Jingle Bell Jog - Slush Style

Today I ran in a local  Jingle Bell Jog 5k.  All the money raised goes to support Alzheimer's, which is near and dear to my heart with both of my grandmother's having been diagnosed with the disease. 

The forecast called for snow and by midnight it was coming down.  My running buddy who was driving from an hour away decided not to come down.  Good thing since there were several wrecks this morning on the roads.  It snowed for the race last year and I chickened out and just waited around for Jeremy to run it. Not this year though, I was going to stick it out and run too.

I got dressed in all my new "cold" weather gear that I had ordered. Only to find out the night before that my new tights were actually for keeping me cool not warm! :(   But they were still the only long pants i had to run in besides my husbands track pants.  They weren't the best for keeping me warm before the race but did do the trick when running and were fast drying afterwards.  Unfortunately for Jeremy, his tights aren't going to be here for a couple more weeks. :( 

                                            My outfit (tights, base layer shirt, running skirt)
                             Missing from picture (another dryfit shirt, vest, headband and gloves)

This course is the most hated course in the surrounding area, 2 of the 3 miles are uphill :(  No one likes this course! But I put on my jingle bells and went for my first run in the snow, ice, rain, mixture of all three. I was really surprised by how loud they were.  I could hear them over my music, which was also pretty loud til J asked me to turn it down bc I kept asking him to repeat himself.....

My feet were wet before we even started from the rain/snow/ice mixture that was coming down while standing in line to get our packets.  My feet and legs were cold but J assured me they would warm up once we got started.  Which as always he was right and they did. My arms were cold the entire run, but my hands stayed nice and toasty in my gloves. A little too toasty actually, i had to take them off at about mile 1.5.

My time was not good. I added several minutes from when I ran the same course this summer, but I blame part of it on the weather, it really was hard running in slush - i kept slipping, and part of it on me being out of shape.  J really brought it home for me when he asked "would you expect one of your swimmers to get better if they only came to one practice a week?" of course the answer is "no". I wouldn't expect that of my kids, so why would i expect that of myself?  I shouldn't of course.  So I am going to get back on the training program this week! I really want that sub30 min 5k time!

I did have a pain FREE run though.  Those evil shin splints were gone and I haven't had any hip pain in a while! woo hoo!!!  And the best part about this race, other than supporting Alzheimer's, is that you get presents!! I mean, who doesn't like presents?!  They had 3 tents sent up with wrapped gifts. You take one, carry it through the finish line, and then it's yours to keep. Last year J got a Vera Bradley wallet, which I got of course.  This year he picked a box that contained 2 flashlights and batteries, while I got a Longaberger cd holder and a potpourri holder.

                                           With our presents after the race before opening them.

Have a happy, snowy night!