Bobcat Trail Marathon - 2010

Hey all,
Last weekend I ran the second annual Bobcat Trail Marathon at Burr Oak State Park just north of Athens, Ohio. Athens is home to Ohio University and a big thanks goes to the OU students that came out to help at the aid stations. Without your help it would be a much tougher day. Thanks!
Race website:
http://www.oneworldtrailrunning.org/bobcat-trail-marathon/index.html

So, the race pretty much goes around Burr Oak Lake. Here is the course:


















I'm sure that looks a little small but trust me, it is long.
The race kicked off at 7 a.m. sharp. It was a clear morning but cold. I think it was around 28-30 F. It proved to be a sunny day so that helped a ton. As the race progressed the temp rose to about 48F. Perfect running weather.
I wanted to start out a try to stay near the front. I kept the front runners in sight for the first 4 miles or so. In fact, I think I was in 7th through the second mile and then moved up to 4th after three runners accidentally took a wrong turn. That happens. It's part of what makes trail running great. You actually have to pay attention to where you are going. The focus required for trail running I find more intense than road running. Not only do you have to really focus in front of you to keep from tripping and falling down (more on that later) but you have to pay attention to the course.
So, I was feeling good and stayed in 4th to 6th place for much of the next 10 miles or so. I was feeling good and going with it. There was a little voice in the back of my head saying that "Maybe you should ease off just a bit and save a big push for miles 20-23 or so". But I felt strong so I kept up that pace and was in 5th through mile 16.
This race has GREAT aid stations and the volunteers are some of the best I have ever run across. They asked what I needed as I approached. I would shout it out and by the time I got there 8 seconds later, there it was.
For a race this length I didn't need too much nutrition. I stuck to First Endurance EFS liquid shot. I really like the flavor and the electrolyte and energy boost I get. Check it out: http://www.firstendurance.com/efs-liquid-shot.html

I also used Hammer Endurolyte tablets. I swear by these electrolyte tabs and wouldn't run a race past a 10K without them. I take 1-2 every hour on the hour during an event and have yet to cramp, knock on my desk that looks like wood.
http://www.hammernutrition.com/products/endurolytes.elt.html?navcat=fuels-energy-drinks

So, off past mile 18 I go, thinking I only have 8 to go and feeling optimistic. My legs felt good and everything was right. I got to a decent descent that cut along a hillside. There was the uphill to my left and a ravine to my right. About half way down I caught my right foot on a root and went flying. I clearly remember thinking "This is really going to hurt because I am going through the air horizontally and heading for that ravine". Sure enough, I did. However, one of the forests' greatest assets intervened. That's right a little oak sapling was there to catch me and stop me before I went any further. I thought, "Oh wow, this little tree stopped me from experiencing a really horrible last 8 miles". I stood up, took stock of things noting only a few cuts on my right knee and a sore right side hip and arm. I was good to go though. I kissed that little sapling (I'm not kidding), thank it, and went on my way. Golden Rule and all.













At about mile 21 there was an uphill that caught me off guard and I walked up, as I did many of the hills from this point on. In a trail race it benefits me more later in a race to walk up hills and then pick up the pace as it flattens out at the top and then go faster on flat and downhill section. I love going downhill fast. There is an art to it and if you practice lots you can get really fast. At times it is a controlled crash. And sometimes you crash based on my last paragraph.
Mile 21-finish. I kept strong but was wavering a bit. I noticed that I got passed by probably 8 or so people since mile 18. I try not to think about that too much and try to tell myself to run within myself and only worry about me. I do find myself wondering how old the people that passed me are. If they look in my age group 40-44, then I give it a little extra.
I noticed that these miles seemed to go along rather quickly and I thought I am doing well on this section. As I approached what I remembered from last year to be the final hill, about 1 mile from the finish, I gave it the gas. My watch told me I had a good chance of breaking the 4 hour mark. Which would be awesome considering that I ran a 4:24 in 2009 and came in 4th.
Well, in that last little road section that led to the lodge, I gunned it. I was keeping about a 6:30 pace for the last 1/2 mile. It paid off and I finished in a time of 3:59:54! I broke 4 hours for this course and felt really proud.
As I was at the post race food and goodie table one of the race coordinators asked the guy I was talking to what the distance on his Garmin GPS watch said. He said 24.5 mile. What? How could this be? Well, come to find out after the fact, the course had been tampered with my someone or someones and the distance was shorter than 26.2. Oh well. I ran a sub 4 hour and I ran the same course that everyone else ran.
I came in 15th out of 175 people that started. I finished 5th in my age group, which tells you that there were lot's of fast old guys in this race.
To sum up, Great race, Beautiful day, Superb aid stations. Way to go Vince and Brandon.
I will certainly be back next year and many years to come.
Next up on the race calendar is my last one for the year. The Bigfoot 50K trail race at Salt Fork State Park.
Thanks to the Ohio State Parks Department for letting the boys host this race at our beautiful parks. Gotta love the State Park system.
By the way, that photo up there is NOT me but that was what was running through my mind as I was in mid-air. Yahoo!

Sorry it's been so long since my last blog. I have no excuse. Please keep coming back as I have lots to blog about.
RUN HAPPY!

Running far to fight cancer

Hey all!
I hope that the Summer is going good for everyone and that your running is going well. If you are training for a Fall Marathon or other event, stick to that plan. If you don't have a plan, contact me. I can help.
I want to let you know about a race that I ran in this past weekend and the fact that I am using this run to raise money for LIVESTRONG to fight cancer. The race was the Burning River 100 mile trail race. This was my first try (and finish) at the 100 mile distance. I have had great training leading up to the race, thank you Jim Smith, and I felt stoked and excited to toe the line at 5 a.m. on Saturday (Damn that was early).
I am happy to report that I FINISHED the race in 25:58 and came in 82nd place out of 270 that started the race.
Here is a link to the race website:
http://www.burningriver100.org/



LIVESTRONG
I am using this event to raise money for LIVESTRONG. You know, the yellow silicone bracelets that Lance Armstrong created and made famous. His foundation raises money to fight cancer and to fund research to find a cure. I feel deep in my bones that this is a great organization and I am passionate about raising money to fight this awful disease and to help those with it fight and survive.
My Aunt Sarah Handwerk died of cancer in 2007 after a long fight. She was a strong, courageous woman and I admire her greatly. I hope my daughter grows up to embody those traits. I ran this race in her honor and I thought about her all day. I ran this race in her honor because I want to celebrate her memory and I can't think of a better way than for me to carry her memory with me all day. She helped get me through this tough event. If she can fight cancer as hard as she did. If people who live courageously with cancer and fight it every day can do what they do, then I can run 100 miles in all of their honor and I did so proudly.
I would love to give you the opportunity to donate to my cause and to honor those that you know who may have been touched by cancer.
Please click on this link to go to my donation page:
http://fundraising.livestrong.org/grassroots2010/runningfartofightcancer
I greatly appreciate any donation.
Join me and donate today.
I will have a more detailed race report next week but I wanted to publish this blog first.
Thanks Aunt Sarah! I love you!

FORGET THE PR 25K - Race Report

Okay, it has been way too long since my last blog. New years' resolution to be consistent.
This is my race report for the Forget the PR 25K race at Mohican in Loudonville, Ohio. the race was held on . Jim Smith, my fixture of a running buddy, and I left Columbus early (5 a.m.) in the morning. We got to the race parking lot way early as there were only about 6 other cars in the lot. And that was even after we stopped at the local McDonald's in Loudonville, which is the swankiest McD's I have ever seen. There was marble and granite everywhere. Wood and even polished brass. Nothing says class like polished brass.
I digress. So we made our way over to the start area to get race numbers, sign-in, etc. It was chilly but partly sunny and probably 45 degrees or so. A perfect day for running. We went back to the car and got our race gear on and got prepared by listening to a little Girl Talk on the stereo. Very cool DJ from Pittsburgh that mixes 70-80's rock hits with Rap. It is a great combination and really fun to listen to pre-race.
We made our way to the line. Well, I should say Jim made his way to the line. You see Jim ran in the 50K and I in the 25K race. I got shut out of the 50K as it was full so I ran the 25K instead. The 50 started 30 minutes before we did. They rolled out at 8 a.m. and we started at 8:30. Jim looked good and I had the feeling that he was gonna have a good day but I wouldn't see him again until close to the end.
We started at 8:30 and when the gun went off we ran across a grass field about 200-300 yards and then turned left onto a road and ran back past the start line. I put myself in the lead as I wanted to get a good start and I was feeling strong that day (so far). As we got about another 1/4 of a mile we got to where the trail goes into the woods and begins to go uphill (already). Myself and Randy Wilson were up front and we had a great pace going. I had never met Randy before but when he told me he was a Cross Country coach from Pennsylvania I thought, Uh-Oh, this guy can hold a pace. Now, I am gonna get "off trail" for a second here and talk about one thing that I love the most about trail running, and running in general. I meet people that I do not know from all over the place. You just settle into a pace with someone and you start talking and it makes it that much more fun to run with a new running friend. Sounds a bit corny but I really enjoy that part of running. I have made many friends that way. Speedy runner extraordinaire Jay Smithberger from Granville for one.
So back to the race.
Randy and I started to pass some of the 50K runners at about the 4 mile mark or so. All of the runners were really good about letting us pass as we were keeping a much quicker pace. Makes sense, we were running half the distance they were so we could afford to go faster. Now something happened as we passed a few runners that I must stop and comment on. There were three runners that we passed and one, a guy that runs in the Northern and Central Ohio trail running community and owns his own screen printing business. He supplies many races with the shirts they give out. I won't name names but you get the idea. He said, and I quote, "Hey are you guys gonna run the REAL race next year"? Now Randy didn't take this too kindly and said a few choice expletives that I will not repeat here but I felt the same as he did. But Randy did say "we are just running fast because we can". Now the more I thought about this the more angry I got. I know for a fact that the gentleman was not kidding or "busting our balls" because neither one of us knew him. It's fine to say that kind of thing if you are friends with someone and you are jsut giving them a hard time as a friend. Neither one of us knew this joker. What right did he have to ask us if we were running the REAL race? Just because there is a longer race out there it doesn't mean that other races that day are not REAL. We all go to events with different goals and different agendas. My goal that day was to run the 25K as fast as I could as it was shorter than the 50K and I felt that my training would allow me to have a pretty fast time. Just because I was running faster and passed this fella on the trail he felt the only way to "shoot back" was to make a comment about running a shorter distance then he was that day. My ass. Any distance that anyone decides is fine for them on that, or any other day. I just ran the Mohican 50 mile trail race in preparation for the Burning River 100 later in July. Now the Mohican race also has a 100 mile race that all goes off at the same time. Now do you think that because 50 miles are less than 100 that 50 miles is a lesser event? Hell no! 50 miles is damn hard and there are people that start the race that never finish. So my point is now matter who is running what event it is exactly what they want to run that day and no one, except their ball busting buddies, should give them a hard time about it.
Okay, back to the race again.
Randy and I were going along at a good clip and I led us up to the first aid station. I thought "well, if he stops I will, if not I have enough water, etc. to get to the next station". Randy didn't stop so neither did I. We dashed into the woods and headed down a nice decent.
As soon as we got to the bottom of that decent I thought "I should not be a hog and let Randy lead for a while" be the kindhearted trail runner that I am. Well, when Randy took the lead he slowly hit the gas and I increased my pace to keep up. When I realized that it felt a bit fast for the pace I thought I could hold for the whole race I wished Randy luck and he slowly faded out of sight around the next corner. I felt good myself and just told myself to not worry about him anymore and just settle on a pace I felt good with. I did just that and was feeling really good. We came up to the Covered Bridge aid station, a staple of any trail running event at Mohican.

In fact, it's funny how many trail ultras have "Covered Bridges". The Burning River 100 in the Cleveland area in July (two days from now in fact) - you guessed it, Covered Bridge. I would love to find a race someday that is race from one Covered Bridge to the next. If anyone knows of an area with lots of Covered Bridges, let me know.

Back to the race. I got refueled at the aid station quickly and off I went again down a paved portion and into a small campground looking portion of the race. I could still not see Randy but I thought perhaps if I kept in my pace that I might see him again. The paved portion disappeared and turned into singletrack trail again. I love me some singletrack. It got to a portion where it wound very close to the Clearfork River and I really had to be careful. Lots of roots and rocks. This stuff is easy to trip on accidentally and I find myself at late stages of a trail race telling myself to "lift those knees" to avoid tripping.
Well, I avoided tripping during this race, which is usually not the case. Usually it's not an ultra unless you trip and fall. Not so this time, thankfully. I knew I was getting close to the finish and the adrenaline started pumping as I knew that I had not been passed by anyone and was still in 2nd place overall. I had never finished in 2nd place overall EVER in any race and I was getting excited but keeping focused on the trail. As I popped out of the woods where the singletrack ended I knew I only had a very little ways to go. But where were the trail markings? I looked for the telltale yellow flags stuck in the ground. Nothing. I was on a paved parking area and my eyes dashed back and forth as I frantically looked for the markings. Nothing. I ran slowly to the right after I asked two guys in a pickup if they saw any runners. They thought they saw some go right. So I ran about 1/4 mile to the right as I thought I saw a yellow flag. It turned out to be a daffodil and I was pissed. I quickly turned around and dashed back to where I popped out of the woods. As I kept running past that spot I spotted Randy cooling down. I asked him which direction to the finish and he said "Quick right this way" and pointed behind him. At this point I could see someone running in front of me. I knew it was the person who was behind me all race and was now in 2nd place. That was supposed to be my place. I tried in vain to catch him but we were way too close to the finish. I watched him finish and I finished about 10-15 seconds after him. As I crossed the finish line I tossed my waterbottle down in disgust and barked at the race director about the poorly marked porting right at the end and I why I was pissed because it caused me to finish 3rd rather than 2nd. He apologized profusely and quickly sent someone out to mark the course in that area and to make it painfully obvious where you were to go. I cooled down and apologized to him for losing my head and I told him how great the race was except for that little portion. I felt bad for over-reacting and apologized again. He was very gracious and I appreciate his kindness. Thanks Rob.
Here is me during the race:


My buddy Jim was running the 50K and after I got cleaned up and fueled up again I walked the course backward toward the Covered Bridge and met him about 1/2 from the Bridge. I ran back in with him to the finish for my cool down. He ran a great race and PR'ed at the "Forget the PR 50K" as did quite a few people that day. Rob has promised that in 2012 the race will be revised to live up to it's name. Bring it on Rob. Just make sure that hunting for the trail is not part of the race.
Thanks for reading and Happy Running!

WHY WE RUN

Okay, like we haven't seen this 1000 times and usually blow right past it. Typically, it is the headline of an article about challenging ones' self, setting goals and reaching them, or perhaps even for weight loss reasons as part of a new outlook on life. All very valid, respected answers that I have answered the same way depending on when you ask me. Today, however, I want to answer this question differently and make you think about running a bit differently.
"I run because I like to see with my own eyes what the world has to show me". That is my answer today with this post. By this I mean that I have always tried to run everywhere that I can. Anytime that I travel anywhere I get in a run anytime I can. Much of it has been on work/business trips. I have traveled to the following places on work trips and run at each one: Dusseldorf, Germany; Paris, France; London, England; Boulder, Colorado; San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Dallas, Seattle, Vancouver, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Portland, Little Rock, Houston, Providence, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Orlando, Jacksonville, Phoenix, Watsonville, CA, and others that I have forgotten to mention (sorry). On these trips I usually get up early in the morning and go on my run before the work day begins. I find it a great way to start my day.
Then there are the places that I have traveled to for personal vacations that I always get in runs: Isle of Palms, S.C.; Sanibel Island, FL; Los Angeles, Duck, N.C., Beijing, China; Guangzhaou, China; Changsha, China; Myrtle Beach, Outer Banks, N.C., and probably others that I have forgotten. On these runs I again usually always go in the morning as it is a more peaceful time to run, cooler in the summer, and then I have the remainder of the day to spend with the family.
I always try to run everywhere I go.

Why am I telling you this?
I want you to get out there and see all the cool things that I have seen and experienced through running. There are a lot of runs that come to mind. I ran in San Francisco one morning. I got an amazing hill work out in. I saw some amazing houses, ran past the LucasFilms Headquarters and saw the Yoda Fountain, and watched the sun come up on the East side of the Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge just to the left, very cool.























I ran in a park outside of Boulder one morning and thought I was going to die for the first few minutes of my run. Then I realized that the altitude was what was causing this. During that run I also saw a sign posted on that run that warned of mountain lions in the area. Suffice it to say that I was making all kinds of noise during that run and I was glad I had my "Bear Bells" on my shoes. You don't want your significant other getting a phone call "Mrs. Calhoun we are afraid to tell you that your husband is lost in the mountains and probably has been mauled by a mountain lion". Be safe when you run in an unfamiliar place.










I ran one morning when we were in Beijing and I saw the National Flag raising ceremony in Tienanmen Square. It was very cool to see the reverence that another country gives it's flag and the pageantry that goes along with it. If you are ever in Beijing you have to get up early and go see this. And there were lots of people there to see this and it was at sunrise.








I ran at Half-Moon Bay very early one morning and from the top of the hill I could see the moon hanging as big as life above the Pacific Ocean. Very beautiful. Although this photos happens to be in the morning, you get the idea.









Travel Locally
Now, you don't have to get on a plane, or even drive to see cool things when you run. This was taken here in Bexley after a recent Saturday morning run with the Bexley Running Group. This is Jody, Mike, and I in front of a house with our friend Frosty. It was an amazing site and when the girl that lives here and helped make the snowman saw us out front she came out and offered to take our picture with the three of us in it. She didn't even have any shoes on. Crazy! But not as crazy as the height of this thing. It was quite the sight.
I'm sharing these stories not to impress you with where I have been so fortunate to have traveled to but to encourage you to take your gear with you when you travel and go run. Get up early and go run before that morning meeting. You will have more energy than anyone in the room and you'll feel great. You will see some of the most amazing things and meet some great new people that you would not have otherwise met.
TIP #1 - Take a plastic bag with you, or use the plastic laundry bag from the hotel to put your sweaty clothes in.
TIP #2 - If you don't know a route, check out MapMyRun before you go and find one there. I can almost guarantee you that you will find a number of different runs that people have mapped out in a given area. I mean, there are lots of runs for the most obscure places you can go. I even use MapMyRun when I want to find a local route that I have never run before. Here is the link to that website:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/

I should probably add that I did not take these pictures above but found them on the web (except for Frosty, of course). That is one thing that I need to do more of is take a camera with me when I travel and take it on my runs.
Happy Running!
Steve

COOL RUNNING BLOG TO CHECK OUT

You can actually win something by following this link:
http://quadrathon.blogspot.com/2010/02/friday-freebies.html

It is something that all of us can use. It is a Moji icing product for back or knee. These babies work and you will love, love, love it if you win. Please do yourself a favor and enter. If you win, you will not be disappointed.

Okay, now that the "do this" portion of the blog is out of the way. Is anyone gearing up for a goal run this year? I would love to be your coach. I have over 17 years of running experience and I raced road bicycles for 10 years prior to that. I love to read everything I can get my hands on about every aspect of training and nutrition. I have a few runners that are gearing up for runs from 10K to half-marathon and a new triathlete that I am training for the Wendy's Triathlon. I have room in my schedule so if you have a goal and you want to reach it, contact me at stevecalhoun2003@yahoo.com or post a comment here and I will get right back with you.

Bexley Running Group - don't forget, we meet every Saturday at 10 a.m. in Bexley at the Jeni's Ice Cream at the corner of Parkview Ave. and Main St.. We usually run 4 miles as a group and some folks tack on miles afterward if you want a little more. We will not leave anyone behind and everyone can easily find a pace partner. It is snowing right now and calling for more snow through tomorrow morning, Saturday. It should be a great run tomorrow in the snow so PLEASE join us.
So, have a great weekend. Run carefully if you run outside. If you need motivation, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdd31Q9PqA
Now go Run!

SUNDAY RUN AT HIGHBANKS

Sunday, January 31st - 7:30 a.m.
My buddy, Jim Smith, and I ran 15 miles this morning at Highbanks Metropark here in Columbus, Ohio. It was 9 degrees F when we started. And that is F as in Fahrenheit and not an expletive. Although that would be warranted too. It was COLD but the sun stayed out the whole time. ALLELUIA! It really felt good when the sun would hit you as you could feel yourself warm up.
We started by doing one loop of the entire upper loop where we saw three deer. We joked that they said to themselves "What the hell are those furless idiots doing out here"? We then did two loops of the entire rest of the park. We did see more people than we thought we would, gladly. It's always comforting to know there are others out there with us.
The best part about running with someone that you are good friends with is that you can talk the whole way or choose to not talk at all. Jim and I have some great talks while we run. We come up with some great ideas, and some fun ones that might not make too much business sense but are fun none the less. We are working on a really good one right now so stayed tuned here for more details soon.

INSPIRATION
As we were running we talked about MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and the UFC (Ulitmate Fighting Championship) and some of the intense, insane workouts that some of it's fighters do. One in particular is B.J. Penn, who is the lightweight champion. He lives in Hawaii and is known for his amazing stamina and conditioning. One training technique that Jim told me about is that he and his training partners swim out in the ocean to where the bottom is about 12'-15' down and they swim down to the bottom. While there they roll or pick up and throw heavy rocks, swim back to the surface, and do it over again. I tried to find a video of this but could not. Anyway, it inspired me. We had to stop for a "pee break" and as Jim was finishing up I found a log about 4' long and about 10-12" in diameter. It weighted about 25-30 pounds. I picked it up, hoisted it over my right shoulder, and continued running. At first I thought, "I'll probably won't be able to keep this up too long". Well, I ran along and felt pretty good. I did switch shoulders once and as we got to an intersection that we would run past again, I put the log down. As we got back to that intersection about 1/2 mile later, I picked it up again and ran with it again for a while and dumped it off back close to where we parked. I have to say that it was not easy at times but I got a great workout. I probably ran with it for about 1 mile all together.
The reason I relay this is not to impress but to share with you the fun and challenge that I got from thinking outside of the training box that I find myself in sometimes. Challenge yourself. Do things differently. You never know when you will find something that works for you and that you really like doing. Jim challenged me to run the entire Burning River 100 mile race this July with that same log, carrying it the whole way. At first I thought, "You must be crazy". I'm re-thinking my position. Stay tuned...

Bexley Running Group

Hey all!
I wanted to let you, all how ever many of you, that I have gotten a running group going where I live here in Bexley, Ohio. It is just East of downtown Columbus by 3.5 miles.
We meet every Saturday morning at the Jeni's Ice Cream in Bexley at the corner of Parkview and Main Streets.
Here is a link to the location:

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=google%20maps&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl


We ran this morning and had a great run. It was a bit cold at the beginning but it was not as bad as I was expecting. We had 8 runners total.
Here we are:















I also to a picture of this flock of geese flying South that I took after our run. I tacked on a few miles at the end and heard this faint "Honk, Honk, Honk" and looked up and saw two groups, sorry flocks of geese about this size. I always think this is an impressive sight.
Do they take turns at the front like a cycling peloton performing an echelon in the wind? Is it the oldest one at the front? Is that the only one that knows the way or is that the one with the GPS? Inquiring minds want to know.















Please join us whenever you can. You don't have to live in Bexley to join us. Just come and have fun running with a group a people. We have all different paces so no one gets left behind.
Have a great day.
Get out there and RUN.

COLD AS A, ... WELL JUST REALLY COLD

Okay, this will be fairly short and sweet. I have not blogged in a while but this one will be short and then back to recap The Columbus Marathon and then pick up from there.
Dateline: Sunday, January 3rd
Columbus, Ohio
I went out for a run last Sunday morning. I got up early and left by 6:10 a.m.. Okay, so your saying no big deal, I do that all the time. True, but I'm just not used to it when it is 6 degrees F outside with a windchill of -6 degrees F. I have figured out that I absolutely love running in the snow but just aren't so fond of the sometimes bitter cold temperatures that can accompany. I checked the local weather radar before I left and I have run plenty in cold and snowy weather so I knew how to dress. Warmly and in layers. I had on a warm knit hat, a fleece neck gaiter that I could pull up to cover my nose. In fact, I could pull my hat down and the gaiter up so that only a slit for my eyes showed, which I did. I had on my Pearl Izumi jacket (love the Pearl), my Craft baselayer (love it more), a duofold heavy knit long sleeve top over that, my Brooks winter running pants, my asics knit running undies with a goretex wind-proof/water-proof panel to cover the twig and berries (I can't tell you how much I love these), wool Darn Tough socks, and my Pearl Izumi syncroguide II shoes. Oh, and my Pearl Izumi lobster gloves, with integrated terry backs for nose wiping. If you think I like Pearl Izumi gear you are right. I was introduced to their stuff back when I raced Road bicycles and they make great performance gear.
In fact, here is what I looked like after my run:

So, I left at 6:10 a.m. and when I first hit that outside air it literally took my breath away like I just got a light kick to the nads. Ouch! Kind of like that first time that one of your kids accidentally hits you there without knowing it and it not really being a hard knock. But a knock none the less.
Once I got used to that freshly kicked feeling I was fine, in the relative sense of the word. Fine as in "that set of thumbscrews fits me just fine". Find as in "I love creamed chicken casserole just fine" the first time you go to your would be mother-in-laws house. You get the picture. You are trying to convince yourself that it is not as bad as it feels but given the choice I would choose for it to be 60 degrees and sunny.

I always like that sound of my running shoes "crunching" through the snow. It seems like the colder it is the louder and crisper the "crunching" is. Well, it sounded like I was running through a field of freshly laid Frosted Flakes. The quiet of the morning combined with the apparent volume of the "crunching" made me think "If I was a hunter there is no way I could sneak up on any prey. They can hear me coming 1/2 mile away for Gods' sake". However, I discovered that there is something that is very peaceful about that scenario. It is quiet and actually hearing the sound of my contact with the frozen earth is kind of humbling. I didn't necessarily think that way at the time but now that I reflect on it, I really enjoyed that aspect of the run.
I ran from Bexley, just East of downtown Columbus, towards downtown and turned North on High St. and ran up High St. to the OSU campus, took a right on 17th ave. and up to touch Ohio Stadium (the Horseshoe) making that my turnaround and headed home.
As I was running back I encountered that thing that used to be a tailwind but was now a headwind blowing cold air right at me. WOW! Another kick to the nads.
My eyes watered, there was a little snow coming down, and my eyelashes were freezing to each other. Not fun, but easily remedied by rubbing them. I had been breathing through my mouth for some time now and the neck gaiter that I had pulled up to cover my nose had developed a frozen crust on the outside by this time. It made it easy to remove to take drinks from my semi-frozen water bottles as I could just grab the stiff cloth and pull down. I have to say that at this point the only part of me that was really cold was my hands and I had to keep moving my thumbs and fingers around to keep them warm. The rest of me was not too bad. As I was about 12 miles in to this 16 mile fridgefest I had to utilize a maneuver known as the "farmers' blow". Now, for those not familiar with this I will explain. Since ones nose can run more than usual when it's cold one has the need to blow ones nose. Since I don't have a hanky, I need to improvise. If you take your right thumb and cover your right nostril and blow, you will get "nasal stuff" shooting out of your left nostril and if you hold left thumb to left nostril you get the same from the right nostril. This is also know as the "snot rocket" as sometimes it can really move depending on the voracity at which one blows. Then you just take the back of your glove and wipe. Mission accomplished. When I completed this maneuver as I passed a car I swear I thought that I broke the side window of the car because I think from the time I blew to the time it accidentally hit the parked cars' side window, it froze. You get the picture.
And another really odd thing happened right about this same time. I was fairly close to CCAD, the Columbus College of Art and Design and I heard the strangest noise, blackbirds calling from a large tree. I don't mean one or two either, I mean many, many birds. I would guess that there were probably 15-20 or so. I found this odd because I have never experienced this in this dead of winter. I guess I always figured that most smart birds flew South for the winter. I guess not.

So, I continued my run back home, and was exhilirated yet quite glad when I finally got home. I felt really good but I can tell you that there is nothing better than the last mile or so of that run thinking about the nice, hot shower to come along with the warm breakfast.
Life is good.
Here are a few other photos that I took that morning as well:














This is called the frozen grimace!














I call this one Frozen Neck Gaiter!














I even found two cents during this run. Life is Good.
Now get out there and enjoy YOUR run.