Bold Moves
How cold is too cold to run? Well, apparently it is NOT 12 degrees because that was the temperature for the Gobbler Grind race start on Nov 24th! I dressed well, but it was still very cold! The race has gotten bigger each year and we were quite happy to huddle together at the start but very unhappy when they announced a start delay. Most of us were huddled on the road by 7:45 am for the 8:00 am start. At about 7:55 am they announced a race delay of 15 minutes. That really isn’t very long, unless you’re standing outside in freezing 12 degree weather! In that case, 15 minutes seems like an eternity! I thought about heading back to my truck to wait but then figured it wasn’t worth the walk. By the time we finally got started, my legs and feet were numb.
It is sort of surreal to run when you can’t really feel your legs or feet! I had decided prior to the race to run accordingly to how I felt rather than trying to hit a certain pace goal. With the KC Marathon only a month earlier and the very cold weather, I thought it best to let my body guide my effort level. Aside from my hands hurting quite a bit from the cold despite the UA gloves, the rest of my body was basically numb. As I approached the 2 mile mark, I was telling myself that it was a truly great decision to run the half instead of the full! I guess because of the 12 degree weather, my shoes felt like bricks. No cushion whatsoever. I wondered what the lower threshold was for shoe rubber to no longer be effective.
By the 3 mile mark my hands warmed up enough to stop hurting. My legs were no longer numb but my feet were still numb. I kept marveling at how weird that felt, until just past the 3 mile mark when my left shin started to hurt….a lot. I knew right away that it would get worse unless I corrected my stride. Ahhhhh, now the challenge. How to correct my stride when I can’t feel my feet? The pain continued and I did my best to ignore it. Just past mile 5 I started to regain feeling in my feet! I stretch out my stride a bit and focused on my foot strike. A mile later the shin pain went away.
The next challenge in the cold weather was getting the gel out of my flask. It was almost solid. I had considered just taking packets but in the past I’ve had real issues opening the packets when my hands are cold. So, instead I squeezed the gel flask with all my strength to get the gel to reluctantly ooze out. If I do another race in extreme cold weather I think I will have to get creative with the packets somehow. Maybe precut them a bit. On a positive note, my protein/electrolyte fluid mixture did not freeze.
I continued to let my body guide my pace. I was feeling pretty good despite the cold so I decided that if I still felt good by mile 9 that I would start pushing pace a little. Most of the course was on park trails but some of it was on the main roads, which was a nice change from the curvy and hilly trails. I picked up my pace at mile 10 but never looked at my Garmin except to check distance since there were no course mile markers. It was nice running by feel and not pushing for a goal time.
Even though I had warmed up enough to feel my feet again, I can honestly say that it never felt comfortable. I was still cold even though I was sweating! As we approached the last mile a guy behind me asked the course guide “How much further?” with pain in his voice. I glanced at my Garmin at about that time so I knew we had 1.1 miles to go. My legs were feeling heavy so I just focused on holding pace to the finish. I picked runners to catch and pass. There were many turns and switchbacks on this course and the finish was no exception. I wanted to finish strong but also watched my footing along the less than smooth blacktop trail with a sharp right turn to cross the finish line. I love the exhilaration of crossing a race finish line! It’s extra fun when you hear them call out your name; I never get tired of that!
I fnished with a time of 2:19:53, my third fastest time for a half-marathon. I am really happy with that given the hilly course and cold weather. My two faster race times were on flat courses and in much nicer weather. I might have been able to PR if I had pushed hard but I think I would have also risked injury so I’m satisfied with my race plan and the results. Not bad for my 7th half-marathon of the year!
So how cold is too cold to run? 12 degrees is my new benchmark so I guess for now, it’s anything below 12 degrees! I will say that I didn’t waste any time getting to my truck after the race, skipping the free hoagie sandwiches.
Every time I run a race I learn something new. That’s what I love about endurance running, there is always something to learn and new challenges to overcome. With each race I emerge stronger than before. Never Quit — Finish Strong!
