Christmas Carol 5k (Race Recap)

Saturday, December 19
Denver, CO
Weather - chilly, but sunny

We originally registered for the Christmas Carol 5k as our "holiday" race with Heather. She had to go out of town so it was just me and A.

With a 9:00 start, we didn't have to leave the house until about 7:30. We found a parking spot near the high school and walked over to get our bibs. It was incredibly icy on the course and on the sidewalks. Yippee... running/walking while always imagining falling. Sounds fun!!

After picking up our bibs we went back to the car so we could warm back up - it was chillier than we expected! We headed back out to the race with about 15 minutes until the start. We ran into Maureen and Colfax in the bathroom line and we agreed to run together.

Like most races at City Park it was a bit congested at the start, which was FINE since the entire course was a sheet of ice. Maureen and Colfax chose to hold back even more than we did so it was A and I on our own. Neither of us fell, although we both had to stop and tie our shoes.

A just before the aid station at mile 2

As I had hoped, it wasn't nearly as cold as we thought it would be once we got running and I actually took off my gloves because my hands were sweating. We crossed the line of our 5k only moments before the 10k winner. Apparently HE didn't fear for his life, lol.

Thanks to Laurie's boyfriend for this picture heading into the finish

We met up with Maureen and Colfax, and since the weather had warmed up we stood around and chatted for a bit before heading home.

With Maureen and Colfax

With a random INB fan (who told me - I know you! I follow you on Twitter!) at the finish

With fellow INB ambassador Laurie

Garmin time - 35:45
Garmin distance - 3.14 miles
Garmin pace - 11:23
Mile 1 - 11:19
Mile 2 - 11:51
Mile 3 - 11:21
Mile 3.14 - 8:49

Thoughts:

• This was a well-organized race. I didn't take a shirt, and I think I got $5 off my registration for that. 
• Registering about 6 weeks prior to the event was reasonable - $25
• There was an unexpected medal at the finish (of course I don't have a picture)
• Noosa at the finish line is always great, especially when they insist you take more than one!
• Parking is not too bad, especially if you allow extra time for it.
• Not specifically related to this event, but running the entire distance with A I can really notice a BIG difference in her running over the last 6 months or so. While she occasionally wants to take walk breaks, there is no more "begrudging" and she seems to be enjoying it more. (And to be fair, why wouldn't she, when she tries, she is faster than I am now).
• I don't know that I would run this particular race again, but with a 5k and 10k option, it's a good event for mid December.

Normal (Week 10)

Tuesday -Video trifecta (legs, arms, core)
Wednesday - 5ish mile run on the treadmill - and it wasn't bad!
Thursday - Leg video. The end. It was also Halloween, and we dressed up and went out begging for candy. A and I had matchy matchy costumes of course:

  

 

It was the coldest and windiest ever. A got a ton of candy. Of COURSE, I had to eat a dozen pieces, you know, to make sure it wasn't poisoned. I ended up in a candy funk and then had a beer to try to fix that. Thankfully, I didn't have to get up and go to work the next day.
Friday - Mile run in the basement inferno and arm video. Went to Target to score the Halloween bargains. I managed to get a GIANT bag of fun size Mike & Ike's. Best buy ever. Long long LONG drive to Moab.
Saturday - Moab trail marathon!

Sunday - Long long LONG drive back to Denver. 1 mile "recovery run" around a cute lake on my way to pick up A from the sitter. I hate sitting for that long after a tough race.
Monday - 2ish miles on the treadmill. Felt surprisingly good, but due to lack of time I cut it pretty short (also, not wanting to overdo anything). Added another half mile of walking with incline - you know, training for maybe-another-100-miler.

Gain - 0.2 pounds

• SHOCKED by this very slight gain. I for REAL ate everything this week. It all started with Halloween and went downhill from there. (But not really, because WOW, I really like burgers and pizza and I had ALL of that this week).
• Beer is settling down a bit I guess. It helps that I don't have a lot of money to buy the fancy beer I like. Wah.

 

 

Everything Else

• The ex-husband is actually paying for A's birthday party this year!!! A gets to have the party she has been asking for ALL YEAR, a roller skating party! We stopped in at the rink on Sunday and put down the deposit and picked up her invitations. She is psyched.
• Speaking of A's birthday party, her actual BIRTHDAY is in only NINE days. I still have not bought her anything. When I asked her what she wanted, she told me a coloring book. What.
• It has now been a month since I cut up my credit card (maybe a bit longer). Holy crap. I did NOT realize how much I relied on that thing to help me skate through until payday. I'm trying this new fangled concept called a "budget" and I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE it. I do NOT like tracking my money. I have never really HAD to track my money and I am NOT enjoying doing it.
• Work is the same. No better, no worse, so I guess that is something.
• Daylight savings is the WORST THE WORST THE WORST. There is nothing more depressing than being at work all day and then finally getting to leave and it is already dark. Feels even MORE like my whole day is wasted. Womp.
• The silver lining of my week? The new holiday sweater from INKnBURN!!! I cannot WAIT to rock this at my holiday race in December :D - (Remember, if you haven't bought from INKnBURN before, you can set up an account at check out and use code BeckaToldMe and you can save 15% off your entire purchase!)