Y’all know that Sunday, I reluctantly participated in the Jingle Bell Run with Tara and Jord.  Well, actually, if you read my blog often and know how much of a sissy I am about running in the rain elements, you might not have known that I actually participated, since you might have expected me to wimp out.  I almost did!

I woke up at 5:30, heard the deluge pounding my bedroom window, and almost rolled over and went back to sleep!  Seriously – it was raining hard.  In Seattle, we get a lot of light, drizzly rain and very little hard rain like that.  I don’t have rain gear.  I don’t like being wet, and I really don’t like being wet and cold!

I dragged myself out of bed with the consolation that I didn’t have to run.  I gave myself permission to totally bail on the running-in-the-rain part of the day, and decided that seeing my girls was still worth the treacherous trip slightly dicey drive into the city.  After all, we had brunch planned!  A late celebration of Tara’s birthday – how could I miss that?!  I texted Jord on the way to pick her up (at a red light, Mom, don’t worry!) with this message: “I love u guys but if it’s raining this hard, I’m wimping out! OMW.”

We picked Tara up at 7am and parked near the starting line of the run around 7:15.  Due to a random snafu with my race packet (which Jord had tried to pick up the day before!), we had to head to the registration area to get my packet and then headed back to the car to stash all our stuff.  And then…we waited!  The run didn’t start until 8:50.  It makes me happy to run with these women who are totally on board with my let’s-get-there-so-early-it’s-insane MO.  (I hate being late.  No, I mean…really, really hate it!)

We claimed a great spot inside Westlake Center and hung out there until about 10 minutes before the gun.  We made our way to the start line and were soaked within 5 minutes of standing there!  I swear the last 5 minutes went by so slowly…we were all screaming (internally, of course) at the announcer to quit jibber-jabbering and get on with it already!  And finally they did – the air horn sounded and we were off.  Did you know that Seattle’s Jingle Bell Run is the largest in the country?  Neither did I until Sunday; and let me tell you, as we headed up the first hill that extended for the first .75 miles of the run (seriously, who do I need to kick for that one?!), that entire stretch of road up the hill was a sea of runners.  It was pretty cool to see!

It was still pouring rain (did I mention how much I hate running in the rain??) and windy, so we were thankful that it was 58 degrees on Sunday!  Once we turned into the express lanes tunnel, the wind died down and no more rain landed on us for about 2 miles or so (that’s how much of the run I’m guessing was in the tunnel).  Except for the parts of the tunnel where there was a drainage crack in the roadway above – then it was like running through a mini-waterfall!  The first mile or 1.5 miles of the run was the hardest for me – my legs just take a while to get warmed up and that’s where I have to be mentally strong – it’s early yet, my legs are fine, yes they’re burning, it’ll go away, no I don’t need to walk – you know the drill, right?

Anyhow, I wasn’t convinced I’d run the entire thing.  Between my whiny bad attitude about the weather and the fact that I’ve focused more on general fitness the last few weeks than on running, I just didn’t know how the run would feel.  And I won’t lie – it felt hard!  Especially because downtown Seattle is littered with these evil things…you may have heard of them…they’re called…*gasp* – HILLS.  Ack.  I rarely train on hills (note to self: this is why it’s important to train on hills!), so making it up those puppies was tough, but the reward was running down the other side.

The best part of this race, besides the fact that I got to run with Tara and Jord who did not say one word about my incessant weather complaints, was the fact that the last .25-.5 miles was downhill across the finish line.  We put on the after-burners and sped up for that last stretch, which felt great!  I doubt we were running much faster than maybe 6 or 7 MPH for that last little bit, but for me that is flying!  And Tara found the race results yesterday, and my time was 36:12 – that’s a PR by 34 seconds!

So, moral of the story?  Shut up and run, Valerie.  Have fun with your girls.  Quit being a wimp about the weather.  Because when you do, who knows?  Maybe you’ll end up with a PR out of the deal!  And even if I hadn’t, the chance to run and spend time with these girls?  Priceless.