Jingle Bell 5k

When we signed up for the Jingle Bell 5k I hadn't really realized it was a week and a few days after the Turkey Trot. With Thanksgiving so late this year it put the two races really close together! I felt like I could have run sub-21 at the Turkey Trot if the course had been flat so I was hoping to run under 21 minutes at this one. I figured being further out from the Route 66 Half Marathon would also help! I was hitting a much higher weekly mileage than I planned originally since I decided to run a 14 mile long run the day after the Jingle Bell to get a head start on my long runs for Boston. I didn't want to get too many miles in this day so I ended up only doing a mile warm up and cool down. I felt that was sufficient. I had debated wearing shorts for the race but found out Thomas was wearing tights so went with tights. I was really glad on my warm up because it was so cold in the shade! I always enjoy this race because it brings back fond memories. There was the year Ty dressed up as the Grinch with green face paint and all. Then there was the year I ran the race the weekend before Carter was born and mom and Ty both ran with me. Then there was the year I ran pregnant with Elise and still placed in my age group!

I was really looking forward to the race and enjoyed wearing tall Christmas socks and putting bells on my shoes. We took off at the start and Jeremy wasn't off as far ahead of me as he had been at the Turkey Trot. There were a few women out ahead of me but I passed them all within the first half mile or so. I hadn't expected to win this race as I never have in the past but I hadn't run it in years and realized I'd never been in that great of shape when I ran it. My first mile was 6:31 and I was excited. I knew I was going to be able to maintain close to that. The first mile has a little bit of downhill at the start which makes it a bit faster. I knew there wouldn't be any 7:00 second mile like at that Turkey Trot! I noticed there were orange tape marks on the ground to mark the course which seemed like a lot of work to me! Coming up on the turn around we went downhill next to the trail where I ran my warm up for the Wizarding Run. I had fun thinking back to that. Then I cheered for Jeremy as he went back by and made it to the turn around myself. I caught and passed a guy who had been ahead of me. Then I cheered for Thomas and dad as they went by.

Mile 2 was 6:36 and I knew I'd be able to run faster than that for my last mile. I saw Jeremy had caught and passed a kid wearing a blue tutu. I was also gaining on the kid. With about a half mile to go I caught up to him and ran beside him for a long time. He matched every move I made stride for stride. I was feeling strong and knew I had plenty of gas left. I planned to stick with him until we turned left toward the finish line and then I'd take off at full speed. Somewhere in the last half mile we started passing mile fun runners who were approaching the turn around. I saw mom with Elise, who was running and looked great! They cheered for us and I got to high five Elise. Then I later passed Ty who was walking with Carter in the stroller who had no interest in running. Carter was sitting in the stroller taking pictures and I waved to them. I went through mile 3 in 6:34. I took off around the curve but the boy took off a bit before me and pulled ahead. I tried to catch back up to him but found I just didn't have another gear. I felt like I could have run longer at the pace I was running, but I just couldn't get my legs turning over any faster. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't catch back up to him and then was super bummed when the guy I had passed at the turn around came flying by me and the boy ahead of me. I just had no response. It wouldn't have mattered if they were women either, my legs just wouldn't go any faster! I ran the last portion of the race in 6:27 pace. The finish was uphill so that slowed my kick down a little, but not that much!

Race pictures taken by Carter.

Carter's thumb in the picture, haha!

I cheered for Thomas and dad at the finish. Then I ran out onto the course to run to the finish with Elise. After running to the finish with her, I ran out to walk in with Ty and Carter. Elise seemed to finish in around 13 minutes according to the finish line clocks. They were showing the 5k time but the mile was supposed to start 15 minutes later so I took the time it showed and subtracted 15 minutes. If that was correct, it was one of her faster mile fun runs! She is such a good little runner! When we got to a downhill she took off sprinting and was going so fast as she turned left toward the finish, it was hard to keep up with her! Poor Carter has inherited Ty's flat feet and sometimes has ankle pain related to it, so he didn't feel like running at all. I don't think he even got out to walk to the finish. We got some pictures with the large Christmas tree and Santa after the race.

Jeremy finished in 20:14, 6th out of 308 overall and 2nd out of 15 in his age group. I finished in 20:32, 9th overall and 1st out of 202 females. Thomas looked good finishing. It was funny because he was finishing at the same time as the first mile fun run finishers so it looked like he was finishing at the same time as a bunch of young kids! He finished in 22:17, 12th overall and 1st out of 11 in his age group. Dad killed the race, his last one before surgery for his heel spur, finishing in 24:15. He was 26th overall and won his age group. We've run this race quite a few times but hadn't run it in a few years because it always fell on the same day as the Ugly Sweater 5k and Beer Mile. This year they didn't do the Ugly Sweater race so we were back to this one. We ran this one quite a few times before I started blogging too. Read about 2015's race here and 2014's race here.