I went to the packet pickup on Thursday evening. I have to say, I think it was the best (i.e., most organized) packet pickup that I had ever attended. Not that I've been to that many, but still...
Packet pick-up Review
1. They emailed us our bib number ahead of time, so we didn't have to look it up once we arrived.
2. Parking was free!
3. Once in the lobby, I was handed a checklist to help make sure I didn't forget anything. (Gotta love a good checklist!)
4. I got my packet, then picked up my Polar Dash fleece. It runs a bit small, but I figure that's just motivation to keep running and not gain any weight. :) BTW, how nice is it to get a race fleece rather than yet another tshirt?! It's pretty nice - although, it should be pretty nice since I paid through the nose for this race series (see below). But, then again, it already seems like my race fees were worth it for the uber organization and the fancy swag.
5. In addition to my fleece, I was also able to pick up my "Du Bike Kit" for the duathlon in August. In case you're not familiar with "du bike kits" (I wasn't), it included a little bike bag (top right of the fleece), arm warmers (bottom) and bike hat (top left). Nice stuff! I've never owned arm warmers, so that's kind of cool - and they actually fit my scrawny arms! Too bad the hat is made for big-headed people (and not pin-heads like me). Oh well.
6. I also got my Lucite medal holder! Keep your fingers crossed that I will earn all 5 medals by the end of the year.
6. Finally, I picked up a parking/shuttle ticket. Since I'm cheap, I had planned on just finding street parking. But then I saw the forecast for Saturday (cold and snowy) and remembered that the winter parking restrictions are in effect (eliminating all parking on even sides of streets), so I decided to splurge on the pay lot and "limo" (aka school bus).
Okay, enough about packet pickup - now on to the race itself!
I woke up early on New Year's Day and looked outside to see blustering grossness. As of 9am, StarTribune.com said it was 1 degree outside, with a wind chill of -18. Yuck! I even checked the Team Ortho website, since I wondered if the race would be cancelled. Nope. Well, it's only 3.1 miles, right?
Here I am, dressed in smartwool socks, polartec pants, tank top, tshirt, polartec top, and smartwool neck gaiter. I just needed my ear warmer and gloves, then I was ready to go!
I arrived at the parking lot super early since I wasn't sure how the roads would be. There were plenty of other people who apparently had the same plan. Parking was really well organized, with lots of people directing us into parking spots, and directing us to the many buses that were waiting in a line in order to take runners to the start line; the bus I got on filled quickly and then headed out.
At Shriner's (where the race started), they had a big warming tent set up in the parking garage, which was great. Luckily I ran into Jason and Emily right away, so I was able to kill time with them. Emily's brother John was also there - in his Boston Marathon jacket! (Emily forced him to admit that he ran Boston at a 6:55 pace! Wow.) The tent was nice and all, but standing on frozen cement for an hour quickly chilled my toes.
Finally it was nearly 11am and we headed out to the start line. Most of the volunteers were dressed in penguin costumes. SO COOL!!! I decided to channel my inner penguin and embrace the bitterly cold winds. And then we were off! (It was a simple out and back route, as you can see from this race map.)
Have I mentioned yet how cold it was? It took nearly 2 miles before I got feeling back in my fingers and toes. And it somehow felt like the wind was in my face both out AND back. Normally I won't run outside if the windchill is less than 0, and this was my first race done entirely alone, so I'm really proud that I got out there and did it! I suppose it wasn't that bad, all things considered. Oh, and I even PR'ed. :)
UPDATE:
Emily just emailed me some photos from the race! Thanks, Emily! :)
Woo-hoo!!
Monster Race Series
Here are all the details of the series. I included the prices (at the time I registered - most have since increased) just for my own reference; I want to be able to look back and decide if it was a good race value or not - the full cost was $285! In the registration we had to predict our times - I have no idea if my estimates are even close (especially for the duathalon - how would I have any idea how long that would take me?!). I think it was just so they could assign us bib numbers based on our times - I wish there was just an option for "stick me in the slow corral, please." But no, they made me guess. So now we'll get to see how close my guesses are!
Polar Dash 5K on 1/1 ($35, vs. $45 for the 10K)
gear: 1/2-zip fleece
predicted time: 34 min
actual time: 33:42!
Get Lucky 7K on 3/19 ($40, vs. $55 for the 21K)
gear: full-zip hoodie
predicted time: 40 min
Minneapolis Half Marathon on 6/5 ($60, vs. more for the marathon)
gear: performance shirt
predicted time: 2:35
Minneapolis Duathlon on 8/28 ($70, vs. less for the 5K or relay)
gear: du bike kit (little bag, arm warmers, hat)
predicted time: 2:30
Monster Dash Half Marathon on 10/29 ($60, vs. less for the 5K and the 10 mile)
gear: 1/2-zip jacket
predicted time: 2:30
Bonus Series swag ($20):
Lucite medal holder
summer running hat
performance shell
My race results:
Turkey Day 5K - 11/27/08 36:00? (not officially timed; 11:37? pace)
Heart of Summer 5K - 7/25/09 n/a (not run due to miscarriage)
Drumstick Dash 10K - 11/26/09 1:10:44 (11:23 pace)
Get in Gear 10K - 4/24/10 n/a (not run due to heavy rain; unofficially run later)
Race for the Cure 5K - 5/9/10 33:00? (not officially timed: 10:37? pace)
Torchlight 5K - 7/21/10 37:00? (not officially timed; 11:55? pace)
Urban Wildland Pikermi - 8/7/1 2:41:16 (12:19 pace)
Medtronic TC 10 Mile - 10/3/10 1:54:16 (11:26 pace)
Polar Dash 5K - 1/1/11 33:42 (10:51 pace)
1 comment:
So uber-cold gives you your best times?
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