Race Report - Jingle Bell 5K

This will be my last race report for a while - nothing on the calendar now until the end of January!

A few months ago, my friend Sarah asked me to help her get into running. I set her up with a little training plan and convinced her to sign up for the Jingle Bell 5K at Anoka High School. Of course, this meant I had to run it too. I graduated from Anoka, so it's always fun to go back.

So, after a week with the stomach flu (bonus: always good to lose 6 pounds before the holidays), I wasn't expecting much. My main goal was to finish without puking. The race started and I took off at an easy pace. A lot of walkers and people with strollers started right in front, so the first half mile was a lot of dodging, which always seems so exhausting. As we came around a corner and up a short hill, a couple of kids were calling out the mile split. 7:35. What? I actually asked whether we were at the mile yet, because I didn't think I had run that fast. Go figure.

This was an out and back course, and I felt really good when I got to the turn around. As I ran back, I saw my sister and then saw Sarah. I screamed like a maniac for her (and I'm sure embarrassed the crap out of her, but oh well). The last mile was tough. I don't know why I get so tired at the end of races. I really need to work on that. I knew my mom was going to be at the finish with Sophie, so I just kept reminding myself of that. I also kept telling myself, "Only 3 more minutes. You can do anything for 3 minutes."

I came down the last stretch and could see the clock, and knew that I was going to beat my time from last week. I crossed at 24:45 - a new PR by 7 seconds! By far the best part of this race was watching Sarah finish - I'm so proud of her for sticking with it. When she first started, she said she couldn't imagine running one block, let alone one mile. And now she has finished her first 5K, and she e-mailed me today asking when the next race is! I think she's hooked.

Now I'm off to get my running clothes on and brave the wind gusts. When I asked our daycare lady to keep Sophie a little longer tonight so I could run she looked at me like I had sprouted horns and told her I was planning on cooking Sophie for dinner.