So the race course is now a 1/4 marathon, or basically a 10K (10.25 to be exact). I find this somewhat disappointing as I've been mentally preparing for a big challenge. But deep down, like every other race I've ever done, I feel that I probably haven't trained as much as I should have to meet my goal of better than an 8:30 pace for the 13.1 miles, and it will probably be more enjoyable this way.
On the way home from work, I stop at the gym for a quick dip and stretch in the hot tub to loosen up a tight groin from hockey earlier in the week. Head home and have a healthy supper of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.
6:30 AM - Morning of the race. Alarm goes off and I only hit snooze once, then roll out and take a hot shower to wake up and warm the body up for the last time until after the race. The race starts at 9:00, and I need to drop off my son at the in-laws as my wife works nights and needs to go to bed when she gets home at 8:00 AM.
I eat some toast with peanut butter, with a small glass of milk, and another glass of grape juice. Son has his eggo waffles and we get dressed and head out the door.
7:30 AM - Arrive at the in-laws. Plans were to meet my brother-in-law there and I'd drive to the start of the race. Father-in-law offers to drop us off at the starting line. I decline at first, as I had some plans for after the race to meet some people at the Bulldog for some post race beers. He insists saying that I'll never find a parking spot. Not being in the mood to argue, I accept...at which point he heads downstairs to shower. Not in the playbook, and definitely not excited about his decision.
7:51 AM - Morning news reports a temperature of -11 degrees F, with a 10-15 mph wind out of the northwest.
8:00 AM - Original planned arrival time to the race. Actual time that my father-in-law turns off the shower.
8:10 AM - Habitually late brother-in-law strolls in.
8:15 AM - Actual time of departure from in-laws.
8:40 AM - Arrive at the race packet pick-up in the Securian building. No lines, swift pick-up and pin on the race bib without any snags.
8:45 AM - Head to an upper level of the Securian Building Atrium to get above the cold drafts to stretch lightly. I decide to buy a race t-shirt now, instead of after the race. I like the technical shirts that most races offer now, so I find it hard to pass them up.
Pull the shirt on over my under shirt, put my jacket back on and start the layer finalization.
8:52 AM - Race announcement stating 8 minutes until race time. I strap on my face covering (a small fleece scarf with velcro enclosures; I really like it!) and pull on the mittens.
8:54 AM - Start walking towards the door to head to the starting line. Surprised to see so many people staying inside until the last minute.
8:59 AM - Standing about 50 feet back from the starting line. Look around and notice the herd of people just starting to come out to the line. There's no way they'll line up in time.
9:00 AM - No gun. Race director decides to wait for the late-comers. My biggest pet peeve of mass races: waiting for people to line up. Especially when it's below zero. Everyone is starting to hop and shuffle trying to keep warm. I start to feel my toes go cold.
9:06 AM - Horn finally sounds for the start, and, of course, the accordion effect happens three times before we actually spread out and start running.
After crossing the starting line, we run about a block before approaching a steep downhill to Shepard Road. Because it's an out-and-back course, it's nice to see the monster that awaits us in the final quarter mile. Well, nice might not be the word I'm looking for...
View of the hill, looking out from the starting line to where the front of the pack drops off down the hill in front. Picture taken by my friend Jimmy:
The field spreads out very nicely within the first mile. Unlike most races, it seems like most everyone is calculating their pace accurately. Nobody sprinted all out at the start, and nobody seems to be dropping or passing noticeably.
Mile Marker 1 - Exactly 7:50 on my watch, and the pace is very comfortable. I notice that my toes are still cold, and my shoes seem very hard from the temperature. I occasionally curl my toes trying to get the blood flowing again. I chose to wear only one pair of socks, as I usually get blisters on my arches wearing any more. I begin to think that this may have been the only mistake in my attire.
Mile Marker 2 - There isn't a mile marker in sight, but judging from our pace I'm pretty sure of where it should be. I'm assuming a solid 8-minute pace, and the watch just turned 16:00. My toes actually warmed up, and I feel myself starting to sweat a little more. Overall, I feel pretty comfortable. The only skin that was exposed was the bridge of my nose and my eyelids, and those feel warm as well...except for the ice forming on my eyelashes. We were running west on Shepard road, therefore directly into the wind. The cold was causing my eyes to water a little, and the tears were freezing before they could even reach my cheeks. I didn't dare rub my eyes, so I just let the crystals form.
Mile Marker 3 - The race leaders pass us on their way back after the turn around. We clap, cheering them on. They look so cool and make each stride seem effortless. We can see the turn-around approaching, and veer to the left of the road so as to avoid the sweeping turn of everyone else. We confirm with each other that we're not stopping for water, so our move to the left was even more justified as the water stop was to the right. I notice a race volunteer throwing sand down after the water stop. It had already become an ice slick from spilled water. Solid ice about 3 feet wide and 20 feet long. Glad we moved left.
There aren't any mile markers for the remainder of the race. Because we were no longer running into the wind, I thought it should be okay to pull down my face covering to expose my nose and free up my airway a little. I decide to keep my mouth covered to keep my lungs from burning completely with the cold air. The fleece had frozen solid with frost, and I couldn't really move the scarf that much without taking it off completely.
We pass the turnaround for the 5K race, so that makes 1.5 miles left. Our pace has held steady, so we kicked it down just a little for the last mile.
As we approach the monster hill, many people just stop running to walk it. Nobody moves over, so we sidestep a few people and chug our way to the top. It actually felt steeper running down, and I was pleasantly surprised how good I felt on my tip toes running up. My calves were definitely burning when I reached the top, and I didn't feel up to exerting a kick to cross the finish.
The final block is always the best part of any running race. This one in particular, because there weren't more than 50 people along the rest of the course cheering...including volunteers. There were actually quite a few people cheering at the line, and the music was blaring. The race announcer was calling off names of people as they crossed the line. I'm not sure if mine was called or not, but I think I crossed with a small group of people, so I doubt it.
I waddle through the finish chute to get my timing chip clipped off of my shoe. There were about 6 or 7 people on the ground ready to clip, and they were spread out nicely so there wasn't any wait. I hate it when there's a back up of racers just steps from the finish line for something trivial like the race chips.
On a side note: the race chips used in this race were different from any I had ever used before. They were just like a small credit card (about half the size of a normal credit card) and had four holes so you could zip-tie them to your shoe. They were very convenient, and were a lot lighter than the normal circular magnets that I've used before.
My brother-in-law's phone goes off just after we cross, and it's my father-in-law calling to see where we're at. He can't hear himself talk as we're standing directly in front of the speakers, so to resolve the problem, he hands me the phone to talk to him, like I can hear better or something.
I utter something, still trying to catch my breath from the hill climb, and lean against a building to stop and talk and arrange a pick-up. We agree on a spot and I lean forward to start walking, but my hat and shoulder both froze to the marble facade of the Securian sky scraper. It was kind of funny, but I pulled off pretty easily and went inside to grab the post race goodies.
Upon entering, I start to unwrap some layers. I peel off my face covering, and it stays molded in the shape of my face. I turn it over, and my BIL immediately turns away. There's about an inch-long snotcicle hanging off of the mold of my nose. It was kind of awesome if you ask me.
I try to unzip my jacket, but all my zippers were frozen solid. We wander around the line, pick up our mugs and grab a few complimentary energy bars and bottles of water and head out to meet my FIL. He couldn't get any closer than a couple blocks from the finish due to the road being closed and one-ways, so we just decide to walk out to him.
While we're walking, I feel my hat and mittens refreeze. It felt a lot colder now that my heart rate had lowered, and I could really feel the wind biting through my jacket.
We find him parked illegally on the corner of a nearby intersection waiting for us. The warmth is refreshing. We head back to the in-laws place and my FIL makes us some excellent scrambled eggs and my son eats a PB&J with us for lunch.
I decide to change quick and run back up to downtown to meet a few people for a beer at the Bulldog, as my original plan could still be salvaged. I was delighted to find a free parking spot right on the street in downtown, just two blocks from the bar. My friends were there, and I enjoyed a delicious red beer (can't remember the name of it though, unfortunately).
I really enjoyed this race, and plan to do it again next year. It was very well organized, and could accomodate a much larger number of racers. It's a very nice route on a divided highway type of road, with a generally flat (except for the hill at the start/finish) and well taken care of road. Runners utilize both sides of the median, so it never feels crowded along the route at all. Not much scenery despite the fact that you follow the river. Had we run the full course, we would have gotten a little more of the riverside. But then again, it was pretty hard to see anything other than the road directly in front of my feet with ice covered eyelashes.
I'll post more photos soon.
Race summary:
Weather: Partly cloudy. -15 F official race temp. 10-15 mph wind.
Total distance: 10.25k (13.1 miles shortened to ~6.5 miles due to extreme weather)
Race time: 50:28
Race pace: 7:56
Place: 239 of 663
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