I never look forward to cold weather. You could say I hate winter. I curse snow. I hate driving in it. I hate walking in it . I hate running in it.
But going into 2018, I had two races scheduled for January. And they were both very cold.
The first one was on New Year's Day. It was 8 degrees. I remember thinking it couldn't possibly be any colder for a race. I was wrong. My second race was -2. That's right. Negative Two!
Several years ago I had run a 7.5 mile race in 4 degree weather and thought about how cold that was. I didn't think I would have the opportunity (or rather bad fortune) to have another race that cold.
But one should never underestimate Ohio in the winter.
My first race was a 5k. Well, it actually was 3 miles. They said it was a 5k, but it wasn't. But that's ok because I was ready to be inside. And it was New Year's Day. This kind of sets my tone for the whole year. So I never miss running on New Year's Day. No matter what I did the night before.
My second race of January was a half marathon. In the days leading up to the race, it kept being extremely cold and snowing nearly every day (as well as ice). I was wishing... "ok, let's get this out of our system... please, Ohio weather?" and thought maybe when it's time for the race, it will be better.
But the day came and sure enough it was -2. The night before, I was thinking it would be maybe 0 or even as high as 5-10 degrees. But, like I said before, Ohio winters are unpredictable. I prepared an outfit that covered everything so that not an inch of skin would be exposed except for my eyes. I'm not a fan of sunglasses while running, though. I never have been for some reason. I put out my hat, fleece hood with built in balaclava, neck warmer, hand warmers, double layer of gloves, 2 shirts, 2 pants, 2 layers of socks, and a down jacket. Also I wore my trail shoes with velcro ankle covers that are often worn on the trails to prevent debris from going in one's shoes. I was worried about the previous week's 5 inches of snow possibly trying to get in and flood my shoes, making them more wet and uncomfortable. I had heard that some of the path had not been plowed and was preparing for that. Luckily, the race director provided us with updates on the condition of the trail, so I knew what to expect. I brought my own water and my belt, and put a dash of alcohol in to keep it from freezing. Usually I have had luck with that when the temps are below about 20 degrees F. I wasn't convinced the race water wouldn't freeze.
I had missed my previous week's long run, which was supposed to be 11 miles. I had the flu and had to pass on that run. So I was behind already with my training plan for the next marathon I'm doing in April. So this was going to happen. Even if I was fighting myself internally. I had skipped a few races ever. This was not going to be one of them.
When I got there, we did packet pickup that day because it was the only time to do packet pickup. Mainly the reason was that the weather was so bad the previous day that it was cancelled due to dangerous amounts of snow and ice. So I get there, go stand in line to get my number. I go back to the car after pickup. I'm thinking about how bad this must be for the race volunteers, and they deserve credit for coming here on a day like this when they are not even running. At least when you run, you generate heat. So, they were awesome to have showed up.
Sat in the car for a little while, emerged to do a last check of what facilities I needed before the start. Got to the start and already felt like my toes were going to fall off with frostbite. The run got underway. The trail had a mixture of ice and snow. I expected this, but didn't wear yaktracks only because there was a good bit of exposed pavement and sometimes when you wear those, your stride is different. You can injure yourself if you're using them on pavement. So I had my trail shoes, which worked out mostly pretty well.
The first mile or two I was thinking that I would really lose my toes. The main thought in my mind was how I would explain to people that I lost my toes to frostbite because I thought it was a good idea to run in sub zero temperatures. "Well, my dear grandchild, you see, one day I decided to run in the extreme cold and that's why this happened." The dominant thought stayed in this mindset... mixed with some other colorful language (basically variants of how much I hate Ohio and can't wait to move to California). I kept thinking about turning around, and then it occurred to me that 13.1 miles on the treadmill would totally suck, and I had to just power through. I visualized the monotony of staring at my basement wall for over 2 hours.
I came to the 3.5 mile turnaround (some people were running 3.5, some 8 miles, and some crazy ones like me running 13.1). I considered turning around. But then I thought "just make it to the 8 mile turn around and see how you feel"... Variants of the thought "Well, if you do 8 now, that's only 5ish to do on the treadmill" So I kept going. Some feeling was starting to return to my toes and I decided I wasn't going to lose them to frostbite after all.
The trail was really beautiful. It was a sunny day with a lot of snow on the trees and surrounding grass and fields. The water was frozen solid in most places. If I wasn't so cold, I would have taken more time to enjoy the scenery. But as it was, every time I slowed down, the cold started to overtake me so I realized I had to at least keep a decent pace. But I couldn't run my fastest. Every so often patch of ice would pop up, or there was ice hiding under the snow that I previously thought was safe and I'd skid for a second. Luckily, I did not fall (although I came close a few times). I kept the pace a steady 11 minute mile for most of it (walking some nearly impassable icy sections). This seemed to keep me warm enough but also keep me from falling.
Approached the 8 mile turn around and surprisingly I didn't want to turn around. I had gotten past that point where I felt I wouldn't make it. I had made it this far, I might as well continue to the half marathon turn around. And I knew I could get a taco and body armour drink at the finish. I wouldn't want to go home and run an additional 5 miles after eating a taco and drinking a large drink. At that point, I'd be in relaxation mode. My clothes would be wet and cold and I'd be out of the mood. So, might as well go all the way now. I knew that after I crossed the big bridge over the highway, that I was almost at the turn around, and sure enough, it came quicker than I thought.
Once I got to that point, I just settled in and carefully navigated the rest of the icy route. I had been listening to a book on tape the whole time, and that seemed to help me for this long run. I've listened to all sorts of intriguing books while running.
Finishing the run felt amazing. I could see the end point coming about a half mile away. There's nothing like completing something like this... a half marathon in the dead of winter on an ice and snow covered trail when it's -2 degrees F at race start. It makes you feel like you could pretty much run in any conditions. And I'm starting to realize I can. Except for a lightning storm or tornado. Better not try that. But rain, ok... snow... sure... -2 degrees... yeah, I can do it.
A few weeks previous I had the same fears when a friend had asked who wanted to undertake a 10 mile run together. This turned out to be a day of constant downpour. Not only was it a downpour, it was a 37 degree day with a downpour. I almost didn't do it. But something told me I just had to try it. It was even dark when we started. I arrived at her house thinking how this was a terrible idea. But I did it anyway. I had arrived, might as well do it. It went by faster than I expected. And I'm thinking of doing it again next week. Time to get past my limitations and realize they are just artificial barriers.
