Winter Carnival

This was kind of an eventful morning. Woke at 6am, ate some breakfast, and was off to swim laps. I use the term "swim" loosely as I'm trying to get used to the water as I'm not a very strong swimmer.  Anyway, I swam from 7am until 7:40am.  I showered off and donned multiple layers of clothing for the next order of business. My choice of clothing went something like this; wind brief, 2 layers of tights, 2 pairs of socks, one short sleeve layer,  one long sleeve layer, a wool sweater, a windproof jacket shell, a balaclava, stocking cap, and ski goggles. The temp on the drive to St. Paul was -13 degrees not including the windchill.  One the way I thought to myself that maybe the half marathon wasn't a good idea and thought the 5K would be a better option. When I arrived, I heard that they cancelled the half and dropped it down to a 10K. I thought, "that's doable".  

The start was cold to say the least and was glad I had the goggles. The first mile was tough as I adjusted to running into the wind. My balaclava frosted up, but was still effective. The windchill was something like -25. After the blood was flowing and I got to the turnaround (28 minutes seemed respectable given the conditions), the run back was much more enjoyable. I drank a small bottle of water and used the port a potty. I got a video text from my wife and daughter, who had enough sense to stay at home, wishing me good luck and to stay warm, which I was at that point. I thought a return picture was in order, so I took a self portrait and sent it off, all while i was running. I got a couple looks. Unbeknownst to me, my lovely wife forwarded it one to some friends an family. Needless to say I had an ice beard attached to the winter growth I had. 

The last couple of miles was good and the finish time was about 58 min. Not a bad start to the weekend.