so Saturday morning - the FFRC met early for the marathoners who more miles to put down and for those half marathoners who’s pace would also take them further than 3 miles in 45-60 minutes. my group also had a runner come early because of other commitments. it was good that i got the chance to see the road conditions prior to the start of the race, except for the back side of the path that we skipped that was apparently a sheet of ice. there’s nothing like winter road running that veers somewhat into trail running territory. it was quite the adventure.
we kicked off the 40th running of the snowball series this year at tower grove park with a fun little 3 miler around the park... i love tgp, it’s got a nice mix of rolling flats and straights and the multiple pavilions make for a lovely view while on the road. if you’ve ever spent any considerable amount of time in st. louis, you’d know that the weather here is unpredictable at best. mother nature doesn’t always get the memo when it comes to the race calendar and this past week was no different. we got a whole mess of snow at the beginning of the week and the parks department didn’t do a very good job of making sure the road was clear for saturday’s adventure. with that being said, about 2000 folks took to the course and got our medals or cookies for the kiddos that ran the reindeer dash. it was really a nice morning for a run, wasn’t too cold, wasn’t too hot. perhaps i’m a bit like goldilocks in that if i can get by with a boulder formerly know as sparkle skirt, long-ish sleeves and something to cover my ears i am a happy camper. for the winter session the FFRC has incorporated the snowball series into the training season because of when the goal race falls we needed to kick off our training session early. not gonna lie i am super excited, the medals are the isht and the hoodie… omgah its so soft and fluffy, i’m happy i didn’t have to make the choice between coaching and racing. the first two miles were fine, a little slushy and some black ice in a few spots. once we hit mile 2 though, there was a good stretch that wasn’t well maintained and where footing was questionable even after the herd of speedies went through. i had a small group of 1:1’s with me that i told to go on and finsh the race as the coach in my was yelling to others to watch their step because it was slick even still, a number of folks bit it. it is what it is, i mean we race at our own risk so i guess with winter racing it is to be expected. in any case, since i stayed back i was able to catch up with other from my group so all in all it was ok.
looking forward, the next race in the series is in 2 weeks on january 4th in forest park, 5 miles of winter adventuring coming right up.
see you on the road ~ts
pre-race training