‘Twas a long morning!!!
We were up at 5:30 to get started on the Jingle Jog adventure.
I started with my mashed banana + nut butter + pumpkin butter + honey pre-race combo. SO GOOD!
Plus a cup of tea -
Not 10 minutes after finishing this we had to be out the door and running to the lightrail. Uggggg is all I have to say about that run. My stomach was sloshing and it wasn’t pretty, but I made it. 1.25 miles in sub-freezing weather. Luckily the lightrail came quickly so we didn’t have to stand in the cold for long.
Once checked in at the Convention Center, we browsed the expo. The Jingle Jog is part of the much-larger Thunder Road Marathon so there was lots to see.
SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found a table – an unmanned table – filled with these!!! I took about 6 
My partner in crime was such a good sport. I think he was the only one there who had showered 
The crowds were packed and the bathrooms lined up (ewww smells too!)
I finally found my team!!! GO GIRLS!
Time War
I left with about 20minutes to go to go to the bathroom – BIG MISTAKE. When I returned, I couldn’t even see the start line, much less where the end was. I had to sneak through a gap in the fence to even get in. You can imagine how slow the start was. It was HORRIBLE. I was there about a minute before we started moving, and I turned on my watch when I crossed the start line. Well, even then it took me two minutes and forty-five seconds to get up to pace. I was bumping into people and having to jump onto the sidewalk to pass people. I’d say it took a half a mile for me to pass enough people that I had room. NEVER AGAIN will I wait to get in line! My next race I want to be in the first 5 rows of people. I am not sure how this affected my time – but I think it’s safe to say it cost me at least a minute – which would mean I unofficially PRed!
Today’s time: 23:49
PR: 23:26
Stats
| Jingle Jog | Race For The Cure |
| Finish Rank: 86 / 1395 Age Group: 5 Gender: 19 Chip Time: 23:49 Pace: 7:58 |
Finish Rank: 149 / 1498 Chip Time: 23:26 Pace: 7:41 |
I think it’s pretty clear that I improved, esp. considering the start cost me so much time. As I said last night, I wasn’t planning to run my hardest, but when I got up to the start line, I felt the urge to run my hardest. For some reason, I was thinking that my PR time was 21:26 and thought that I was much slower, but this race was a bit easier (less hills) and I felt like i ran just as fast. You know, I was really hurting at times, but it wasn’t that hard. Well, the last half mile was REALLY tough. A man said “Just one more turn and you’re there.” Well, no. There were TWO turns and at least 1/3 of a mile left! I thought I was going to die then and didn’t have as strong of a sprint finish as I did at RFTC. I’ll plan to do another 5K around April when it warms up some
Just minutes after crossing the finish line, look what I filled my hands with!!!!!!!!
I told the LaraBar folks that they were the only reason I ran the race because everyone in the food blog world comes home mini bars from big races They laughed.
While I was running, the husband found Great Harvest and played with them instead of taking my finish line photo. They were slicing fresh bread samples to all the runners!!
I wasn’t feeling hungry at all after the race (I was a bit nauseous) but I did end up having half of this cinnamon raisin walnut slice with honey! MMMM!!!
Such a good sport for being in the cold for a few hours and getting up at the crack of dawn on his day to sleep in! XOXOXOXO
We hung around for a little bit after the race, ran into 2 of our friends and said goodbye to the few GOTR girls who we tracked down. Then we got on the lightrail for the return trip.
The 1.25 mile jog home was SO PAINFUL!! I was beat and if it hadn’t been so cold and if I hadn’t wanted to get home so badly I would’ve just walked, but I jogged and gosh it was miserable!
The loot!!! Trader Joe’s had the fruit and a granola + cookie sample.
Once we were home, we made a pot of coffee to warm us up. See the steam on it!
Then the husband left for work (via bike!) and I took a glorious Epsom salt bath!!! I heated some water in a big pot on the stove-top to make sure I had enough hot water. It was wonderful and really helped my muscles. (I’m sure the marathoners are now taking their ice baths – eeks!).
All of a sudden at 12:00 in the bathtub I realized I was extremely hungry. I planned out a quick lunch as I got dressed.
A slice of toast with Laughing Cow, pumpkin + pumpkin butter -
The toast with cheese was suppose to have this hard boiled egg, but I decided I wanted pumpkin because the egg would slide off. The pumpkin + cheese combo was great.
Leftover fruity slaw -
Yogurt + cranberry + almonds -
And the free tea I got this AM -
I started watching Willy Wonka (a version we DVRed that has fun facts on the bottom of the screen – did you know the movie was financed by Quaker Oats!?!?!? As a marketing ploy to sell Wonka bars after the fact.) It’s one of my all-time favorites, so I’m going to go snuggle up on the couch again. With some tea because I’m freezing! I plan on staying home this afternoon and am joining Karen, Andrew + the husband for dinner at Karen’s. I think a glass of wine is definitely in the plans
{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats on an exciting morning! I’m in a whirlwind just reading all of that–but it still sounds like it was fun!
I’m super jealous of your mini Larabars
Enjoy your afternoon!
Those Larabars are making me hungry!!! I see you got tons of the Coconut flavor. That one is yummy.
Did you watch the original Willy Wonka? That on eis my favorite…Wonka is so sarcastic and hilarious. The newer verison with Johnny Depp is just plain creepy.
Kath, Looks like you had a great morning! Food looks good. It does look a little chilly! Score on the Larabars.
zesty
Cute mini Larabars. I have actually never tried one!
Have a great day.
I love those baby Laraars; they need to sell them in stores. Take note, Larabar people!
Great time on your run! I wish i could run that fast, but i’m more of an endurance runner and have a much slower pace. I ran the Marine Corps marathon at the end of October and now am training for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May. Your blog is an inspiration to me to start eating better! I’ve got the exercise down, but need to work on my food choices. Thank you!
Congratulations on a fabulous race; and you definitely scored on finding the…
MINI LARABARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **swoons, shouts “holy yum,” faints…)
Shelby ,
Definitely the classic Wonka!!! It’s one of my favorite movies. I had actually had forgotten there was a new one made.
Laura ,
I always consider myself an endurance runner too, but I’ve gotten faster kind of by accident by just being in better shape, so it’ll come to you the more you run.
Thanks
VeggieGirl,
LOL. You’re hilariously dramatic
Kath
I saw that Willy Wonka thing and I was going to say something to you but I forgot! I love the other fun fact about how the Wonkamobile “foam” was actually fire extinguisher fluid and all the cast members had a bad rash because the prop people didn’t realize it was a skin irritant.
Congrats! You are just a whirl of accomplishments these past few days.
Congrats on an awesome race! And the husband is such a good sport by hanging out in the cold!
Congrats on a busy morning! Your GOTR group looked great. Enjoy your freebies!
Congrats on making it through the race PLUS the run to the lightrail and back. I can imagine that was exhausting. Since I’m more of a walker than I runner I can imagine I would have never made it!!
Hope you have a relaxing rest of the day and fun evening!!
Seriously Jenny you think Kath’s morning sounded FUN? Reads like self-inflicted torture to me. Well, at leats you got little Larabar. I would just gone for the Larabars and gone home back to bed
Nice job!!
The lunch looks so perfect
Looks like an awesome morning! So energizing!!
haha Kath you are too funny!!!
What a good sport the husband is
Just curious- why didn’t he just run with you?
The mini Larabars are AWESOME!
Angela
http://www.ohsheglows.com
Awesome job on the time…even with all the people in your way in the beginning! And you finally got some mini Larabars, yay!
Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!
Oh and by the way you have such an amazing post-run glow!
Aghghh! now seeing the treasure trove of mini-laras, i’m REALLY sad i wasn’t there! oh well — next time!
i loved your ’1st place in your age group’ comment on my post
i guess i also placed LAST, though!
Mini Larabars!! You lucky girl
CONGRATS ON YOUR RUN!!
I had no idea Willy Wonka was financed by Quaker! Huh, you learn something new everyday!
My daughter’s teacher does GOTR in our town too – its such a great idea!
Sorry it was so cold for you – but love the recap!
I love curling up on the couch, all bundled up, with hot tea and a good movie – I may just go do that!
Was that the GOTR goal race? Did you not have to run with them or did they have other running buddies?
You are quite speedy! Have you thought about doing a half or even a full marathon?
I wish they would sell those mini Larabars at the grocery store. They have mini Luna and mini Clif now, why not mini Larabars? They obviously make them for races.
I am EXTREMELY jealous of your Lara Bars. xD
I have at least one whole one a day (mini ones aren’t in stores), and I am pretty much obsessed with them. Hahah.
I really need to start a food blog too so I can join in on the fun. I have so many “day dreams” of starting a foodie blog, I just never seem to have the time – even at thirteen! I could probobly review every Lara flavor, and I could finally post some of the awesome recipes I’ve come up with this year! Now I just need a decent camera…
Congrats on your unofficial PR. That’s a really amazing time!!!!
Enjoy your rest day!
I’m super jealous of your larabars too
I’m kind of jealous you got so many mini Larabars! The past two races I’ve been in (San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and Las Vegas Half Marathon) limited participants to two mini-bars each. When I did the PF Chang’s Marathon at the very beginning of this year I got one in every flavor!
Nice job on the race, you did very well!
Way to go on your run! And snagging some mini Larabars. Have a great Saturday!
Good job Kath!
Have a great Saturday (resting I hope!)
Congratulations, Kath! You did great this morning!
Greek yogurt question!! I bought some Fage today and forgot to check the date – it expired 3 days ago…do you think it’s okay to eat?? Thanks!!!!
YUM Larabars! I am so jealous… I want to run a race just so I’ll get all those little samples!!!
What a nice husband, and good job girls!
Great Job on the race!
What a fun run! I hope that the girls had a blast!
Wow! You’re really fast! Way to go!
Congrats on the race! I can’t imagine running in that cold weather. My toes freeze when it’s only 60 degrees! Random question for you….how do you get that cute headband to stay on your head? I have tried many different kinds and every time they just snap off the top of my head. Maybe I just have a funny shaped noggin. ?? ;p
No fair hording all the min lara bars just because you’re fast!
*laughs* (I’m kidding.)
Congrats on your run!! I loove the fabulous LaraBar lootage.
hi Kath!
I’m a GOTR coach in San Diego, and we also had our 5k today. Good times!
P.S. We wore the same color shirts as your crew!
Congrats on the race. Your time was great!! I hate getting stuck at the back too. It gets so crowded and slow sometimes!
I’m jealous of the larabars! Would anyone in the blog world want to do some kind of bar swap? I still can’t find the coconut cream larabars and don’t want to buy a whole case.
Oh She Glows,
Honestly, he didn’t run to save us $25, since he didn’t really care either way. And thanks on the glow!
sarah ,
LOL. Half full, half full!!
BethT ,
They had running buddies – some their parents, some our other coach.
Lee ,
I MIGHT do a half in my lifetime, but I really don’t think I’d ever do a full marathon. My personal opinion is it does more damage than good to the body – but that’s coming from someone who had major foot surgery that couldn’t run for 2 years and probably did most of my arthritic damage with daily 5 mile runs in high school – too much. Seeing the marathoners today made me want to be out running beside them, but I just don’t want to risk not being able to run anymore AT ALL if the training + marathon kill my foot.
Erin ,
Well, I’d eat it!
Christy ,
Haha – they DO pop off, but only when you wear them on your hair. I wear mine RIGHT above my hairline, which feels too low at first, but it’s the perfect position.
Jess ,
How fun! From sea to shining sea!
Amy ,
I would offer a bar swap, but none of the stores in Charlotte (that I’ve seen) carry the coconut one either. We have no Whole Foods here
Kath
interestingly, i totally agree about marathons doing more damage than good . . . but they still lure me in and i still love the long distance! i think halves are much MUCH more doable and safer, though.
and, i forgot to say — CONGRATS on a great race — a virtual PR! yay!
Those little girls look so excited
Great times, Kath! And look at all the cool stuff you got!
Congrats on your race! I read your blog everyday and I feel terrible now for not commenting when I should! BUT I do have a question..I just bought the Laughing Cow cheese in the Lite creamy swiss flavor..but what flavor would you recommend??
thanks a bunch and keep on truckin girl!
We had our GOTR race today as well. It was awesome. I’m so proud of my Gabby.
Glad the race ended well, even with a cold and tough start! The picture with your girls is *TOO* cute!
Ha. I’m incredibly jealous of your mini Larabar stash.
Congrats on the race!
Those mini larabars are great! Yay!
Nice run, Kath!
Eesh you got a lot of larabars!! I wishwishwish they SOLD minis, not just made samples!! You look so pretty in the picture with the loot!
You chip doesn’t start until YOU cross the starting line (not when the gun goes off) so it shouldn’t have been too far off.
What a day you have had! Great job on the run!
Wow that is a seriously amazing time Kath! That’s the kind of time I used to get in my glory days as high school cross country captain. Way to go! Garrett once brought me a bunch of mini Larabars. I have no idea where he got them, but I was like “where’s the other half of ‘em?” I had no idea they were such a valued commodity! P.S. I’m chained to my computer studying for finals now (so jealous your done) and I must check your blog at least 15,000 times a day =D.
Kath (!!),
I like the light swiss the best. I’m not a fan of herby/garlic cheeses and I think those are the only 2 flavors.
jenner ,
No, that was the problem – I was in the bottleneck AFTER I crossed the chip start – for 2:45. It took me a full minute on the gun time to even cross the start.
Elle ,
Thanks!!! Best of luck as you finish finals!! I remember when you were a 1L
Kath
Congrats on the race and on getting a stash of the larabars!!! The bread from Great Harvest looked so yummy.
Enjoy that glass of wine tonight.
Kath,
Congrats on your time!! You are so motivating!
CONGRATS KATH! AWESOME STATS!! and nut butter and honey and everything else sound yummyyyy!
Hi Kath,
Thanks for the great race report!!! I am loving your striped gloves!! Very cool! Your a really fast runner!! My last 5K race was in 27.55 on Thanksgiving! And afterwards i felt as though i was running 5 min miles!!!
Have a great Sunday!!!
Can anyone find the Cliff mini bars?
Okay, I have to comment about marathon running. I did my first marathon this year and it was the most rewarding experience ever. I can’t explain it. Yes, they are dangerous and people (men mostly, with prior conditions) have died, but it’s a whole other experience from running a 5k, 10k or a half. I’ve done 5k’s and 10k’s and after doing the marathon I kind found what I really like to do which is run long. Kath congrats on your running. Check out Runner’s world Jan issue. It has an article to find what kind of runner you are.
Congrats on the great race!
I just saw you spotlighted on I Ate A pie – cool!
Congrats! I got those mini Laras from a music festival once! I love the small size! Such good portion control!
http://www.missymaintains.blogspot.com