It was zero degrees when I got up this morning. What kind of weather is that for a 5k race? Why am I even doing 5k races when I'm trying to run 100 miles? It's all about speed. Without these races I would be tempted to do all long slow distances. So I put on 3 top layers, 2 bottom layers, gloves, smart wool socks, a hat, a bandana (i.e. snot rag) and headed for the race site. There were probably 100+ other crazy runners out there. We're standing there at the start trying to stay warm while this young man is giving us instructions. Right in the middle of his talk, he strips off his top down to his bare chest (remember it's single digit temps) and puts a tank top on to run in. That's crazy! Finally we start. There were these cards strewn along the path that you could collect to win a door prize. I did manage to stop long enough to scoop one up. Both my hands and my feet went numb early in the race. Then about halfway through my hands started to thaw and they burned! The pain was pretty intense, almost enough to make you cry. I stayed with a group of runners most of the way through the race. With about a mile to go the lady that always beats me starts to pull ahead. There are two women close in front of me. This guy pulls beside me and says "You can catch those two." and I say "She always beats me." He says, "Come on, I'll help you. She always beats me too." So we try to pick up the speed but then my quads are trying to cramp up. Now there is another woman behind me, who was on my tail. I'm like come on legs hang in there, but they really hurt. Eventually the guy pulls away, I'm pushing around the track for the finish and the woman behind me passes me. With my quads cramping I couldn't catch her. Finish time: 23:47, my second best time. I think I was in the top ten women. I got a Book-on-CD about natural cures for a door prize. The Garmin says my heart rate jumped up pretty high in the first mile then settled down into a more acceptable range. I think I need to start slower and finish faster!
After going to the bank and grocery store, I figure it's warm enough (in the teens by now) to do the rest of my scheduled run - I did another 10.4 miles for a total of 13.5 miles on the day. I ran from VA into WV and then back into VA! Two states in one run. My legs, hands and feet did fine on the longer run and I did it faster than I expected (10:13 avg. pace) so I was pleased. I actually got hot and had to start stripping layers. My hair did freeze as well as my water.
I used sport beans and hammer gel today.
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