Christmas Light Run RR

I signed up on a whim for this race - my bestie, Cynthia, had signed up for it a long time ago and asked me to do it with her. I said I was taking December off from races.

Riiigghhhht.

Of course, then the forecast came and it was supposed to cold. I really hate running in the cold.

But, I paid for the damn thing, so you can bet I was going to run it. I had my fleece-lined running tights under my star-spangled shorts, a cold-weather thermal under my rockin' tank top, a neck gator, and a jacket over all of that. THEN, there was a stocking hat and gloves and mittens.

I really don't like running in the cold.

There was one new accessory I was looking forward to sporting:

A back story bib, created by Races 2 Remember. They are awesome.

When it was all said and done, I looked pretty good:

Did I mention this was a night run? I did my best to add Christmas cheer to Wonder Woman.

The race started and while I was lined up with my friends, my goal was to see how much I could push myself. Of course, had I remembered Tjom (Garmin), this might have been a little more successful. He was even in the car, but I didn't remember until we were lined up at the start. Oh well.

Being Tjom-less, I did my best to keep myself honest. It's so much easier to run faster when you have a group of people running with you. When you're by yourself ... uff-da it's hard. It's also maddening when you have no idea how far you've ran. All I knew at that point was I kept passing people, and while a few were passing me, these were few and far between.

At one point, I was passing through an intersection where I volunteer had a long line of cars stopped. There was an impatient woman who actually was asking the volunteer if she could make the runners stop. I yelled, "Yeah, sure we'll stop for you."

Perhaps that wasn't my most ladylike moment.

Somehow I figured out there was less than a mile left and I must  have been slowing down because a heavy breather that I had passed earlier had gotten in front of me. I have a new rule: runners that get nicknames from me are not allowed to beat me unless the nickname includes "Bad Ass". So, I had to pick it up and pass Heavy Breather again. All I could do at that point was pick out people and work to pass them. When I finally got down to the final stretch I was trying to make myself go faster, but it seemed like I was going at full speed. It wasn't until I felt like someone was just barely going to get me that I got a last spurt and got the best of whomever that was.

Ugh. <---- that was how I felt.

When I felt a little better, I went back for my friends and ran the last .2 miles in with them.
Then we went to a nearby brewery where I the following conversation ensued:

Manager/Owner/Guy in Charge: That's a fancy headband.
me: Thanks, I'm hoping it will get me a husband.
M/O/GiC: Well, Santa's got a hefty list this year, doesn't he?
me: (in mock offense) I'm not sure how I should take that!
Bestie: You totally owe her a beer for saying that!
M/O/Gic: Oh man! I didn't mean it like that! I totally do owe her a beer, don't I?

It was all in good fun, so I was a bit surprised when he came back with two shooter samples - one cider and one oatmeal stout that wasn't even on tap yet.

This headband won't get me a husband???

The stout was delicious. (shhhh dont' tell the gluten gods I was drinking stout)

After I got home, I decided it was time to put up the race swag. It was a little something different.