I have been wanting to do this 5k for FIVE years now and I am so excited its finally happened/
I signed up for this race on October 30 and I've been like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for this!
Before I even signed up for the race, I knew exactly what I wanted to wear. I wanted to wear a Santa outfit dress with leggings. I searched on Amazon to find the perfect one. I ordered one size up from my normal size to allow for a shirt to be worn underneath and I wouldn't feel restricted. I loved this dress, it was comfortable and I was able to move freely in it. I added Santa belt socks from Michael's and yoga pants and my Nike sneakers. It was a perfect outfit for a fun 5K.
This race is presented by the Toms River Police Foundation. They money raised for this race goes towards scholarships and a specific charity. Each year, they pick a different charity to spotlight for awareness and to raise money for. This year's charity was National PKU Alliance. You can read more about what PKU is on their website.
The day before the race
I got all the pieces of my outfit together, I made a special playlist full of fun Christmas songs to listen to tomorrow while I'm running. I also have been stretching lots too because my shins have been really bothering me the last few days.
The morning of the race
I spent the morning in full Christmas spirit. My parents and I got some Christmas decorations down from attic. Loved finding old Christmas decorations and getting fully into the Christmas spirit.
Arriving at the race
We made our way to downtown Toms River and we arriving finding the perfect parking spot. Our first stop was to pick up my race bib and the t shirt. Mancini hall was filled with holiday runners in all types of holiday wear. I got really excited seeing everyone's holiday attire.
I picked up my bib and my t-shirt and we went outside to take some photos. Momma with her eagle eyes, spotted Santa. Naturally I ran over and waited in line like a child.
He was an absolutely beautiful Santa. He was jolly and cheerful and just perfect. He complimented me on my outfit and then told me I'm on the good list this year! YESSS!
A few photos later we were ready to watch the Kiddie Dash and the 1 mile fun run.
The Kiddie Dash was adorable; the younger kids ran straight to Santa for a hug or high five. Some of them looked adorable all bundled up and others were so confused why they were running down the street with Mom and people were cheering them on.
The one mile fun run/walk was next. A large group of people lined up for this. There were some firefighters in full turnout gear and lots of Christmas outfits. I even saw some people who had bibs like I did running in the one mile fun run. I guess that was their warm up. The people who ran the fun run, had blue bibs and the people who ran the 5K had red bibs.
A police officer on a motorcycle was the pace car and they were off! Not even 10 minutes later, a few young kids were rounding the corner back onto Washington Street. We cheered everyone on!
After everyone finished the fun run, the people who were running the 5K all lined up. What I thought could improve was, an announcement should have been made telling everyone what was happening next; especially since WJRZ was broadcasting from Washington Street.
I gave Mom and Dad a big hug and I went to line up with everyone else.
Right before the race
I was nervous! I turned on my Jingle Bell run 5k playlist and pulled up my Nike run app to get it ready for when we started. I placed myself in the middle of the pack- I am not the fastest and I am not the slowest; I like being in the middle. Between my earmuffs, my headphone in one ear playing Christmas music, the chatter of runners around me, I really couldn't hear much of anything. My thought was I am going to take a cue from the people around me to know when to go. There were some opening remarks and a nurse from the local hospital sang the national anthem and then before I knew it we were off!
The race
This was the first time I've run outside in the cold.
This was the first time where I've run a 5K without practicing on the course first.
This was the first time I ran a 5K in a costume.
This was the first time I ran a 5K not knowing anyone.
SO, a lot of firsts.
I started off, making sure I started my Nike run app and I put the volume up loud for my Christmas music (Bruce Springsteen's Santa Claus is Coming to Town, started me off!) I made sure I smiled for mom and Dad as I passed by them and then we took a right onto Hooper and then it settled in, I'm running a 5K right now. In the cold. In a Mrs. Claus dress. In December.
Now the funny thing about this course is, I've driven these streets numerous times and never considered them very hilly. YET when you are running them, they are hilly. We were up and down and twisty ups and twisty downs. I kept thinking to myself, these are not the streets that I drive on daily.
I ran for almost the whole first mile. My time at mile one was 10: 59. Okay I thought. I'll be done in about 33 minutes. I had given my parents an estimated time of 30-35 minutes. After passing by the clock, I started to speed walk until I got onto Dickinson, to catch my breath a bit. Then from there I did a combination of running and walking. I had to get quickly acclimated to running in the cold. I found that slowing down, I was able to run for longing burst of time.
I was confused why my shins were hurting so much then I realized that I had run earlier that week and after that early morning run, my shins continually hurt. I even stretched extra the day before to prevent this but YUCK! Every so often, the achy-ness would go away then all of the sudden it would come back and remind me, oh that hurts! So between that and the cold, it was a challenge. A fun one nonetheless.
My playlist was giving me the extra oomph along with the spectators along the course who came out of their houses to cheer everyone on. When Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You came on, I challenged to run for the length of that song and I did. I focused on my breathing and pacing myself better. That is one thing, as a runner I need to work on, pacing myself. I liked how this was through neighborhoods. It was extra special. Some houses had music playing from outdoor speakers, some people were outside cheering the runners on, and you got to look at all the Christmas decorations too! Some of the officers blocking the streets had their cruiser doors open and were blasting Christmas music! I loved all the music!
At one house I passed, I was all by myself running and all I heard was "Keep running Mrs. Claus!" I couldn't help but smile! This costume was totally worth it!
As I made my 2nd to last turn, onto Hooper Avenue, all I kept saying in my mind was " Keep going, you're almost there!" "You got this!" "Slow and Steady Spano!" "You can do hard things!"
There were two girls near me the whole race. We all were doing a combination of running and walking and while I do not know who they exactly are, they helped kept me going. It was really surreal running on Hooper Avenue. The only other time I am running on Hooper Avenue is when I am crossing the street to get to the parking garage, hoping I am not going to get hit by a car!
As we neared the corner of Hooper and Washington, I said to myself, "OKAY! This is IT, give it your all!" and that is what I did. As I rounded the corner onto Washington Street, and I saw the Finish line at the end of the street, I gave it my all. I saw Dad first cheering me on. I'm not going to lie, I got some tears in my eyes, because I was so excited!
Then I saw mom, taking photos of me running. I was running my little heart out with those two girls around me. Just before I got to the finish line, I started to look on the sidelines. I saw people cheering me on and then I saw the sweetest moment. There was a dad and a little daughter maybe 5-7 and he was kneeling down next to his daughter and pointing to me. She had the biggest smile on her face looking at me! My little heart was bursting, then I was crossing the finish line! I did it! I completed the Jingle Bell 5K race!
After the race
I couldn't stop smiling! I was SO excited I did it! I immediately stopped my Nike App and started walking towards where my parents were. They met me a few moments later and they greeted me with big hugs and kisses! They were so proud of me. Right after I crossed the finish line, I felt my phone vibrate. I took a look to see my results were already emailed to me. My official time was 36:32.7 I was so proud! I was 8th in my age group of 12 and 145 out of 214 of all the women. This was a challenging race for me but I did good!
Even though it wasn't a PR for me, timewise, it was a PR for me that it was the first one I ran:
By myself, not knowing anyone
In a costume
In December
In the Cold
On a course I didn't practice on
Sometimes PR's aren't numbers, they are accomplishments that are measurable, no matter how small. I am so proud of all these PR's in this race.
After my excitement wore off, I realized that I had to go pick up my pasta from Capone's! Talk about a WIN WIN situation! They had given all the runners at check in a red wrist band; this was your ticket to the pasta party afterwards sponsored by Capone's. (If you are local, you know how good Capone's homemade pasta is!) That pasta tasted so good! Maybe it was because I was so hungry or maybe because it was so hot and I was cold. It was delicious. We walked back to the car and I had the BIGGEST smile on my face.
I can't wait until the official race photos are released. I can just image how wacky my facial expression would be.
Who knew running a themed 5K would be so much fun! I can't wait for the next themed 5K!
[[Jingle all the way- no one likes a half-assed jingler]]
PS. Check back later this month for an explanation of the 13 in 13 tag on this post! I know you are just going to love it! 😃
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