This weekend I did a 10k snowshoe race. We almost didn't make it, it's a long story. We definitely didn't have ideal pre-race routine.
On race morning we had single-digit temperatures with wind-chill well below 0. I've never raced in weather so cold. There was also plenty of fresh snow and a good base.
What I've learned from mountain bike racing this year is to always start in the front--make everyone else work to pass you. If you get stuck behind someone slower in the singletrack, it can be nearly impossible to pass them. I started about 5 rows back, there were 450 racers total.
I was not prepared for the blizzard of snow being kicked up from everyone's snowshoes! Everyone was stepping on each other snowshoes, snow being whipped into our faces. It was chaos. It was whiteout. I almost ran into a post because you just couldn't see anything through the cloud of snow at the start.
Because it was so bitter cold, the snow wouldn't pack. It was like running in peanut butter, worse than running in loose sand! It was so much work. The route was a mixture of groomed trail and single-track. When I got behind slower runners in the single-track, I'd ease up my pace and enjoy the break. The alternative of breaking trail in 2.5 feet of snow in order to pass them was just too daunting.
No matter how much I was suffering, I told myself just to keep running, keep moving forward. My goal was to not get passed. Only two people passed me the entire race, and one of them I caught at the halfway point and passed them back.
Ended up finishing first in my age group by almost 10 minutes. Immediately after the race my lymph nodes started to swell and now I have a very sore throat and my ears hurt. :( I blame it on the bitter cold air I was sucking for an hour.
Here's a picture from the race:
