The run that almost didn’t happen!

I’ve been watching everyone sign up for Santa Runs/Ugly Sweater Runs/Jolly Runs and was really disappointed that I wasn’t joining in the fun. Since I started back to work last week, I didn’t think I could pull off a run this weekend and only knew about a Holiday Run in Halifax. A trip to Halifax on my own, no problem but that was not the case. It would have meant taking both girls in and having someone look after the girls.

I originally was supposed to play soccer last night but it got rescheduled…I was SO bummed out about it. I had it in my head all week and was looking forward to it. Oh well. On Thursday, a friend mentioned about this Santa 5k Fun Run that was about 10 minutes away and I thought PERFECT!

Luckily, I already had my sister coming down to hang out with the girls (during my evening soccer game) and the next day. For two days, I toyed with the idea of running the 5k. You see, I haven’t been running much. I did my lunch time run 3km the other day and it was great but that’s all I’ve done. A few friends were running it so I thought it would be a fun run to do.

I don’t normal run in small runs mainly because I don’t want to be the last one to finish and I’m just not that confident running in small groups/events. Weird, I know but I’m more of a big run event where you can get lost in the crowd.

I got up a little early after snuggling with Lilly, got dressed, the girls fed and ran out the door only to realize I didn’t have my car keys. Brilliant move Anna…brilliant.

I made it to the gym that was hosting the fun run, registered and chatted with an old professor of mine. {I love that I see my old prof’s out and running}. One friend arrived and then another two others, so we all hung out for a bit. Each of us have little kids under 3.5 years old. I knew one other person at the run as I work with her…it was great to see her and chat running not work stuff.

The Run: With just over 100 people, it was pretty relaxed. We gathered as a group and the organizer talked about where we were to run and then to come back get some water, hot chocolate {yes please} and hang out. Within seconds we were running on the sidewalk down the main street of a town {well, a village but whatever}. I’ve never walked through this busy town so it was different being on the sidewalk and running.

At the start of the race I hit start on my Green Garmin only to have it not find “its location” until sometime after the 2k mark. It wasn’t a timed event. They didn’t have any mile markers. The half way point had two volunteers outside of their car giving high fives and cheering us on. It was pretty relaxed….pretty great!

I surprised myself on the run out and was able to run longer then I thought I could. Just before the 1/2 way mark we took a short walk break and then started back up again. The last 1km was the worst for me. Physically I felt like I could do it but I just couldn’t push my body. I took more walk breaks then I wanted to, similar to the Valley Harvest 5k I did back in October.

This past year my running has just been about getting out, getting active with a baby and start working towards my bigger goals for 2014. I know I need to start running 4-6 km each time I’m out running. I have to increase my distance and worry less about my time {for now}. I’m always hitting a wall when I get to 4 or 4.5km and that last bit gets me.

It was nice running with someone else….though I’m not much of a talker it was fun to be running with a friend at this run. I loved that there were lots of different runners and walkers doing the same distance {with cute little Santa Hats}. I look forward to doing this next year and am hoping to run in the Dec 31st Resolution Run this year. {fingers crossed}.

Have you done any Santa/Ugly Sweater/Holiday Runs?

Do you run in small or BIG events?

At what distance do you find you “hit the wall” ?