The Reindeer Run this morning

The Reindeer Run this morning was pretty chilly. But fun! And I’m happy to announce that Jose’s second-ever 5K resulted in a new PR for him. We did the Astros Race for the Pennant in May in 35:18 and today, in much cooler weather (but with much less preparation on his part), we ran 35:00! I looked at my watch with just under a half mile to go and saw 30:00 pass, so I told him we needed to step things up it a notch to finish under 35. He did it! 35 minutes flat. There were no mile markers, so I didn’t take splits even though I know approximately where the miles are.
He had some problems with slippery shoelaces — they came untied three times, despite double knots! It happened twice in the first mile, and each time he stopped and then had to run a little faster to catch back up to Debbie and me. I think that wore him out more than he expected, and he said the cold air was pretty harsh on his throat (he was coughing a lot post-race). So, I don’t think he’s really too crazy about this “running thing,” but it makes me happy to have him at a race every so often. I wasn’t really thinking, or I would’ve gotten a photo of us in our foam reindeer antlers. Of course we wore our reindeer antlers, what are you thinking? Sadly, most people don’t. I think they are fun.
As for me, I felt great the whole time and chatted a lot with Debbie; Jose doesn’t really talk when he’s running, unlike me. Debbie did a number on her knees at a Thanksgiving race, so she took it easy and ran the whole way with Jose and me. She didn’t even say she was going to run with me and then leave me in the dust in the last few tenths of a mile like she normally does. 😉 Gavin and Mike (his dad) ran about 27:00, and Mr. Joe Carey…well, I’ll let Joe share his race on his own blog! Let’s just say he pushed hard and was rewarded for it. It was also nice to see the few BARCers that I know — Vera at packet pickup, Veronica walking around with her camera (I’m not sure if she ran or not), and Jay behind the timing table.