I upped my run pace in preparation for the Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K in Nashville. It's always a fast and fun run. I still have a goal to do a sub-20 minute 5K one of these days. The threat of some winter weather forced the postponement of the race, which was nice because it gave me an extra week to push my speed work. The course in Nashville is tough. Doing a sub-20 there would be quite a feat. But the postponement brought a new course. The city did not allow us to shut down all the streets in Nashville, so the course was changed, adding more flat roads to the beginning of the race. The first big hill came halfway through the race. It was followed by a steep descent, another climb and descent, followed by a very steep third climb in the last half mile with a descent to the finish.
I got off work early so we could get there with time for a warm-up. We had no difficulty getting there and I got in a great warm-up. I lined up early to get a good start spot, but still managed to be behind Keith and Shannon, who lined up at the last second. Figures. I had a great run, busting through the flat road and over the first two hills. The last climb hurt me, but I knew I was on pace for a good time, so I gutted it out. I got outsprinted to the line and nearly cramped up in both hamstrings as I crossed the finish line. My time was 21:32. I was happy with that on this course. I finished 6th in the 25-29 class and 39th overall out of 706 runners. Not bad for a bike rider.
Start of Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K
Christmas snuck up on us this year. It was cold, but still it did not feel like Christmas outside. I rode as much as possible, trying to take advantage of off time from work. We spent the few days before Christmas in Indiana with Shannon's family. It was a great time despite the cold temps. We went to Chicago one day to pick up Amber from the airport. While there we were able to visit the temple and grab some deep-dish Chicago pizza at Gino's East. It was a wild trip. We discovered Shannon's Dad's car has a hole under the backseat and whoever sits on the the passenger side gets a wet bum on a rainy drive. And that happened to be me. I looked like I peed myself all day. The water was our enemy today. While we were in Gino's the trunk of the car accidentally opened. We don't know how long it was open, but it was raining so everything in the trunk was wet. But by some miracle it was all still there. Who would've thought that a wide-open trunk in Chicago could go without being touched?
I got in just one outside ride and one outside run while we were in Indiana. It was freaking cold for both of them. I ran a 10K one day and then went road riding. It was in the mid-20s for the ride. It was the first time I have ever finished a ride with ice in my beard. Most of my rides were performed on the trainer. I actually lost weight over Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
A little snow on the roadside during my ride
Beardcicles
There were many other blunders that happened over the holiday, like Brooke breaking a new shower Jake had just bought, us breaking a window while trying to move a couch into the house, and Jared and Emily sliding off into the ditch on their drive up then getting covered up by the snow plow. It was just one of those weeks. Nobody got hurt so it's all quite funny now looking back at it. Actually, the worst part of the week was having to leave on Christmas Day to go home. Christmas was on a Wednesday, so we had to be back for work on Thursday. At least we got a little bit of snow for a white Christmas.
Christmas morning. 16 degrees and snowing
You know it's a good trip when you have a load of wheels to fit into the car during packing.
My Mom got a new mountain bike for Christmas. She will be riding a new Jamis Dakar soon. I think she will love it when she finally gets to ride it. The weather has not been good enough for her to test it yet. I got some sweet gifts too including a speaker for my laptop and a full Craftsman tool set. No more bumming tools from my Dad!
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