Jingle Bell 5k

This morning hubby and I got up to run the US Road Running Jingle Bell 5k here in town. I love US Road Running because the organizer lives one town over from me and plans races that are 5 minutes away! Being I live in the middle of nowhere, that to me rocks!

We got to the race about 8:20 a.m. so hubby could register, then chilled out in the car a bit. When we got hubby registered we found out the course was a loop. Uh oh. In the 5.5 years I've been running, I've determined I do not like loop courses. It just seems mean to go past the finish line, but not be finished. But we lined up at the back of the pack and headed off. Of course, hubby almost knocked Santa down as we started! LOL!

This course was different from the last time we ran a US Road Running race. This time we started at the opposite end of the school complex, around the HS track, then down along the tree line, then over to the one neighborhood, and back to the starting area to run it again. I am in no shape to be running a race. I admit it. But, what killed me was the trail portion. It was all snow, mud, and slush. Once you were off the cement it was killer (at least to me!).

As we got back to the sidewalks on our way back to the start for the second loop, we were lapped by the first four finishers. Grrr... I had hoped we would have been near the finish area before that happened. Though, we may be in the photos they took of the top three finishers because we were behind them when the photo was taken. Heehee!

We ended up walking most the second loop. Eh. We knew we weren't prepped for a trail run and I didn't realize how bad the course would be in the snow. We finished in an awful showing, but again not last. Odd...

It's ok. I'm happy we went and ran it. I wanted to run a Jingle Bell race this season and I got to. I have let myself go and knew it wouldn't be a good race time. It's been a rough week and my mind isn't 100% on anything right now, but I still went, I still ran it the best I could, I still got my medal, and I still had fun with hubby. Overall, a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.

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Jingle Bell 5k Race Recap/Review

This morning hubby and I headed out to the Jingle Bell 5k down in Southern York County. Oddly enough, it was right on the road you turned off of to get to his childhood home. This was our third Jingle Bell run, but we had done the Harrisburg one twice. Ugh. That was not one of my favorite races. It's two loops. That race made me realize that I don't like races that are multiple loops.

Anyway...this morning we got up and headed down to the race to pick up of stuff. We got there a bit early and had no problems doing packet pick-up. The bag for the race had a few nice items in it, we were handed a Santa hat (though with a corporate logo on it. Eh.), and a really fun long-sleeve tech shirt. The last two times we did the race, I wanted to do it because they come up with a cute logo for the shirt. The shirt however has been a regular cotton tee. This year it's a tech t-shirt. Fun!

It was a chilly morning, but that would be good. We lined up at the start line and as usual I started in the back...where all slow runners go. Without any warning the gun went off and the race started...uphill. This race was all hills. Crazy hills. That is what I remember about it the most (and because I ran it less than three hours ago...), the hills.

I hit the first mile marker at 12:02 on their clock (there were mile markers and clocks at every mile), but my Garmin said I was at 11:58. Oops. I'll state right now that throughout the week I had thoughts of trying to end the year on a PR, but eh. I decided this was just a go out and have fun run. I'm glad I decided that.

More hills were included in mile 1 through 2. It was kinda crazy. I kept going. I thought about running the whole race, then the hills got to me. So, I decided to run as much as possible and walk the steep uphills. It worked out ok. I hit mile 2 at 25:19 by their clock and 25:08 on Garmin. A pretty speedy 2 miles for me honestly.

But, then we come to miles 2 through 3. I know it's not physically possible, but I swear the whole mile was uphill. It wasn't, but the uphills surely outnumbered the downhills. I did more walking on this mile than any other. I just couldn't get the energy up to run the steepest hills. Which is slightly disappointing because I feel that if the course had been flatter on the last mile, I might have been able to PR it. Bah!

We turned into the parking lot where the race was organized, ran around the building, and up the final hill to the finish line. I honestly have no idea what the final clock time said as I crossed the line, but my Garmin said 38:48. Slower than I would have liked and about 10 seconds slower than last months Movie Madness 5k. :-( That's disheartening...

Pros

1. They had a DJ set up at the start/finish area. Kinda fun.

2. Shirt. I always liked their designs before, but they kicked it up a notch when they turned a cotton t-shirt into a tech shirt.

3. As always, the jingle bells for your shoes. :-)

4. The atmosphere because so many people dress up for the race!

Cons

1. While I loved the DJ, I wish he had played holiday music rather than random Top 40. It is a Christmas race after all.

2. So many hills...

3. No water stop on the course. I know it's only a 5k, but one stop would have been good.

4. By all the signs on the course, I thought it was closed to traffic. It was not, which was slightly scarey.

5. Post-race food tent. The idea of a tent on a cold day is a good idea, but it was so small and there was no real room to move around. It was a good thought, but execution wasn't the greatest.

6. Stop giving out Santa hats with corporate logos on them. No one wears them and no one wants them.

Overall, I find the Jingle Bell 5ks a fun idea. I enjoy running them because other than St. Patrick's Day races, I don't normally run any holiday themed races. Hubby is unsure if he'd want to run this course again, I would be ok doing so. The positive is we know how hilly it would be and would be better prepared. And it's a whole year away meaning potentially we'll be in better shape by then!

Operation 20 Still Plugging Away

It has not been as easy as I thought it would be to stick to healthy eating over the last 6 weeks.  I really though I had it licked.  I was motivated.  I wanted to kick some fat to the curb.  I wanted to reach a certain weight by the end of the year.  And then...I don't know.  It didn't happen.  I've been playing with the same few pounds for the last few weeks.  It's frustrating. 

Operation 20 Goal (February 25th): 20 pounds
Operation 20 Half-Goal (December 31st): 10 pounds
Today's Result: -1 pounds.

Operation 20 To-Go: 17 pounds
Operation 20 Half-Goal to Go: 7 pounds

So, not where I wanted to be at this stage in the game.  There are three weeks left in the year, which means I can still lose a bit more before the New Year.  I won't hit my 10 pound goal by the end of the year, but I'm not going to give up.  I'm going to keep on plugging away and if I lose 5 pounds by the end of the year, well, that's 5 pounds I can cross off my list.

I will say, I have really gotten into the Disney Princess Half Marathon training now.  I have a running plan all laid out for me that will help me reach that 13.1 miles come February 27th.  The plan and I differ about where I should be right now, but no worries, some how we meet up at the end of the month and I will be on-track mileage wise with it going into 2011.

With that being said, hubby and I hit the Jingle Bell 5k this morning.  I was scheduled for 3 to 3.5 miles today, it was perfect timing.  We like it because for some unknown reason we always finish with really good times.  I ran my PR for a 5k at this race last year and missed it this year by thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much.  Ugh.  Ah well.  It's the first time I've run 3.1 miles since October 17th, so I'm not complaining too much...and it was the second best time I've ever had.  ;-)  So, a good cold run.  The next race on the horizon is Disney...eep!

Jingle Bell 5k Update and Another New Start

Yesterday, hubby and I ran in the Jingle Bell 5k in Harrisburg, PA. It went really well. Temps were below 32 degrees, not sure what they were though. On the way home, the weather people said the temp was 33, so I know when we started it was colder. We both had great runs! The course was a loop, which was both good and bad. Good since once you looped back, you knew exactly where you were and how much further to go. Bad because when you hit the turn around point, you STILL had another loop to do. LOL! Especially if you're slow like me and the winners passed you before you HIT the turn around point. Ah well. Had a great run in fairly good weather, outside it being cold. The sun was out and the road was dry, which was very helpful. There were two pretty steep hills to overcome...twice. Hubby had a great run at 24 minutes and change! One of his very best. :-) I was about mile 2 when he finished. LOL! And the funny thing was, I knew it too. I hit the mile 2 marker and thought to myself, B should be finishing about now. :-) I finished later than him (obviously) at 38:30ish. This is a HUGE improvement for me over my last 5k. Last 5k was a 42 and change. :-) Must have been the colder temps. Up, that's it. But, it was a great time for me and I'm really happy to finish off my first year of racing with a sub-40 minute 5k. And for fun, hubby and I after the race with the Hershey Chocolate Bar:


And now onto starting over. Been having a rough couple of weeks with the holidays. Need to get back on tract, so I am re-focusing this week on the WW plan. Need to get my butt in gear. I won't loose anything this month, but I can limit the damage. So, back to the plan today. We're eating dinner out tonight, but I know where we're eating and know exactly what to have to stay on tract. The rest of the week, we should be good eating in. It WILL be a good week.