OMG COLD!!!

i actually ran the damn race this morning. when i woke up it was 9 degrees, with a -2 degree wind chill. i seriously considered staying in bed, but i got up. i got dressed. i kept telling myself i could just turn around and go back to bed. i got dressed, in every single piece of running clothing i owned: running tights, track pants, two pairs of socks, tank top, two running tech shirts, one of my fleece-lined running jackets, two pairs of mittens, a fleece cowl i sewed the other day, one of my insanely large fluffy knit hats. i poured my steaming hot tea into my new themos, grabbed my water bottle and my iPhone and drove to the race. i stopped by starbucks and grabbed a muffin (or loaf, as it is now) and munched it on the way. i made an attempt to drink my tea, thinking that it would have cooled off a bit. not even a little. holy shit, i burned the crap out of my tongue. right before the race. nice.

i should have stayed in the car, but i got out the car waaaay early and wandered about the race area and froze my ass off until the start of the race. along with a couple hundred of my closest friends. speaking of friends, the girl i was supposed to go with chose not to freeze her ass off, so i was there by myself. scott offered to come with me, but there were several reasons that i didn't think it would be a good idea. #1, i didn't want to try and find him when it was subzero outside in a race environment; #2, i didn't think he had warm enough clothing to stand out there for an hour. i had just planned to go and run and come straight home. not even pancakes. ;)

so i ran. and i walked. and i ran and i walked. as i was coming past the parking lot i parked in, i seriously thought about just running to the car and going home. ;) the air was so fucking cold and dry that my lungs ached. i had tweaked my back while i was stretching out so it hurt while i ran. awesome. so i did the best i could under the cold circumstances. i ran, i would sweat, i would walk, i would get cold. i would cover my face up when my lungs would hurt, but then it would get too hot, so i would have uncover. it was a vicious cycle. i also couldn't wear my sunglasses because they kept steaming up because of my cowl. i crammed them in my pocket.

then i saw the finish line. thank fucking god. my rule is that i can't stop running if i can see the finish line. so i kept on running. and running. i think they kept moving the finish line back. jerks. but i crossed the line while Wham!'s Last Christmas was playing. i walked to my car and went home. and then i lit myself on fire.

but there's something freeing about being out when it's that cold. i was running to the east of mccormick place and i could see northerly island, or Meig's Field. i only recently figured out where this place was. i am never down in that part of town. i hate the aquarium with a passion and i have never been to the planetarium. i hate football and i never go to the east part of mccormick. so no reason to go there, except for races. anyway, one reason to go is because it's a great view of the lake. and i seriously thought about going to northerly island, but i worried that once i got about 5 feet there, i would start freezing my ass off. it's not safe when you're out when it's that cold outside. i grabbed a bottle of water at the finish line, it was frozen by the time i got to the car. it was probably about 12 degrees outside. yet, i ran 3 miles. i am still surprised that i did it. i feel like there should have been more people. they were probably all snug in bed.

anyway, race complete. races for the year complete.

1. shamrock shuffle
2. 'merica race
3. crypt run
4. santa hustle

i feel like i'm missing one.