Jason showed up about 10:30 and we headed up to the Y at about 11 to meet Mike. We were all geared up and ready to go. Mike was sipping a Tim Horton's as he often does. This was his first race with us, and I think now he's officially hooked. So that's just one more person in the collective to keep us going.
The run was great, but there's just a few things that get in the way of running when you have a Santa suit over your clothes. The first thing is, it's hot as hell. So all of us overdressed. The second thing is, don't let your pants fall down. It's hard to tell they fell until they're at your ankles. Third, try not to blow out the crotch. Fourth, breathing through a fake beard is not easy, even if you're not aspirating some of it every time you inhale.
I toughed it out for about a 30:30 time though, even with the wardrobe malfunction (the pants around the ankles thing was me), and all the beard breathing (I kept it on, while most people ditch it down to their neck). It felt more like a 34 time, though, because I was really dragging ass (or so I thought). That's not bad. My 3rd best 5K time ever next to the two sub 30's at the Spirit Run and the Tailgate Challenge. If I can knock off as much time next year, I'll really be in business. It seems like now my slow times are what used to be what I thought to be almost out of reach. That's progress for sure.
The big thing now is, don't fall apart over the winter. We have to do things to stay relatively in shape. I want to hit the ground running (literally) next March/April.
