SalsMiles2

Not in Rochester, NY. Another weekend of not making it past 39 degrees, but we were lucky to have the sunshine instead of our usual cloudiness. On Friday Jan biked 60 miles and swam 1.5 miles. Saturday was a 14 mile run followed by 25 miles on the bike. Sunday was a 6.0 mile run with me on a fairly hilly course. Sunday evening was a feast of ham, mashed potatoes, corn and homemade cinnamon rolls (with wine, of course). The meteorologists predict one day this week that we will make it past 40 degrees. What a cold March we are having. We still have at least a foot of snow in our yard. Even Frosty the Snowman, our winter lawn decoration, couldn't take it anymore and broke in half.

After the race, MikeW, Lou, Jan and I went to a pub and each ordered a pint of Guinness. Just as the bartender handed them over, three flies buzzed down and landed in each of their pints. MikeW was disgusted, pushed his pint away and demanded another pint. Lou picked out the fly, shrugged, and took a long swallow. Jan reached into the glass, pinched the fly between her fingers and shook him while yelling, "Spit it out, ya bastard! Spit it out!" That's why I love that lady! Oh, and congratulations to MikeW for kicking my butt at the race. Mike ran a great race and beat me by over a minute.

"A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick. [Slang] ''He 's a dear little brick.'' --Thackeray. " "A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried, or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp." Or, in the case of triathletes, combining two of the activities into one workout. Yesterday Jan came home from work and did a mini-brick (mini is all relative depending on your goal race) of a 20 mile bike and 4 mile run. This type of workout gets you mentally prepped for the feeling in your legs come race time.

Saturday was a 5 mile race in downtown Rochester, Johnny's Runnin' Of the Green . Jan had a good race, finishing 8th/38 in her age group in 39:36. I finished 8/77 in my age group in 33:56. Unfortunately I got beat by Mike W. and Frank, who ran over a minute faster. On Sunday I ran 10 miles with Lou and Jennifer K. and Mike. Jan ran 10 later in the morning by herself. I biked for an hour and lifted weights, while Jan biked for 40+ miles. Monday, St. Patrick's Day, I biked in the morning before work and after work Jan and I went to SUNY Brockport and swam. It was great, with spring break at Brockport there was only one other person in the pool.

If anyone reading this blog is interested in a four-legged training partner, let me know. One of my daughters rescued a dog that had puppies. Aren't they so cute? Anyhow, really, let me know, post a reply, send an email, and soon you might have a loving, devoted friend to run with. They are Alabama dogs, so the summer heat and humidity of Rochester shouldn't bother them. Oh, they'll grow to about 50-60lbs.

A ridiculous amount of snow fell in Spencerport over the past two days. The storm ended after dumping at least 12" of snow plus some freezing rain. Storms like this always seem to occur around the time of our oldest daughter's birthday, but I'm sure there is no coincidence between these events. On Friday Jan biked 30 miles and ran five on the treadmill. Saturday was a 50 mile bike ride after running for 1.5 hours on snow filled roads. Sunday was a four mile run on the treadmill followed by a mile swim at SUNY Brockport. The pool was really warm, like bathwater. For awhile I thought I must have been swimming in one of those lakes in Florida that Augie talks about, except we didn't have to worry about snakes, snapping turtles or gators.

Click here to view a video on www.youtube.com for the women's 50-59 age group 200m snowshoe race at Paul Smiths College in the Adirondacks. The first 30 seconds or so are a bit shaky, then the race begins. Have the sound turned up. Eileen W. is in the middle lane and ends up finishing third in this heat. Her time was good enough for a Bronze medal once all the heats were completed.

In a story that is all over the newswires, 101 year old Buster Martin is training to run the London Marathon next month. This is a link to the ABC news article , which includes a video of Buster running. Buster's goal is amazing, though he doesn't seem that impressed by it. He just completed a 13.1 mile race in a little over 5 hours. Buster works a couple of days a week at a plumber's warehouse and does boxing 2-3 days a week in addition to his running routines. Buster also raised 17 children. He looks a little like Tom Hanks from the Castaway movie in this photo, or maybe when Hanks was running across country in Forrest Gump? Buster already owns world records for the 5k and 10k in his age group. Buster also likes to have a cigarette and beer, sometimes right after racing. Wait till the Sal's running group has a reunion on the Erie Canal in 40 years or so, now that will set a world's record. Maybe we can all finish the Rochester Marathon together?

It was the coldest morning of the year last Thursday in the Greater Rochester area. Zero degrees, not factoring in the wind chill. The snow crackled and crunched when it was stepped on. This was a morning Jan got up early to lift weights in our basement. I woke up to the clacking of the weights as Jan lowered them on the machine. With my flannel pajamas, heavy wool calf length socks and a thick bathrobe, I staggered down the stairs. The coffee was ready and I just had to pick up the newspaper from our sidewalk. As the storm door slammed behind me it was just four steps to the paper. The air took my breath away. I grabbed the door handle, it was stuck. I yanked hard, then harder. It wouldn't open. The g'damn door froze in less than four seconds. How was that possible? A quick look down the street, no one seemed to notice me outside, fortunately the morning running club had come and gone and the neighbors were warm and cozy in their homes. I yanked the door more with no luck. The...