Frosty Trail 3-hour Winter Trail Race - Saturday, January 19th, 2019

It was a good day to stay in bed.

..so of course I didn't.

Instead, I was up in the dark hours for a morning that looked like this:

Maybe the tape will act as another layer of insulation for my feet?

Big honkin' bowl of oatmeal. T.Ho's coffee. Tanker's first real trip out of the house in almost 2 weeks. The snow started on our way up to Camp Heidelberg, and would continue all day.

We were the 3rd vehicle (apart from the race director) to arrive.

Despite getting there in plenty of time, I was a slow-moving walrus in the cold air inside the Rehkopf Building.

Both Tank and I still in our heavy down coats, even inside.
(Photo by Race Director Patrick Campbell)

So slow, in fact, that not only did I not manage to get my usual flaily warmup done - I actually missed the start by about 10 seconds. I'd just gone for one last pee and was tugging one of my mittens on when the horn sounded outside. Whoops.

I pulled my other mitten on as I trotted down the stairs and out into the parking lot to begin my first lap, along with a few other people who'd been similarly taken by surprise by the start. After the first lap, I stopped in at the aid station to get a smooch and my phone to take some photos of the course.

Not to mention a dork and a sweetheart.
Note that I'm already frosting up after ~15mins.

Through the upper woods

Conditions weren't great. The snow wasn't deep, but beneath it lay some ice on the driveway down to the woods, plus the much-more-concerning deeply footprinted frozen mud from the awful mess that was the 2018 Horror Trail 6-hour last October. In some places the lumps and ruts from the mudhole we stomped were 3"-4" deep, which could easily destroy my taped-up ankles or send me arse over teakettle unless I was very cautious.

Feets don't fail me now..

I managed not to blow the turn into the woods this year!
So used to going down around the pond at Horror Trail..

Lumbering along
(Photo by Race Director Patrick Campbell)

I honestly don't remember much about individual laps of this one. I kept things pretty simple with a soft-sided water bottle in the back pocket of my jacket (to keep both it and my hand from freezing, as would be the case with my usual hand bottle), and a flask of 4:1 dilute EFS Liquid Shot in the other back pocket. I'd take a slurp off the bottle on uphills and ended up refilling it twice, and I'd have a swig off the flask every 30mins, finishing it just after 2hrs.

Obligatory shot of the big stinkin' hill

Winding along

The worst parts of each loop for ankles were the straightaway before the sketchy downhill and the exit of the upper woods to the long downhill.

This is the straightaway - I know it's impossible to see the true topography of the trail

Difficult to even see the trail, let alone the sketchy downhill

The climb out of the woods to the driveway had the deepest snow all day

The worst part of all, though, was really the wind. It blew the falling snow sideways across the field to the north of Camp Heidelberg so you'd be fully in its blast as you came up or down the driveway - the snow would stick to anything it touched, turning the soft nose wipe on the back of the thumbs of my mittens into icy sandpaper.

And the wool tube I wore to keep my face and neck warm into a frosty mess.

The wind only got worse in the last hour, freezing my now-sweaty mittens solid as I struggled to keep my hands safe from the chill - I'd pull my thumb out of its solo garage and make loose fists inside the mitts to warm up, but would of course have to use all my digits in order to manipulate my bottle and gel flask.

You could still see a layer of ice on my left mitt even minutes after I went indoors.
Also: a bit of cat hair. Every cat owner knows it gets everywhere, and turns up at the oddest times.

Having jammed, tweaked, and generally abused both of my ankles multiple times, I was in a bit of rough shape but actually managed to keep moving pretty well. I had spent the first hour more or less just farting along (literally, at times - sorry to anyone I crop dusted!), putting in about 4 laps before stopping to fill my bottle. It took me until about 2h10m to finish the next 4 laps (filling my bottle again after the 7th), and I wondered if I'd have time to get in 3 more of the 2.12km course to make this one go to 11.

Up the driveway to the far side of the building.

The aid station out front of the Rehkopf Building
(Photo by Race Director Patrick Campbell)

You know it's kind of a lousy weather day when the aid station smarties are starting to melt in the snow

At 2h38m I was in the main woods on my 10th lap, sucking back an Endurance Tap gel with one of the last sips of water from my bottle to give me a boost for the last push. Coming through the end of my 10th lap at 2h44m I knew I had just shy of enough time to finish a full one, and hated the thought of the horn blowing to signal the end of the race just as I was about to round the building one final time.

So, I gave'er.

In a wee bit of weather.
(Photo by Tanker)

What's actually quite encouraging is that my legs had some 'er to give - while my damaged right ankle might still be problematic (to say nothing of the left, which has been giving me intermittent grief since 2016), it seems I might have managed to cobble together a bit of fitness again. I was able to run up the hill out of the main woods to the driveway and then up the driveway itself every single lap, and I was able to push quite hard on that last lap as the clock ticked toward the 3-hour mark.

I rounded the building with about 30sec left to go, and came to a halt. There was no way I'd make it to the 200m marker, so my race was done.

Just after finishing, in the best of company.

More-or-less official distance: 11 laps / 23.32km

(No results have been posted as of this writing and I didn't hear any announced,

so I have no idea how I did in the field)

(Full workout data here)

EDITED Feb 1/2019 - I guess I was 3rd place female!
3/10 Women - 6/14 O/A
(Official - or as official as they get - results are here)

Now, here's the stupid part.

I went back out again.

I make bad decisions.

Because of the 100 runs in 100 days challenge, I wanted to get a double in - it's been a bit difficult to do so lately, and with the on-course support and the folks doing the 6-hour still out there for a bit of company it was really the perfect opportunity.

What's not to love?
Except maybe the increasing wind across that open field..

Trail conditions had not improved in the hour-and-a-quarter I was indoors changing, hydrating and snacking, though. The snow had only increased its rate of accumulation, and there were fewer runners on course now to stomp it down.

The blowing snow across the field accumulated in waves on the driveway

20mins in vs 4h20mins in - a lot less visible debris on either side of the big stinkin' hill

I took it easier on myself as I trucked through the additional laps, walking wherever I wanted but still running most of each lap just to keep myself warm.

Winter wonderland status: achieved

It really was quite beautiful, if you could see it through the blowing snow.

By the end of my second lap I was at 35mins - well over the 30min minimum for it to count as a "run" in the challenge - but since I hold myself to a minimum of 5km for the 100 in 100 challenge, I headed 'round the parking lot and into the woods again for a 3rd and final lap just to make things square.

Even though my face was this red from the howling wind before the end of my 1st lap, when I dropped off my phone with Tank.

I'd known what I was in for - this was from 12:37pm, about 40mins before I started running again.

I almost seriously regretted that final lap, as I nearly bailed - I was trying to blow a snot rocket while coming out of the upper woods, caught my right 2nd toe on a lump of frozen mud, and pitched forward while windmilling my arms. I was just barely able to stay upright, but things in my hips and legs definitely got a bit jarred with the awkward stagger on uneven ground. I took the rest of the lap very cautiously, and actually felt better in a few minutes for having run/walked it out than if I'd stopped.

Further snow comparison

One more time up the driveway

That whole thing about having company to make things easier? Not so much. Between a low turnout for the 6-hour (9 people?) and a couple having cut their day short due to the conditions, I spent almost the entire 52 minutes and change trucking along by myself. I think I actually saw other runners twice, both times while heading up or down the driveway where there's 2-way traffic.

When it's cold enough to turn sport drink to ice, can you blame anyone for bailing early?

In any case, I didn't die and got my 40th and 41st run in on day 36 of the 100 runs in 100 days challenge. 

Very pleased I decided to wear my insulated jacket for the second go 'round!

There were no lasting effects from either the lumpy ankle wreckery or nearly yard sale-ing myself - I was actually able to run the next morning (at -16c with 50+kph wind gusts, but sunshine!), though not until after I'd shoveled out the driveway.

Recovery?

..and then I finally made breakfast.