8 miles in sub-zero temperatures

BURR It was cold this morning! Accuweather forecast for Worthington for when we were running is to the left. I repeat, burr!

A girl in my group had it right, it definitely takes a certain kind of person to get out there on these types of mornings. I never would have considered myself that kind of person, but there I was.

We did 8 miles in 1 hour and 26 minutes, giving me 23 miles for the week.

I wore my MIT jacket, a long sleeved tee and a long sleeved tech tee. I wore a pair of athletic pants over the Under Armour compression tights I bought yesterday.

Normally you start off cold and warm up quickly, but not today. One mile in... freezing. Two miles in... still freezing. Three miles in, I didn't even want to stop for water, cold drinks of any kind were not appealing in the least. I went for my Gu Chomps, and those were frozen... completely inedible!

The girls all had frosty hair and eyebrows. My Garmin couldn't take the cold, it kept going back and forth between 5 and 9 mph.

After we turned around at three I was just numb. By mile four I'm starting to get some feeling back in my chest and thighs. By mile five I can feel my arms and legs. It wasn't until mile six that I can say I was at all comfortable.

I was going to stop at six but a girl in my group talked me into doing an extra two. Why not, it took so long to get warmed up, might as well keep going!

Burr. And yes I know I lived in Maine for 2.5 years, but still, BURR!!!

Not sure on the plan for next week yet, I'm exhausted, time to curl up with a book in my nice warm bed (which it looks like I'll be sharing with two stubborn greyhounds, one of which has made a nest with all my blankets.)

Here's the beauty of going to MIT every Saturday morning: I get my run out of the way first thing, then I get all my other errands done on the way in. By noon I am done done done done done for the weekend!

Race Report: A Nu Race Trail Run

My first 1st Place finish!! Yea ok there were only 11 women running my distance but still I was SOOOOO excited! Time was 1:28:33, wouldn't have been a good time on the road, but given the hills I'm happy with it. Full results here.

I did the Nu Race Trail Run at Mohican State Forest in Perrysville. The had 3.5, 8, 13.1 and 31 mile distances. It was an inaugural run, about 25 people in each distance, to benefit Camp Nuhop, a camp for children with developmental disabilities.

I hope this event grows. It was well organized, a beautiful and challenging course, and for a good cause. It was far more challenging than the Hocking Hills Indian Run last month. They had all kinds of goodies at the aid stations -- I decided not to find out what would have happened to my stomach had I eaten the peanut M&Ms on the course but having them out was a nice gesture. And they gave out long-sleeved tech shirts, which is amazing.

My only complaint was the same one I had for the Indian Run, there were no mileage markers so I had no idea where I stood the entire time. Also the last two miles or so doubled back on the same narrow trail, that wasn't bad because it was a small field but if it gets more crowded that might get messy.