I've been meaning to re-cap since Saturday night but I was waiting for more pictures to become available and for my official results but it appears they were never taken during the race and I'm waiting for customer relations to get back to me to see about getting it all fixed.
Of course in true Texas style, we had 70 degree weather in the beginning of the week then down to low 50's the rest so we didn't think much of the weather for the 7:30am start time. However, Friday brought an Arctic front and the temp went from upper 50's to low 30's with the wind chill in the teens!!! Needless to say it was all about the layers for the 5k.
6:00am and Evan and I were out the door and off to pick up my friend Beth then on the road to Dallas (35-40 minute drive). I drove and we came up with a plan of action for where to meet at the end, what play list to jam too and strategies and enjoyed the non-traffic commute for once. Jinxed ourselves as we merged onto 30 to see a parking lot!!!! So I exited and we took a back way thanks to Beth's phone and parked in the very front row of gate 5 with 11 minutes to spare!!!
SIDE NOTE-Apparently several exits to fair park were closed and there was an accident so LOTS of people were stuck in traffic and missed the start time. However, reading through all the rude and complaint comments on the site and FB I must say, I don't see how the race sponsors or PR people could have known it would happen and they tried to communicate best they could and let people know the time they could arrive to still race the 5k. The fact that people assumed they should have postponed the race until everyone arrived is dumb. Plan ahead folks, arrive early and seek alternate routes, plain and simple.
So anyway, we made our way to our corrals and stretched and tried to stay warm. The dj was playing pumped up music and then they were off. It took us 12 minutes to get from Corral G to the start line so it added 10minutes to my time for my runkeeper app.
Making our way to the Corrals
(I forgot to put my glasses up and ended up wearing them while I raced, opps!)
Where's the start line? (Wayyyyyyy up there)
Evan stayed with me the first half mile before I shooed him on. I never saw him again haha, he's in better shape and condition than I am and I wanted him to enjoy himself. Not only that but for me, running is so relaxing and freeing so once I get into the music and set my pace I just kinda...zone out.
I was making good time and for once, was passing people in my intervals but I was also not doing my breathing right and as cold as it was (I forgot my gloves too) I was winded by the time I got to the 2nd mile. After a small breather on a bridge to take a picture I suddenly had lost all my steam. Thankfully, the volunteers were amazing and when I got to the 2nd water station they were cracking me up and I shuffled my play list to get more motivated to keep going.
"Running a red light" Ba Dum Dum
Downtown Dallas and Fair Park.
After the 2nd mile I literally struggled. I kept my intervals but seemed to just be moving at a snail pace. Then suddenly a song came on I hadn't heard in forever and I suddenly had some momentum. Does anyone ever get that way with music? So help me the following 3 songs were fast paced and had me grooving and then before I knew it I was no longer 5 minutes under my "goal pace" but only 2 minutes behind and I could breath without hurting so much. The only discomfort I had was my hands and my left foot was burning for some reason. I crossed the finish line at 50:01 to my favorite Devotchka song blaring in my head and a smile on my face. As I started walking and searching for Evan and Beth, I was grabbed from behind by my sweet husband who started cheering for me and hugging me like crazy and for some ridiculous reason I just leaned into him and started crying.
Do not ask me why I cried. I know a 5k is nothing big and is easy peasy compared to a half or full marathon but I ran this 5k more than I've ran any time in my training. I stuck with it when I was ready to quit at mile 2 and I finally finished a personal goal for myself this year that I really and in all honesty have been making far too many excuses on not fully committing to last year when I had other opportunities to do one.
We Did it!
Why you always come prepared for cold weather!!!
He was just a bit excited/ happy for me.
Challenge accepted & completed.
After we completed our race it was off to the automobile building to enjoy some chocolate fondue and hot chocolate, you know, the main reason so many people signed up for the race to begin with!!! The lines were fast moving and the volunteers were yet again, super helpful. Here's the photographic proof....
The awesome Volunteers!!
YUMMY!
Enjoying my treats Giant Chocolate fountain!
Beth and I being goofy.
My husbands version of goofy. :)
Needless to say, when the Hot Chocolate 5k comes back, we will be there, no doubt about it! Very well organized, the volunteers were super helpful and sweet and a big thanks to the vendors, Dallas PD and everyone else involved in this fun 5k experience.
I'm so glad Evan did this with me and Beth, he is so hooked now. He wants to go get a new pair of running shoes from Run On! or Lukes soon and asked to run with me now.
After the race and goodies we decided to leave and head back to Denton thinking it was noon but it wasn't even 9:30!!! haha. So we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a celebratory breakfast where I ate the most amazing feast ever!!
ohhhh yeah, Sweet potato pancakes with cinnamon butter, scrambled egg whites and bacon. BLISS!
I'll be sure to add any pictures of the 3 of us if Brightroom caught us in action. There's my re-cap. I'd suggest anyone wanting to do a 5k or 15k to give this one a try. :)
Get up and get running,
Britt The HLC
My perfect little family enjoying the Holiday season.
