Monday, December 16, 2019

2019 St. Nick Fun Run Merry Mile Race Recap!

This year's shirt - I love it!  Technical fabric, black with bright printing, and the size fits me perfectly.  Can't get much better than that!

It's been forever since I've had a race to recap - eight months, to be exact - but on Saturday I got to participate in a sweet local race that I first ran in 2013; it's a great race and we always run it if we're in town on race day.  It's a family race so they offer a Merry Mile, 5K, and 10K distance, and now that I completed the Merry Mile this year, I've covered all of the distances...and hey guess what, that one mile is really pleasant!  I'd registered for the race post-back surgery but pre-seizure, so even though I'd only planned on walking the mile, I was a little worried about doing it.  At least I knew I could manage the distance after having been to Universal Studios the week prior, but I was really happy that Jimmymeow registered to walk it with me, just in case.  And as it had been a few weeks since our last coffee and cruisin' session, we got to catch up on the concrete jobs happening around town, plus look at all of the gorgeous houses along the route; while I wouldn't want to live in that neighborhood because it's across from Texas A&M University and there's way too much traffic over there, I'd love to magically transplant one of the houses to a quieter neighborhood for my next residence.

The morning was great - very cold, which is perfect for running but a little more challenging when you're just walking because you never really warm up.  I didn't want to wear a jacket and cover up my Buddy the Elf shirt, so I layered with a heavy long-sleeved shirt plus a vest, and of course my traditional socks - it wouldn't be a Christmas race without wearing them!
The gang's mostly here...we were missing Julia, CC, Loretta, and Mason.
Aiden did the 5K with Gigi, while Logan did the first loop of the 10K with his dad before being handed off to Jimmy and I for babysitting.
Pre race - Jimmymeow appropriately gets a new cat-themed shirt every year for Christmas but this one was especially extra...their eyes kept staring deep into my soul.  GIVE US ALL THE CATNIP, MEOWWWW.
This year they didn't do age group awards, which is when the speedsters win these adorable snowflake medals - instead, everyone got one when they crossed the finish line, yay!  They are made by the kindergartners who go to the school where the race is held.
I've only completed four races this year but I've received a trinket upon crossing the finish line for each one (a couple of medals, a lei, and now a snowflake) so I'm pretty pleased with that.

We finished the race, got some coffee and a Blue Baker cookie, and then made it back to the finish line in time to intercept Brian so he could hand off Logan and the running stroller in order to finish his second lap with a little less encumbrance.  Logan was a little unwilling to be left with us at first and it didn't help that we had to walk him across the finish line where these two scary people waiting:
No eye contact was made by Logan to Santa and Mrs. Claus - he made a wide berth around them.

Logan was given a medal while being asked by a race official to show his bib for scanning - his jacket was zipped up and I was just the babysitter, but I assured the official he had one...turns out he did not.  He's a renegade, what can I say?  We took him to the snack area:
 
You remembered to put two creams and eight sugars in my coffee, right?
 
Ahh yes, just the way I like it.
Then we went back to the finish line to cheer everyone in.
 
Karen, Andi, and Jeff - I was a little distracted by my babysitting charge and missed getting pictures of Brian, Cary, Diane, and Cindy.
Post race posing with the Christmas Cactus, as you do...

After the race we went to Blue Baker for a little while, then home for a nap - I did OK during the race but started to fade at BB and boy howdy did I nap hard when I got home.  We needed to recover because it was Mason's third birthday party that afternoon and we wanted to be ready for it.  Recap on the party is coming up on my next post; I'm writing this the day after the race and party and I am wiped out - but I made it through the fun stuff so that's what's important, right? 

13 comments:

  1. Yay!! I’m so glad that you had a walking buddy and were able to complete the merry mile! That had to feel good after the craziness of your last few months!!!

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  2. Glad you got to do this!!! It had to feel good to do something normal again, right?

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  3. I'm so glad that you were able to do this race. The whole morning sounds like it was fun!

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  4. What a fun day. Jimmymeow's cat shirt is hilarious. Does he really like cats that much?

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    1. I think for Jimmy it's dogs, cat shirts, then cats...

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  5. You guys look like you have so much fun! I love the cat Christmas shirt and the Christmas cactus.

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  6. So happy that you got to participate! I love how all your races give out something. We get nuttin around here!

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  7. A little bit of what was normal. Good for you. My husband is our church Santa. He only had one screamer and one that was a little wary giving a side eye and a very wide berth.

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  8. Good to see you up and about and doing a race! It does the soul good to get a t-shirt, play with a baby or 2 and eat some baked goods with your peeps. Enjoy, Shelley!

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  9. Yay, so glad you were able to do that mile. And that cat shirt - OMG, I love it.

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  10. It IS important that you made it through the fun stuff. YAY!

    The snowflakes are super neat. I love stuff like that. And I like the shirt too! I'm glad you could do this and go to the party :)

    And I love Jimmymeow's shirt!!!! :-o

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  11. Yay for doing the 1 mile race! 6 months ago, would you have imagined being able to do it? I love your headband, too :D

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