Jingle All the Way....

This was my first Jingle Bell Run. I wanted to run it mainly for two reasons. First, I had heard that it was one of the more popular races around, and a lot of fun, and second, my mother in law has arthritis, so I felt good about supporting an event sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation.

I had heard that getting a good night's sleep the night before a race is not as important as getting a good night's sleep the night before the night before (that's 2 nights before, if that makes sense), so I tried Thursday night to get a good night's sleep. I think I actually succeeded, and felt well rested on Friday, which was a rest day from running anyway. I wanted my body to recover and be ready for the race on Saturday. Friday night I wasn't so concerned about getting a good night's sleep, so I stayed up fairly late. I

called my buddy Adam to see if he wanted to run it with me and he said yes, so I was stoked. He has been running longer and is faster than me, so I was looking forward to running with him. He lives about a mile from me and we've run together before. He is going to do the OKC marathon, and I'm half tempted to join him and maybe do the 1/2 marathon event. It's in April so I have plenty of time to train, although Run to Finish has mentioned a 1/2 in Olathe in March, so I will have to see if either of those will work out. Soccer for Bryden will be starting back up sometime in the spring so my Saturdays will be occupied again coaching U8 soccer.





Here is a pic of me, Adam (next to me), and some of his running friends....

Some highlights from the run/event:
--Santa Claus was there
--So was the Grinch
--many runners dressed in the Christmas spirit, with Santa hats, reindeer hats, etc...one woman ran the race as a wrapped present
--runners had to tip-toe through geese poop for about 1/2 mile while running along the river bike path
--one guy ran the whole four miles in full firefighter gear, helmet and all...wish I'd have gotten a pic, that is impressive
--there was breakfast and lunch provided(if you count donuts as breakfast and a hamburger as lunch)
--I saw my friend Reese and he took 7th overall, he was trying to finish under 24 minutes...that's just absurd that he can run that fast...

I felt pretty good overall but went out a bit fast and got winded. My mental state was also very off today. There is something about running with a bunch of other people that bugs me, when I am used to running alone.

Is a mile really a mile??

I crossed the finish line at 37:19, which is a pace of about 9:20. That is slower than I intended on running it, so I was disappointed.

When I looked at my ipod, though, it said that I had ran 4.54 miles at a pace of 8:18 or something like that....so, my ipod must be off in tracking distance. I did calibrate it though, over thanksgiving, and it came out exactly right right. Has anyone else had problems with their iPod tracking distances incorrectly? I know a lot of people use Garmin devices. Are those more accurate?

My buddy Adam finished in 34 minutes something, I couldn't keep up, and I didn't really try to. I am slow, and I know it, but that's okay. We had a great day of running and enjoyed the race.