I decided to join this race pretty much at the last minute because a friend was participating.
I have not done any speed training or racing in a few months and I thought this would be a nice distance to get me back in the mood or running hard.
Saturday morning, I drove to the great Saltair in Magna, UT where the event was taking place. The weather seemed great when I arrived, but by the time I picked up my race chip, clouds started to amass.
Within an hour things went from a nice winter morning to the blizzard weather from hell, with thunder and lighting! The wind picked up a lot a well and it was becoming clear that the race conditions were turning out to be the toughest I have ever faced.
I have not done any speed training or racing in a few months and I thought this would be a nice distance to get me back in the mood or running hard.
Saturday morning, I drove to the great Saltair in Magna, UT where the event was taking place. The weather seemed great when I arrived, but by the time I picked up my race chip, clouds started to amass.
Within an hour things went from a nice winter morning to the blizzard weather from hell, with thunder and lighting! The wind picked up a lot a well and it was becoming clear that the race conditions were turning out to be the toughest I have ever faced.
A few minutes before the race I met with my friend Christin and we headed to the start line.
There were some 75 - 100 courageous runners there, bunched up together as if to keep warmer.
3, 2, 1 - go! I started towards the back of the pack and launched myself on the right side of the path to overtake as many slower runners as I could. The trail was covered with 3 to 6 inches of snow my overtaking maneuver almost landed me in the ditch a couple of times as I slipped on the rounded edge of the trail. After about half a mile, the run started to be less crowded. I could not feel the wind very much, Sometimes, I would feel a gentle push on my back or to the side, but nothing too bad. After 3/4 of a mile I could not feel my face though. Some ice was forming right on top of my cheek and chin.
I passed mile 1 in 6:50. Not really fast, but just about where I wanted to be. I passed a few people and maintained the pace for a couple more miles.
At mile 4, I was getting just a bit tired. The running in the snow, the lack of fast pace training was catching up with me. I settled for a 7:00 to 7:05 pace.
2 or 3 runners passed me, I passed a couple other...
At the turn around, I took a full measure of how bad the conditions really were. The wind felt actually pretty strong and was picking up speed as the race progressed.
When I faced the wind, the run felt much, much harder like I was running a minute per mile faster. In fact I had slowed down to about 7:35/mile.
After a few more miles, the wind really increased another notch, and gusts were pushing me strongly back and from side to side. I was wiping my glasses every 30 seconds to remove accumulated snow just to be able to see where I was going.
I was working really hard against the wind at my ventilatory threshold. Yet, when I looked at my watch, I was horrified to see that I was moving only at about 9:00 - 9:15min / mile.
By mile 7, the wind calmed down a bit, but by then, it was hard to pick the speed back up. At mile 8, I was back around 7:30/mile.
I had been following another runner, about 3/4 of a mile ahead since mile 2.
I was going to try to take him down. At mile 8.3, with 1 mile to go, I accelerated to about 6:55/mile, and gained back some ground on him.
With 0.5mile left in the race, I was getting close to him, maybe 100yards.
I pushed harder, and harder and soon, I was passing him, slowly. He was trying to keep up and when I passed him, I didn't have much left in the tank.
With about 200 yrads to the finish line, he came sprinting back from behind, and I tried to follow. I focused on increasing the cadence of my feet and turn them around as fast as I could be could not quite keep up.
He crossed just in front of me. Bummer!
I finished in a pretty slow 1:09 and change...
I recovered for a few minutes, and then went running back for my friend Christin, still working hard on the course. I found her about a mile from the finish line and finished the race with her.
There were some 75 - 100 courageous runners there, bunched up together as if to keep warmer.
3, 2, 1 - go! I started towards the back of the pack and launched myself on the right side of the path to overtake as many slower runners as I could. The trail was covered with 3 to 6 inches of snow my overtaking maneuver almost landed me in the ditch a couple of times as I slipped on the rounded edge of the trail. After about half a mile, the run started to be less crowded. I could not feel the wind very much, Sometimes, I would feel a gentle push on my back or to the side, but nothing too bad. After 3/4 of a mile I could not feel my face though. Some ice was forming right on top of my cheek and chin.
I passed mile 1 in 6:50. Not really fast, but just about where I wanted to be. I passed a few people and maintained the pace for a couple more miles.
At mile 4, I was getting just a bit tired. The running in the snow, the lack of fast pace training was catching up with me. I settled for a 7:00 to 7:05 pace.
2 or 3 runners passed me, I passed a couple other...
At the turn around, I took a full measure of how bad the conditions really were. The wind felt actually pretty strong and was picking up speed as the race progressed.
When I faced the wind, the run felt much, much harder like I was running a minute per mile faster. In fact I had slowed down to about 7:35/mile.
After a few more miles, the wind really increased another notch, and gusts were pushing me strongly back and from side to side. I was wiping my glasses every 30 seconds to remove accumulated snow just to be able to see where I was going.
I was working really hard against the wind at my ventilatory threshold. Yet, when I looked at my watch, I was horrified to see that I was moving only at about 9:00 - 9:15min / mile.
By mile 7, the wind calmed down a bit, but by then, it was hard to pick the speed back up. At mile 8, I was back around 7:30/mile.
I had been following another runner, about 3/4 of a mile ahead since mile 2.
I was going to try to take him down. At mile 8.3, with 1 mile to go, I accelerated to about 6:55/mile, and gained back some ground on him.
With 0.5mile left in the race, I was getting close to him, maybe 100yards.
I pushed harder, and harder and soon, I was passing him, slowly. He was trying to keep up and when I passed him, I didn't have much left in the tank.
With about 200 yrads to the finish line, he came sprinting back from behind, and I tried to follow. I focused on increasing the cadence of my feet and turn them around as fast as I could be could not quite keep up.
He crossed just in front of me. Bummer!
I finished in a pretty slow 1:09 and change...
I recovered for a few minutes, and then went running back for my friend Christin, still working hard on the course. I found her about a mile from the finish line and finished the race with her.
Christin, right after the race
After the race, and a couple of hot chocolate, I changed in my car and went straight to work. Yes, on a Saturday!
The driving conditions were horrible. Snow was falling horizontally, the wind was blowing snow from the ground and fog was omnipresent.
After a few miles driving in these conditions I was a bit tense but getting comfortable with the heater full on and heated seats.
Suddenly though, I found myself engulfed in a thick fog with snow rushing in front of my headlights and wind shaking my car violently from side to side. I could not see anything! Well, I could barely see the end of the hood of my own car. I immediately slowed down and pulled to the side of the road, as far right as I could without slipping in the ditch. As my car was slowing down to a full stop, I realized that right in front of me, not 6 feet ahead in fact, the road was completely barred by a huge car crash pile up. I could not move forward and was feeling quite unnerved that someone could rammed into me from the rear and make me participate in this pile up.
What could I do? I could not move forward. From the left to the right of the road the cars were pile up densely. I could not turn around. Returning to the center of the road seemed risky in these conditions. Leaving my car seemed equally suicidal.
Not 20 seconds after I stopped my car, I felt a slight shake of my car and from the corner of my eye I saw another car going pass my left side at great speed, an inch from my window.
The car must have been going nearly 40 mph and crashed into the pile adding another destroyed car to the scene.
Apparently there were no major injuries in the accident but 1 snow plow and 7 or 8 cars were totaled. In fact, my car was the only one to survive nearly untouched.
People, if you can't see where you are going, stop the car!!
The driving conditions were horrible. Snow was falling horizontally, the wind was blowing snow from the ground and fog was omnipresent.
After a few miles driving in these conditions I was a bit tense but getting comfortable with the heater full on and heated seats.
Suddenly though, I found myself engulfed in a thick fog with snow rushing in front of my headlights and wind shaking my car violently from side to side. I could not see anything! Well, I could barely see the end of the hood of my own car. I immediately slowed down and pulled to the side of the road, as far right as I could without slipping in the ditch. As my car was slowing down to a full stop, I realized that right in front of me, not 6 feet ahead in fact, the road was completely barred by a huge car crash pile up. I could not move forward and was feeling quite unnerved that someone could rammed into me from the rear and make me participate in this pile up.
What could I do? I could not move forward. From the left to the right of the road the cars were pile up densely. I could not turn around. Returning to the center of the road seemed risky in these conditions. Leaving my car seemed equally suicidal.
Not 20 seconds after I stopped my car, I felt a slight shake of my car and from the corner of my eye I saw another car going pass my left side at great speed, an inch from my window.
The car must have been going nearly 40 mph and crashed into the pile adding another destroyed car to the scene.
Apparently there were no major injuries in the accident but 1 snow plow and 7 or 8 cars were totaled. In fact, my car was the only one to survive nearly untouched.
People, if you can't see where you are going, stop the car!!
Driving in low visibility conditions...
