![\"we're](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_sign-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_sign\\"")
we're here <\/p><\/div>\n
We get to the park and find a parking spot.\u00a0 I see lots of people mingling around and some with numbers on their backs so I knew we were at the right spot.\u00a0 I had never been here before so I’m looking around to see where the trail is and don’t see anything.\u00a0 Odd.\u00a0 I walk up to check in and everything is really sort of just covered in ice.<\/p>\n
Scott used the port-a-potty and upon leaving told me if I can hold it or wait, that would probably be best.\u00a0 Ewww.\u00a0 It was cold!\u00a0 So we decided to wait in the car for a bit till the race started.<\/p>\n
![\"waiting](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_keeping_warm-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_keeping_warm\\"")
waiting for the call <\/p><\/div>\n
I saw people starting to group over on the left side of the parking lot.\u00a0 I figured I should head out and join them.\u00a0 I was hopping around trying to keep warm and get blood flowing through my limbs.\u00a0 I had on:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Tights<\/li>\n
- Cold-weather running pants<\/li>\n
- Knee socks<\/li>\n
- Turtleneck wicking running shirt<\/li>\n
- Long sleeved shirt<\/li>\n
- Scarf<\/li>\n
- Cold-weather running jacket<\/li>\n
- Toboggan<\/li>\n
- 2 pairs of gloves<\/li>\n
- Yaktrax on shoes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It was cold cold.\u00a0 I’m still not sure at this point where the course is.\u00a0 I’m just sort of looking around and talking to folks but all the people I talked to had never done it before so I wasn’t getting any sort of info.<\/p>\n
![\"good](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_goodluck_kisses-225x300.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_goodluck_kisses\\"")
good luck!<\/p><\/div>\n
Good luck kisses right before they called us over for the start. Then a racer walked by and asked if he was just there to watch.\u00a0 We said yes and the guy said his wife told him to forget it, she wasn’t going.\u00a0 That stinks, I mean jeeze dress warm and you’re not out for too long.<\/p>\n
![\"5371](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc_01-31-09_race_at_start-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc_01-31-09_race_at_start\\"")
5371 reporting for duty <\/p><\/div>\n
We’re all sort of standing on this mound of snow as the guy explains the course to us.<\/p>\n
![\"telling](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_course_explaination-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_course_explaination\\"")
telling us where to go and how to get there<\/p><\/div>\n
As he’s explaining everything I’m totally lost.\u00a0 I don’t see anything but snow and am not seeing the land markers he’s telling us about.\u00a0 And I didn’t think that was the start.\u00a0 I thought we were just gathered there for the explanation and then we would walk over to the start somewhere.<\/p>\n
I was wrong.<\/p>\n
![\"oh](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_starting-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_starting\\"")
oh my<\/p><\/div>\n
That was the starting point.\u00a0 And we had to run through 6inches of snow.\u00a0 Now that might not seem like a big deal but I’m here to tell you that it sucks.<\/p>\n
I read the description of the race and knew it was going to be a trail race on pea gravel and then through a wooded section.\u00a0 They warned that there might be snow and the trail would not be cleared.\u00a0 I thought no big deal.\u00a0 You all know I run in snow and cold anyway, so I\u00a0 thought this was going to be nothing.\u00a0 For some reason it didn’t occur to me it would be as bad as it was.\u00a0 I figured it would be packed down snow, nothing worse than what I run on typically.<\/p>\n
Wow.\u00a0 It was not like that at all.\u00a0 We were the first to touch this snow.<\/p>\n
![\"first](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_half_point-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_half_point\\"")
first pass <\/p><\/div>\n
Coming up on the first pass by Scott.\u00a0 In order to make this a 5K, we had to do several loops.\u00a0 I’m really frustrated by this point.\u00a0 Running on this kind of snow is hard even with my yaktrax on.\u00a0 It’s hard to get a stable footing and there were several times throughout the race where I slipped and lost my balance.\u00a0 I did not fall, just slipped.\u00a0 There was no good alternative in terms of running paths.\u00a0 If you picked an area where no one ran, you’d be running through the entire 6inches of snow, so your feet got more wet along with your legs.\u00a0 Running where someone already ran was hard because of all the different kinds of impressions in the snow from previous people.\u00a0 You never had flat footing.<\/p>\n
![\"little](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_starting_hardpart-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_starting_hardpart\\"")
little did I know...<\/p><\/div>\n
Passed Scott and heading into what would be the hardest part of this race.\u00a0 As the guy explained the course he called this the woods of death.\u00a0 Lovely, no?\u00a0 By this point, and this was still pretty much the beginning, I was very frustrated.\u00a0 I thought I would be knocking out this easy 5K.\u00a0 Instead I’m working at a very slow pace, slower than a normal run.\u00a0 There was no sure footing, my thighs were killing me because when running in snow you have to lift your legs higher as opposed to just running a nice stride.\u00a0 My left hip was starting to fatigue a bit, I must have been putting more weight or pressure on it.\u00a0 And I have no idea where the end was.\u00a0 This was the spot where some people quit and walked off.\u00a0 Scott said a lot of people were frustrated and swearing and really angry.\u00a0 That was all news to me because I only knew what was in front of me and that was snow.<\/p>\n
We circled around and were running parallel to the woods.\u00a0 I thought if this was the woods of death it’s not any worse than what we were doing already.\u00a0 That’s when I noticed the chick standing ahead of me and directing people.\u00a0 She was directing us into the woods.<\/p>\n
Oh.<\/p>\n
I turned to go in and there was a dropoff before it leveled out and that dropoff had more snow.\u00a0 When I stepped down the snow came up to my thighs.\u00a0 Awesome.\u00a0 It finally evened out but there was more snow in the woods than outside.\u00a0 Maybe another 2 inches?<\/p>\n
The woods was the hardest part of the whole race.\u00a0 I’m not going to lie either, I had to walk that part.\u00a0 The path to run on was narrower and with more snow it was even harder to maintain balance.\u00a0 It was very twisty and turning in a different direction almost every third step, I just couldn’t run it.\u00a0 I was so pissed off.\u00a0 So I walked it.\u00a0 I tried to quicken my pace but only lost my balance.\u00a0 I didn’t want to risk twisting my ankle so I just walked it the best and as fast as I could safely.<\/p>\n
![\"out](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc0-01-31-09_race_woodsfree-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc0-01-31-09_race_woodsfree\\"")
out of the woods <\/p><\/div>\n
Once I was out of the woods, we were back on that same first loop we made.\u00a0 We ended up running this one loop twice.\u00a0 First at the start and then twice coming the other way.\u00a0 What sucks?\u00a0 Is when you’re doing this loop and people are passing you who are on the last loop and on their way to the finish line.\u00a0 Motivation killer right there.<\/p>\n
![\"keepgoingkeepgoingkeepgoing](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_pushing_through-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_pushing_through\\"")
keepgoingkeepgoingkeepgoing <\/p><\/div>\n
I got to a point where I just had to tell myself to keep going.\u00a0 There were two people behind me and my impression was that we were dead last.\u00a0 I was sort of irritated by that as well because I really didn’t want to come in dead last in my first race.\u00a0 But I didn’t let myself think about that too much or else I would just feel defeated.\u00a0 I was doing it and I was going to finish.\u00a0 I just had to keep going.<\/p>\n
![\"starting](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_keepgoing-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_keepgoing\\"")
starting the last loop <\/p><\/div>\n
Man I was tired.\u00a0 I thought for sure that the end had to be close.\u00a0 I had been running forever!\u00a0 We had to be getting near the end.\u00a0 And then I came up the mile marker saying we just finished two miles.<\/p>\n
Frack!\u00a0 That meant I had another mile to go!\u00a0 I may have cried a bit at this point but if I did, it didn’t last long.\u00a0 Just do it.\u00a0 Just do it, is what I kept telling myself.\u00a0 Get through it and get done.\u00a0 I’m not quitting my first race.\u00a0 But I will say it was at this point I knew I wouldn’t be running Sunday morning.
<\/p>\n![\"this](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_markers-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_markers\\"")
this way<\/p><\/div>\n
I never got lost because there were people directing us on where to go and there were markers all over the place.\u00a0 Truthfully my eyes were looking down most of the time at the path in front of me and so I could watch where I placed my foot.<\/p>\n
I coming up on the final loop and the guy told me to head in towards the finish.\u00a0 I saw people coming out of the woods and thought I might have to do this loop again and that about killed me.\u00a0 I asked him that and he said no, I was almost done, to head towards the stands.\u00a0 I figured those other people must have been running to just run.<\/p>\n
![\"heading](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_almostdone-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_almostdone\\"")
heading towards the finish <\/p><\/div>\n
The two people behind me, a guy and a chick, we were together the whole race.\u00a0 Which was nice because I didn’t feel quite so alone but I still figured we were the last to finish.\u00a0 I felt bad for all the workers standing around waiting on us so they could wrap everything up.<\/p>\n
![\"done!\"](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_finish-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_finish\\"")
done!<\/p><\/div>\n
My official time was 51:59 when I finished the race.\u00a0 And to my surprise we were not last.\u00a0 That group I saw coming out of the woods?\u00a0 They were the last group.\u00a0 I didn’t even know there were people behind us.<\/p>\n
![\"woo!\"](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_cs-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_cs\\"")
woo!<\/p><\/div>\n
Me having my first box of CS<\/abbr>.\u00a0 I was so thirsty!\u00a0 Those gloves?\u00a0 That’s my second pair that I wear when it’s super cold because they are the softest on my nose when I have to wipe it.\u00a0 Aren’t you glad you know that now?
<\/p>\n![\"askew](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_yaktrax-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_yaktrax\\"")
askew <\/p><\/div>\n
You may have to click the picture to see better, but the course caused havoc on my yaktrax.\u00a0 It was the woods, they made my yaktrax slip off and slide on my shoes.\u00a0 That’s a pretty big deal because if you’ve ever seen them or worn them, you know they are super tight on your shoes.\u00a0 For the whole reason to provide support.\u00a0 So the fact that these are moved and on the sides of my shoes sort of proves how tough the course was.<\/p>\n
![\"chill](\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ohc-01-31-09_race_tent-300x225.jpg\" "\\"ohc-01-31-09_race_tent\\"")
chill out<\/p><\/div>\n
On the way to the pavilion where the other racers are waiting to hear the results.\u00a0 Honestly I stuck around to be polite.\u00a0 I knew I didn’t win anything and I really just wanted to go home.\u00a0 I was freezing cold and so tired.<\/p>\n
I still can’t get over my time, 51 minutes to run this 5K when under normal circumstances it should have taken me 30some minutes.\u00a0 Dang!<\/p>\n
When I got home I took a hot bath with some epsom salts and soaked in that for a bit.\u00a0 I needed to get warm and help my leg muscles to relax.\u00a0 And then I stuffed my face with food because I was starving.<\/p>\n
I had no idea I was going to be so wrecked.\u00a0 The race totally zapped all energy.\u00a0 We had dinner plans and had to cancel because I just didn’t have the energy to go out.\u00a0 That race was hard and there’s no other way to describe it.<\/p>\n
Plus the cold, we were in single digits with a negative windchill temp.\u00a0 I’m done and I’m glad I finished but would I run this race again?\u00a0 No, no, no.<\/p>\n
It can only get better, right?\u00a0 My next races can only get better than this!\u00a0
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I woke up at 7am and for some reason I didn’t hear my alarm.\u00a0 It was Rocky who got me up.\u00a0 I slept only okay and was feeling a little like my butt was dragging.\u00a0 I was also starting to get nervous so I had this tired anxious deal going on. I took Rocky outside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[53],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KYWa-Pi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}