I arrived at Tewksbury High School at 7:30 am in order to get a good warm-up run in. I knew the cold was certainly going to be a factor in today's race and I did not want to risk injury by not warming the muscles up properly.
While on my warm-up run around the parking lot, I noticed quite a few cars coming in to park. I didn't think about it as there is usually something else going on at the high school along with our race. After my first initial warm-up run (I guess you could call it my warm-up warm-up), I noticed Amanda showed up and was speaking with Deric. She had just got her new Garmin Forerunner watch and was trying to figure out how to set-up the splits. Deric asked me if I remembered how to do it and I said I would give it a try (I didn't remember). After playing around with the watch to no avail, we decided to wait for Jason to arrive and see if he could do it.
At this point I was cold again so Amanda and I went out for a short warm-up run around the parking lot before we had to make our way down to the starting line. We finished our run and then had to wait for the last remaining runners to finish registering before heading down to the start line (corral would probably be a better term).
At 8:05 we made our way down to the start and we were saying "good morning" to everyone we could recognize due to the extra facial coverings everyone was wearing. Being only 4 degree at the start, it was understandable for the extra coverings.
Jason was asking if anyone wanted to run to the bank after the race and initially the joke went right over my head (still too early). After a few more request to run to the bank with him I caught on to the wittiness of the question and started to literately laugh out loud. Everyone running today looked as if they were ready to rob a bank.
(Police need help identifying these suspects for running loose in the town of Tewksbury on Saturday mornings, any leads leading to arrests will be rewarded with better finishing results)
Because of all the snow this past week, we were asked to "try" and stay as close to a single file line as possible while running as the roads were not very wide today. Of course, the moment the G-O word was said, everyone took off at once and we were running 8 people wide just trying to fight for a comfortable position.
Mile 1 came and went with no surprises except how significantly harder to breathe it was today due to cold temperature. Upon reaching Mile 2 I came across an interesting find, Jason's black Nike Free shoes. I wasn't sure why they were there or if they were definitely his and I debated about grabbing them to bring to the finish. I am kind of upset for not grabbing them as my gut told me they were his and something happened but on the other hand, it did make for an interesting run for all as they ran past mile 2 thinking "Who's shoes are those?"
Apparently, one of this shoes came untied and due to the little to no support in the shoe, it was a bigger battle keeping the shoe on rather than kicking it (well both) off and finishing the last 1.1 miles barefoot. I know you are thinking why didn't he just tie it back up? Have you ever run in 4 degree temperatures? It is rare to be able to feel your fingers never mind tie your shoes during these runs.
By this time, I was just running comfortably averaging a 7:20 pace and talking with fellow GLRR member Melissa Joyce. We both ran comfortably to the 3 mile mark and than kicked it into gear to finish the remaining 0.1+ mile as hard and fast as we could. We did not discuss finishing hard, I just waited for my watch to go off for mile 3 and then put the hammer down because I wanted to pass at least 1 other person before finishing.
No sooner do I take off, Melissa redlines her engine and begins to pursue me as we both sprint hard to the finish. I reach the finish line at 22:40 with a frosted face and tired legs. Jason is sitting in the "Med-SUV" as he still has no shoes because they are still sitting at the mile 2 mark.
(I have never had my eyelashes freeze before. . .)
After finishing the race, Fil and I decided we would be nice and go do our cool-down (well, I guess the intent was to stay warm) run back to Jason's shoes. It would be hard to go to the bank without shoes Jason. Remember: No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service! Fil and I make it to mile 2, grab Jason's shoes and are joined by Mark and his RUN girls for finish our warm/cool-down.
And of course, per usual, we got changed and went to the Deli "Queen" King for our usually Fudgcicle 5K breakfast with the usual "suspects".
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