Not to sound all Forrest Gump on you, but the weather in New England is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get!

Yesterday morning it was off to Rochester, Massachusetts for the Frosty Runner 10.5 Mile Road Race. Though the race has the name “frosty” in it and is held at the end of January yesterday’s race conditions were nothing short of perfect for a late January race. The temperature was in the mid 40’s to low 50’s for the race and there was not a touch of snow or ice on the course to contend with. There was an interesting wind at certain points of the race but all in all it was a great morning for a run!

I’ve been getting four or five milers in lately but a 10.5 mile race was a bit aggressive but I felt pretty good out on the course for the most part. This was probably one of my longer runs since running the virtual 2020 Providence Marathon in the midst of the COVID outbreak so it felt great to get out there and challenge myself for a longer run. I’ve been keeping active running and rocking the Peloton and the gym but pounding the pavement for 10.5 miles was a nice challenge and now I’m looking forward to some more longer runs soon.

The course for the Frosty Runner 10.5 Mile Road Race was a really nice stretch of roads through Rochester. There was a good balance of flat stretches and some rolling hills and a few moderate hills mixed in for good measure. The course took runners past some ponds and farm lands and there certainly was a rural feel to most of the run. Though the roads were open to traffic, runners ran into traffic and drivers were courteous and trickier intersections were manned by police officers from the Rochester Police Department. There were three water stops on the course which during normal years probably would have been fine but yesterday’s warmer temps (relatively) had me jonesing for one extra water stop to be mixed in somewhere. That said, I drank plenty of water post-run and the race organizers had snacks inside complete with some sandwich wraps, fruit, chips and more.

I went out with the mindset of putting one foot in front of the other and running a good race overall. Largely, I stuck to the plan and in the final two miles certainly felt myself getting more sore so dropped the pace some and kept focus on breathing and moving. I finished the Frosty Runner 10.5 Mile Road Race with a time of 1:43:00, good for 9:49/miles. Could have been better, could have been worse but happy to be back out there and finish up a good, long run!