What do I do when the weather starts getting cold? Well, logic says getting out and running of course! Okay, that makes absolutely no sense. In fact, even saying that out loud I expect the guys with the straight jackets to show up. Yet, here I am standing outside in 39 degree weather getting ready to run 3.1 miles. Do you think that's crazy? This is actually a heat wave, two weeks ago I was standing outside at 8 AM, on a Saturday, in 19 degrees to run 4 miles! What the hell is going on?
This is the Jingle Bell 5K. I do like my causes, this race was to help raise funds to fight arthritis, but with every "cause" I choose to support there is usually some ulterior motive. On the surface, this was a run for my Dad. Arthur, our name for arthritis, is pretty darn mean to him. I can't do a damn thing to take the pain away and my measly contribution to run in this race won't find a cure, but running this race makes me appreciate the ability to do something like this probably more than most. I definitely take for granted moving without pain, yet knowing what he goes through, is a reminder to me that someday it's very possible I won't be able to do something like this based on my body not allowing it. When and if that day comes, I don't want to think back and regret not doing something when I could have.
So, standing in freezing temps for this race to start, no big deal. The gun fired, it was pure frustration for the first two minutes trying to get around the mob. Once clear, I swear it feels like that moment in Forest Gump where young Forest's leg braces fall off, his eyes twinkle, and he's off. It felt awesome. My goal was to run the first two miles hard, then coast and use what energy I had left to finish. I'm still working on that "wall" not being there, but I can't run at the pace I want for the whole duration of the race, yet. Running with a my stupid Santa hat on also proved to be slight challenge. Though great pre-race to stay warm, proved very warm at about mile 2.5, so I actually took it off and carried it for a short time. Also, since it was the Jingle Bell race, we all had bells attached to our shoes. Thank goodness for headphones and music, but the real challenge was paying close attention because those bells had a tendency to fall off people. I didn't want to be "that story" of the person who stepped on a bell and ended up breaking something!
Being only my third race, I'm very aware of the stages, excitement, adrenalin, this feels good, this feels okay, how much longer, and damn I'm tired. I'm sure there are a few more, but as I got closer to the end I was tired. Every race so far, I found a villain, somebody who I have to beat. I made it almost to the end before I found my villain. A guy who had already finished the race, came back to meet what I'm assuming was his wife. On the surface, a very nice thing to do. But, she was behind me and seeing him, definitely gave her second wind as she passed me to join him. In my head I actually thought to myself that sucks, I don't think I have the energy to catch her and that's all she needed to push ahead. No sooner did I get myself somewhat depressed about that, then I saw Becca, who wasn't racing and decided to take pictures. That was all I needed, now I had my own cheering section, sorry villain, but I found a whole new gear. Bested her by ten seconds, which brings me to what I learned this race, all pain stops the second that finish line is crossed. Amazing how that works.
Overall, my time was eight seconds slower than my last race. But with my previous running blog entry, the numbers don't tell the whole story. This race was pure gun time, with as far back as I started, the final results don't say it, but I know I easily beat my previous time, which I'm pretty proud of.
Back to my causes and my ulterior motive. On the surface, definitely the perfect race for my Dad, helping to fight Aurthur and bells on my shoes. Seriously, I had the bells on my shoes, just like when I was a baby and he knew once those bells stopped, I was into trouble! But, lets not get into those stories. My ulterior motive, goes back to goals. I'm not running the half marathon in the spring, I'm going to Jingle All The Way, I'm running the FULL marathon!
