You can't have a chocolate themed race without some treats on course, right? At the first water station, we were greeted with strawberry flavored marshmallows. I passed on these - (1) they didn't sound to appealing (2) with 8 miles left to run, I didn't know how these would do with my belly (remember, nothing new on race day). The volunteers were all amazing though offering a lot of cheers, smiles, and high fives despite the weather.
Ok, I am sorry for all of my recent rants about the crazy weather in Georgia. Seriously though, the struggle is real though. We have gone from upper 60s (and even 70s) to temps in the 20s a few days later. I don't know if I will need tanks or fleece lined gear until 24-48 hours beforehand. It is a little absurd if you ask me. Anyways, enough of what seems to be my weekly weather rant anymore. If you read my Hot Chocolate Expo recap, you know that a winter blast came through this weekend. The windchill for race morning was projected to be around 11 degrees which is insanely cold for Georgia standards (we don't have cold weather gear really). As a result, the race director sent out an email to participants around 3:00pm the day before the race stating that due to the projected weather forecast some of the race morning will be altered. First, all of the kid's zone events (i.e. - games and bounce houses) were canceled because of the higher risk for children in extreme cold. In addition, all participants running the 15K must now keep a 13:00/mile pace (vs. the original 15:00/pace) so they could get volunteers off the course sooner (the 5K was unaffected). Needless to say, social media went kind of crazy about the situation with questions about if the corrals that submitted a projected pace of 13:00+ would be able to attempt the 15K or if they would have to automatically switch to the 5K. After a few hours of waiting for clarity, it was confirmed that all 15Kers would get to attempt the 15K (if they choose to) however they had to make it to the 5K/15K split (around mile 2) with a 13:00 pace based on the last corral start. My threshold for wearing shorts to run is 25, so today was the first time in over a year that I was running in pants (fleece lined pants at that). I was also layering tops - something that I haven't done in 2 years (I am a hot natured runner). Today was a day of function over fashion for sure. I had a cute INKnBURN outfit planned, but mother nature busted that for me. Sorry, the thought of frost bite isn't appealing. I present to you my boring yet nicely accessorized attire. Call me a weenie if you want, I was cold and not happy about it. However, no excuses! I was there and bundled up and ready to rock! The worst part of the morning was definitely going to be waiting in the corral for our turn to start. There were 2 waves and fortunately we were in the first wave, however we were the last corral of the wave. Our wait time was estimated to be about 20-25 in the corral (we had to enter by 7:25 because the corrals closed). Now, don't get jealous, but check out our lovely throw aways. These gems are robes purchased at Goodwill for $3 (and washed beforehand - don't worry). They were insanely warm and made waiting in the corral so much more bearable. We got some crazy looks, however we weren't jumping around trying to stay warm. :) Right before our corral crossed the start line we dumped our glamorous robes and got ready to go. The first mile or so was a little congested as the 5K and 15K runners all started together. However, by the time we hit the first mile marker, things were pretty good. You can't have a chocolate themed race without some treats on course, right? At the first water station, we were greeted with strawberry flavored marshmallows. I passed on these - (1) they didn't sound to appealing (2) with 8 miles left to run, I didn't know how these would do with my belly (remember, nothing new on race day). The volunteers were all amazing though offering a lot of cheers, smiles, and high fives despite the weather. As we approached mile 2 came the 5K/15K split. We lost a lot of the crowd at this point as a large majority of the runners were running the 5K. We made our right-hand turn and continued on. The next part of the course brought back found memories for me. If you read about my marathon that no one knew that I was training for, you know that the idea of running the "secret marathon" was a result of the Hot Chocolate 15K last year with Becky. Well, as I based this part of the course, all I could do is smile and think about the past year and of course the marathon a few weeks ago. I always love to run into friends and followers at races, so I was pumped to meet Virginia. I first recognized her by her #WeRunSocial PRO Compression socks. It was great chatting with her for a bit and running together for a while. It definitely makes things more fun when you have someone to chat with, so thank you Virginia! Mile 5 greeted us with M&Ms! Ummmm, yes please! They were a bit frozen, but a little sugar jolt was appreciated and I knew these would be ok with my tummy. We also had a few spectators out cheering for us on this bitter morning which was so much appreciated - even if they told me there were 7000 runners ahead of me. HAHA! As we came into mile 7, I heard cheers that I knew - my Atlanta Track Club peeps were in full force! I love seeing my fellow Atlanta Track Club Ambassadors out cheering everyone on and of course getting hugs and selfies along the way! They rock - seriously! As we headed into the campus of Georgia Tech, we received chocolate marshmallows. What the heck, they sounded delightful and I wasn't running at race pace since it was a training run for Princess weekend with Momma K - let's go for it. The final part of the course is a bit of a bugger - I won't lie. Heading up Centennial Olympic Park Drive is a bit grueling as you go up a slight up hill for about a mile as you come up towards CNN, Phillips Arena, and the Georgia Dome (and future Mercedes Benz Stadium). We got to our final water station at mile 8ish and the water was about frozen in the cup. Oye! I told y'all it was cold. It wasn't all the way frozen, so I was still able to have a drink (I had my Fitletic bottle on my belt too). We came into the finish line just north of Turner Field and the final long run before Princess weekend was done! Our simulation weekend was a success! BOOM! Our goal today was simply to get the miles in and to have fun. We even simulated the selfies and photo stops like we plan to do during the Princess Half Marathon. As Momma K and I were getting our Nuun at the finish line area, our fabulous volunteer recognized mom! Caroline recognized myself and mom from reading my blog - so fun! It was so great to meet you Caroline and thank you for volunteering in the crazy cold weather this morning. You are so awesome and I cannot thank you enough for being out there today! Now it was time for what we came here for - CHOCOLATE! We headed over to the Finisher Mug area to redeem our bib tag for our chocolate reward. The process went super smoothly and once again the volunteers were beyond amazing. Here it is folks - our finisher mug reward! Hot chocolate (yes, it was nice and hot), fondue, and various dipping fixin's (banana, marshmallows, Rice Krispy, cookies, and pretzels) - it was all amazingly good. I did feel like I needed to hurry up and eat the chocolate fondue so it didn't solidify....or maybe I just told myself that because I pounded it down like it was going out of style. Yes it was cold. Yes there were times that we totally questioned our sanity for doing it. Yes we are happy that we did it! Thank you again to the team at Hot Chocolate 5K/15K, volunteers, and emergency personnel that made this morning possible. I know that everyone was cold but it was a great time and the runners really appreciate all that you did to make the morning great. Oh yea, the swag. Check this out - Hot Chocolate 5K/15K doesn't do race shirts they give out hoodies. Seriously - how many race shirts just end up in a draw only to be warn a hand full of times (if that). This is my 4th Hot Chocolate 5K/15K race and their race swag is always great! These hoodies are legit and totally nice and toasty - perfect for days like this! This hoodie will definitely get its fair share of wear. Question of the Day: How you brave the cold? What are your layering/throw away tips?
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BrandiI love to run and most importantly I love to have FUN while I run....I am the "Funner Runner" Feedspot's Top 100 Running Blogs
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