Jingle Bell Run +5

On December 1, I participated in the Jingle Bell Run 5k benefiting the Arthritis Foundation.  Never underestimate the power of e-mail and social media.  A former TNT teammate put together a team for the Jingle Bell run as her husband has a form of arthritis.  I saw it on Facebook and got an email about it and before I knew it, I was one of 111 people on the team, "Jon's Jinglers."  This is the only time it is even remotely appropriate to have anything to do with a friend's husband's jinglers.  Anyways, we ended up being the largest and top fundraising non-corporate team.  Pretty awesome!

I talked my co-worker into doing it with me.  You remember her, the co-star of the Best Race Photo EVER.

I'm amused that it looks like she's wearing a Santa hat when in reality it was the person standing behind her.

The race was a blast!  We were both doing it for fun and didn't really have any plans other than to finish.  So we ran some and we walked some and laughed a lot.  We entered the non-timed division so we weren't wearing timing chips.  I did wear my Garmin though because the 5k was part of my warm up for my ultimate 8-mile workout.

When a former TNT teammate asks us to help her out, we show up in full force....

in Santa hats and crazy socks.  LOVE these people!

After the race, I quickly headed home, shed a few layers (I was way overdressed...you'd think I had never raced in the winter before!) and grabbed The Pilot.  I drug him around our neighborhood for about 3.5 miles.  His knees don't take kindly to much running so I ditched him at the house (love you, Pilot) and headed back out on my own in order to finish up my 8 miles for the day.

It was such a fun morning and a great way to break up what could have been a pretty boring 8 miles.  No land speed records but that certainly wasn't the goal.  My ultimate goal for the day was to support a friend while not bailing on my intended 8 miles.  Success!