Snowstorm 10K -- Sat. January 31

Not sure I was going to get up, but managed it and headed out, scraping a fresh inch of snow of the car -- a sunny, breezy and cold day, so I went well wrapped. Arrived with time to do only a short warm up, just over 3/4 of a mile, then jogged out to the start. 80+ people, quite a low turnout by recent standards; the ground was so ice-sheeted that there was not much point in really racing, too. Still, after a brief plod at the start, I jumped ahead through the off-path snow, chatting to Steve O in passing (yes, he's recovering from injuries) and chugged up the hill and out; I was in shorts, and it was too cold to go very slow. First mile was about 7:15, and I felt very good, so strode out a bit, doing a 6:15 second mile, feeling very comfortable and not pushing it. But into mile three I could sense the numb-leg in prospect, and as we headed into mile 4 it came on clearly. As I vaulted the gate coming back into the park I nearly went down, and when we reached the zoo I knew I'd have to stop--I'd slowed right down. Stopped and two people passed; stretched a bit and started again, but back out on the main road had to stop again, and another passed. Gah. I had breath a plenty, and managed to make to the end from there, picking up the pace with the other three ahead, but only gaining on one of them -- overtook him as we hit the rough snow at the last bit of sidewalk by the end. So a mixed feeling:

Time: 44:34 (GPS 44:33)
Distance: 6.2 miles (hah! GPS 6.58 miles)
Pace/Speed: 7:11s/8.35 (GPS 6:46s/8.86 mph)

Comments: Maybe the snow shovelling this week didn't help my back, that and the fact that I only managed one midweek run. Must get the frequency going this coming week, and hope that I can as before work through the back/numb-leg trouble. I certainly felt strong running today, after the tough ten midweek.