Snowstorm 10K - Sat. February 2

Three late nights in a row, but managed to be in bed by 1 a.m. and ready to go at 8:40. Arrived in good time at the park, checked in, then headed out for a warmup run (seeing Ivan arrive too). Very mild (38+) and damp, but still tricky patches of ice here and there. I was in road shoes, so had to be especially careful. Here's the warmup:

1.78 miles @ 13:19 = 8 mph

Good crowd, and I sighted on Elvin (sort of); SteveO back, and Bill R doing the usual chat too--quite a social gathering. Groundhog Day run, in fact. Went through the crowd early (SteveO said he was in poor shape and that I should be battling Frank R again) and then tried to keep Elvin in sight--but at the end of the first mile he was disappearing and I found I'd been very slow (6:51; way off pace). So then pushed a bit, and managed a 5:46, and clock was 19:50 or so when GPS measured 3.1; looked like a good chance to beat 40 mins. Plugged on, saying hi to Joe F too, and then one guy who passed me as we headed back into the park. Kept pushing and ended up catching a HSer who had a stomach complaint (suggested he took smaller strides, to recover), then just before we reached the big downhill caught another guy, normally faster, who'd had a spill. Turned out to be a *very* long 10k (6.62 on my gps), and though I did a 5:45 and had a fast ending, couldn't beat the course clock:

Time: 41:00
Distance: 10K (6.62 miles. . .)
Speed: 9.7 mph

Comments: felt like a PB over the first miles (Ivan said the same) but that was not to be. Still, came in 9th and it felt like a good outing. Had a numb-leg looming as we did the loop in the park before heading out the main entrance, but smaller steps and dumbluck kept it at bay, it seems. Not gone, but not too much of a problem in the end.