St. Patrick's Day 5km

I started off my 2014 race season with the coldest race I have ever ran.  I had convinced my friends and husband to run this race with me as it was a day after my husbands birthday and you would also get beer and chilli at the end of the race.

Hubs and I at start line

When we signed up for the race in early January we were thinking that it would be somewhat warm and spring like by March 16th, but boy were we ever wrong. The temperature was -20 degrees celcius  when we woke and there was no way it was going to be warming up anytime soon. 

The race was starting right by the Steam Whistle Brewery which was also where the finish would be. Everyone running seemed to be huddling together inside the brewery. My toes were still frozen from the drive down and I was starting to think that I was going to lose them. It was a fairy small race with 1120 participants and took you through the downtown core of Toronto.

I started the race off with a fairly good pace but my right leg cramped after the first kilometre, then my shoelace got undone. My feet were still frozen and I wasn't sure how bad the cramp was as my leg and I wasn't even sure which muscle was affected. I stopped off the the side to tie my shoelace, but my fingers were frozen so it took me a couple of tries before I was able to tie the laces. I figured the cramp was in my right calf and decided to try to run through it. My run buddy came up from behind and saw me hobbling and asked if I was o.k and I just winced in pain and told her that my leg had cramped up, but to go ahead. After running another 2 kilometres, my cramp seemed to go down. I tried to pick up the pace and get a decent finish. Thank goodness it was only a 5km race, I sucked it up for the last 2 kilometres and pushed ahead. I knew that warmth and the finish line was just around the corner.

Results:

27:28.7
Pace 5:30
Category place - 44/231
Gender Pace - 100/634

Enjoying my post race Green Beer

I hobbled away from the race with a few lessons learned. Warm up properly for a race no matter the distance especially when it's FREEZING. I will stretch from now on and try to make sure all my appendages are warmed up before starting the race and no matter how cold it is, I will put one foot in front of the other and power on.

Our Medal

What is the coldest race you ever ran?

Have you ever had any race stopping injuries and how did you handle it?

Winter Blues and What to Wear

This winter seems to have gone on for way too long. It is now mid march and the snow is still knee deep on my lawn. The roads are have been difficult to run on and the cold weather alerts seem to have been never ending.

Every time I turn on the television or radio, the weather is always the main topic. I have been trying to train and get back into the groove of things since the new year and I can't seem to get my groove back.  I have signed up for races in hopes to get me motivated, but every time I look out the window, I am just so disappointed with what I see outside and want to curl up under the covers.

I have gone out for a few long runs as I have some spring races planned and the treadmill is just killing me. I have been asked by many friends what should they wear when the weather gets so cold.

Runners world  has a great link for you to plug in the conditions, but here is my list of must haves for cold weather running.

- Moisture wicking sports bra

- Long sleeve base layer made of wool or polyester

- Short sleeve tech shirt if it is super cold I'll wear another Long sleeve tech shirt

- Warm running tights

- Warm wicking socks, I like the Smartwool PhD Running socks. Knee high compression socks are           also good go keep the calves warm

- Running jacket/shell to keep the heat in and you dry. If you don't have one, add more layers

- Gloves

- Hat/Toque

- Balaclava (optional)

- Neck Warmer

- Sunglasses for nicer days

- Tissues in your pocket for runny noses

- Running shoes

- Yaktrax for those icy days

- Sunscreen

- Chapstick

Some extras that I always have with me 

- my Road ID

- some good music 

- my Garmin and heart rate strap

I am hoping for some warmer weather very soon, but for now I will continue putting on all my layers and heading out into the snowy roads and train as much as I can. 

What are you Must- Haves for cold weather running?

Any tips to help me get out of my funk?

Thanks for reading and have a GREAT day!