Winter Warrior. 4 January, 2020

Patrick O’Grady’s “Old Guys Who Get Fat in Winter” cartoons became ever more relevant when I was cycling—and even more so after I stopped. It wasn’t the cold; I’d ridden in 10 degree weather without too many complaints, but a slippery road could lead to a bad month or three. There was always the indoor trainer, but anything over 30 minutes left me feeling dead inside.

This frequently led to a few weeks of reacclimatizing to the sport and building a base, followed by several more regaining what little speed I had left in my middle-aged legs.

I’ve resolved not to let my fitness lapse, which is perhaps a bit easier with running. An icy sidewalk can still spell disaster, but there’s quite a difference between crashing at 20mph and falling at 6.

It also helps that there’s no offseason here in Upstate New York, where a handful of events actively embrace the winter. As the first race of the season, Rochester’s Winter Warrior race, run by Yellowjacket Racing, is a popular event to kick off the new season.

We spent Christmas in Florida with Traci’s mother and step-father. The in-laws have a place in Punta Gorda, and while the humidity came as a shock following weeks of cold weather training and racing, I ran until my legs ached.

A couple of kids and their father sat across from me on the flight home. They coughed most of the flight home.My colds usually dive into my chest after a couple of days. I dodged a bullet in September when I fought off a mild cold. This time, my luck ran out.

The bronchitis had largely passed by New Year’s Day, but I missed the Syracuse Track Club’s Resolution Run—in fact, I took the entire week before the Winter Warrior off. I’d rushed back to cycling with inflamed lungs once years ago, and I didn’t make it through the first lap. I didn’t want to risk doing the same with the Warrior and the Chilly Chili coming up.

My unwelcome hiatus worked, though I was still a little congested when we left for Rochester early on race day.

The Winter Warrior consists of two events; a quarter marathon, which I had signed up for, and a half marathon. The course consists of a loop around the Rochester Technology Park. Quarter marathoners would run the course twice.

Unsurprisingly, the race is known for its “epic” weather. On at least one occasion, that races were shortened because the wind and temperature threatened the runners with frostbite.

Other than some slush and spots of standing water, the course was mercifully clear; temperatures hovered in the low thirties. A breeze pushed a damp chill and a few snowflakes through the air.

Packet pickup was in a large, heated tent, and quite a few of us waited in the warmth. I ran into a few Fleet Feet Syracuse teammates who were running a relay, and the lot of us posed with the Rochester team for a mass team photo.

A flock of Fleet Feeters. Yours truly is in the back, keeping my distance.

The quarter marathon field consisted of about 300 runners; sizable but manageable. After a clean start, the quickly separated. The course was largely flat, with a short but steep climb on Les Harrison Drive. We hit the climb for the first time half a mile in, and I ended up gasping for breath and wondering if I’d made a horrible mistake, but I recovered well as the course rolled down the other side.

That was a good thing. I really wanted that finisher’s medal. The things we do for the sport—and shiny objects.

I ran a conservative race lest I have breathing issues on a more remote part of the course, and I doubt I could have gone much faster anyway. I contented myself with chasing down a few runners ahead of me. A few others returned the favor. Those of us engaged in such mid-field tactics were soon humbled when the half marathon leaders blew past us in the second lap.

I’d hoped to break an hour; I missed my goal by 39 seconds, but all things considered, I was reasonably happy with my time.

It didn’t take long to lose my body heat after the finish, so I welcomed the tent’s warmth and a quick post race meal. My first race of 2020 was in the books, and I looked forward to clearer lungs and faster heels in Cazenovia.