Jingle Bell Run 2016

Every year, my running group hosts their annual Jingle Bell Run. This year, it took place on Tuesday night and was basically a little fun run throughout one of the main Christmas light areas in town (it's not a race nor is it a timed event).

Runners could choose between several distances - 2, 3, or 4 miles and the course was out and back.

There were plenty of jingle bells for our shoes....it wouldn't be a jingle bell run without the bells!

Before we began the run, our coach started with the door prizes for both kids and adults. Guess whose name was called first?!

Brayden!

I picked up this cute Christmas bear for him! :)

Both mine and Heather's names were called as well! Yay!

There were lots of goodies to consume, too!

After getting our jingle bells on, we were ready to go!

My running buddy Heather and I decided to go with 3 miles.

I LOVE looking at all of the Christmas lights down this street and the jingle bell run was the perfect way to see them! We will have to keep this tradition alive, even after my running group disbands.

The lights were glowing off the water...such a gorgeous route!

Around mile 1.5, we turned around and headed back to the start.

These trees are always festive, too!

This is one of my favorite group runs and I look forward to it each year! (Here's a couple of recaps from the archives....2010 and 2012 and 2013.) Even Brayden enjoyed himself and didn't make a peep from the jogging stroller!

After I returned home, I surveyed my winnings! Looks pretty good if I do say so myself!

Do you participate in any holiday themed races or events during the Christmas season?

2015 Athlete’s Corner 3 Miler

This past weekend was so much fun, I enjoyed every minute of it!

On Saturday morning, I ran the first race of the “Triple Crown” series here in my hometown. It was a 3 mile race that began at a local athletic store and ran through a few neighborhoods.

I’ve run this race several times in the past, but this is the first year that a medal will be given to those who complete the entire series (3 miler this past weekend, 5 miler in May, and 4 miler in July). Extra bling? I’m in!

In looking back, I realized that I’ve actually run this race four times, the first being 2010! I had to laugh at my antics at 2011’s race and am happy to see how far I’ve come time-wise! I didn’t look at my time from 2014 prior to running the race this year, because I didn’t want to freak myself out.

However, I knew my time was in the 23 minute range somewhere…



I arrived bright and early at the Athletic Store to a HUGE crowd of people – much larger than previous years.



After picking up my packet, number, and shirt, I found a few of my friends.




These shoe timing chips were something new this year!



We lined up and were told that the race would begin in 1 minute. I frantically realized that I hadn’t yet told my watch to search for satellite. Oh. No. Before I knew it (and before I had time to think of a plan B), the race director hollered GO!

Oh geeze.

As a last-minute thought, I decided to just start my watch anyway and follow it time wise, even if it wasn’t picking up distance yet.

The watch picked up satellite around .2 miles, so I knew how to calculate my time, distance, and how far it was off in my head. Above all else, it gave me something to do while I ran! Hah!

Lead runners somehow got turned around and ran straight instead of turning into the first neighborhood…whoops! I’m so glad I didn’t follow! As I passed each mile marker, I kept track of my distance vs my time…although I was never 100% sure about my pace, so I pushed on and ran as hard as I could. I also tried to count each girl that I passed to see if I had a chance of placing in this race (although I was highly doubtful because there were SO many people). I’m kinda competitive, what can I say?

Before I knew it, we were on the stretch back to the finish line. I decided not to grab water because the finish line was so close and I was in a good running pattern. The best part? I had NO pain at all. Nothing. It was amazing.



Hello finish line! That’s a smile of relief, knowing I was so close to being finished! (Thanks to Randy for the great photo!)



I crossed the finish line with an official time of 23:40! I had to go back and check last year’s time to be sure….but it was definitely a PR! A 13 second PR at that!



After hanging around for the awards ceremony, we walked over to a local restaurant for breakfast.

About that awards ceremony? Yeah, I didn’t place (which is totally ok with me…I’m GREAT with a PR)! However, the girl that was maybe 15 seconds in front of me the entire race placed third in my age group. Whomp whomp. Guess I’ll just have to work harder next time!



Breakfast was delicious and I enjoyed spending time with friends!

The rest of the weekend?

Well, I saw Cinderella with a group of girls on Friday night and…yeah, we had a blast!



My Disney-loving friend and I enjoyed dressing up for the movie…(No, I didn’t wear the tiara the entire time…mostly just for pictures!) :)

However, I did love wearing my new shirt from the Lauren Conrad (LC) Kohl’s Cinderella line! It’s a light blue tank with butterflies all over it – it’s a beautiful top!

I definitely want to see the movie again….it was SO good!

How was your weekend? Run any races? Did you see Cinderella?