Today I ran the Jingle All The Way 15k for the second time. I was less prepared this year than last in several ways–including forgetting that the 15k starts at 8:30 even though all the race information emphasizes the 8:00 am start time for the 5k. That cold wait aside, it was a great race.
I did not wear the festive race hat, but I think it’s a cute idea!
2018 Jingle All The Way 15k
The race organizers encourage runners to dress in festive holiday gear, and even have a contest for the most festive outfits, but I didn’t even wear my ugly sweater compression socks. I meant to order the InkNBurn ugly sweater tech shirt to wear for this race, but apparently after debating the sizing I never clicked on the order button. 🙁
I opted for bright tights.
I did get to wear the new Aftershokz headphones after someone was kind enough to select me to benefit from the mandate to #GiveGoodVibes. I figured out on a test run that they worked well over my headband–no need to have cold ears!–and I streamed the Alternative Christmas playlist from Amazon Prime Music. It was so nice not to have to mess with flying, tangling earbud cords!
Since we got to the venue so early, we were able to watch the 5K start.
The time to the 15K start passed relatively quickly, and I lined up with the 8-9 mm pace group, vaguely hoping for a sub-9 mm pace.
It was too cold to check my Garmin–I had my shirt sleeves tucked into my gloves–so I ran by feel, settling in at a comfortably hard pace. Before we reached the first mile marker I started thinking about how long 15K is. I hadn’t been worrying about it because it’s less than 10 miles, but it’s not that much less than 10 miles.
This course includes the dreaded Hains Point, so I spent the first 3 miles psyching myself up for that. Not too far into Hains Point I realized I had been running side-by-side with another woman who was helping me keep what felt like a good pace. I asked her name and introduced myself between gasps for air. She told me we were keeping an 8-ish pace which shocked me and psyched me out because I really wasn’t planning to run that hard.
Meet Joan, my Hains Point pacer,
who even waited to congratulate me at the finish line.
I kept up with her almost to mile 7, and then kept my sights on her for as long as I could. Somewhere around mile 8 my right calf started threatening to cramp up–the muscle rippled but never seized. That, fatigue, and a small, cruel hill just before the finish line impacted my final splits, but I was still thrilled with my finish time.
It was too cold to hang out after the race, so after posing for a finisher photo, we headed to the car–and to Starbucks.
Are Scooby’s paws creepy? He wanted to chew on the ribbon.
The snowman can “run” across the medal!
Weekly Wrap
The rest of my week was unusual for the workouts I didn’t do. My left hip has been bothering me, so I went to the orthopedist on Monday and was diagnosed with an abductor strain. He prescribed naproxen and physical therapy–which I couldn’t start until this week. Between that, a short business trip, trying to fight off a cold, and my annual Christmas cookie bake-a-thon, I skipped CycleBar and Orange Theory and a few other workouts, although I did make it to Core Power Yoga. Here’s my run-down for the Weekly Wrap llink up hosted by Holly and Wendy.
Monday: 3.25 Scooby Miles
This is not a black + white picture!
Tuesday: Strength workout (upper body + core)
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: Core Power Yoga
Friday: 4.4 Scooby Miles
Saturday: Rest day
A few of my favorite cookies!
Sunday: Jingle All The Way 15K
And that’s a wrap!
Have you wrapped up your holiday shopping?
I’d rather bake more cookies than face the mall.
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
you always run your races way faster than you think you will! I was not cold at all while running but after we finished I was so cold. Feeling much better after my bath and ramen soup. Sorry I did not run into you! So glad that you love your aftershokz I was wondering how they would work w a headband or hat.
For me, they are more comfortable over the headband. A hat might be too thick unless its a techy one. I used a heat sheet while waiting to start, and my husband was so ready to go home as soon as I finished! Maybe next year we’ll run together.
Nicely done — and Joan seems lovely.
An awesome running challenge would be DC area runners running Harlem Hill and NYC ones running Hains POint since they’re common themes.
Love the hat’s colors. Hope your hip is on the mend ish
LOL. Personally, I prefer Harlem Hill. Hains Point is just so … long. 😉
We all love what we don’t have to run regularly. 🙂 Harlem Hill has a downhill reward at least
Not knowing the city well, this looks similar-ish to Cherry Blossom? Larger map is much easier to read
You slayed your race! Congrats on 5th place! Scooby’s paws are not creepy. Love that pic and medal.
Thanks. The pace was a surprise! Scooby always wants in on the action.
Congrats on a great race! Like I said on FB, Scooby pretty much trained you for the race, so he had to get his paws in there. I love that distance. You killed it.
Thanks. I was so surprised when she told me our pace because I really had no idea!
Dang! You ran that race like a pro! Excellent job!! I LOVE the hat! I knocked out the majority of my remaining shopping yesterday, so now I have just the baking to get started on this week.
It is a cute hat! I just get too hot running to wear it. I need to tackle my shopping!
Great race report, cute medal, and how lovely of your new friend to wait to see you through! Love the hat, though agree it would be way to hot to run in. Hope the strain eases soon.
Great job on your race! It’s nice you were able to pace it with a buddy. I’ve received knitted hats a few times at races, but it has to be really cold to wear one. I made cookies last night with the grandkids. They don’t look as pretty as yours! But it was a lot of fun. I hope your hip feels better soon. Thanks for linking!
I love that Scooby put his paws in the photo, lol. He ran some training runs with you so he thinks it’s his medal too 🙂
Great job on your race! i love the 15K distance and wish there were more races that offered it. It’s great that they gave you a nice hat instead of another standard race shirt.
Love that you made a new friend on the course, that’s always the best!
I am sorry about the strain and the cold, but man, you ran a speedy 15k even with all that going on. I hope you feel better/recover quickly. Cute medal too!
Being retired really has some benefits — the mall isn’t bad early in the day. Not that I have any plans to be going to the mall anytime soon!
Rest up & feel better.
I never set foot in the mall this season! Even when I knew I could dart over, I didn’t want to fight the crowds.
Great job on that race, especially with the muscle strain! I hope it’s better soon 🙂
you always do that! You go into something doubting yourself and then finish way stronger than you intended! Nice work!