I am, quite possibly, the biggest goober in America

Trust me. The race pics will support this theory.

Sunday was the Icicle Run, a popular 10-miler in my town. This year, it definitely lived up to its name. At race time, it was 22 degrees with a wind chill of 11! Toward the end of the race, I touched my ponytail and discovered that it was FROZEN SOLID. My hair was a solid chunk. What the ????

I have to say that I really, really like the 10 mile distance. It's long enough that you can go nice and slow (hahaha) but short enough that training for it doesn't take over your whole life. Anyway, a few friends and I decided we would do it but NOT race it. As Andrea said, it was a long run with a bib.

We convinced another woman, T, to run it with us. She spent 8 of the past 12 months dealing with pretty significant injuries (terrible knee problems followed by a stress fracture in her other leg), so she was worried about finishing. Within the first 2 miles, we split into two groups with me keeping T company just a little way behind the others. She told me repeatedly to go on ahead and catch up with our other friends, but I was happy to run with her at a slightly slower pace (they finished 3 minutes ahead of us, so it wasn't like we were that far behind) and keep her company. After all, we talked her into it; it wouldn't have been fair to leave her behind. That's the way I see it, anyway.

So we ran and talked and ran and talked. I didn't know her well, and it was really great getting to know her over the course of the run. We saw our husbands in mile 6, climbed hills, battled cramps (me) and fatigue (her), saw my husband and his daughter again in mile 8, and generally had a great time.

The most fun was when we saw the photographer, who happened to be a good friend of mine. Believe me when I tell you I hammed it up for the camera. Well, actually, just see for yourself.

As I said, T wasn't convinced she could do the whole 10 miles. Her longest run in a year prior to this race was 6 miles (and the doctors told her she'd never run more than 4 or 5 miles after her injury). She told me during the race that she figured she'd be around 1:40 IF she was able to finish. I am pleased to tell you that we finished together in 1:36:36. Woo hoo!

One more pic... My hubby D, his daughter, and our friend D (the photographer's son, who happened to be celebrating his 16th birthday that day!) who kicked butt with a 1:10:01 in the race having never run farther than 5K prior to this!

Many thanks to D, my stepdaughter, and the many spectators and volunteers who braved the cold to cheer us on.