jingle bell 5k

this morning i woke up at 6:30am in order to get ready for the jingle bell 5k for arthritis that i'd signed up for. i turned on the news to figure out what to wear. the weather guy told me it was 2 degrees outside. 2!!!! plus some mild wind and that made it negative. oh boy. maybe i should go back to bed... but no, i have a t-shirt from it and therefore, must participate. and i'd already paid for it. so i bundled up in all of my winter running gear and headed out. the start line was at merchandise mart -it was actually inside the building. well, not the start, but there was gear check and food and a warm place to wait for the race to get started. the organizers had all passed out bells for our shoes and people had dressed up like santa or reindeer. there was even a gingerbread cookie guy! they were fun. i finished my first mile in 10min 30sec which is very fast for me! i typically do a 12:30pace. guess i was cold and needed some warming up, thus ran faster. then mile 2, i was slightly slower at 22min but still... ahead of the usual pace. at mile 3, i was at about 34something or 35, can't remember... but i finished the 5k with the best time for me ever! in just under 36 mins which i was really happy with. and yes, it was cold, but it was not as bad as i was anticipating! it was fun as they had all past out bells for our shoes and people had dressed up like santa or reindeer. there was even a gingerbread cookie guy! they were fun.