I really wish I’d taken screen shots each time I checked the weather forecast for Marion, Virginia this past week as I debated what to pack for the Hungry Mother 25K Trail Race on Saturday, but it’s safe to say that most of the time, the forecast looked very similar to this…

 

By Wednesday evening the forecast had changed to freezing rain (in my opinion, the scariest type of precipitation), and by Thursday night the forecast was calling for snow. For most of the week the forecast suggested that we would start with rain before it turned over to sleet, snow, or the dreaded freezing rain. All this was quite the contrast to what I envisioned while registering for the race – a beautiful spring day with a hint of green as trees began to bud and grass along the trail woke up and sprouted after several months of dormancy.

Other than refreshing WeatherBug on my phone, I had clients to train, final training runs to complete, and race clothes to pack.

Tuesday morning at 5:30, I met my running friends, exchanged hugs, and then headed off to do hill repeats while they opted to do an out and back run. Even though I’d separated from my friends, I saw plenty of other runners’ headlamps on the hill because it’s a popular training spot with one of the best (read steepest) hills in our area for repeats.

 

I decided to give myself two days rest before my race so I headed out for an easy run through our neighborhood on Wednesday. Thursday’s weather was supposed to be much more blustery and changing up my schedule would allow me to take advantage of beating the cold front, but just barely. As soon as I changed into my running clothes it started raining. I held back for about five minutes until the rain lightened up and then headed out. During my run I encountered rain, threatening clouds, puffy white clouds, sun, and wind. The cold front came in with force when I had about a mile left in my run and it practically blew me home.

I haven’t run any trails since Ragnar Trail Richmond two years ago so my Saucony trail shoes (affiliate link) have felt very little love. They are actually the most comfortable running shoes I’ve ever owned, but I save them for trails. I wore them a couple of weeks ago on a snowy run and decided to wear them again on Wednesday. I thought it might be smart to give them another spin before my race.

 

I went back and forth trying to decide what to wear for the race, and packed a few different options. Friday evening I settled on a plan A and B, and decided it would be a game-time decision on whether I’d wear shorts or capris…

Plan A

 

Plan B

 

We awoke on race morning to 45° and dry – the overnight rain had moved out and snow wasn’t expected to move in until later in the afternoon. By the time we left my mom’s house for the race, the temperature had dropped to 39° and was expected to drop as the day wore on. Temperatures hovered around 40° with a windchill of 35° for the entire race with the exception of our climb to the summit of Molly’s Knob where we could feel the temperature drop significantly.

My plan A outfit was perfect once I shed my lightweight jacket. There’s a really funny story associated with my jacket, but you’ll have to wait until I get my recap written later this week to hear about it. Let’s just say the gentleman wearing bib #77 is now my hero! I can’t wait to pull all of our pictures together and recap this race. It was so well done and it was delightful to be running a race back in my old stomping grounds in Southwest Virginia!

 

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

Looking ahead to this coming week, I’m starting to work on my race recap and hope to get it posted later by Thursday.

 

In addition to what I mentioned above, here’s a complete run-down of my workouts (completed mostly in our home gym) from this past week…

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you stalk the weather before races?
  • Has spring arrived where you live?
  • Did you race this weekend? ~ Yes, my first race of the year was yesterday!

 

Have a great week!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.

 

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking The Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

 

I’m also linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC for her Training Recap linkup. Be sure to check out how Courtney the other great bloggers joining the linkup are doing on their spring marathon and half marathon training.