You need to factor weather conditions.
Was GR apt to run in any kind of weather?
On the day of December 11th, the temperature for Norwich steadily dropped through the course of the day from the mid to lower 30's Farenheit (1 to -1 C range).
Wunderground KNYNORWI6 (Norwich, NY) Weather Monitoring Station: Daily Summary for December 11, 2012
Add-on:
What was his normal routine at the YMCA? What did he normally do there, when he was there?
Let's assume he went there to swim... maybe he could have been training for a triathlon?
There's a lot to consider
Thanks for the weather info, Ace. I recall a while back, someone checked the Farmer's Almanac, which said the weather was in the upper 40's, lower 50's.
So, if the weather had dropped down to the lower 30's by the end of that day, it would explain lack of decomp.
Even though GR worked at home, it would be expected from IBM that he be logged in and working during normal working hours, to be available to other employees. Therefore, I would presume that he would usually do his runs in the morning or evening, which was also his usual routine at the Y.
It was mentioned in one of the articles that he left for the Y at the time that his wife was (supposedly) driving to Syracuse. So, if Jenn had left around 10:30, and it's a 1 1/2 hour drive, that would mean that he would have headed to the Y sometime between 10:30 and noon. If he were to have run to the Y from his home, it would take about an hour, so he would have arrived at the Y sometime between 11:30 AM and 1 PM. We do know that the staff at the Y said that it wasn't his usual time to be at the Y.
Now, this late morning run from home to the Y is apparently his alibi for that hour or so of time. But we've also figured out that within the same time frame, a drive could be made out to Center Road and back to the Plank Road Apartments.
So...he's supposed to be working, but for some unknown reason he decides to head out in the middle of the day for a run and workout. That's at least 2 or 3 hours of being AWOL from work.
As far as what GR DID at the Y -- I believe one article mentioned he headed there for a workout that day. And it was also mentioned that he encountered someone from LE in the sauna. So sauna (to get warmed up again, as it was mentioned that he was chilled) and then a workout of some sort.
I haven't heard anything about GR being a swimmer -- no mentions of competitions and no photos in FB.
When I hear the word workout -- to me that means working out with weights -- not sitting in a sauna or swimming. However, he had a pretty good gym setup at home (I think we got that info from CC). So...not so sure why he had to go to the Y to workout unless he just liked the socialization aspect, or because they had some equipment that he didn't have at home.