Quick stats:
Time: 56:13
Average pace: 9:03
641/2255 women
163/402 age group

One sentence summary: I was negative splitting this course like crazy until the last 1.2 miles and then I thought my legs might fall off and I just ran out of gas.

Full report:
Alarm blares at 5:30 a.m. Groan, hit snooze. Alarm goes off at 5:35. Drag body out of bed. Brush teeth, splash water on face, attempt to wake up.

Check weather. Currently 34 degrees and raining. Just dandy.

I had my planned race outfit laid out and pulled on my Under Armour tights and my cold gear mock neck top. I threw a lightweight Under Armour fleece on top of that. Added an ear warmer and a baseball cap to keep the water off my face and pulled on the throw away clothes that came in my race packet.

I pulled on my sneakers, which had jingle bells attached to the laces. They came in the race packet and everyone is supposed to wear them on their shoes so you all jingle the whole way.

On top of all of my running stuff I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and my ski jacket.
I was so bundled up and still froze my butt off waiting at the start line.

The BF is pretty much a saint for many reasons including the fact that he also woke up at 5:30 a.m. after being out the night before with his friends, drove me to the race and stood around in the cold and the rain to hold my crap while I ran.

Plus he also took all the pictures.

No one where I was standing actually heard the gun go off, but all of a sudden everyone started moving.

I went the first mile without my music listening to the sounds of the jingle bells on everyone's feet. But not long after I hit the mile one marker I decided it was time for my own sounds. I blasted a new playlist I made full of Christmas tunes, because hey, 'tis the season!

The course was a really, really flat out and back. I think there was one little uphill on the way back when we crossed a small bridge. Otherwise, flatness. I cruised through miles one and two. One was a little slower because everyone was trying to find their own pace and was dodging around people to find running room.

I made it past the mile two marker before the lead pack started to come through causing the road to narrow to allow for runners on both sides. It was tight at parts once the leaders passed and after I hit the turn around just past the 5K, but I was still making good time.

I was pushing my legs to go faster and was surprised by how well they were responding after having so much time off between me getting sick and just being busy.

I struggled a little bit during mile 4, but was still able to run really strong until mile 5.

The race went rather downhill from there.

There was this guy running at about my pace near my left shoulder, so I decided I would try to stick with him, figuring if I could do that I would hold on to a decent pace for the last 1.2.

I was able to stay with him for a little bit, but then I got a bit of a pain in my hip and ankle and had to stop to walk for a minute. I picked it back up again, but every so often when I would land on my left foot, my left ankle hurt a bit.

I dropped off my speed and just tried to push through the finish.

I saw the finish line approaching and tried to muster some speed to finish fast, but I just didn't have much left in the tank.

I crossed the finish line in 56:13, an awesome time for any day, let alone coming off sickness, and a time I'm very happy with.


I hobbled around after the finish, grabbed some water, was found by the BF and did some stretching. I was sore. BF and I stuck around in the rain afterward for the random prize drawing because they were giving away two Garmins. (Again the BF is a saint for standing around in the rain with me.) I didn't win a Garmin, but I did win a $25 gift certificate to my running store. Sweet!

Overall it was a fun race. I wish it wouldn't have rained, but what can ya do?

If I would change anything, I would have eaten something other than just a Clif bar two hours before the start. Maybe then I would have had more energy at the end.

It was a great race, lots of fun and one I'd definitely consider doing again.

To end, here's a random picture the BF snapped of a joggler.