Race to the Rocker = BRRRRRRR
Oh my goodness was it cold this morning. The wind chill was 28 degrees...
That did not stop Linda and I from heading on up to Cuba anyway. We got there around 7:30 or so (packet pick up was at 8). We found the location with no problem and went to find the bathroom.
The wind was blowing right through all of our clothes! Freezing, overcast morning but at least it wasn't rain/snow/sleeting right???
Found the bathroom, got our packets and race bibs. I got my Volunteer form signed for school and we went back to the car to warm up. About 20 min before race time (which was 9) we got back out of the car and went to find a bathroom and warm up.
Lined up for the race between the 10 min pace sign and the 12 min pace sign.... We did NOT hear the starting gun, but when the masses moved forward we did too.... It's hard to describe what it felt like to jog in a group of people that large (570 something). Very quickly the pack thinned out, with the fast runners leaving us in the dust, and the walkers or walk/joggers lagging behind us.
I think we weren't even at a mile in when the lightening and thunder started up.... Nothing like running in the countryside in the freezing cold while lightening brightens up the day.
We maintained a pretty good pace (11 1/2 min mile for the first two miles) and just kept chugging along. There was a lot of laughing, talking and joking between runners. There were some kids who we kept playing leap frog with... We bypassed the first water station (around 1 1/2 mile I think) because we didn't want water. Kept going out into the countryside... I removed my hat and then shortly after that my gloves. Removing my jacket was trickier (I had pinned my bib to it... rookie mistake I'm sure) Ended up slipping my arms out of it, leaving the bottom part intact.
Shortly after we passed that blessed halfway point it began to sprinkle. It wasn't rain though, it was freezing rain. I had to laugh about that, I no sooner take off hat, gloves and coat that it starts to rain.
We just kept chugging along. There was another water stand, and we did get water from the cute little 4H girls at that point. We just kept going... slow and steady
Mile 3 came and went, lots of hills by this point... Then the sleet and ice started coming down in earnest. It was definitely cold, wet and nasty out there...
Just keep moving! This is what I kept telling myself, much warmer to jog then it would have been to walk....
At 52:15 Linda and I crossed the finish line.... It felt great! We didn't bother looking around just went straight for the tent with shelter (wet! so very, very wet!) We collected my race bag, our bottles of juice, water and snacks and hopped the bus back to the start point. We knew we had won nothing, but the feeling of accomplishment for having finished was more then enough for us both.
Halfway back to the start point Linda realized she had missed seeing the rocker, then I did too. We were right next to it... but so cold and wet we didn't even look :)
I'm sore and tired tonight, but no knee pain... I think the fatigue is really more from the meds and the sinus infection then from the run.
Good day... then we rushed home to have Karah's party which also went well...
13:04 average mile time... it's a place to start.
That did not stop Linda and I from heading on up to Cuba anyway. We got there around 7:30 or so (packet pick up was at 8). We found the location with no problem and went to find the bathroom.
The wind was blowing right through all of our clothes! Freezing, overcast morning but at least it wasn't rain/snow/sleeting right???
Found the bathroom, got our packets and race bibs. I got my Volunteer form signed for school and we went back to the car to warm up. About 20 min before race time (which was 9) we got back out of the car and went to find a bathroom and warm up.
Lined up for the race between the 10 min pace sign and the 12 min pace sign.... We did NOT hear the starting gun, but when the masses moved forward we did too.... It's hard to describe what it felt like to jog in a group of people that large (570 something). Very quickly the pack thinned out, with the fast runners leaving us in the dust, and the walkers or walk/joggers lagging behind us.
I think we weren't even at a mile in when the lightening and thunder started up.... Nothing like running in the countryside in the freezing cold while lightening brightens up the day.
We maintained a pretty good pace (11 1/2 min mile for the first two miles) and just kept chugging along. There was a lot of laughing, talking and joking between runners. There were some kids who we kept playing leap frog with... We bypassed the first water station (around 1 1/2 mile I think) because we didn't want water. Kept going out into the countryside... I removed my hat and then shortly after that my gloves. Removing my jacket was trickier (I had pinned my bib to it... rookie mistake I'm sure) Ended up slipping my arms out of it, leaving the bottom part intact.
Shortly after we passed that blessed halfway point it began to sprinkle. It wasn't rain though, it was freezing rain. I had to laugh about that, I no sooner take off hat, gloves and coat that it starts to rain.
We just kept chugging along. There was another water stand, and we did get water from the cute little 4H girls at that point. We just kept going... slow and steady
Mile 3 came and went, lots of hills by this point... Then the sleet and ice started coming down in earnest. It was definitely cold, wet and nasty out there...
Just keep moving! This is what I kept telling myself, much warmer to jog then it would have been to walk....
At 52:15 Linda and I crossed the finish line.... It felt great! We didn't bother looking around just went straight for the tent with shelter (wet! so very, very wet!) We collected my race bag, our bottles of juice, water and snacks and hopped the bus back to the start point. We knew we had won nothing, but the feeling of accomplishment for having finished was more then enough for us both.
Halfway back to the start point Linda realized she had missed seeing the rocker, then I did too. We were right next to it... but so cold and wet we didn't even look :)
I'm sore and tired tonight, but no knee pain... I think the fatigue is really more from the meds and the sinus infection then from the run.
Good day... then we rushed home to have Karah's party which also went well...
13:04 average mile time... it's a place to start.
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