Worst. Race conditions. Ever.

Well, folks, I must admit that when I got up this morning and saw near blizzard conditions outside, I considered not going to the Shuffle. But in the end, I thought about how hard I'd been working for it, and I went.

Now that it's over, I'm glad I went, but I have to say it was absolutely miserable. The snow was coming down hard, and it was wet and heavy. It all turned to slush when it hit the ground. My feet were sopping wet before I even got to the race site, and they were completely numb as I stood in the start corral. Because I was in the second wave, I had to stand in the corral for almost 30 minutes before I even got to start running.

I thought it would get better when I took off, but I soon realized that thousands of feet striking the ground was going to cause a lot of splashing. Freezing water and ice splashed over my shoes and up my legs. We went over 6 bridges on the route, and several of them were made of a kind of wire mesh, which did not allow for much traction. And the wind was not pretty either.

But, I finished. And I finished in pretty good time! My watch time was 48:20, which is usually accurate within 5 seconds. My goal was 48 minutes, and a piece of me is disappointed I didn't quite get it, but given the conditions, I'm giving myself a break.

A race for the books, folks. Good for me for going. Enjoy the picture -- I thought it would communicate the misery better than words could.