Race Report: Frostbitten and Canceled

Was this the final blow?

I awoke Saturday morning with my prediction ready, only to discover a text from Martini, saying that the Frostbite Prediction Run was canceled. The notice was confirmed on Facebook and later on the race Web site.

My prediction didn't get a chance to be proven false like the weather forecasters, who predicted we'd get three to six inches of snow. Instead, we got 11 to 13 inches, and there was still a winter advisory in effect on race day morning.

I was so ready for that race to get my running jumpstarted. I was even ready to blast you all for predicting I'd run anything other than my goal of 26:34. Did you all not understand that the only way for me to win this race is to come in at exactly my predicted time? It's called reading comprehension, people!

Instead, I went bargain shopping and picked up a new winter running hat (a high-visibility, neon yellow Carhartt watch cap with a reflective label) and then I found this for $8 ...


A Trav-L Bar (ca. 1970), complete with four cocktail glasses, two shot glasses, a serving tray, mixing spoon, bottle opener and recipe book. Perfect for the Booze Hound on the go or for post-race hydration.

Race Report: Ice Capades

The Frostbite Prediction Run was Saturday, held in the same location as last year -- and even the same distance (that's 5-K, Vanilla). And just like last year, despite the significantly warmer weather (hello, shorts), the race course was covered in snow, ice and slush.

A prediction run is where the winner is the person who comes closest guessing his finish time. Last year, I knew the guy who won; he nailed his prediction exactly. He was 15 seconds off this year, and didn't even crack the top 20. That's how close you have to be.

During the race, no timing devices are allowed. That means no watches, no Garmins, no heart rate monitors, no GPS devices, no sun dials and no music players. You techno geeks would be screwed.

As you can guess, your splits are not called out. The race organizers even covered up the one side of the clock so that you couldn't see the time until after you crossed the finish. So unless you can calculate your pace by looking at the position of the sun, you have to go by feel.

Last week, I predicted 27:40. That meant I had to run comparatively slow for a 5-K. The ice was almost a blessing because it slowed me down. And thankfully, I forgot to bring my YakTrax. Despite all that, I was still 50 seconds too fast. However, that is my closest prediction yet.

Catching Up
After being sick this week and not being able to run, I had no mileage until Friday, when I ran three miles to knock off the rust. I ran the race Saturday. And then, Sunday I ran a 10-miler, my first double-digit mileage of the year. Sixteen miles in three days? No sweat.

Beerwine
This weekend, I tried Dogfish Head's Red & White, a Belgian-style wheat beer fermented with Pinot Noir juice. It has what Bud Light would call "drinkability," but what would Bud Light know about that?

The Red & White has a very fruity undertone, as you might expect from a beer brewed with orange peel and wine grape juice, but at 10 percent ABV it also has punch. I would love to have it again, but it's a tad costly (as most limited brews are). I paid $12.99 for a 750 ml bottle.

Race Report: Unpredictable

I've never felt so bamboozled. Here, Martini and I enter a race with certain expectations and we get swindled out of our rightful place in the winners' circle. I mean, yes, some things I expect will be a little unpredictable. The distance, however, should not be one of those things.

Up until checking the results online this morning, the race was the Frostbite 4-Mile Prediction Race. That's what it was last year. And that's what I thought it was as I signed my name so that it would be misspelled on the race website. However, it turns out the nefarious race organizers decided to make it a 5-K. Perhaps we were the only numbskulls not to get the message. Instead of being what would have been two minutes over my prediction at the pace I ran, I was six and a half minutes under.

The race was at a new location this year and the course was two laps around a park. This would have been unexciting if it weren't for the sheet of ice that covered every inch of the running surface. I had premonitions of these race conditions the night before while I stumbled and slid home from the bar down the street from my apartment.

On the downhills, some people skidded wildly, willingly or not. Martini took to striding like a cross country skier and even took a spill early in the race. Had I had the guts to turn my shoes into cleats, like I considered, I might have been able to run at a decent clip. Alas, it was just a short, treacherous jaunt in the park to sweat out the booze.

The moment we crossed the finish, we knew we had lost. At 28:09, Martini and I entertained the idea of being so speedy that even on an ice rink we could run faster than either of us ever had. Needless to say, we didn't stick around for the awards ceremony. We headed straight to the pub for a couple of Labatt Blues for carb reloading and fluid replacement purposes and a few shots of Jameson to numb the pain.

The good news is that I now have my stubble time for Vanilla's Shave Your 5-K Challenge. The bad news is that I now have no hope of winning a race this year.

Scene of the race
As we neared the final turn of the race, there was a teenage boy lying on his back in the snowy grass. A top heavy man on the farther edge of middle age, wearing a red jacket and a ballcap, walked toward the boy and shouted in a gruff voice that is what you'd imagine a high school track coach would sound like: "All right get up. Are you OK or what?"

Of Comments and Contests
In response to my last post about predicting my pace for this race, Laura says I should have picked a slow time and worn a watch to make it happen. Sorry, yes, that is cheating. No timing devices or heart rate monitors are allowed at a prediction race. That's the challenge of predicting your pace.

As for the Predict Viper's Finishing Time contest, I see that the prize was so coveted that only one person entered. Congrats, balancingact, you win! Thanks for reading. Leave your choice of blog topic in the comments and I will write about it whenever I feel like it.