Thursday afternoon
7.19 mi /11.57 km
31 F / -.5 C
22 F / -5.5 windchill
Drove up to the fairgrounds and sure enough, my back-n-forth street was mostly dry. So back and forth I went. My feet got progressively number, not helped by the setting sun and increasing shade. Around four miles, I decided to run around a block that was particularly dry and got more sun. That helped.
Still, by six miles my feet were trying to tap out, but my legs had settled into a real nice rhythm and wanted more, so I ran another mile or so. By that time my left foot was pretty stiff and cold to the touch, although still nice and red--no waxy white indicating frost bite. Forty minutes or so after the run it had regained normal warmth and pliability, no harm done. There was no tingling, so no surface damage, just a deep freeze. After my feet had warmed up I could feel my soles and some sore spots from stepping on tiny debris.
I brought along my MP3 player and listened to an old jam to break up the tedium of running back and forth and doing micro loops. A few people were out walking, but no-one returned my hello waves. A different crowd from the river paths I guess.
Anyway, as per Willie's request, here's a few photos I took at the beginning of the run. I would've taken more, but I couldn't afford to stop for very long and let my feet numb up further.
In the first photo you can see the Grandstand in the background. They used to have stock car races and demolition derbies there when I was a kid, now it's mostly home to washed-up music groups. In the other photos you can see the sky ride that transports people around the fair up over the crowds. Hard to imagine, with this winter solitude, but these streets become packed with sweaty, beefy midwesterners at the end of every summer.