I just completed another race, Sunday's Cherry Tree 10 Miler in Prospect Park. I didn't really fancy doing a ten mile 'race' at this time of year but it was only £15, didn't start until 10am and the start is about half a mile from our house!
It's organised by the Prospect Park Track Club and they call it 'the race for the hardcore' because of the time of year. This was proven by the -3ยบ temperature combined with winds of up to 30mph thus giving around 650 finishers from an entry of around 1200.
It was an unusual race preparation for me this morning. I got up and had some porridge, then went out and up the block for a 5min walk to the high school where the registration was. I picked up my number and free gloves and then came back home.
Actually, I also carried a bin bag full of still packaged Aberdeen 10K (2010/2011) t-shirts that my dad used as packaging for my shipped goods. They had asked for donations to be sent to runners in Belize so I guess soon there will be some Belize runners running about in City of Aberdeen race tees complete with The Running Shop logo.
I decided I would take a chance on wearing my long shorts and compression socks along with a thermal top, short sleeve zip and hat & gloves.
So I waited at home until 15 minutes before the start then jogged over. It was perfect for just walking down to the start and with only a 3 or 4 minute wait we were off.
The course is basically 3 laps of the park. The profile is this:
There is a long slight descent, flat and then shorter steeper climb, nothing major but three times and of course the wind was in our faces for this part!!
At some point I actually even noticed my glutes feeling numb from the cold, they were already partly sore from Friday's hard soccer pitch. I was also constantly pulling my sleeves up and down as one minute the wind was behind us and it was sunny, the next it was in your face and shady.
This photo of the start makes it look sunny and warm with some of the fast guys in their shorts.
It's organised by the Prospect Park Track Club and they call it 'the race for the hardcore' because of the time of year. This was proven by the -3ยบ temperature combined with winds of up to 30mph thus giving around 650 finishers from an entry of around 1200.
It was an unusual race preparation for me this morning. I got up and had some porridge, then went out and up the block for a 5min walk to the high school where the registration was. I picked up my number and free gloves and then came back home.
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| Fleecy! |
Actually, I also carried a bin bag full of still packaged Aberdeen 10K (2010/2011) t-shirts that my dad used as packaging for my shipped goods. They had asked for donations to be sent to runners in Belize so I guess soon there will be some Belize runners running about in City of Aberdeen race tees complete with The Running Shop logo.
I decided I would take a chance on wearing my long shorts and compression socks along with a thermal top, short sleeve zip and hat & gloves.
So I waited at home until 15 minutes before the start then jogged over. It was perfect for just walking down to the start and with only a 3 or 4 minute wait we were off.
The course is basically 3 laps of the park. The profile is this:
At some point I actually even noticed my glutes feeling numb from the cold, they were already partly sore from Friday's hard soccer pitch. I was also constantly pulling my sleeves up and down as one minute the wind was behind us and it was sunny, the next it was in your face and shady.
This photo of the start makes it look sunny and warm with some of the fast guys in their shorts.
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| The start ©Lynus Ly |
And then this is what most other people were wearing!
I was 89th out of the 650 and 17th in my age group. Really pleased that I have held onto the endurance I built up last year especially as I am just getting over the cold again.
The walk back to the top of the park was so cold, into the wind I had to hold my hands behind my back. I slowly jogged home, stretched, got changed and then walked back to the high school to pick up my free bagel, hot chocolate and the free ice cream sample they were giving out, ha ha, what I'll do for free food.
This was the coldest race I've ever done and although I have probably overdressed for winter races in the past this was on the line for being a bit too much on the cold side.
Then we went back out in mid-afternoon to try a new pizza place that just opened on our high street. Pizza slices, some with some non-traditional toppings. So I tried the thicker square sicilian style where the sauce comes on top, a philly cheesesteak slice (steak, onions, cheese) and a sausage stromboli, while Heather had the chicken salad slice. I'd never choose that but I had a bite and that wood-oven taste you get on the bread actually made it really nice. It might take a while to try them all, but I'll certainly try.
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