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.