2013 Cold Catfish Cup

Here are the pics I promised from yesterday’s winter mountain bike / fat bike race, the Cold Catfish Cup.  (I realized I failed to ever mention the name of the race in the previous post.)

I’m basically posting these in the order of how I spent my time watching the race.  I didn’t take the most direct route to get to the main parking lot of the park (where the start/finish was set up) but instead headed to the park’s lake beach.  I thought I remembered reading somewhere the route went over the beach and across the lake.  Indeed that was the case (as stated in the previous post) and I found myself a nice spot by the beach house, out of the wind and freezing rain.  It also happened to be a good place to watch the race.  I was able watch the racers come off a slick-looking downhill, through the beach house structure, over the beach, and across the lake. 

 

Racing through the beach house…

And out onto the frozen lake. 

Careful now, there’s no lifeguard on duty.

After spending awhile by the lake, I moved towards the start/finish area, stopping for a time at the giant snowy uphill the riders had to climb.  This hill sucks to simply walk up when clear in the summer time, it was just ridiculous that this was on the course.  Some had to walk up, but I don’t know how more didn’t in the slick snow.

View of the hill from the beach.

The hill from the bottom looking up.

Eventually I made my own way up the hill and to the start/finish area.  I made it just in time to see the first finishes, but also to see the variety of people racing.  As I said, there were a few guys on unicycles, and here’s the proof:

I pretty much stayed by the finish until everyone came through, becoming decently cold by that point.  It was mid-afternoon and I hadn’t anything more than a banana for lunch after my run, so I was pretty hungry too.  I made my way over to the Potter’s Pasties & Pies food truck, bought a traditional pasty, and started back home.  By this time, the freezing rain was turning into snow.  That big hill I talked about earlier?  Well that was much harder going back down – especially with a pasty in one hand and a Thermos of tea in the other.  I made it home safely without falling though, just a very wet and snow covered stocking cap and down coat to show for my time spent at the race (well and a full stomach from that pasty).  My coat still hasn’t completely dried…

The start/finish area with the Potter’s Pasties and Pies food truck in the back right.

Weekend Roundup

I don’t really have a common thread for the things I wanted to mention in this post so I decided a list was just easier:

--- Of course it was cold this week, so much in fact that I skipped my Tuesday run and did a workout inside instead.  To mix things up a bit – and to burn off the crazy amounts of energy I had – I searched for workouts on YouTube and found this.  It ended up just kicking my butt so I maybe ended up doing half of what the total workout had you do.  I saw this extra ab workout link on the side and decided to try it.  It was a lot more manageable but I still did my normal ab routine afterward to feel better about myself.  Lastly I topped it off with a fun Wii Fit session, burning off what it said was 100 calories.  Now writing that out it sounds like a lot, but it didn’t seem like it was that intense of a workout.  No, that’s a lie.  My inner thighs and abs were very tired and sore the next day.

--- On Wednesday and Thursday I was back out on the road for running.  The wind chills were at 2F and at -7F respectively for those two days.  That -7F ties last Sunday’s personal record cold run but it really didn’t seem all that bad.  I might be able to go colder (just a little bit).  I don’t know.  The forecast for this next week was highs just barely above zero for Thursday and Friday so maybe I’ll test the cold a bit.  (Mom, if you’re reading this I’ll be just fine.)

--- Related to winter running, I did buy some gear on Friday… at Fleet Farm.  That’s right I didn’t buy running gear at a running store, REI, Dick’s Sporting Goods, or even Target.  This was at Fleet Farm, the farm supply / hardware store where most people buy guns, Carhartts, livestock dewormer, and ATV tires.  It’s similar to the Wisconsin based Farm and Fleet or Theisen’s in Iowa’s eastern half.  I was at Fleet Farm for two things.  First I needed some mittens for running.  I always like layering with two pairs of gloves in colder temperatures, but the gloves I’ve been using just weren’t cutting it for warmth.  Instead of spending double on some REI mittens, I just got some old fashioned lined leather ones.  They always worked on the farm growing up so they should work for running.  The second bit of running gear I purchased was some bits of hardware, but that’s all I’m saying for now.  I’ll reveal more in another post.

--- It may have not graced the front page of your local newspaper, but last night the overnight towns (and thus general route) were announced for Iowa’s RAGBRAI.  Even though the predictions were correct in that it is a southerly route, it was still big news for Iowa.  Really it’s actually a decently big deal for cycling as it’s one of the world’s largest (if not THE largest) non-racing cycling events.  

--- Lastly, after I finished my 4 mile run this morning, I quickly changed, grabbed a Thermos of tea, and headed back outside to go watch a mountain bike race just down the road.  It’s worth mentioning that it was sleeting as I was finishing my run and by the time I headed back out for the race it was now freezing rain.  It was a bit slick walking the half mile or so to the race but it was definitely worth the trouble.  It was great seeing all the fat bikes racing in the snow (and falling freezing rain), but there were normal mountain bikes as well (some with studded tires), and even a few unicycles too.  I often run on the paved trails of the park that the race was held so it was interesting seeing it as a race setting in winter.  The beach that is normally packed with people in the summer was even part of the course.  The riders raced through the middle of the now boarded up beach house, over the beach, and across the frozen lake.  I really got a kick out of the irony of including the beach area on such a wintery day.  I took a few pictures with my phone, but this post is long enough.  I’ll throw them up later tonight or tomorrow.

A Few Laps Around the Echo Base (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hoth Weather)

Contrary to what I predicted in my last post, I did actually make it outside for a run today.  Sure the Star Wars Weather Report said “It’s Like Hoth Out There” but it was actually pleasant.  I stayed close to home though just in case and just ran an easy 3 miles.  I guess you could say I didn’t want to chance things too far away from the Echo base and run into any spy droids, wampas, or imperial walkers.  Heaven forbid I need to shelter inside a sliced open tauntaun.  They smell bad enough on the outside.

Seriously though (ending my regular January habit of referencing Hoth), today really wasn’t that bad.  Today’s high temperature got a bit higher than the weather forecast anticipated – all the way up to a balmy 9F!  There was a bit of a wind still though, providing a wind chill factor of -7F.  While that does break my record for coldest run this year (the wind chill was -4F for my 4-miler last Sunday), I could still go colder.   

To some that may sound insane, but it’s true.  In fact for today’s run I was overdressed.  I was sweating up a storm under all of my layers.  However, I don’t know if I would want to run in much colder.  First, I would need to find some sort of eye area protection, goggles, etc.  My eyes and the surrounding area are the only parts of my body that aren’t covered with my current layering.  Secondly, and most importantly, simply for safety reasons I don’t think I’ll run in much colder.  When everything goes to plan as it does 99.9% of the time, it is fine.  But should something happen out on a really cold run and I’m stranded (or whatever)… I don’t want frostbite or hypothermia recovery at the top of my list for post-run activities.

With that said, and looking forward to the next few days, I’m definitely not venturing out for runs.  As I said in my last post, tomorrow (Monday) is right out for running due to the cold.  However it looks like Tuesday will be out as well.  Two straight days off will have me getting “twitchy” indoors, but Wednesday’s forecast looks promising.  As long as it’s not terribly windy giving nasty wind chills, that day looks to be my joyful return to running with (again) a high of 9F.  

Seriously, who gets joyful about running outside with a high of 9F?

WWTF

No, no.  WWTF doesn’t mean “What Would Timmy Feed?”  It means “Weather, What The Fudge?”  (Of course the F doesn’t really mean “fudge” but I thought I should censor this for sensitive eyes.)  As far as the reason behind this, I need only to show you the National Weather Service forecast for the next few days:

Just look at that temperature swing.  Today I could wear shorts on a run.  Monday on the other hand (and possibly Sunday and Tuesday), I don’t know if I could even go for a run.  That might just be too cold (even for me) or I might have to put on so many layers that I wouldn’t be mobile enough to run.  Geez, Saturday alone there’s a 40 degree change from daytime high to nighttime low.  

Here’s what I’m planning.  Normally, I have rest days from running on Mondays and Fridays.  With today being so nice, I’m definitely running.  So it looks like I’ll skip my Friday rest day, making my Saturday 2-miler and my Sunday 5-miler runs into Friday and Saturday runs respectively.  Although Saturday’s temperature looks great, we’re also supposed to have gusty winds, bringing wind chills close to 0F.  Still that’s likely better than what the weather will be on Sunday (and especially Monday).  Although it’s tempting to break a my record for coldest run of the year on Sunday (so far the coldest run this winter has been a air temperature of 8F and a wind chill of -5F), I think I’ll take advantage of the warmth before the deep freeze.  Sunday’s run is also supposed to be a 5-miler, my longest run since this spring.  Yep, I’ll definitely take the warmer temps of Saturday instead.  

I might be dead tired after Saturday, but the cold of Sunday and Monday will be perfect for staying inside and resting.  

**UPDATE:  My wife kindly sat me down and reminded me that we have plans for all of tomorrow (Saturday) so I won’t be able to fit a run in.  So whereas I’ll still be using Sunday and Monday as rest days, Saturday will also become a rest day from running.  I’ll then be skipping the 2 mile run for the more important 5-miler, running it in today’s downright balmy temperatures.  (There may be some sarcasm there.)