Jingle All the Way 10K

Holly, Keri (Bday Girl) & Amy - Sunday Dec 11, 2005

Sunday was the first annual Jingle All the Way 10K at West Potomac Park in D.C. There were 3 goals to the race:

1) Help my friend Keri celebrate her Birthday and start a new "Birthday Tradition"
2) Have Fun!!
3) Get my big butt moving again post-Marathon

I had no grand expectations for times in this race. I have not done much in the way of consistent training since the Marine Corps Marathon in late October. I had only managed to run 6 miles in the last 4 weeks and was entirely relying on muscle memory and run/walk intervals to get me through the miles

I was *hoping* for a finish time around 1:25 - That would be no slower than my earlier marathon pace and not too shabby for a "Interferon Athlete"...

So I met Keri and Amy at the start line. We strapped on our Jingle Bells, took a few pictures with Keri's new Champion Chip (a cool gift from her husband) and we were off! We started out in the back of the pack around the 12:00 pace sign. The sound of *jingle bells* all around us.

The three of us ran together for about 3 minutes and then fell into our own paces. Amy is expecting, so she settled into a Power Walk, I started my run/walk intervals and off went Keri - running away to try to set a PR at this race distance.

Although my miles slowed as I knocked them out, the weather was cool, crisp and perfect as we ran along the Potomac River waterfront. We hardly had wind in either direction (an anomaly on Haines Point for sure) and while I slowed down an average of around 8-10 seconds per mile, I was more than happy with the results.

Mile 1 - 12.26
Mile 2 - 12.38
Mile 3 - 12:41
Mile 4 - 13.02
Mile 5 - 13:30
Mile 6 - 13.03

Overall - 1:20:13

My average pace was just a little over 13:00 minute miles. Not too bad for somebody who simply showed up and tried to pull a 10K out of her very cute winter hat! I'm happy with the result.

Oh and a BIG SHOUT OUT to Keri who not only RAN the entire 10K (her first time doing that) BUT broke 11:00 minute miles and set herself a new Personal Record!!!!! Way to go Keri!! I fully expect 10:00 minute miles from you by the time you run this race next year for your birthday!

Wednesday night I am doing the 4th Annual Christmas Lights Run with Nancy and *Jeanne* and I suspect it will be as much FUN as it looks!

Living STRONG with good friends all around!