2015 Worcester Jingle 5k {Race Recap}

Hey friends…I’m back with my 3rd race recap of 2015! It’s kind of funny to me that I didn’t race all year and then since September I have run 3 races! I guess like everything, racing ebbs and flows for me.

Anyways, I was signed up to run the 2015 Worcester Jingle 5k road race last weekend with my friends Michele and Amy. We all ran the race last year and it happened to be my 5k PR race (22:17) so I kinda felt like I should run it again this year. I had picked up my race packet on Saturday morning after Ashton’s soccer practice so I was ready to go.

I felt pretty terrible all day and ended up taking a nap (something I NEVER do) and later in the afternoon I had texted the girls that I had a migraine all day and was unsure about how I would be feeling the next morning for the race but I would let them know as soon as I woke up on Sunday.

Well, I woke up on Sunday with a low grade headache and when I went to check my phone, Amy wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t going to run, so I felt bad that Michele would have been all alone so I took some pain meds, ate some breakfast and sucked it up and went to the race.

I was glad to see that when I got to the race, Michele talked Jay into running with her (and their crazy dog Chloe) so she wouldn’t be alone running.

Aren’t they adorable all dressed up? Even though I don’t dress up for races (it’s just not my thing), I loved seeing everyone in their festive holiday outfits. There were tons of Santa hats, Christmas pajamas, candy cane striped socks and tights. There was even someone who ran the entire race as a gingerbread man–that is some serious dedication!

We have been having unseasonably warm temps here in MA, like in the 50-60’s which is CRAZY for the end of December, but of course on the day of the race it was SO freaking cold (low 30’s and WINDY) I ended up wearing 3 layers, my hat and gloves and while I was a bit nervous I would be too hot once we got going (like my recent Turkey Trot), the wind was whipping around and kind of brutal, so I am happy to say that I was perfectly dressed–which rarely ever happens to me!

Michele and I took a quick picture and then I jumped into the corral with a few minutes to spare, turned on my Garmin and music and waited for the gun to go off.

I had absolutely no expectations for this race given how I had been feeling. I was bummed because I would have loved to try and get close to my time from last year, but I knew that wasn’t in the cards for me that morning. So, once I made it through the first mile of crowds, I settled into a comfortable pace and enjoyed my playlist. I will say the course leaves a lot to be desired, it is really a terrible and un-scenic (did I just make that word up?) so I kind of just zoned out. I didn’t even look at my Garmin until I hit stop as I crossed the finish line. I ended up coming in at 24:05 according to my watch and was just under the 5k distance, which means I ran the tangents well,which is something I have been really trying to do better at races.

The final race results came in and they had me at 24:03 (7:44 per mile) and 97th finisher out of 699 runners.

Even though I didn’t PR, I’m still really glad that I got out there and ran and I am beyond happy with the time given how I had been feeling! I was totally not expecting to be anywhere near this time. I think there is something to be said about running by feel too, I always do way better when I run by feel vs. by constantly looking at my Garmin…anyone know why that is???

And finally..because I cannot take a good race pic for the life of me..here are some for some laughs!