Was it Really that Cold?

Dave here.......

In our last post, Holly told you about her excitement for the newly added runDisney 10k and official recognition of the "Dopey Challenge". Race registration is a few days away and I know I have to make a decision about what I will register for.....

I will definitely register for the 5K and the new 10K race. I was actually thinking about adding on the half marathon again as well. I know I complained about it in January and said I was "done with this nonsense", but time and circumstances have brought some perspective. First, I've completed two half marathons already so I don't have to prove to myself that I can cover the distance. Next, I can go slower and take all the pictures I didn't take the first time around and do some more fun filming on the course (and use my new GoPro) rather than worry about my time requirements for the Coast to Coast Challenge. Finally, it was announced this is the last year Team AllEars will be in existence so I kinda would like to be out there with the larger group that morning and commemorate the last 3 years (5 for Holly). Without Team AllEars we would't have started Team Tizzel.

Even their logo reminds me of icicles

I was willing to accept the downsides: rigid workout schedule, training in general, and exercising while on vacation. But then that all changed last Sunday (March 24). Holly and I went to Chicago to do the Chi Town 10K (me) and Half Marathon (Holly). Describing the day as cold and miserable would be the optimistic point of view. It was nastiness only The Devil could conjure.

Our friend Laura took this from the half marathon course

To add insult to it all we had to restart the 10K. Volunteers were given bad instructions and sent us the wrong way on the course. They pulled me off the course when I was 1.4 miles into it. We were sent back to the start to do it all again. After completing a total of 7.6 miles I was directed to the stage to wait for an announcement from the RD. Standing out there in my sweaty race clothes was awful. After the announcement I went back to the car and just sat and shivered like crazy for ten minutes. I could potentially see these conditions, or worse, in December and January when longer training distances are required.


Holly had a good day out there. She was cold just like I was, but she had a great finish time and felt pretty good afterwards. We finished our time downtown with a great lunch at Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder.  Their Pizza Pot Pie is a one-of-a-kind.

So the one thing that causes me to hesitate about signing up for the WDW Half: cold weather training. It truly had shifted the direction I was originally leaning.  But, Holly and I may have found a way around it - sign me up at Snap Fitness for 2 months.  There's one right by our house and locations not too far from our family homes for our Christmas visits.  This might work out......

Here's a short video from the Chi Town 10K and Half Marathon: