Jingle Bell 5 Miler

Sunday was the Jingle Bell 5 Miler in downtown. A few of my running friends ran it last year as their first experience with running, so now they are trying to make it a yearly fun run. Well, I say "fun run" but let's face it - I don't know how to not try for a PR, especially for a distance I've only raced once. My previous five mile race was in February 2009 and my finishing time was 46:57. I honestly didn't have any goals for this race, but C wanted me to pace her to an under 9 min mile. I wasn't sure I was up for the task, but I told her I'd do my best.

E and I before the race. 

The group getting ready. We'd already done a few yoga moves and lots of jumping up and down to stay warm. I think it was a freezing 48 degrees at the start.*

And we're off!

The first 1/2 mile or so was through the tall buildings in downtown that create an insane wind tunnel. It was work just trying to keep up a good pace.

Finally out of downtown and starting a good pace. C was still keeping up at this point, but her asthma kicked in shortly after this. She still finished in a great time, but E and I pulled ahead after making sure she'd be okay on her own.

Here comes Speedy on the other side of the course. We had just passed mile 2 at 19 minutes. He was almost to mile 4. I'll never be that fast!

E and I just kept up the pace. The turnaround came and we still felt great. It was starting to get warm outside, but the wind was keeping us cooled off. Thank goodness since I was wearing a cotton t-shirt! I tried not to look at my watch during the race, but just to run what felt good. My heels started to hurt a little around mile 2, but I didn't worry about it. It was a beautiful day for a race and we were having a great time.

Before we knew it, we were running back into downtown and picking up speed. The finish line came into view and E asked if we were going to sprint. I said "give it all you've got!"

Oh, and we did! All of us had excellent runs! Speedy came in 3rd in his age group! This is our goofy pose. Not sure why we all decided to kick our feet up like that :)

One fault of the race (or perk if you were speedy like us): The vendors were giving away all their swag in big boxes. Proof: above E and D both got 70 sample boxes of Cinammon Toast Crunch. Not sure why they weren't giving them out individually, but that kinda sucks for everyone else running the race. When we finished, vendors were already taking their tents down. Hello, the race is still going on!

Our official time: 43:26! Talk about an awesome PR!

Oh, and remember how I said my heels hurt? Yeah, my shoes rubbed the skin off the back of my heels. My shoes and socks were soaked in blood when I checked them at the finish. And this race had no medic tent. What!? Thank goodness the cute guy at the massage tent had bandaids and peroxide to clean me up!