Masters Running

1

Christmas 5K - Bay City, MI (Read 154 times)

    Summary 28:44 9:16/mi 50/71 OA 3/4 AG This is my 5th year for this race which is the first of a three race series at the same location each Dec, Jan, and Feb. When I left home, the temperature was about 10 degrees and we had had about a foot of snow the previous day. I was concerned as to whether the roads we run on would be plowed, and how well. On the way over, my car thermometer showed -2 degrees when I went through one low spot but was at 9 degrees when I got to the race. The route had a combination of conditions. There was a very little bit of bare pavement, most had been plowed but had a light layer of packed snow, one part had not been plowed but there had been a fair amount of traffic so there were tire tracks to run in, and a few places had an inch or two of loose snow, but only for a few steps at a time. As many others, I chose to wear my Yaks. I never felt in danger of falling, but did experience some slippage on push off in some parts of the course. From the start, my breathing felt harder than usual. I never looked at my Garmin during the race and just ran at a pace I thought I could sustain. Since I started near the back, I only had a few people pass me and was able to pass quite a few. I knew I was slow, but was a bit disappointed to see how slow when I crossed the finish line. I told myself what I tell my wife after a less than satisfactory run, "I suspect there are other 65 year olds out there that would have had more trouble and been slower than me". Oh well, that was what I had for that day. After the race, I continued the visiting with my friends that I had started before the race. Of note, our own Dave59 was at the race and we got to talk a bit both before and after the race. I reached a sort of milestone with this race as it brought my string of at least one race each calendar month to five years. Checking my Garmin after the race, showed my mile splits to be 8:53, 9:19, 9:14, and a pace of 8:35 for the last fraction. Seeing my friends and getting (questionable) bragging rights for running in less than desireable conditions and being of debatable sanity made it all worth while. TomS
      great job Tom!!! you get more than "questionable" bragging rights for racing in those conditions - sounds like you were amazing despite your pace not being what you'd like it to be!!

      denise

      stumpy77


      Trails are hard!

        Congrats on your continuing race streak. I guess if you run a race a month for 5 years, you do get a lot of chances to meet a whole bunch of people. sounds like the conditions that I ran in today, you were just a lot faster Wink

        Need a fast half for late fall.  Then I need to actually train for it.

         

          I reached a sort of milestone with this race as it brought my string of at least one race each calendar month to five years. TomS
          A race a month for 5 years......that's awesome, Tom. And congrats on the bronze AG placing!
          Quit being so damn serious! When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. "Ya just gotta let it go." OM
          Tramps


            "I suspect there are other 65 year olds out there that would have had more trouble and been slower than me".
            Now, there's an understatement! Nice running for 10-degrees! That's even chilly for me.

            Be safe. Be kind.

            dg.


              Tom, I say nice running too. cold, slippery, & whatever was causing your breathing difficulites.. I hope all is well. Congratulations on your 5 year accomplishment of a race a month. That is amazing!
              wildchild


              Carolyn

                Tom, nice job on the 5-year race streak. Running in the cold and snow is just slower than in IRC - you did great.

                I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.

                evanflein


                  I just don't race in the winter so this sounds like a great job to get out there in those conditions!