy bars and a sandwich along with me to the start. I ended up just drinking some water. Eric Eagan had me sign the waiver and away I ran. The course was easily runnable with some gentle rolling hills, a long stretch along Eastman Lake and a thigh high tree to straddle. There did seem to be some newly fallen trees from the windstorm of last week.

Mike Vallone snapped this pic as I ran by on loop 3

On my 8th loop I met up with Frank Quattrone when he was starting. He had run 17.9 miles (7 before Johnny's, Johnny's and 8 post Johnny's) yesterday and wanted to run 12 today. He still didn't have power out in Webster. I ran a bit with Prem Kumar. He was on his 9th loop. He had gotten power back on Friday night. I had water on loops 5, 8 and 10 along with a cookie on loops 6 and 10. I decided that I was done after loop 13. I had tripped but recovered twice during the run. The ground did look frozen, quite hard and I didn't want to do something stupid like fall. Oh, I ran a nice trail pace of 10:41. My splits were: 10:19, 10:19, 10:12, 10:13, 10:10, 11:52, 10:40, 10:30, 11:19, 10:19, 11:56, 10:22, 10:02 and 11:38 over the last 0.3 mile. MFAMTL was attended by 58 runners. Some ran a lot. Not a bad way to spend a cold Sunday morning. A link to the results is here. The lead male, Dan Ward, did 29 miles. The lead female, Olga Huber, did 31.64 miles.

I went straight to the shower and also took a bath when I got home. My fingertips were white like usual until I warmed them back up. It is what it is. I woke Christine up with the obligatory coffee and donuts. Later, I found out that I picked up the usual trail cuts. I got a small scrape on each leg from straddling the log plus I kicked my right inside ankle with my left shoe several times.

Monday, 3/13/2017: 5.05 mile, 41:23, 8:12 pace, 19F, 62% RH, 9 mph ENE wind, wind chill 9F, overcast with a real light snow.


Today is usually a rest day but the forecast for tomorrow was snow, snow and more snow (18 to 24 inches) until Wednesday night. So ... I got out there. It wasn't as easy as all that though. It was a test of will ... it was Monday, it was cold, it was windy, my mind of full of excuses. But I got out there and did it. I did cut it a bit short though. My splits were: 8:16, 8:10, 8:06, 8:14 and 8:11.

Tuesday, 3/14/2017: 2.7 mile snowshoe run, 36:35, 13:32 pace, 21F, 86% RH, 17 mph NNE wind, wind chill 7F, overcast with snow.


I took vacation today. I busied myself with doing laundry but I did take a break after 3 loads to get out and play in the snow. It did look a bit cold and windy ... it was. But ... I dressed for it and was fine once I warmed up. I strapped on my Dion snowshoes outside the door of the townhouse and took a nice and easy run around the Lake Shore Country Club. I found some bare spots and some spots that had a foot or more or snow. I could hear the wave crashing onto the shoreline from nearby (probably 1/4 mile away) Lake Ontario. My splits were: 14:26, 12:59 and 13:03 over the last 0.7 mile. I was pretty snow covered when I got done ... it was fun!

I still had 3 loads of laundry to do but tromping down to the basement and back up to the bedrooms was more exercise. My lovely wife, Christine, and I caught up on 5 (yes, 5) episodes of "Grimm".

Wednesday, 3/15/2017: 2.6 miles, 1:16:22 (actually 54:47), 29:25 (actually 21:04 pace) pace, 23F, 58% RH, 23 mph NW wind, wind chill 7F, partly cloudy.

Back to work today. There was a foot of snow behind the Cruze that I had to back through. The main roads were a lot better today and there seemed to be a lot less traffic so I had no trouble getting to work. Christine wanted me to get groceries on the way home but I begged off. The wind was really whipping the snow in my face and I also wanted to respect the "no unnecessary" travel advisory. So ... I went straight home.


But ... that meant that could get out and play (snowshoe) in the snow. I did ... and almost froze. I dressed with the same number of layers as I did yesterday. But ... the snow was deeper. It was at least a foot deep in most spots and sometimes up to my knees. So I couldn't run. I could only walk about 95% of the time. Thus I didn't generate as much heat, the wind was a lot worse and was out there much longer on mostly the same route. I was shivering and couldn't really talk when I got back. I went straight to the shower to try to warm up. That didn't really help but I eventually warmed up. Somewhat scary but not the stupidiest thing I have done.

My splits were: 22:35, 21:40 and 15:37 over the last 0.6 mile. It looks like I didn't turn off my Garmin right away so the actual time is estimated. I was pretty cold.

Thursday, 3/16/2017: Needed rest day after 5 days (3 days running and 2 days snowshoe) in a row.

Some personal stuff: Today marked no alcohol since my 59th birthday six months ago. I made that decision because I determined that I am a binge drinker. The best way for me to be in charge of my life is for me to have no alcohol. Yes, I have saved hundreds of dollars. Yes, I still think about having a drink ... be it a beer, a glass or wine or a mixed drink. But I make a conscious decision every day to walk past the beer aisles and the liquor stores that I come across.

Some snowstorm stuff: The Rochester airport got 16.2 inches of snow on Tuesday (5th most ever) and 26.7 inches total on Tuesday and Wednesday. 102.9 inches of snow have fallen to date versus 53.9 inches in 2016. The average snowfall in Rochester is 89.4 inches. So ... Rochester got 1/4 of its 2017 snowfall is one shot.

Some running stuff:

1) I saw a news piece about the Baikal Marathon, link here, in Russia. It's a winter marathon across the frozen surface of Lake Baikal on March 7, 2017. The winner was a Polish man in a record time of 2:53:26. Their website is still not updated with this record time as of 3/19/17.

2) Ed Whitlock died at age 86, obituary link here, news link here, on 3/13. Some quotes: "Canadian Running is saddened to announce that Ed Whitlock has passed away at 86." "Whitlock was one of the world’s all-time great runners as he set dozens of masters world records during his lengthy and illustrious running career." "The Canadian running legend is notably the first, and only, person older than 70 to have broken 3:00 in the marathon. He ran 2:54:49 when he was 73. He raced in November 2016 setting a 15K world record for men 85-89 at the Stockade-athon 15K Road Race. Prior to that, he bettered the men’s 85-89 world record in the marathon by more than 30 minutes running 3:56 at the 2016 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last October." "When asked what advice he had for other runners, he mused “I’m not sure what I’m doing is good for me, let alone anyone else.”"

Friday, 3/17/2017: Rest day before Spring Forward 15K

I believe that the last two customers who lost power in Brighton finally got their power back.

Saturday, 3/18/2017: 2 runs of 0.5 and 9.37 miles, 30F, 55% RH, 8 mph ESE wind, wind chill 23F, overcast with a few flakes late.

Today's race was my eleventh Spring Forward 15K held down at Mendon Ponds Park (MPP). My stats: 2007 - 1:14:29, 2008 - 1:11:21, 2008 - 1:12:49, 2010 - 1:17:05, 2011, 1:10:20, 2012 - 1:09:15, 2013 - 1:11:40, 2014 - 1:18:00, 2015 - 1:15:24 and 2016 - 1:13:04. My 15K PR is 1:09:15 back in the "magical" year of 2012 when I set a lot of my lifetime PRs.

The race was at 8 AM so I set my alarm for 5:30 AM. My lovely wife, Christine, had signed up to volunteer so I woke her up at 6 AM. She put up a bit of a fuss and got up at 6:11 AM. She asked me what temperature it was outside like she always does. It was 30F so I wore the usual for a race at that temperature: my CW-X tights with shorts, a red long sleeve tech, my yellow Brooks 1/4 pullover, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and ski mittens. Christine wore tights with jeans over them, two tops and boots. We were out the door at 6:45 AM and arrived down at the Beach parking lot next to Stewart Lodge around 7:10 AM. We split up. She went to her assignment at the 2.5 mile turnaround. I puttered around a bit at the lodge and stashed my "after" bag (change of tech shirt and my yellow Brooks jacket) under a table before I got out for a 1/2 mile warmup run at 9:36 pace, link here. I saw Bill Sandow on my warmup. He told me that he had suffered a calf tear back in October and that this was his first race since then. He told me that he was going to run a 9 min pace. I told him that if he passed me that I would remind him of that.


I met up with Andy Ciaio and Prem Kumar near the start line. We made the usual small talk before the start ... and we were off!

The Spring Forward Banner Page captured me at the start

Andy in orand, Prem to my left in gray and me in my usual yellow on our way up the first of many hills ... photo courtesy of Kim Smit of Fleet Feet Rochester

We started together and ran together for a mile before I lagged behind. I kept both of them in sight: Prem was about 100 feet ahead and Andy was about 200 feet ahead. Christine was at our left turn onto Pond Rd just after the one mile flag so I waved to her. The 5K mark passed in 24:06. I caught up to Prem at mile 5 as we ran up one of the many hills ... for about 10 seconds. I stopped to take a drink of water at mile 6. The 10K mark passed in 48:24.

I'm in the yellow with the vertical black stripe ... taken around mile 7 by Kim Smith of Fleet Feet Rochester

I was getting a bit tired but didn't break to walk up the short hill back into MPP. I knew that there was less than a mile left with only 2 hills to go. Prem had stretched his lead to about 200 to 300 feet. One more hill and then the downhill into the finish. I was told about the ice on the downhill. I heard someone slip a bit behind me so I totally backed off racing into the finish. I just stayed to the left where the snow seemed to offer more traction rather the risky bare spots that looked to be icy.

Carefully running down the last hill into the finish ... photo courtesy of Derek Backus

I saw the timer click to 1:13 as Ellen Brenner called my name. And ... done with 9.37 miles in 1:13:04 according to my Garmin Forerunner 220 (that I bought from Prem when he upgraded to a Garmin VivoActive). I grabbed a cup of water and fist bumped with Andy and Prem who finished 10 seconds apart. I went to the lodge after a bit and had a bagel and a cookie. I changed into my dry clothes and checked the results. I was 41st and 5th in my age group. Andy was 2nd in the 50-54 age group and Prem was 3rd in the 40-44 age group. I didn't see Christine around so I ambled out to the Beach parking lot to look for the Cruze. I was just getting cold when I found it and her asleep in it.

We took a roundabout route home: Breakfast at the Char Broil House on Island Cottage followed by a bit of grocery shopping at Wegmans for ingredients to go with some corned beef that I bought yesterday. I checked out the official results. My time was 1:13:02 gun and 1:13:04 chip. I was 41st out of 321, link here. I was 5th out of 16 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 7:42, 7:53, 7:37, 7:47, 7:40, 7:48, 8:02, 8:03, 7:47 and 7:32 over the last 0.37 mile.

I thought about going out to get a snowshoe run in ... but I decided to bag it. I could see bare spots on the ground at the Lake Shore CC and I didn't want to dig up their grass. Still ... all in all, a great day!

Sunday, 3/5/2017 to Saturday, 3/11/2017 - Johnny's Runnin' O' The Green

I ran 9 times this week, 25.7 miles.

Sunday, 3/5/2017: Travel day to Corning

I could have ran today but didn't. I was up at 5:30 AM because I thought that my lovely wife, Christine, wanted to leave early enough to get down to Corning to maximize the 9 AM to 5 PM Sunday hours of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG). She didn't feel well so I didn't push her. I have learned to set "soft" travel plans whenever possible. We did get down to the CMOG by close to 2:30 PM. We saw the Contemporary Art & Design Galleries, most of the Amphitheater Hot Shop Demo, the Innovation Center and Contemporary Glass by 5 PM.

Then we used the $25 gift card that we received from her brother, Bill Wisniewski, at Applebee's. I had a half rack of ribs (ehh ... too many small bones) and she had some type of chicken and potatoes.

We spent the night at the Country Inn & Suites in Big Flats. We simply vegged out ... I fell asleep while Christine played a slide show of all the CMOG pictures that she took that day. I guess we have become an old married couple, lol.

Monday, 3/6/2017: 4.25 miles, 34:08, 8:02 pace, 28F, 39% RH, 3 mph E wind, mostly sunny


I needed to run. I was tempted to just use the nearby treadmill rather than search for a running route. Christine suggested that I run around the adjacent mall. That seemed easy ... so I ran 3 times around the Arnot Mall. It was closed at 8 AM so there was minimal traffic. I dressed in my usual for the 28F weather: CW-X tights, short sleeve tech, yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and ski mittens. I took it really nice and easy but it was still a 8:02 pace ... boom. My splits were: 8:09, 8:01, 8:09, 7:56 and 57 over the last 0.25 mile.

Christine was waiting for me in the hotel's breakfast nook when I got done. I sat down for a nice and leisurely breakfast of a waffle, sausage, egg, fruit, coffee and orange juice. I wanted to use the hotel pool but couldn't because it was being shocked. Oh well. We took a little nap before we headed back over to CMOG. We arrived at noon and spent the rest of the day in the 35 Centuries of Glass gallery. I ended up taking a lot of pictures and drained the battery in my personal cell and most of the battery in my work cell. There is certainly a lot to see!

Still smiling the next day after seeing hundreds or thousands pieces of glass!

Our unused tickets to the Rockwell Museum are good for a year ... as long as we don't lose them. We took the scenic (what scenery there was until it was dark) route home up 414N to Watkins Glen, 14N to the NYS Thruway and home.

Tuesday, 3/7/2017: Rest day.

I could have ran but ... I was a bit tired from lack of sleep plus the need to do a bit of grocery shopping. A rest day is a good thing I have been told.

Oh, the Lee Rd - Lexington Ave intersection near B601 where I manage Ricoh printer for Harris was finally open after being closed for 6 days due to 12 downed power lines.

Wednesday, 3/8/2015: 7.05 miles, 57:00, 8:05 pace, 52F, 40% RH, 20 mph WSW wind, mostly cloudy.



I needed to run. There was a high wind warming for later in the afternoon so I ran before lunch. There was already a stiff wind that tried to blow me back several times but I "got 'er done". My splits were: 8:30, 8:04, 8:22, 8:19, 7:55, 7:55 and 7:35.

Thursday, 3/9/2017: 7:05 miles, 57:16, 8:07 pace, 37F, 44% RH, 19 mph W wind, wind chill 27F, mostly cloudy.

Well, Christine and I didn't get blown away by yesterday's winds. There was a gust of 82 mph at the Rochester International Airport and sustained winds of 50 mph for 5 hours. There were a lot of downed trees, power lines (S Winton Rd in Henrietta and Long Pond Rd in Greece). traffic lights either out or blown down and lots of people (RG &E - 98K as of 6 AM) without electricity. We didn't lose power but my Facebook feed had plenty who had downed trees, lost power or both, news links here and here.



It was Thursday ... so I ran. The power poles that were down last week for 6 days around the intersection of Lee Rd and Lexington Ave took a beating. 5 of them were leaning and braced by RG & E trucks as I ran by. The intersection of Lee Rd and Emerson St was still without a traffic light or even a portable stop sign. Someone is going to get hit there for sure. It wasn't me today. It was colder, the wind was a bit lighter and I survived. There were more twigs and branches down on the Erie Canal path. My splits were: 8:14, 8:04, 8:27, 8:32, 7:49, 7:52 and 7:56.

Friday, 3/10/2017: Rest day ... the usual before a race the next morning.

Saturday, 3/11/2017: 4 runs of 0.52, 1.25, 5.06 and 0.52 miles, 16F, 67% RH, 7 mph NNW wind, wind chill 6F, overcast with light snow.

Today's race was my seventh Johnny's Runnin' of the Green (2007 in 37:34, 2011 in 40F, 34:35, 2012 in a lifetime PR of 55F, 33:58, 2013 in 26F, 36:23, 2015 in 39F, 36:18 and 2016 in 36F, 35:40). It was the kickoff race for the 12 race Greater Rochester Track Club's Rochester Runner of the Year series. It does appear that today was the coldest Johnny's I have run and it was definitely colder than any of the six 2016-2017 Freezeroos (the coldest was 23F for Freezeroo #3 on 1/14). Brr! I wore the usual for under 20F weather: my CW-X tights with a pair of shorts over, red Freezeroo long sleeve tech, yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover, yellow Brooks jacket, balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie, ski mittens and sunglasses.

There was a real light snow for the 20 minute drive down to the Blue Cross Arena (BCA). The parking lot on Exchange Blvd and Court St where I (and a lot of other runners) usually park was closed so I had to park 1/2 mile away ... hence a 0.52 mile warmup run at 8:50 pace to the BCA, link here. When I removed my mittens inside the BCA I discovered that I had somehow cut my left thumb knuckle. It bled and I got a bit on my pullover for sure and probably some on my jacket. It hadn't stopped when I went out for my second warmup run of 1.25 miles at 8:20 pace, link here. I didn't have a nearby car to stash any clothes so I just wore what I had ... it was certainly cold enough. This St Patrick's race had the usual runners in colorful costumes! I heard an announcement about a course detour due to a downed tree on Wilson Blvd before I headed out to the start line.

I lined up in the usual spot ... a bit back from the start line and off to the right. I bumped fists with Andy Ciaio before the start .... and we were off!

The start ... photo courtesy of https://runnerpics.shuttlefly.com

I got up to speed quickly and settled in for the usual 5 mile out and back course down Exchange Blvd to Ford St, across the Ford St bridge, right on Wilson Blvd for 1.5 miles before the turnaround and back. I had a good first mile at 7:04 just after we turned onto Wilson Blvd. I could see the tree up ahead but it didn't block the whole road and there was no path leading off. We just moved a bit to the left. Boots and Barb Boutillier from Fleet Feet Rochester were there along with a sign that said "FF loves you!". I later learned that Boots took a chainsaw to some of that tree to clear a path for us. I had a bit of trouble in the miles that followed. It wasn't enough to stop and walk a bit but just enough to slow a bit. I realized this and just let the run continue onward. I tried to keep up with the group that I was with and for the most part did. Andy passed me and then Prem Kumar. So ... up Wilson Blvd to the turnaround and back. Now I could everyone behind me as we ran back to the start.

The way on Wilson Blvd was cleared by Boots and his trusty chainsaw ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

Around nmle 3.75 on the way back ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier of Fleet Feet Rochester

Back down Wilson Blvd, left onto Ford St and the Ford St bridge, right onto Exchange Blvd. A mile to go ... don't speed up yet ... too soon. I could see the Freddie-Sue bridge ... the I-490 overpass ... keep going ... the stop light at Court St and Exchange Blvd ... a little faster. I could see the finish line ... I didn't have much left but I put it out there. I saw the timer click past 37 ... a bit disappointed ... and done in 37:10, 7:26 pace. I bumped fists with Andy and Prem. Then straight into the BCA ... it was cold and I was a bit damp. I grabbed and guzzled down a bottle of water. There wasn't any bagels because the place where Johnny's gets the bagels didn't have power. I checked out the results and saw that I was 90th and 8th in my M 55-59 age group. I didn't stay long and slowly ran the 0.52 mile back to the Cruze.

A post race selfie

I passed about ten Central Maine power trucks as I drove home. There are still lots of homes without power. I went straight to the shower. My fingers were white for a white like usual until I warmed up. PCR Timing soon had the results up: I was 90th out of 876, link here. I was 8th out of 61 in my M 55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 7:04, 7:22, 7:34, 7:31, 7:17 and 7:10 over the last 0.06 mile. So ... I ran my second slowest Johnny's. I have raced enough in the past 12 years to know that some races are better than others. I went out there and ran the best I could. That's all you can do.

Christine and I watched a couple of movies. One called "Water for Elephants" with Reese Witherspoon was quite good. She found for FREE off of Time Warner's OnDemand. The other called "Arrival" from Redbox was so-so. It was a bit boring.

Sunday, 2/26/2017 to Saturday, 3/4/2017

I ran 4 times this week, 37.93 miles.

Sunday, 2/26/2017: 7.35 miles, 1:02:38, 8:32 pace, 28F, 74% RH, 14 mph W wind, wind chill 17F, overcast with light snow.


I slept in a bit before getting out for a nice and easy run out on the LOSP trail and half of Island Cottage. My darling wife, Christine, had given me a bit of incentive to come home quickly but my right hip hurt a bit so I kept it at a relatively easy pace. The weather had changed ... again ... for the colder. The light snow that felt did look pretty. My splits were: 8:25, 8:24, 8:22, 8:34, 8:47, 8:33, 8:39 and 8:16 over the last 0.35 mile.

I kept busy for a bit afterward doing three loads of laundry. I discovered that there was benefits of having Christine help fold ... we got it done faster, :-).

Monday, 2/27/2017: Rest day.

Tuesday, 2/28/2017: 10.68 miles, 1:31:05, 8:32 pace, 57F, 31% RH, 5 mph SE wind, overcast.


The last day of February and I ran for the fourth(!!) time in shorts. My Facebook feed told me that I ran in -2F, wind chill -17F weather two years ago! Other crazies rode their bicycles ON Irondequoit Bay two years ago! So I took a hour of vacation and got out for a long run from Greece Athena High School. I took it really nice and easy. I almost regretted not taking my headlamp but got back before I needed it. My splits were: 7:59, 8:27, 8:30, 8:36, 8:29, 8:34, 8:33, 8:39, 8:45, 8:33 and 8:47 over the last 0.68 mile.

My running stats for the month of February: I ran 18 times for 136.9 miles, 7.6 miles/run. Two of these run were warmups of 2 and 1.05 miles. I ran 2 races (Freezeroo #5 and Freezeroo #6).

Wednesday, 3/1/2017: 5.05 miles, 42:14, 8:21 pace, 64F(!), 56% RH, 18 mph WSW wind, overcast.


I don't usually run on Wednesday but the forecast called for the temperatures to tumble into the 20s overnight so ... I did. I brought all (almost again) my running gear to work so I could run before lunch. I started to change and realized I didn't have any running socks. What to do? Run in my dress socks, of course! I soon discovered that my thighs didn't appreciate running so I cut the road short a bit and stayed at a nice and easy pace. I did enjoy being out in shorts and my yellow 2015 Phelps Sauerkraut tech shirt with no gloves and no hat! My splits were: 8:27, 8:31, 8:41, 8:26 and 7:46.

A light rain moved in just as I got home and the wind really start to blow during the night ...

Thursday, 3/2/2017: Rest day ... thankfully.

I know that a true runner runs in any conditions but ... I am glad that I ran yesterday. It was 23F when I woke up and the wind was still blowing around 20 mph. The peak wind gust was 64 mph at the Rochester Airport and I saw news coverage of blown down gas station awnings (Rochester and Batavia), numerous downed trees and power outages. There was at least 11 downed power lines near the intersection of Lee Rd and Lexington Ave. This had an impact on me since I support the Ricoh printers at a Harris building (B601) right near there.

Friday, 3/3/3017: Rest day ...

Saturday, 3/4/2017: 14.85 miles, 2:14:01, 9:01 pace, 18F, 67% RH, 18 mph NNW wind, wind chill 3F, overcast at the start to mostly sunny at the end.

Today was the "official" Round the Bay run. I have done this run every year since 2009. It's not a race just an gathering of runners from the Oven Door, Gold Rush, Bagel Bunch and anyone else that start at the Swing Bridge in Irondequoit and well ... run counter-clockwise around the bay. There are two different routes that take in all the hills on the west side of Irondequoit Bay. The first goes up 590 (which saves 0.85 mile) and the second goes up Culver Rd. I took the second to get the full mileage (go big or go home).

But first ... let's back up. I set my alarm for 5:30 AM. A couple of inches of fluffy snow had fallen overnight plus it was cold and windy. I had my pre-run bowl of cereal and banana along with a glass of OJ while I questioned my sanity. I looked outside while my lovely wife, Christine, slept peacefully and questioned my sanity. I thought about bagging the run ... the wind chill was in the single digits or less. The roads were going to be crappy. But ... I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep and I would regret not getting out ... so I started to get dressed. I wore my CW-X tights along with shorts, my red long sleeve GRTC Freezeroo tech, my yellow Brooks 1/4 zip pullover and my yellow Brooks jacket. I brushed the snow off the Cruze and headed out. I got down to the Swing Bridge in Irondequoit at 6:50 AM. There weren't as many cars as usual ... odd (lol). I sat in the car and put on my balaclava, yellow Brooks beanie and mittens. I tucked my Hammer Gel flask with what was left of my Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel in an AmphiPod in my waist and filled my 20 ounce hand bottle with water. I also changed my running glasses to the clear lenses and put them on to protect my eyes from the wind. I didn't stretch at all and just walked over to where everyone was gathering ... maybe for warmth. The wind was really blowing from the north off Lake Ontario ... or maybe the polar icecap. Matt Kellman took a selfie of the group before we started. I guess maybe 30 to 40 runners took part. There have been years when there were over 100.

Matt Kellman used a selfie stick to take several pictures before we started out

Anyway ... we started. The run up the hill on Culver Rd was slow. The shoulder was snow covered so I ran in the road and only moved over for oncoming traffic when I had to. The footing was variable and changed between OK to slippery. Sometimes the snow was kind of changing to slush or a bit of ice so I had to be careful and not push off so I just set up a really nice and easy pace. Yes, it was cold in the first few miles but I warmed up. The wind was mostly at my back so it was really a factor. The hills on west side were the usual ups and downs. Thankfully, there weren't too many cars or trucks out yet. I walked the usual parts of the two major hills. This is the third time I had run Round the Bay this year and 12th time in total so I knew the route. I walked at mile 7 so I got suck down some Hammer Gel and drink some water. I noticed that the water in my hand bottle was starting to ice up. I ran down the Empire Blvd hill and passed Tom Butler. He wasn't shirtless but he was wearing shorts! He must have started early! The wind was my left and then started to be in my face as I turned kind of north to head back up the long hill into Webster. Empire Blvd and Bay Rd was a bit dangerous because it was later and there were more cars out. I was glad to get off of Bay Rd onto Volk and Dewitt for miles 11 and 12. Back onto Bay Rd ... Lake Ontario was in sight. A left onto Lake Rd. The wind was really blowing from the right now. I was in "get 'er done" pace while running on a narrow shoulder as cars came off the Swing Bridge. And ... done with 14.85 miles in 2:14:01. I was cold and tired so I went straight to the Cruze. I usually stretch after a run or wait for other runners but not today. It was just too cold.

A selfie to prove that I was there. I guess I had my balaclava on a bit crooked the whole way.

I went straight home. I did stop at the Herrema's parking lot where I tried to open my 20 ounce hand bottle to get a drink of water. The top of the water had iced over and I heard a snap as I opened it ... I broke the plastic nozzle. Arrgghh ... I won that hand bottle in a Dirt Cheap raffle several years ago. Christine was up when I got home. I went in, said "Hi, it was cold" (or words to that effect), dumped my running bag in the kitchen and headed straight up to the bedroom. I stripped and then took a hot shower and bath. My fingers were starting to turn white and I think my toes were too. Then it was time for hot coffee and a couple of donuts. I uploaded my Garmin and found that this was one of my slowest Round the Bay runs ... undoubtedly due to the weather. My splits were: 9:04, 8:37, 8:39, 8:23, 9:29, 8:18, 9:26, 9:11, 10:08, 9:38, 9:07, 8:54, 8:44 and 8:31 over the last 0.85 mile.

Later, I took Christine out to have her nails done at New Nails. She decided to have them cut back ... but there are still sexy, :-)!