Busy, busy, busy

The weather has been great, temps in the 40s at 5 am. I've been getting out early most mornings (later in the day on weekends) for a run, feeling pretty good while I'm out there. I'm in the long-term, base mileage phase right now, looking ahead to next summer/fall.

I've been pretty busy lately, a lot of work, lots going on at home. My wife is now working a split shift, which makes it easier for her to put in a full 8 hours, and gives her some time during the day to go to doctor's appointments, take care of her father etc. She works 9-2 and 7:30-10:30 now. She asked if she could work the split shift three days a week, but was told that it was every day, take it or leave it. So Friday nights are now shot.

My daughter's report card came home last week. Entirely Bs and As, with the comment "late work hinders performance." In other words, if she would hand in the homework on time, she would have better grades. Arrrgh. Just like her father.

My siblings and I will soon have to start "helping" my parents clean out their cellar. They've lived in the same house for 40 years, and have accumulated quite a bit of crap during that time. In the past, attempts to clean the cellar have been dismal failures which resulted only in moving the crap around. Now my mother's eyesight is failing, and she soon will be unable to drive. She wants to be able to walk to the grocery store and to Mass, both of which would be difficult, if not impossible, in their present location. In addition, at their present location, they have almost half an acre of grass which needs to be tended from April to October, and my father isn't getting any younger. A smaller lot and a smaller house would probably be best for them both. They're looking in their area and also in our neighborhood. There are some areas in our town where they would be able to walk to Mass and to the store. If they wanted to go to a Kosher grocery, there's one just around the corner from the church, about a quarter mile away.

Nice Morning

It was beautiful this morning--about 55 degrees, although a little damp. I broke out the tights last week, and I was wearing them today, but I should have been in shorts, it was so nice. There's a group run at the local Fleet Feet next Friday (the 24th) at 7 am --they're calling it the Black Friday Fun Run. It's a day off from work for me, but 7 am on a day off may be difficult, and it will be my 24th wedding anniversary. I don't know what we'll be doing that night.

Whoops, gotta go. I have to catch my bus before too long. Maybe I'll be able to get some computer time later.

been gone

I've been away quite a while—it's been almost a month since I last signed on. Between my wife's recovery, a nagging Achilles Tendon injury and several other things that have been happening over the last month, my running has tapered off, but not stopped completely. Now comes the long winter training season. This (November-December) is actually the toughest part of the year for me. The sun comes up after I get to work, the sun goes down before I get home. The darkness combined with the almost constant overcast makes me tired all the time. I'm considering running in a new year's day race this year (or next year) I've never done that, and it would be a good way to start the year.

I saw my doctor recently. My migraine came back three times over the summer, when I usually get one every 18 months or two years. I thought that with the sudden increase in the frequency, it might be a good thing to see a doctor about it. There's nothing unusual, probably just stress. On the other hand, I did test high for cholesterol. Just a little bit high in the LDL.

Whenever my kids have schoolwork troubles—problems doing their homework or whatever, I call my parents and apologize for what I did to them. Over the summer, when I was putting in 30 miles in a bad week, I've got high blood cholesterol. It must be hereditary. I think maybe somebody owes me an apology now.

A little bit better

A nicer morning today, temp in the high 50s and the rain stopped before I got up. It's very dark out now, a result of my not running in the city any more, I guess. I haven't been using my light, but I have been using a reflective vest--according to the manufacturer, it reflects 150x the light that a road sign does.

I passed a small herd of deer this morning while I was running past Temple B'rith Kodesh. The other day, I literally almost ran into a deer, probably from the same herd. The road I was on has a hedge that comes down to about 5 feet from the curb. I ran up onto the sidewalk to make the turn onto the busier road, and the deer was at the edge of the sidewalk, browsing on the hedge. It was dark enough that I didn't see the deer until I was about 4 feet away. It heard me coming at about the same time and leapt off into the yard, startling the other 4 deer in the yard.

Today, the deer just watched me from about 30 feet away, turning their heads slowly to follow me as I went past, and returning to their feeding as soon as I was gone.

Starting to get cold

Cold and rainy today.

The surgery went well, my wife is home and recovering. I spent the weekend doing whatever she needed me to do, but I did get out for a few miles on Sunday. Today I'm home--it's a little slow at work these days, and she has an appointment to take out the surgical drain today, so I took the day off. I got out for a few again today, and it's around 45° and rainy. It's actually pretty nice running at 10:30 am; there's almost no traffic and very few pedestrians, including other runners, out there.

I'm now heading into my winter training phase--putting in the distance and preparing for the spring.

Rainy morning

I was out at the usual hour this morning, a little bit before 5am, running a long loop. When I got to 3 miles, a point which was a minimum of 2 miles from home, the lightning started. Since my run was in flat, open former farmland, with almost no shelter (I guess could have hid under a bridge), I decided to head for home immediately, giving me a total run this morning of 5 miles. I'm thinking I'll get out again later today. Oh, we may get snow tonight or tomorrow. That'll be fun.

Early morning

It took me a few minutes to get going this morning--I had trouble finding a key and my light's batteries chose this morning to give out. I hadn't realized that they were so low. I got out on Friday with the local group at Fleet Feet for the 5.3 mile Happy Hour run--an easy, relaxing run at a "conversational" pace to end the week. I live about five minutes (running) from the store, so I have a warmup and cooldown built into the day.

I'll have to miss the run this Friday, because my wife is going in for gallbladder surgery this Friday. I'll be spending the day with her and with the kids, I think.

I'm back

I decided to run from home again, even though I have about a month left on my gym membership. It's actually more difficult to get out and run from the gym, when you factor in commute time (I ride the bus). The bus leaves at 5:45 am (I get up between 4:45 and 5:00 for my morning runs), it takes about 15 minutes to get downtown--I've already lost an hour before I even get to the gym.

It was dark this morning at 4:55 when I stepped out the door. Dark enough that I had my strobe light for the first time since winter. That was one advantage at the gym--the routes I ran were well-lit and I could see well even at 6am. The temperature was pleasant this morning, around 50°F. I passed about 10 people out running, mostly in pairs except one person who was running with a dog.

I almost recycled the Megazord.

How many people can say that?

My daughter is doing a skit for homecoming tonight (in about an hour--good thing we live across the street) and it somehow involves the Power Rangers. Apparently the Power Rangers have something called the Megazord, which my daughter and her classmates constructed out of cardboard boxes. Well, today was garbage day, and it was dark outside when I took the garbage and recycling out to the curb this morning. The Megazord just looked like cardboard boxes to me. When my wife spotted it out at the curb, she told my daughter. That must have been the fastest anyone has ever woken up a teenager.

I've been running on and off, a little stiffness in the lower legs making me sit out a day here and there.

We're still up for the race on October 14th.

With a group

I've started running with a group on Friday evenings. Everyone gathers at a running store after work and stes off for a nice, easy, 4± miles at a relaxed pace. I understand that the crowd was a bit small last week because of an upcoming race. I live about 5 minutes (jogging) from the store, so I can take the bus home, change and get over there in plenty of time.

It's been a long time since I ran with a group, and I'd forgotten what it's like. It's a nice group of people, I enjoyed the run and I'm planning on going back tomorrow.

My next race will be a benefit for a Hospice, and Oed will be running in the kids' race. We're planning on getting matching shirts to run in for the race.

Oak Tree Half

First off, I have to give credit where it's due. Electra, my teenage daughter, took the pictures of the cross-country race below.

Sunday morning, I ran in the Oak Tree Half Marathon in Geneseo. I started the race running with my friend Andy, figuring that I've been running even with him for a while. When I saw that he ran the first 3 miles in just over 22 minutes, I decided that he was in better condition than I was and dropped off the pace a bit. I ran the rest of the race I took it much easier. I finished 91st, out of 188 finishers, so I was at just about the halfway mark in the race, and Andy finished about 6 minutes ahead of me.

The turkey vultures circling over the halfway point were kind of unnerving, though. I wonder how the race directors managed that.

I took today off, still kind of sore, and went to a baseball game with Oed. The Red Wings lost the game, but it was still a good time.

Cross-Country Race

The last cross-country race of the season was last night. I declined to run in the Tour de Pain, because I just wasn't ready for it. I do plan on running next year, though.

Oed ran in the kids' race with me this time. He almost backed out at the last minute, but between his mom and me, we managed to talk him into coming.

We warmed up together before the race.




Here's a picture of him with about 200 meters to go in the kids' race:



He was very happy to have run in the race, and his ribbon is going into the box with my race ribbons. I still have the first ribbon I ever got in a race--it's just a finisher's ribbon, from a high school invitational meet in central New York, and it says "Proven Harrier" on it. Nothing about my place or time. The ribbons and medals for the faster runners were of a higher quality, and gave the finish place on the front. I've has that ribbon for 32 years. I won a lot of ribbons over the years, and a few medals and trophies as well, but I think that one is the most important. It gave me the taste for racing.

My race didn't go as well as I would have liked. My time was a bit slower than all three previous outings in the series. I think that was because I did not get a chance to have anything to eat after lunch yesterday, so I was running the race on a mostly empty stomach. For the previous races, I got a chance to have an afternoon snack.

The hill really took it out of me.



The mile point is just a few yards from the bottom of the hill, and the race goes all the way to the top, so after a nice, fairly flat, fast course of about nine tenths of a mile, you start up this hill. But hey, at least nobody moved the course markers this time!

Posting rarely

I hardly ever get to post anymore--I go to the gym in the morning before work, and so I can't post in the morning, but I have to compete for computer time with three other people in the afternoon, so it's difficult to post then, too.

I ran in the third cross-country race of the series on Thursday. I ran a 23:10, but I think I was actually faster than that. Smeone had moved some of the markers on the trail, and a large number of us--most of us, I think--took a detour in the woods. I ran into my friend Andy at the race (not literally), and he's talked me into running the Oak Tree Half Marathon down in Geneseo, with beer afterwards. It happens the Sunday before Labor Day (the Monday following the first Sunday in September). We both went to college in Geneseo, so we'll be revisiting old haunts.

Back on the road

My ankle is feeling better now, so I'm back on the road. The third cross-country race of the series is this Thursday, so I can't slack off now. I'm expecting to do better this week--hopefully I won't be falling this time!

MC Lars put on a great show, and I wasn't the oldest person there! At least, I wasn't the oldest-looking person there (when I'm clean-shaven, I'm told that I look younger than I am).

Boy, Kevin Beck really hates Florida.

Off today

I won't be running today. I ran in the second cross-country race of the series last night. Around two miles, I stepped on a root and went down. Nothing serious, but I twisted my ankle before I went down, and I don't want to run on it today. It's not swollen, but it is a bit sore.

I finished the race (5033 meters) in 23:10 -- just 9 seconds slower than last week. When you figure that last week I didn't fall, I'd say that I should have been a few seconds faster than last week.

I was still tasting dirt after I got home last night. It's been a long time since I last fell during a race--probably 1981 or so.

This weekend I'll be taking Electra and a few of her friends to an MC Lars show.

I ran in a race on Thursday--it was part of the Genesee Valley Harriers Thursday Night Cross Country series. The races, four in all, are approximately 5033 meters, cross-country style, at Cobb's Hill. The races have one large hill and one smaller one, about a mile of trails, and only a very short stretch of roads.

I ran a 23:01 in the race, which is pretty good. I was also the 4th masters finisher at the race.

The "Tour de Pain had to be moved, due to construction at my former high school. Instead, the track events will be held at the high school across the street from me. The cross-country portion of the event will be held at Cobb's Hill. I'm planning to run in all of the cross-country races, and possibly in the tour de pain as well.

It's been a long time

I haven't been able to post for a while, for several reasons, one of which is that I don't have the necessary permits for the explosives it would require to remove my 15-year old daughter from the computer.

I have been running most of the summer, though. The weather is making it difficult right now--when the low temperature is 76°, and the high is in the upper 90s, it's difficult to get out and do a workout. I've been running at 5 am, which is just before dawn, so the day is coolest. The weather is supposed to break soon, and temps should be back down into the 80s, with lows down into the 60s.

I started at a gym today. I bid on a 3-month membership at a downtown gym at a benefit dinner/auction, and ended up winning, so I signed up on the 31st of July, and started working out today.

OK, so windows is being annoying, and not accepting any ascii characters. If I try to use an ascii character, I am sent to a previous page.

It was 80 degrees outside today, at 8 am when I started running. It looks like it will be very hot today, since it was 82 by the time I got back. Running in the heat will (hopefully) make me more acclimated ot the heat, so I can run in the cross-country series in August. Several 5k races at Cobb's Hill Park, culminating in the Tour de Pain; a 5k cross-country race, followed an hour later by a 400 meter run on the track, followed an hour later by a mile race on the track. It all sounds very painful, and a lot of fun.

Almost didn't make it

I dragged myself out of bed this morning and almost got right back in. I'm glad I didn't, though--it was one of my better mornings. Once I got warmed up, I felt pretty good, running lightly and easily--one of those mornings where you can feel why you like to run.

The next race I'm looking at is a 4th of July race, a 5 miler in the town where I grew up. I've actually been running this race since 1977. Not every year, but I've seen several courses for this race.

The race starts and finishes around the same place as the race back in April. This one, however, runs in a different direction, and is quite a bit hillier. The race is followed by an independence day parade and picnic in the park.

Last year's winner was also the winner of the July 4th race held in the town where I now live. On the same day. He won a 10k in Brighton, jumped in his car, rushed out to Fairport, and won the 5 miler.

Trail run

I ran in my second Trail Race today--my first one was last year at this same race. There were two races, the short course (4.5 miles) and the long (9 miles). Since I didn't really feel ready for a 9 mile race, I decided to go for the short course. I was the first masters finisher in the short course, in 40:25. It's a pretty brutal course, with steep climbs and even steeper descents.

I haven't been able to update at all this week because of work. We're swamped, to the point where we can finally afford to hire another person for my department. She starts soon, but not soon enough. I'll be going in to the office tomorrow morning, early, to get some of our backlog cleared. Once we hire the new person, I'll be able to work on that stuff more, and won't be tied down with the kind of sork I've been doing.

I made an error regarding today's race--I gave blood yesterday. I'm not sure whether the mistake was giving blood the day before a race or racing the day after giving blood.

Hills.

I ran up to Cobb's Hill today and ran some hills. A city reservoir is on top of the hill, and it's surrounded by a park. There's a road that runs up to the top, around the reservoir, then back down. I went up the side of the hill, a long, steep grass slope, then up and down on the road a few times.

It felt pretty good--I haven't run there in a long time. It was our league course when I was in high school, although I didn't run the section in the woods today.

I missed the Beth El 5k today. I just needed the sleep too much. The race started at around 8 this morning, and I just couldn't get myself up that early today.


(I had to delete and repost this due to a comment spammer)

Better

Temps have gone back down--it was only 64° outside this morning. I got in a nice 5 miles at a nice relaxes pace on my "church run".
The sun is up before 5:30 am now, so I can see where I'm going most of the way.

I'm thinking about running in the Temple Beth El 5k this weekend. It starts and finishes near my house. I'll have to see how I feel. I believe it's on Sunday, not Saturday.

Hot.

It's hot. We're not supposed to get this kind of weather in Rochester in May. We should have at least another month before we get this stuff.

It was 78° when I finished my run at 5:30 this morning. It was 80° when I went to bed last night. The humidity is hovering above 90%, meaning that you feel more dry when you step into the shower.

I skipped Tuesday, not because of the heat on Tuesday morning, but because of the heat Monday night. It was still in the mid-80s at 11:30, and I got almost no sleep. In the morning, I just rolled over and tried to squeeze out just a little bit more sleep.

It had rained shortly before I stepped out this morning, so it was still kind of steamy out. Very humid and uncomfortable, but still better than waiting until after the sun was up.

Canal

I got out along the Erie Canal towpath today and yesterday. Oed came with me on his bike, which meant that the runs alternated between fast and slow (and stop). He also talked the whole way, forcing me to control my breathing while I answered or responded to him. I timed the runs, but I don't think the times really had anything to do with the effort.

We got out for a quick three miles yesterday, followed by five today. I'm going to get him out with me again tomorrow, maybe for another five.

Quick report

It's been several days since I've been on the computer, and I can't remember everything about the race, so the race report is a short one.

I woke up Sunday, and the weather was cool, about 45° and misty. Electra and I went out to breakfast (french toast, my pre-race breakfast since 1978), and could see a storm moving in. Low, black clouds moving in. By the time we got back home (I only live about 2-2.5 miles from the start line, and only half a mile from the two-mile point) the rain was coming down hard. I changed out of my singlet and put on a long sleeved top, figuring that, since it was cold and raining hard, I would need to stay warm. At the start of the race, while I was getting into the starting area, the sun came out. It felt like the temperature went up 10°, although I know that it probably didn't actually go up at all. So, I ran the race in a heavy, long sleeved top, and regretted it.

the first mile was, as usual, too fast. Under 6 for the first mile, but that was mainly because I wa trying to get out of the crowd. A thousand people crowded into a two-lane road makes it difficult to get moving, so you move when and where you can. I don't remember muco more of the first two miles of the race, except Sandy and Oed cheering for me at the two-mile point, yelling "Go, you fat old man!"

Just like last year, I fell apart after the four-mile point. There's a long upgrade starting somewhere after the 4.5 mile point and running almost to the five mile point. At the end of the steepest section (the first thirty yards), someone was yelling "You're almost at the top" when we actually had another 700 or so yards to go uphill. My sudden decline at 4-5 miles was not quite as bad as that of aonther man I passed at that point. He stopped to vomit at the side of the road. He then started running again, and almost immediately started to vomit again. I didn't see what happened to him.

My finish was pretty good. 44:39, for 24th in my age group, and 149th overall. Top 15% of the finishers. That's pretty good, especially considering that my "long" training runs these days have been 7 miles, with the majority being 4 miles. It is time, however, for an increase in mileage, starting with this week. As soon as I plot out a few new routes.

I ran my 4 mile route backwards today, and it was like running a new route. It was cool, about 44°, but with almost no wind and no rain. A good morning run.

busy week

Man, what a week. Tuesday night, Sandy wasn't feeling well, and didn't get much sleep. I went in to work late so I could get the kids off to school and she could get a little more sleep. Oed had been sick, but was healthy enough to go to school, so I got him off without too much trouble. He's on an antibiotic, which tastes absolutely horrible, so it's a lot of work just to get him to take it, but he was actually pretty good about it.

Electra, on the other hand, had fallen in gym class and hurt her left wrist. They were playing a game called "powerball" which is apparently somewhat like team handball. She says it's not, but I don't really see the difference from her explanation of the rules. Anyway, her wrist was really bothering her, so Sandy took her in for x-rays on Wednesday morning. It may be a hairline fracture, but nothing showed up on the x-ray. She (and 5 other kids) are out of gym for a couple of weeks now. I guess powerball is different from handball in the number of injuries sustained.

Yesterday, Sandy was again feeling pretty bad, so I left work early and came home to get supper and make sure she was OK.

My running this week has been a little bit hit-and-miss, with my bizarre schedule. I got out this morning, but I missed yesterday entirely. Lilac 10K coming up on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.

There's a review of "The Davinci Code" in the local paper today. I haven't read the book and probably won't see the movie, but the picture they chose of Alfred Molina as a Cardinal looks an awful lot like Terry Jones when he was dressed as a cardinal

Second place

That's second place overall, in the team event. There were only three teams, so it's not that big an accomplishment, and the team that beat us consisted of a 12-year old and a 15-year old. My partner, Kevin, said (quite seriously) that the race would come down to how much he held me back. He hasn't been on a bike in at least 5 years (and I think it may be more like 10), so he's certainly not in top shape. As it turned out, he was right about holding our time back. I finished the first 2.5 miles in 15:58, approximately 90 seconds ahead of the next runner, and 6:23 pace. Kevin's cycling leg was 47:10, approximately 4 minutes behind the eventual winning team's cycling, which gave them time to catch up. My second running leg was in 17:48; a 7:07 pace for that second running leg. That put me thirty seconds behind the 12-year old who won the race.

The third place team had a pretty good cyclist--36 minutes for his cycling leg--and someone who was apparently running her first race. Their cyclist was the first of the relay team cyclists to finish, even though his partner was about 4 minutes behind us.

The course was a killer--at least the running course was. There were two pretty good sized hills, and one small hill, all in the span of 2.5 miles. The final hill was a little shy of a half mile long, and it came at the end of both of the running legs, with the transition area/finish line at the top. The cycling course was a flat out-and-back, and the riders had the wind at their backs for the second half of the leg.

Our overall time for 5 miles of running and 20K cycling was 1:21:32.

Nice and Easy

I took it easy this morning, gouin out for a nice, easy 5K. I'm racing tomorrow, in a race in Lewiston, NY. It's actually a duathlon--something called the BeBop Du. I'm not riding in this race, I've got a partner that my wife calls my "twin brother separated at birth" doing the cycling. It's a 2.5 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2.5 mile run. I do hope the weather stays nice. It was 55° at 5:00 this morning. Just beautiful out.

The village of Lewiston overlooks the Niagara Gorge--from the 2 mile point, I may be able to look over into Canada.



Lewiston is far enough away from here that we'll have to get out on the road pretty early tomorrow. It's almost a 2 hour drive and registration closes at 8:45. We're making final plans today. I'm hoping ot maintain a 7:30-8:00 pace through both legs of the race. I'm not going to say that I won't race, because I'm pretty miserable at not racing in a race.

Tough weekend

The weekend was pretty bad. Thursday morning, we lost a server at work. We swapped in a replacement, and it quickly died on us. We were left without a network, only working on documents saved locally, but unable to print. Some of our files were completely inaccessible, and some of our orders required those files. In an industry that relies on printed documents, some of which are required to have original signatures, losing the printer was catastrophic. We finally got a new server in on Friday afternoon, but by then we had lost an incredible amount of time and we were behind on everything.

The good news is, on Friday night, my wife decided to quit, and first thing Saturday, she did. She got a new job offer Monday afternoon, and she'll be starting on June 5th. Normal hours, hourly pay (instead of pay based on production) and benefits.

Saturday morning, before I came in to work to try to repair some of the damage done Thursday, I was out running a seven-miler, when my right calf muscle tightened up to the point where it was painful to run at all. I've been treating it with ice and Vitamin I, and it's feeling better now. I haven't run since Saturday, but I'm going to try a nice, easy mile tonight, with Oed.

Every other day?

Is that how often I'll be able to post? Oh, well. I got out yestearday morning and today, both days it was a little bit cool out. Yesterday I went out in a t-shirt and shorts, today I wore a long-sleeved shirt and was a little bit warmer.

Both times, I managed to maintain just about 8:00 pace. I've got a pretty good idea where the mile marks are--on this run, they very conveniently fall near streetlights so I don't have to go past the mile mark to the nearest light and try to guesstimate how long it's been since I passed the mile point.

I've gotten spoiled already. A month ago, I thought of 44° as warm, and would run in t-shirt and shorts. Now, with daytime temps reaching into the 70s, 44° feels chilly, and I need the long sleeves.

A late day

I got out late today--I overslept this morning and didn't have time to run. I got out for an easy run after I got home from work, and Oed came with me on his bike while I did a cooldown afterwards.

Things are calming down a bit at work--we're still busy, but a couple of us have come in on weekends and we've eliminated a good portion of the backlog. On Sunday, Electra came in with me and she did some filing for me while I got some work out. I'm paying her about $25 for the work--it's a win-win situation. I get the work out of the way, she gets somw money and learns a little bit about tedious, boring work (very little is more boring than filing).

Today's run

I got out for a nice, easy 4 miles today, temp in the 60s (yeah!) and sunny (YEAH!). It felt pretty good, and my pace was pretty even the whole way. I'm feeling good, and I will be registering (online) for the Lilac 10k soon. The stiffness in my legs is just about gone now and I think as long as I keep at it, it won't come back.

D'oh!

I got up yesterday morning and it was 30° outside. I said to myself "Self, you can either run now, or wait until after work when it will bo almost 60°." I chose after work.

While I waas on the bus, I suddenly remembered that Electra was participating in a dramatic reading of The Crucible, which started at 7. Needless to say, I didn't get out yesterday at all. I'll be getting out this afternoon while Sandy is working.

My high school Cross-country and Track Coach is retiring. Mr. Bradley was a great coach and a great teacher, and I was lucky to have him.




I got out at 5 this morning--no snooze button today. It was beautiful out--about 50° and calm. The rain appears to have gone, at least until the weekend.


Life is crazy right now. Work is nuts. We're having the kind of volume we're supposed to get during our busy season (June to September), higher than last year's volume, and with the same staff.

At home, things are crazy. Sandy started a new job, still working at home, but with set hours of 3pm-11pm, Tuesday through Saturday. We have no weekend. Tuesday through Saturday, I get home, make dinner, clean up after dinner, make sure the kids get their homework done, and get them into bed. I have always had great respect for single parents, but now I have more.

If I didn't run, I think I'd lose my mind.

Dang it.

I hit the snooze button this morning, or I thought I did. 45 minutes later, I rolled over, looked at the clock and realized that I was not going to get in my scheduled run this morning. I'm rearranging my plans now for the rest of the week. I'm looking at my plan for the next two weeks to be sure that I don't have to do any rearranging after this week.

An early day

I just got on the computer for the first time today. Things are so busy at work that I can't slow down. We're short several people at work, and I'm not slowing down until I get home. Even then, I've had an hour or two of work to take care of (in between blog posts).

I got out for a short, easy run this morning at 5. It was warmer than I expected. There I was, tights and long sleeves, and it was almost 50° out. Of course, it's now 39° and damp, so I'm really not sure what the weather will be like in the morning. I should probably wait to dress until I know what the temp is outside.

On the weekends, I'm frequently prevented from getting any access to the computer at all. My daughter frequently is doing homework (yesterday she spent the day researching for a debate her social studies class was having--"Should the US launch a preemptive strike on North Korea?" she took the "no" position.) and when she's not on the computer, my wife or my son is. Tonight, however, I'm supposed to be working, so I have unfettered access to the computer, and everyone has to leave me alone.

It got cold again! It's not really all that cold, only around 41°, but it's raining, and that makes it feel colder out. I got out for a late run again yesterday--it was around 4:30 by the time I got out of the house--but I'm back on schedule this morning, bright and early at 4:45! Well, early anyway. I'm not so sure about bright.

A friend of mine is a race director for a small race organized through his church to benefit The Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation. It's an Episcopal Church, and the race is part of a series. The other races in the series are the Temple Beth El 5k and the Father Murphy 5k. The race comes up in August, with the Father Murphy 5k the following weekend, so I have time to prepare for those two races, but the Beth El 5k (which is in my neighborhood) is coming up on June 4th, so I'd better get ready.

another late day

I wanted to get up early and run this morning, but Electra wanted to go to an Anime convention in town. She and a friend had pland to go at 8am. When she told me that, I just laughed. The friend called at about 7:45 to ask if they could wait until 10 to go. When I got back, sandy wanted to drive over to her father's house. She got back around 4, and I had to go pick up Electra.

Long story short, I got out around 4:30-5:00 to get in a run. It felt pretty good today, relaxed and easy. Long, easy run tomorrow.

Late run

I got out late today. I was going to join in with a local group that runs 4 miles from a running store fridays at 6:00, but was delayed getting home from work. It seems that a local parking garage collapsed.





Apparently no-one was hurt. No cars on the ramp when it collapsed, which is a minor miracle, since it happened at 5:00 pm. I guess being in a shrinking city has its advantages. Streets were closed, traffic was tied up for a little while.
I got out for a few miles anyway after I got home.

Easy morning

I took a nice, easy run this morning. I didn't get out yesterday, taking a day off is something that's too easy to do. I'm looking up the group that runs from the local Fleet Feet store--the store is about a mile away from my house, so I could get over there whenever I wanted to join in. It's always easier to run with a group, and I think it would help me stay on track if I could get some people to run with.

No races this week, taking it easy. We got our fourth for the Corporate Challenge in June. There's a big picnic after the race, so it looks like fun, assuming the weather cooperates. Apparently, the race finishes near a bowl-shaped depression, and the first time the race was held at the site, it was a rainy week. Instead of a bowl, it was a pond.

8:22 am--I just found out about this: Mark, the running blogfather is challenging running bloggers to make donations to their favorite charities. If 100 bloggers make donations to their favorite charities, Mark will wear a running skirt in the Great Human Race in Edmonton, Alberta. If he's impressed with the number of donations or the cash value, he'l race in the matching bra. I just have to decide which charity to donate to.

A little cool

It's gotten a little bit cool in the early mornings over the past couple of days. Temps have been in the low 40s--shorts and a long-sleeve T-shirt weather--at 5am, but warming up during the day. I've had to re-route a few of my running routes, because there's road construction on one of the major roads in the immediate area. In the early morning darkness, I don't want to run through an unlit construction area, so I'm running down residential streets, which wind and turn a bit, making it a little bit harder to figure distance.

Almost nobody was on the street today--pedestrians or cars. I breezed through Twelve Corners without having to slow down. I am looking forward to the warm weather--temps in he 60s at 5am would be nice to have.

Rest day

I was so exhausted this weekend that I decided to take today off. At my age, the rests are as important as the workouts. With the kids off from school, there's less rushing around inthe morning. I decided to take the day off and sleep in a little bit. In addition, my right calf muscle has been feeling a little bit tight. One week ago, it was my left calf that suddenly tightened up about a mile and a half into a run, and now the right one is threatening to do the same. So, a day off won't hurt anything. I'm not one of those people who record streaks of days running in a row.


I'm looking ahead to the Lilac 10K which comes up near the end of May, during Rochester's Lilac Festival. I'm hoping that the nice weather we've had means that the Festival will have nice weather this year. Electra usually goes with me to the races, and I'm sure that she will again this year. Oed and Sandy will probably wait at Twelve Corners for me to go by--it's about a quarter mile from the house and is corner on the course. Last year, we lived close enough to walk to the start line, but this year it'll be a short drive.


In May, I'm also running in a duathlon with a partner. I'll be running 2.5 miles, he'll be riding his bike 12 miles, then I run the 2.5 back. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. The last half-mile or so of the cycling course appears to be an uphill. At least I don't have to run that.


My boss also approached me about me running in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. That's 7:00 pm on the evening of June 1st, and is a 3.5 mile race/run. There's traditionally a big party/picnic on the evening of the race, and apparently we'll have a tent set up and have a big party after the race is over. Sandy will be working that night, so I'll probably bring the kids. There'll probably be a few other kids there as well.

I'm the only one at the company really training right now, so I'll be the only one really racing. We have three men so far committed to run, and the race requires either:

1. a four-man team;
2. a four-woman team; OR
3. a two-man, two-woman team.

So, we need either another man or two women. Or both would be acceptable.

Easter

I got out this morning (just barely this morning--so much for getting out early) for a nice easy run. It's a little cool today, but may warm up later.

Over the past few weeks, I've been realizing the extent to which religions can co-exist in this town. Within very easy running distance are a Unitarian church, 3 Synagogues, 3 Roman Catholic churches (and my old high school, which contains a chapel), an Episcopal church, an Assembly of God church, a LDS church, 2 Presbyterian churches and the Islamic Center of Rochester. In addition, there's an Orthodox Catholic Church, another Presbyterian church, another Roman Catholic church, a Methodist church, a Baptist church, another Episcopal church and a couple of Buddhist centers a little farther out. There's no public conflict or denunciation or (open) intolerance based on religion, at least in the immediate area around here. After observing some intolerance in the past, I'm glad to be living in this small, tolerant place.

Did it again

Once again, I missed a day posting. It's been pretty busy around here--my father-in-law is home from the hospital, and my wife is spending half her time at his house, and the other half here.

I accidentally ran about a mile farther than I had intended to yesterday. I said to my wife that runners can go a mile too far by accident, but most others can't.

Today I took it easy and ran late in the day. Got my taxes out this morning, and then went to the high school parking lot with Oed for a little bike riding.

I'm planning on getting out a little early tomorrow, but the best laid plans...

skipped a day

Not that I spent a day skipping, but I never got a chance to post yesterday. I did get out for a run yesterday, mainly because I had the day off. It was a beautiful day, but I had to spend most of it tied to a chair.

I spent the morning having my taxes done. Since the return has to be postmarked by the 17th (the 15th is a holiday in Massachusetts, where my return would be mailed), obviously I waited until the last minute for this. Why? My wife spent the year last year self-employed, and I was pretty sure we had underestimated her "estimated tax" payments. I was right. I've changed my withholding for this year, but we're paying a pretty fair amount to the Feds and the State of New York.

I spent most of the afternoon in the house. My father-in-law had a heart attack (his 4th) last week, and was expected to go home yesterday. I spent the afternoon waiting for the kids to get home and a couple of hours in the backyard with Oed before getting inside to make dinner.

This morning, I was back on track at 5am. Beautiful weather, it was 53° when I left the house. I felt good, but took it easy on the pace, keeping it around 8:00. Very few runners out at that hour, they are mostly out around 7am.

Better

Better this morning. I took it easy, didn't try to push the pace at all. I didn't want another leg cramp. I didn't have any cramps or pain, and finished nice and easy.

It was beautiful this morning, at 5am the temp was into the mid-40s, with no wind at all. I got out in shorts again. I'm looking into health club memberships-I want to start doing some weight training again. I haven't had a membership in one since I left Atlanta. The Jewish Community Center is pretty close to my house (you don't have to be Jewish to be a member), and has some pretty good facilities, so I may look into a family membership there. The downtown Y is also a choice, since it's on my bus route into work. It's kind of expensive for a YMCA, though, so I'll have to see what I can get.

Ouch.

This morning, between 1.5 and 2 miles, my left calf muscle tightened up. All at once, and not a gradual thing, partway up a long gradual uphill, it just didn't want to go any farther. I had to stop and stretch, and then walk for a bit, and it loosened up enough to start jogging again. I finished 3 miles at a slow jog, and I don't even want to know how long it took me to get back.

Nice relaxed morning

The weather has warmed up again--temps in the high 40s. I got back out for a nice, easy 4 miles in shorts! I did have to wear a long-sleeved shirt, but wearing shorts was great. I imagine that the 5am runs will still require the running tights, but I'm hoping that the warming trend keeps up for the next few months.

I'll be taking Oed over the the soccer fields today to kick the ball around for a while, then he'll probably be riding his bike for a while. We have to go to a parking lot for him to ride, since we live on a main arterial road, but he enjoyus riding around a lot.

Cold Race Day

Race day was cold. Around 30°, and not a dry kind of cold, but that high humidity, dank coldness that goes through to the bone. I had considered running in shorts today, but changed my mind when I got to the race.

the race was a 5k, with the first 1.25 miles on a road, and the rest of the race on the Erie Canal towpath. Nice and flat, fast, mostly gravel with some asphalt.

I went out too fast. My first mile was in 6:00. I had been planning to run this race as a training run--finish in about 24:00, keep the pace nice and steady. Electra, who went with me to the race, told me I wouldn't be able to do it, that I would get too competitive (she's seen me race before), and she was right. My friend Andy passed me at the mile point. Last year at this same race, I beat him by about 5 seconds. This year, I didn't catch him after he passed me.

I'm not sure what my second mile was in, because mile 2 was not marked. There was a water stop on the canal towpath, but I think it was closer to 2.5k than to 2 miles. They weren't giving out too many bottles of water today. I think maybe a coffee stop might have been better.

I finished the race in 21:32, too fast. Not many people say that about their races, but I really wanted to run this as a training run, and not as a race. My average pace was under 7:00, but removing that first mile, it works out to around 8:00/mile, so it appears that the shock of seeing a 6:00 mile settled me down into the pace I wanted to run for today.

Andy finished about 45 seconds ahead of me, and there were four people in our (45-49) age group that finished in the age group. I'm not sure what my place in the race overall was, but I was eleventh in our age group.

This race would not have been a good one for a slower (9:00/mile) runner. the sheriff's car which was supposed to do traffic control for the first 1.25 miles never showed up. After waiting nearly ten minutes for the deputy to arrive, the race director decied to go ahead with the race. Course marshals did a pretty good job of keeping cars back, but they have no legal authority, and a few people ignored them. I saw one man a the race today who is a 12:00+ miler, and I'm sure that the course marshals couldn't hold the traffic back by that point.

There's another 5K race in April that runs in roughly the same area, and I'm considering runing that one. I may not, though. roughly half of the first mile is uphill, with some flat stretches. The rest of the raceis flat, like a tabletop, until about 2.5 miles, then downhill and up one more short uphill to the finish.

Warming back up

Temps are on the irse again--we're supposed to get into the 60s next week. I'll settle for no more snow at this point. I suppose I got spoiled spending those years in Georgia--spring was the most beautiful, comfortable time of year there, and I'm sure that the dogwoods in our old side yard are in bloom.

I got out for four miles this morning. The weather was nice, temps in the high 30s, no wind, no rain, no snow. Looks like a good race Saturday.

Springtime in Rochester

....and the snow is wet. We got some snow last night, but none of it stuck. It started out as rain last night, then got thicker until it was wet, heavy snowflakes which melted as soon as they hit the ground. The roads were clean this morning, although they were icy in spots. I'm feeling pretty good--Electra wants to come with me to the race this Saturday, so we'll be getting up early and going out for breakfast beforehand. She's got a digital camera, so we may have some pictures from the race.

Looking for a "mercurial" pun

Quick and changeable in temperament; volatile: a mercurial nature.
--The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

The weather yesterday was gorgeous--the temperature went up to 64° and it was sunny all day. Last night it was supposed to snow. I don't know if it did; the temp was 35° when I went out to run this morning, but we're supposed to have mixed rain and snow for the next two days.

There's a race this weekend that I have to run. The race course goes down a road less than a mile from the house I grew up in (and where my parents still live), turns around and goes back on the Erie Canal Towpath, where I did a good deal of my high school running. It's a nice flat, fast course, and it should be a lot offun.

The race

When I woke up Saturday, the temperature was in the high 40s, with a strong wind and very heavy rain. I almost decided right then to blow off the race, but a little later the rain stopped and the clouds cleared up. I decided to go ahead with it. When I left the house, it was 53° and calm. Of course, by the time I got to the park, the temperature there had dropped more than 10° and a light rain had started. So, it was a generally uncomfortable morning, and I had shown up in shorts and a t-shirt.

The course was slightly hilly, kind of a rolling course, through the middle of Mendon Ponds Park. The race itself is an old-fashioned one, with no chip timing, no bands, not even a finish chute--place is determined by tearing off the bottom of your number and putting it on a safety pin. A step back to the days of the "popsicle stick" races of my youth. After the race, at the awards ceremony, prizes were handed out. The race was sponsored by Viagra, so the prizes were very funny.

the men's winner got a viagra wall clock. The women's winner got a large basket of chocolate. When it was awarded, one of the women in the crowd called out "that's defeating the purpose!" Further awards weregiven out, including two hospital gown-type smocks in blue with the Viagra logo. Sadly, next year, generic Viagra will be available, so the items will probably not be available. A different sponsor will have to be lined up.

My time in the race was 22:14, which wos good enough to put me in 7th or 8th place overall. I'm not sure of my place, because I lost count of the people ahead of me in the last half-mile. I've been looking for pictures and results, which were supposed to be online within a few hours of the end of the race, but I haven't found them yet.

Leaving the park after the race, I noticed the first signs of a migraine. I hadn't had one in at least 5 years,but when it hit, it wasn't really too bad. I got home before the headache hit, so it wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure that it didn't have anything to do with running, though. Running today, I didn't have any problems.

UPDATE:

I found the pictures of the race. Here are two pics of me in the race. (I'm the bearded fella Number 748)



In the first half mile.



After the halfway point in the race.

Relaxed and Easy

A nice, relaxed morning--I felt good enough afterward to run across the street after getting off the bus on my way in to work this morning. The stiffness is beginning to go away, or at least to lessen. It doesn't take as long to get loosened up in the morning and it's not as tough getting out of bed. The walking appears to be helping a bit--I'm walking in the evenings and running in the mornings. It was a nice morning, temps in the high 20s-low 30s. I expect it to be into the 40s at 5am very soon.

I'm not looking forward to daylight time, since it's just starting to be light out before 6am. Starting Sunday it will get light an hour later.

Another beautiful day

It was another beautiful day this morning. No sun at 5:00 am, but a nice still morning. The temperature is still hovering in the low 30s at that hour, but during the day, it soars into the 50s. We're supposed to get rain this weekend, but the temps will be in the 50s and 60s.

I'm feeling less stiff in the morning, and it's easier to get started. Not that it's easy, by any stretch of the imagination--5am is a horrible time to exercise, but it's the only time of day I have available.

My wife just got a new job, and she'll be working 3-11 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, so our evenings will be shot, along with weekends. This week we will be rearranging our lives and our house to accomodate the new schedule. She was originally supposed to be on Sunday through Thursday, which would be much better for us, but there's a chance she'll be able to change her work schedule later.

Beautiful morning

It was a great morning today, the temps were in the low 30s, but the air was still.

My daughter made a banner for me, but in adding it to the page, we discovered that the layout with the banner requires a minimum resolution of 1280x720. We added it to the page at about 11:30 last night, so of course we're waiting until I get home tonight to make the necessary changes to make it appear properly on lower resolutions.

Oops.

I haven't entered the race this weekend, but I'm still planning on racing. I'll just have to pay the higher entry fee for the "late entry."

UPDATE

I believe I have fixed the formatting problem, but any resolution smaller than 1280x720 means that the sidebar extends off the page to the right. We'll work on straightening that out tonight.

Springtime is here

Great morning today! I went 4 miles in about 30 minutes and felt great the whole way. The temperature was around 48° when I started and is now 50°. I ran in shorts for the first time in a long time, and it felt great. I'm looking forward to the racing season.

Springtime is here

Spring might just be here. The temp was 39° when I started today, and was about 41° when I finished. It's rainy, but it's that misty kind of rain that keeps everything moist. The weather is supposed to be in the 40s allw eek, and possibly into the 50s.

Got out this morning (actually, it was almost noon--that's still morning, though) for a nice easy run. Between 7:30 and 8:00 pace the whole way. Felt pretty good--I avoided all of the major hills on the way and took it as easy as I could on the smaller hills. The downhills, I relaxed and took at an easy, but fast, clip.

Afterwards, I got Oed outside and we played soccer at the high school across the street. After playing soccer for a while, we walked around while I explained the field events to him. He had seen the shot and disc circles and wanted to know what they were for. He was particularly interested in the javelin.

Tomorrow, I plan to run the same route as today, but hopefully a little bit earlier in the day.

Sandy losing her job couldn't have come--well, I don't want to say it couldn't have come at a better time, because it's never a good thing, but at least we've got savings now. If it had happened when we were in Georgia, we would have been SOL. At the time we were "mortgage poor" and the flat housing market meant that we had almost no equity in the house. Now, even though we are renting, things look much better financially.

Is spring here?

The temperature was above freezing (33°) today, with no wind at all. It's supposed toget into the high 40s or 50s next week. I won't be holding my breath, though, since I've seen major snowstorms as late as early May.

Got out for a nice run early in the morning--started at 5am. I've re-measured most of my routes, and they should be more accurate now.

Snowy

Another snowy morning, with small, soft flakes blowing gently around. It was around 27° this morning, and quiet. Hardly any traffic, which is unusual in my area. A major highway, near an intersection called "Twelve Corners" usually gets traffic 24/7, but not this morning. 12 Corners was deserted this morning. The only sounds were the sound of my feet on the road and the quacking of the ducks on the creek. I discovered that one of my loops is approximately 0.2 miles short of what i thought it was. Have to adjust the loop to add a little distance. That shouldn't be too hard, though.


I had a "senior moment" this morning. I take a multivitamin every morning. After showering and shaving this morning, I couldn't remember whether I'd taken one today or not. I looked into the bathroom cup, and the bottom had some water, but for the life of me, I could not remember having taken the pill. Maybe I need a checklist on the bathroom wall.


This guy makes me feel slow. He manages to walk 10,000 meters in 38:44 on the track.


On the home front, my wife lost her job about a week ago. Well, technically, she didn't lose her job, since she's self-employed (Memo to self: "You're fired."), but her one and only customer doesn't have enough work to go around any more, and the employees get priority over the contractors. She's been looking for work, and may have a new job (employee status) soon. This comes hard on the heels of our new computer purchase. December 31 (2005 business expense), we bought a new computer for her to use for her job. Now, that job dries up.

Another chilly one.

It was another cool morning, temp around 23°, but almost no wind. Sunday was to be my scheduled rest day, and I had things set up to run yesterday morning, but I didn't get to bed until stupid o'clock, and when the alarm went off at insane o'clock, I just decided to go back to sleep. It was a good run this morning, I felt good, relaxed and loose.

The tightness has been my biggest problem. For some reason, it's been worse since I got back from SI. Maybe all the walking I did there(I didn't have a car, and lived roughly a mile from the nearest train station) kept my old legs limber. Maybe I should go back to walking more than a mile every day.

I'm signing up for the over-40 race on the 1st of April. I just printed out the entry blank yesterday, and got a laugh at the logo at the top of the form. It shows a football going through a tire swing as the letter "O".

Wintry morning

Without the snow. It was 29° when I started my run this morning. I, stupidly, left my gloves at home. It was so sunny that I decided to forego the gloves and hat. The hat was unnecessary, but my fingers regretted my decision to leave the gloves behind. I went another 3 miles today, finishing in just under 20:00. My stupid competitive urge kicked in on me, and every time I saw someone running, I picked up the pace without realizing it. Several times during my run, I found myself going much faster than I had wanted to. Maybe I should stick to the early morning (5am) runs until I'm ready for these faster paces.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We're having a party at work today--I guess it's required when your staff (30 people) includes 3 O'Sullivans, 2 Garveys, 2 Kinsellas, a Byrne and a Mannion. It's pretty much expected by our customers that we'll have some sort of party in the office today.

I got out for an easy 3 miler this morning. I forgot to start my watch at the beginning of the run, but I passed a digital clock less than 100 feet from my starting point. My finishing point was more than half a mile away, though, so I had to estimate. Judging by the difference between my watch and the clock, a comfortable training pace for me is around 7:00-7:30 right now. This is the time to increase my distance, so I'll be gradually cranking that up, just a little bit at a time. I've either been injured or recovering from an injury for since last May (not that it always kept me from racing), and I don't want to cause any more injuries.

Icy.

The footing this morning was treacherous. Everything was coated in ice, and I slipped several times while I was out. Feeling pretty good, though--my AT is feeling good. Again, it was a little stiff when I got out of bed, but loosened up pretty quickly. The wind was not as bad as yesterday, but it was still a pretty strong breeze. My last half mile or so was straight into the wind. I'm pretty close to a range of hills (actually a terminal moraine) that blocks most of the wind, but today the wind was coming directly from the south (an unusual direction), so there was no hope of any shelter from the hills.

A little more snow is due over the weekend, then next week is supposed to be 30s and rainy. I'd rather have snow than cold rain.

Paybacks

Winter's not over. Not even close. This morning, the temp was only around 40°, but the wind was above 20 mph, with guste as high as 40. That means the weather is changing. We're getting a snowstorm over the next two days--it's currently in Michigan and heading our way. More snow later in the week.

Got out early this morning. A little stiff, but I warmed up, and before long I was comfortable and relaxed. The wind this morning produced a strange effect. I was running through a neighborhood built in the 1950s-60s, so the trees are younger and the houses farther apart. I expected to be fighting the wind the whole way, particularly since I was running on a nice straight road running through the area, and the wind should have been blowing straight down that road. As I ran down the street, I could hear wind chimes being blown around violently, while on the road, no wind was blowing.

I'm thinking about entering a race on April 1 which is limited to people over 40. A nice little 5k, with a small field might be just the thing.

I Guess Winter's Over

The temperature today was in the mid 60s for most of the day. I got out at around 4pm for a run and it was 62°. No more snow, ice or slush. Oh wait--next week we're supposed to get more snow. That's the beauty of Rochester weather. You literally never know what to expect.

We all went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Downtown Rochester today. My heritage is Irish (immigrant grandparents) and my wife's is English and French Canadian (immigrant mother).

An amusing story: Once many years ago, before children, we were in Toronto in a small restaurant, and I noticed my wife staring at some guy--discreetly, so nobody would notice--with a puzzled look on her face. She said "I know I've seen that face before, I just can't place it." I looked at the guy, and said "I know where you've seen it before--in the mirror." This guy could have been her twin brother separated at birth.

I didn't get into the race today--my AT wasn't really ready for it. I can't run a race slow and easy. I have to run it as a race. It'll be around mid-May, I think, when I race again.

You call this a winter?

It was 57° this morning at 5:00 AM! Why, I remember March of '99 when it was 7 below!

Anyway, I got out this morning for my longest run since I hurt my knee. I got out of bed, and my AT was tight and sore. I almost went back to bed, thinking "Another rest day and it'll be fine." then I thought "I can at least jog around the block." When I got out, my AT started to loosen up, I felt better and decided to lengthen the run a bit. I felt even better the farther I got and by the time I finished, I felt great. I was very careful to stretch after I finished, to keep from tightnening back up.

The St. Patrick's Day Race is tomorrow. I'm not ready for it. Electra's 8th grade english teacher will be racing tomorrow, though.

She's started running with me again in the evenings. I think she'd like to run cross-country, and maybe track.

Dark.

One of the darkest mornings I've run in a while. I couldn't really see the road at some points. There didn't seem to be a moon, and there were no clouds. Even the neighborhoods I ran through seemed to have shut off the streetlights. If it weren't for a few houses with lights on, I would have thought the power had gone out.

Part of my route this morning was along a main thoroughfare which is currently under construction (supposedly we have two seasons--winter and construction, but constuction season is actually 12 months long). I could barely see my feet (extremely dark along there)while I was running, so I had to take it very very slowly in order to avoid stepping in a hole or going off the road. The cars with the highbeams on didn't help matters, since after they passed, I was completely blind.

A friend who is a cyclist (he used to cycle the C&O Canal Trail regularly, before he bacame a father) has asked me to race in a duathlon with him. The running portion of the race is 5 miles (two 2.5 mile legs) so it's a very short race. The race comes up on May 13th, so I've got to get serious about it. The race is in Lewiston, and the cycling leg seems to run right along the Niagara River. The running legs appear to be around the Village of Lewiston.

We raced together for a few years (before I moved to Atlanta) at a small race in Batavia which put on a pretty good party after the race was over, but it seems that the race in Batavia is gone forever. Sorry to see it go.

Nice day

Got out for a couple easy miles this morning. Temp in the high 20s, rising to about 34°F by the time I finished. My Achilles started tightening up near the beginning, but by the tim I reached the mile point, it was nice and loose, and didn't give me any trouble after that. Hasn't given me any more trouble all day.

Oed and I walked up to the library and got a couple of books out. I had a couple of overdues (four, actually), so it cost me $6.00 to redeem myself.We had a nice walk there and back. He always surprises me--today he wanted to talk about fractions. So, after a nice little talk about thirds, fourths and fifths, we came home and read our books. Captain Underpants is very big with him right now, along with David MacAulay.

Another cold one

Another cold morning, all of the thermometers agree; is was 23°F outside this morning. No wind, though, a nice calm morning. The good thing is that I'm actually able to get out early in the morning without pain. Take it easy, don't push it, don't try to do too much too fast.

Racing is off the table for the month of March, at least. I'll be looking for short (5K) races in April.

I have been taken to task for leaving my glasses around the house. Not only that, but I occasionally lose my glasses. In my defense, I have been wearing glasses for all of three months, and had 45 years before htat in which I never wore glasses, so I'm just getting used to the idea of glasses.

Easy Morning

I got out this AM for an easy run--temp was below 10°F (3 different thermometers gave 3 different temps, but they were all below 10°) with small, gritty snow flying. Lucky my route this morning took me into an area sheltered by trees so the wind wasn't really a factor. Old neighborhoods with 70-year old houses and 90-year old trees make for nice, sheltered running.

I got in a little extra running this morning. I walked out of the house, crossed the street, and reached into my shirt pocket, where I keep my bus pass. No bus pass. I ran back to the house, up the stairs, and started rummaging around on my nightstand. No bus pass. My wife says "Here, take some cash," and hands me some money. As I put it into my pants pocket, guess what I found?

So I ended up running for the bus this morning. Nothing like a little speed work to start your morning commute.


Sledding was a lot of fun.



It's a long hill, with trees at the bottom. More than once, I got bounced off the sled near the bottom of the hill. Oed thought that was hilarious every time it happened.

After the sledding, we went for a walk through the park, throwing sticks into the creek, looking at the swamp, accidentally scaring some ducks. We're supposed to have snow all week, except Thursday, when the temp will be in the 30s. I hope the snow doesn't all melt so we can get back out next weekend.

Winter cross training

Today will be a cross training day.

I actually got out this morning for a couple of miles in the snow and wind. The temp was about 15°, and the wind wasn't too bad. I think I'm becoming re-acclimated to the winters.

This afternoon, I'm taking Oed out for an afternoon of sledding. That counts as cross-training in my book.

Winter's Here!

Snowy, chilly morning today. The temp was around 24° with snow and wind--the wind chill was around 10°. The first half of my last mise was straight into the wind--glad it was on a residential street, since I could only see about 5 feet in front of me, keeping my eyes on the ground.

I have been less interested in the current Olympic Games than just about any previous games. Why? It seems like every time I turn on the TV, it's figure skating. Now, I understand that figure skaters are great athletes, but I'm just not interested in figure skating. When figure skating is on, I turn off the TV. I haven't seen a single ski jump (and, for the record, I think women should be allowed to compete in the ski jump) and only a little cross-country skiing. I've enjoyed the speed skating, but I haven't seen any hockey, and almost no downhill skiing.

Cold morning

I got out for a quick run this morning. Almost stayed in bed--it would have been very easy to just roll over and sleep some more. The temp was around 20 degrees. Still no snow on the ground, although we had some falling most of the day yesterday.

One of my co-workers is from Virginia, and detests snow. We all have a good time pointing out to her when it's snowing outside.

The St. Patrick's Day run is probably a no-go for me this year. I'm not ready yet, after the Achilles problems, and then the knee pain, with the race being only 18 days away, I don't think I'll be ready. April--got to look for a race in April to start the race season.

Running for the Bus

That was all the running I did this morning. I overslept, and got out of bed about 15 minutes before I had to be at the bus stop. The bus runs a little bit early (about 3 minutes) this week, since there's so little traffic, so I had to get to the stop a little early.

I'm having a good week so far--yesterday, my wife and I locked the keys in the car while it was running. That's the first time we've ever locked the keys in the car, and we've had power door locks for oh, about 12 years, so I guess we're ahead of the game.

rotten weather

Got out this morning for a quick run. Temp around 10 degrees, wind out of the west, still strong, but nothing like the winds on Friday. They topped out at 77 mph. Over in Buffalo, the winds caused some lakeshore flooding--the wind just blew the water up onto the shore.

This weather right now is the worst kind of winter weather. It's cold out, cold enough to keep you inside most of the time, but we haven't had any snow to speak of. You can still see the grass through the snow. That means no sledding, no cross-country skiing (not that I know where my skis are, these days), in short, no winter activities. The kids stay inside. The parents go crazy. Fortunately for me, I will be leaving for work tomorrow. The kids have the week off for winter break. Fortunately, we've gotten to know several people in the area who have kids, so Oed will have something to do. Unfortunately, most of Electra's friends are going out of town for the week. Restless teenager at home.

Update:

Glad I got out when I did this morning. The wind was just starting to pick up when I finished. While I was walking to the bus this morning (about 1/4 mile) I was picked up off my feet by the wind a couple of times.





This is where I catch the bus. Those traffic lights in the background are hanging from galvanized pipes rather than cables. The traffic lights were being blown horizontal by the wind gusts. The top wind speed recorded so far today is just about 60 mph. We only have about 11 hours of the High Wind Warning left today.

10:00 AM: Even better, now. The snow has started, although it doesn't look like we'll get any accumulation at all. Pieces of the building where I work are now falling off. The fire department has closed one street and two entrances to the building.



It looks like a very uncomfortable evening commute is ahead of me.

Early morning run

I got out for an early morning run this morning. The weather has been incredibly warm this week--the temp today was in the high 50s. I don't think we've had a single day this winter with the temperature in the single digits. And hardly any snow. I was hoping Oed and I could go sledding this weekend, but all of the snow is gone.

It was rainy while I was out this morning. I could have gone in shorts this morning, but I get out my running clothes the night before, and I got out the tights last night, so tights it was this morning.

I just may run in the St. Patrick's Day race next month.

Hey, two!

Two posts, without long gaps in between!

Got out this morning at 5 am. I think I'll start posting that early just to be sure that I'll get my post in after a run. The roads were slick--a very thin layer of snow all over everything, just enough to make it annoying. Short steps, avoid the payloader (still wondering why a payloader with such a small amount of snow) and go for the bare pavement whenever possible.


Funny incident at work the other day:

My department, up until very recently, consisted of three guys, two of us in our 40's and the third not much younger. Our department was called "The Boys" because, let's face it, three guys together are going to act like boys. The department across the hall is all women, so of course, they are "The Girls."

Recently, two of "The Girls," A and B, transferred into our department, which means we have to stop acting like boys and start acting like men. Oh, well. "The Girls" have an office pool based on the "Survivor" show--I have no idea how it works, and I don't watch the show, so I'm clueless about the pool and the show. One day, a third woman, S, who's in her 20's, came into our department (I have the best coffee in the office) and was talking with A about the pool. Apparently, this time around, the Survivor teams were divided by age and sex (true?). S said that she likes the "old guys" because they seem to work harder, they seem nicer, etc., etc., etc. B comes up with "Now we know why you like coming over here..."

Holy sufferin' cats!

Has it really been that long since I posted? With my schedule at work and my family at home, I don't get a chance to update all that much. I run more than I update, though.

It has been sporadic, though--I was having a little Achilles Tendon difficulty, and then in January, I hurt my knee walking across the street in downtown Rochester. The knee is better, though--there wasn't any swelling and there isn't any more pain, so I've been running again, about every two to three days. Seems like every time I make a little progress, I get slapped back down.

This morning, I was out at about 5:00, and passed a town-owned payloader clearing the snow off the street. I don't think they really needed a payloader--the areas where he hadn't cleared yet had around an inch of snow, so a plow would really have been just fine.

Work's settling down a little bit--this is our slow season, so I've got a bit of time to get caught up with everything at home and at work.