Running race 30:30 [5] 6.0 km (5:05 / km)
Club running regionals, in NY. It was extremely rainy, cold, and windy, on a grass course which promptly turned to mud and deep puddles. The men raced first, and when they finished, they were at varying stages of mild hypothermia. Thankfully, we were able to be inside out of the rain in an undercover soccer field. However, the bubble wasn't heated, and they were so concerned with keeping their facility spotless that all runners had to hose off with cold water after racing and before going inside to get on clothes. Not good.
The women were all dreading the race, having seen how bad all the men looked coming in afterwards. Our race was delayed by 20 minutes, but it went on, and it was the absolute muddiest, coldest, most slippery race I have run in. Spikes were a necessity, and being a skier and an orienteer, I think I had a huge advantage. I slipped several times, but I was able to regain my balance without going down completely. On some of the steep mud slopes I walked for 1-2 steps because running would have meant a certain fall. Obviously, people were way off of their PRs today, but compared to the rest of my team, I did extremely well.
Honestly, the race wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be, and I think the conditions played to my advantages. But man it was cold afterwards. Also, our team did poorly in general and we did not qualify for Nationals :( We already have airline tickets, so we'll still go, but race in the B race, and we might have to pay for the trip ourselves now.