Cold brew

Whew! What a blast! As in blasts of frigid wind, driving rain, sleet. That was this year's 44-mile Brew to Brew relay from Kansas City to Lawrence.
I had the first two legs, which amounted to 9.2 miles, and took off at 6:30 a.m. It was cool, almost cold, but once I got going I warmed up and was comfortable. Most of my run was on the levy, but at several points we had to get off and then get back on. That meant climbing the riprap-covered levy bank, running a ways cross-country, then climbing back up again.
Despite that, I had a good run and managed to average 8:24 per mile.
As it turned out, I had the most comfortable run of the day. A storm steadily marched against each succeeding runner. Temperatures fell, the rains came and the winds raced in from the Kansas plains. I would guess the wind chill was about 20 degrees or less. On we went, though, finishing in about 7 and one-half hours. The post race meal never tasted so good.
And boy, that hot shower at home was heaven.