Santa Shuffle - Dec 4/10

The day dawned super cold (like -20*C cold), though it warmed up to about -10 by the time the race started.   I had planned out my super cute ensemble for the fun run and then, at the last moment, decided to add a layer (it ended up being overkill).

This was the original plan:

• My arm warmers under my Old Navy Running Shirt
• red Mountain Equipment Co-op t-shirt over top
• MEC leggings
• Moving Comfort wrap skirt
• and then the holiday touches of red cable knit leg warmers, santa hat, and my houndstooth scarf.  
• red fleece gloves

When the thermometer seemed so sold, I decided to kill the arm warmers and wear my Avia running jacket under the t-shirt - a move I lived to regret because I got very steamy hot fairly quickly.

Here's me and J right before the race, dressed all super cute :)

We took it at a pretty easy pace - it was a family fun run so there were tons of kiddos there and A LOT of people just meandering.   The route ran out of Eau Claire Market and then along 3rd ave to connect with the running path again about a block west.   Then out to 14th street, across the bridge and back again - finishing up by running across Princes Island and then back to the Market.  

I did end up taking walk breaks at the half way point and then just before the finish.   I think I am a cold weather cramper.   I've been getting really bad cramps at my normal pace lately and they worsen when I get up to race pace.  This was disappointing, because I know that J and I ran the first 8K of our half, just 3 weeks ago, at much faster than we went yesterday.  Of course, we weren't battling ice.

In the end, we finished in 34:37 by my Garmin. Defintiely not my fastest 5K ever, but given the fact that it was really icy and they we were caught behind a delivery truck on the path on the island (!!!) I think we did great.  And it was a lot of fun to see the different costumes people were wearing and the general festiveness in the air.

The things I learned:

    •    Santa hats just don't breathe!  Must buy a wicking santa hat if I plan to do these in future years.
    •    To just trust my instincts on what to wear.  I would have been quite comfortable in my original planned outfit
    •    I'm not sure I like the 5K distance except for short training runs
    •    I should learn to enjoy a 5K for the fun run aspect of it.  If it isn't timed, I shouldn't sweat it.