It'll be a cold day in ...

Oh my god, it was cold in Spokane this weekend. At the start of the race it was just above ZERO with the wind chill.

Two of my fellow Brooks team mates and I headed out of town after lunch on Friday, the pass wasn't too bad but there were over a dozen people in the ditch and when we passed Easton the WSP or DOT had just closed I-90 West bound for about two hours so they could clear the carnage of cars that were strewn everywhere without the fear of getting slid into themselves.




















We made it through with no problems thanks to the little black Kia and an expert ex-Zamboni driving Canadian. After getting all settled in four of us, Dan the speedy professor, Clark the class clown from the islands, Gordon the designated driver and myself went out for a big pre-race meal at the Outback. Afterwards we hung out in the upgraded suite that I negotiated at our hotel.




















The race didn't start until 11:30 so we had lots of time to kill Saturday Morning eating french toast and waffles in the lobby of our Hotel and telling stories and jokes and telling all the other teams how great Brooks is. When we got to race we all went out for a mile or so jog to warm up. I worked up a good sweat with my two coats, sweatpants, hat, and gloves, but my feet were frozen. Since this was just a 10k sprint I had to figure out what would feel right for the whole race. I think I needed just a little more because I was cold the entire race. Ultras are so much easier, you can shed your clothes when you get warm and put them back on if you feel the need.

After checking in with Steve, our fearless leader from Brooks, I pinned on my FOUR race numbers and Two timing chips, then after waiting forever, stripped down and headed out to the start. We started a couple minutes late and I was pretty much numb from the waist down by then because I never wear anything on my legs when I run. I might have to re-think that one next year.

I feel like I ran hard the whole way with about a 6:00 to a 6:30 m/m effort. I slowed from mile 3.5 to 4.5 but really started to kick it into gear after that. I passed 20-30 runners (mostly guys with a 60 on their back) in the last 2 miles.
My mile splits for the 2 3/4 laps were 6:34, 7:06, 7:10, 7:05, 7:06, 6:59, and then a 1:42 for the .27 miles at the end for a time of 43:43 that's a whole 53 seconds faster than my 10k split during my last marathon. At the end I bent over to take off the TWO timing chips they had us wear (one on each foot) and saw that my calf had been sliced open. Funny I never felt that happen. I guess I got spiked, but I didn't.


























The ice from my opposite shoe had sliced through the skin. My right shoe was covered in red ice and snow. I never felt a thing. Chalk one up for being numb! It did hurt later though. I had time to shower and bundle up before the start of the Open race. It felt colder at the 1:30 start. To stay warm I had to run from one side of the course to the other cheering them on and taking pictures as they passed.







It was a fun trip, next time I'll be more ready for the cold.



Next up the DumbAss 50k with about 15,000 feet of climbing over 5 loops.