Unexpected Hypothermia

Well, I hadn't planned to race but I couldn't turn down the opportunity either.

A friend of mine at the gym hurt her back and asked if I wanted to take her registration for the HYPOTHERMIC HALF MARATHON this Saturday.  I debated for a couple weeks about whether to do it or not, then finally decided, why not??  Actually the truth is that I asked Adam if he wanted to race it and he said, "sure."  Then I thought about that scenario, got jealous and came back to him saying, "actually, do you mind if I race it instead?"  He laughed and responded again with, "sure."  He didn't really care either way because he's focused on triathlon training and preparing to podium this year at Magrath.

So, in five short days I'll be doing this:

Good thing the race banner reminds us that it's only 50% as cold as it could be, because I would hate to see 100%.  Folks, running in the cold is not pretty.  (Photos from last year's race).

There's a reason I did my marathon on a treadmill.  I've had the frozen eyelashes, frozen snot, frozen feet....On my last long run in the cold, my neckwarmer got wet from my breathing and then it froze.  So, I ran two hours with a bouncing block of ice around my neck.  Truth is, I ran outside through several winter seasons but that was before my gym membership.  Now I've became a fair weather runner.  Good news is that it looks like it will be above zero this year, which is fabulous for February in Calgary.  I'm looking forward to having fun with this race.  I'm going to run the majority of the race at a 5:30/km pace and just relax and enjoy myself.  And if I get cold, I'll just close my eyes and pretend I'm running here: