Jingle all the way

This past weekend I participated in my first race post-vertigo, my first-ever winter race, and my first race dressed in a costume....The Jingle Bell 5K.

I originally wasn't going to do this. After the Great Race in September, I assumed my running events would be over until spring, but then my company gave away 20 free registrations and a co-worker twisted my arm to do it with her (okay that might be a slight exaggeration on my part).

First I was just going to wear a homemade tutu and a Christmas shirt. But in the end, my outfit turned into this...

I found the tights last minute and my friend gave me the gloves before the race. I don't know how I would have managed without either of those considering the temps were in the lower 30s and it was windy.

I saw all kinds of interesting costumes, like this guy, dressed up as the bunny from A Christmas Story...

And these ladies...

There were also plenty of dogs dressed up too. I've never done a Jingle Bell Run but I can definitely say that it is one of the more entertaining and fun 5Ks I've seen.

There were a little over 2,000 people participating and even though it was another walk/run like the Great Race, this one wasn't so congested. The walkers seemed to stay pretty far back and let the runners go first. I was somewhere in the middle since I am nowhere near what you would call a fast runner. I wasn't constantly surrounded by large groups of people and was able to run and keep a steady pace without having to zig zag  around people.

The course was flat, which was a first. I usually wind up in events with hills, lots and lots of hills. I spent the good first couple of miles trying to warm up. I kept blowing on my hands and shaking them to get the blood circulating because they were starting to go numb from the cold. I had cotton in my ears due to have an off-and-on ear ache since the day before. The last thing I needed was to get worse from a 5k race.

At around mile 2, I finally warmed up. I felt a little cold, but my hands were now getting so hot I almost took off my gloves. I still do the walk/run thing. I finished around 40 min with a 14 min mile pace. I figure all that matters is that I am out there and I am still lapping everyone sitting on the couch, and considering I hadn't run at all in a month and before that I had only run occasionally since my vertigo stopped, I think I did pretty well.

I have definitely fallen off the wagon as far as eating right and exercising goes. That is definitely something I have to get back to. I'm scared to even get on my scale at this point. I may just break it! LOL

I have another winter event coming up. In February a few of my friends and I are doing Running Outta Our Mines which is an underground 5k in a renovated mine. So, that gives me a couple of months to hit the pavement (or at least the treadmill) and see what happens.