{"id":3055,"date":"2013-01-01T23:04:22","date_gmt":"2013-01-02T04:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=3055"},"modified":"2013-01-01T23:11:26","modified_gmt":"2013-01-02T04:11:26","slug":"polar-dash-5k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2013\/polar-dash-5k\/","title":{"rendered":"Polar Dash 5k"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve never done a Team Ortho<\/a> event before today, even though I’ve driven the Team Ortho truck<\/a>! \u00a0 While I was sitting around the house over winter break I decided I should do a 5k on New Years Day to celebrate the new year and to jump start my training. \u00a0I’ve not been running much lately and a 5k is doable on little training. I did some research and Team Ortho’s Polar Dash<\/a> came out ontop. \u00a0They offered a 13.1, 10k, and a 5k. \u00a0The 5k was going to be plenty far, especially with the projected temperatures.<\/p>\n

Nadia and I went to the Team Ortho warehouse for packet pick-up and there were penguins everywhere! \u00a0It took her a little while to warm up to the stuffed penguin and the penguin hat but she eventually did. \u00a0I think Wayne <\/a>got some better pics of her than mine, but they aren’t posted anywhere yet. \u00a0Overall, packet pickup went smoothly and relatively quickly. \u00a0Team Ortho was also letting you get your packet for the Get Lucky 7k in March and offering you a chance to sign up for their race series. \u00a0No pushing anything though which was nice!<\/p>\n

\"IMAG2266\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Race morning was a little weird since the 5k didn’t start until 11:13. \u00a0The 10k and Half both started at 9am so when I arrived around 10:30 people were still finishing both races. \u00a0I was able to get a few pictures of random finishers. \u00a0The race village had a few warming tents, gear check, and a tent to buy gear. \u00a0I stayed out in the cold (when I finished my race my phone updated to +4f), wandered around, and let my feet go numb!<\/p>\n

\"IMAG2271\"<\/a> \"IMAG2269\"<\/a> \"IMAG2268\"<\/a> \"IMAG2276\"<\/a> \"IMAG2275\"<\/a> \"IMAG2273\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When the time came to start the race I checked my bag and wandered up to the start area. \u00a0There was a huge clump of people in the back and then in the front there was hardly anyone around – this was a little odd. \u00a0Odder still that several people who started in front of me were walking within the first 100 yards. \u00a0Given my lack of training and the cold, cold temps I had no expectations for today’s race. \u00a0I knew the 22:06 I ran in November<\/a> wasn’t in the cards!<\/p>\n

I went out at what felt like a comfortable pace, passing a few people. \u00a0It was interesting to see how others had dressed for the race. \u00a0One guy was only wearing shorts, gloves, and arm warmers (no shirt) while I lined up next to a woman wearing snow pants (she actually did fairly well 27:22). \u00a0And everything in between. \u00a0I was pretty comfortable in my tights and warm-up pants on bottom and my nice Mizuno long sleeve shirt under a fleecy sweatshirt. \u00a0I wore a baklava and hat and my Saucony running gloves. \u00a0My biggest clothing complaint were my toes and fingers. \u00a0I should have thrown the Smart Wool socks on over my compression socks and duct taped my shoes. \u00a0I also probably should have worn some actual winter gloves. \u00a0By the end of the race though everything was thawing out and felt ok. \u00a0I’ve had some experiences with running in cold temps before (-21 degrees and actually a good post about cold weather attire<\/a> and when I ran the Frozen Half at -11<\/a>) and should have gone back to them. \u00a0I’m the scary guy below in the gray baklava.<\/p>\n

\"524682_438527819533963_1051834566_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I felt fine until we hit one of the first sustained grades. \u00a0As we kept going up I could feel that my body wasn’t exactly ready for any real work. \u00a0I kept going and kept reminding myself to relax and not kill myself on the way out. \u00a0 Seeing 8:39 didn’t seem to be out of place for my effort and I felt fine with that. \u00a0I didn’t think I’d be able to go much faster, but I knew there would be some downhills on the way back so the chance of an even split or negative split was in the realm of possibility!<\/p>\n

After the Lake Street bridge we climbed up to the University of \u00a0St Thomas. \u00a0This hill is a little steeper and I was definitely feeling it. \u00a0About half way up the hill is when I saw the leaders coming back down the out and back course. \u00a0We crested the hill and stayed on the River Road heading down a little to the turn around point. \u00a0I hit the turn around at 13:34 and started back toward home! \u00a0I was definitely starting to feel the burn both in my lungs and legs – a combination of the cold and lack of fitness I’m sure. \u00a0I came through the second mile at 17:22 \u00a0(8:43).<\/p>\n

I knew I had slowed down a little bit and wanted to at least even split the 1.55 mile segments but I didn’t really have anything in the tank. \u00a0So I just held on! I wanted to fight and not let people pass me but I also didn’t want to do anything stupid and I had no other gear available. \u00a0I came through the 3rd mile at 26:13 (8:51) and tried to do a little bit of a pickup at the end. \u00a0I finished in 27:01 on my Garmin and 27:04 officially. \u00a08:42 or 8:43 pace respectively. \u00a0I truly can’t complain!<\/p>\n

\"course<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"results\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I finished! \u00a0Got me some hot chocolate, my medal, chips,\u00a0banana, water bottle and granola. \u00a0I picked up my bag loitered around a bit and walked back to my car. \u00a0\"IMAG2278\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Did I mention that this race had some nice swag? \u00a0A full-zip fleece jacket and penguin hat (which most people raced in), 2013 glasses, and a nice stained glass finishers medal.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Did you race into the new year? How’d it go?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve never done a Team Ortho event before today, even though I’ve driven the Team Ortho truck! \u00a0 While I was sitting around the house over winter break I decided I should do a 5k on New Years Day to celebrate the new year and to jump start my training. \u00a0I’ve not been running much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45,37],"tags":[627,62,628],"class_list":["post-3055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-5k","category-race-review","tag-new-years-day","tag-running","tag-team-ortho"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-Nh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3529,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2010\/team-ortho-truck\/","url_meta":{"origin":3055,"position":0},"title":"Team Ortho Truck","author":"crossn81","date":"March 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning we helped out a friend who needed help manning water stops for Team Ortho's training run. After meeting the Team Ortho staff for 5 minutes they turned the keys of their truck over to me. I was a little surprised but enjoyed driving the Avalanche around, though Christy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "365"","block_context":{"text":"365","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/365\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cimg0212","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/getfile6.posterous.com\/getfile\/files.posterous.com\/teamcross365\/V5xWRnlxE21XZr4LWqXoAZ5LaoZ6rb1CudKSAnPAA3pTosNdnH9A2TrewoE5\/CIMG0212.jpg.scaled.500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1781,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2010\/january-races\/","url_meta":{"origin":3055,"position":1},"title":"January Races","author":"crossn81","date":"January 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It is a little late to be doing this, but better late than never! Here are some upcoming races for the month of January: January 16 - Polar Challenge 5k in Bemedji, MN January 23 - Securian Frozen 5k & Half Marathon at the St Paul Winter Carnival.\u00a0 Check out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "5K"","block_context":{"text":"5K","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/5k\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1918,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2010\/a-real-goose-egg\/","url_meta":{"origin":3055,"position":2},"title":"A Real Goose Egg","author":"crossn81","date":"March 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My knee isn't getting better. It might be getting worse. A visit to the Sports Doctor last Monday revealed no new information. \u00a0There is fluid on the knee, the x-ray doesn't show anything, all of the manipulation tests are fine. \u00a0It could be an injury and the knee is swelling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2007\/races-on-october-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":3055,"position":3},"title":"Races on October 20","author":"crossn81","date":"October 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I will be at the Indianapolis Marathon, but will be running the half-marathon.\u00a0 It looks like an excellent weekend for racing again!\u00a0 Hope to see you there!! This will also be my race for the World-Wide Half Marathon. Norris Insurance 5 Miler begins at 8am in Bunker Hill.\u00a0 This is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Calendar"","block_context":{"text":"Calendar","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/calendar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":285,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/race-review-usatf-mn-5000m-championships\/","url_meta":{"origin":3055,"position":4},"title":"Race Review: USATF-MN 5000m Championships","author":"crossn81","date":"June 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This Sunday race is part of the USATF-MN Team Circuit and was also part of a bigger USATF-MN Championship track meet. This would be the first time I've raced on a track since I graduated from college in 2003. 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