Freezing at the Freezeroo!

"It's bad enough being miserable, but it is even worse when everyone else claims to be miserable, too." Eeyore.

A few days after coming down with the West Coast Virus (brought to NY by family from Portland), I decided maybe stopping running and sitting inside my house with a vaporizer, bottles of Mucinex, boxes of Kleenex and my warm sweat clothes on might be in order.

I don't like using sick days from work, at least not for being sick. I much prefer calling in sick when I'm really going on a fifty mile bike ride followed by five miles of running. This time, however, I was really sick and co-workers told me to stay away, so I did.  Cable television was not my savior. Even with 100 channels, or whatever it is, tv gets boring. How many DIY shows could I watch? Normally I feel inadequate after one handy show, but days of them? If I can pound a nail without striking my thumb it's a good project. Sports channels are another thing. I have several available, but they don't show much sport, it's all talking heads telling me about sports and gossip. I might as well watch Rona Barrett, the Hollywood gossip columnist.

By Friday I felt human again and decided maybe, just maybe, I would run a race I had pre-registered and paid for (unusual for this year). The first Freezeroo, a series of six winter races in the Rochester area, was being held just 8 miles away and was only a 5k. Even after five days of not running I could finish a 5k. Race morning came after a six inch snowfall the day before and twelve degrees. Almost 200 hardy souls showed up, and after a 2+ mile warmup I knew I could finish. It felt good to be outside breathing fresh air. MikeImnotreallyracingtoday Weinpress started next to me. I saw the back of his hat for half a mile, then I think we were in different time zones. EileenIwantmysnowshoes Weinpress also came to race.

Some runners flew over the snowy, icy, slick surfaced roads and bike path. I slow-danced the two-step, concentrating on not falling. MW ended up 4/18 in his age group, I was 7/18 (though 2 minutes behind Mike). Eileen, not in the series, at least not yet, would have been 5th in her age group. Next up is the New Year's Day 7.5 mile hilly race at Mendon Ponds. Here's one vote hoping for some bare pavement to race on.

Pineway Ponds Freezeroo

The first race in the GRTC Freezeroo series will again be at Pineway Ponds in Spencerport. Sal's, led by the infamous MikeI'msoworriedIneedScotchNow W. is leading the local volunteers in organizing the race. This is the 37th version of the race (I'm making this up). Really, though, years ago this course was used for PolarCat races before GRTC requested our help.

This is a five mile course and deceivingly harder than one might think. Many runners have insisted the course is long, but it was accurately wheeled and also Garminized. It isn't certified, but is accurate nonetheless. A course map is available at USATF. There are two small hills and a long, slight incline from 2.5-4 miles.

YellowJacket Racing will be timing the race, so expect results quickly. This year's weather looks great, for once we won't have an icy roadway within the park!

Spencerport Running Secrets II

This isn't too much of a secret, with 200+ people participating every December, but the Pineway Ponds 5 mile race (now a Freezeroo) is a nice run. The course has two minor hills and a gradual incline up Trimmer and part of Canal road that makes the fourth mile slower than you might expect.

The first Pineway Ponds races were directed by Bill Kehoe and the CATS athletic club. MW and I helped Bill measure and design the course, which originally went in the opposite direction of the current Freezeroo. Many of our Sal's members, as usual, volunteered for these races and/or ran them. Pineway Ponds replaced the 10k kick Canal Days race course.

For awhile Kehoe also had a 4+ mile winter race utilizing Pineway Ponds as part of his Polar Cats series.

The current course heads east on Park Road, left onto Union st, left onto Clearview Drive, right on Ritson, right on Sandstone, left on Union, left on Ogden Town Line road, left on Trimmer, left on Canal road, left on Union, left into park. Mike and I designed it this way to go against traffic, which we felt was safer, and made the intersections safe (as long as runners aren't stupid and run in the middle of road, as some choose to do).