Every day I'm Hustlin'

It's been a whirlwind weekend with no signs of slowing down yet! Friday brought Andrea and me to Chicago to celebrate Teresa's 29th birthday with the Chicago crew. Naturally, this was also a time for all of us to gawk at T's gorrrrrrrgeous engagement ring too. We also got to Skype with our Lynny who was seven hours ahead in Germany. AND, it also gave me, Teresa, Andrea, Erica, and Jill a chance to run the Santa Hustle 5K at Montrose Park. 

We awoke yesterday morning to rain. A few sprinkles, really. So, we thought, perhaps it will let up by race time. Erica picked us up, and as we drove toward the race start, it clearly looked as though Mother Nature had other plans for us. The rain continued in a very steady drizzle while we, the five Santas, sat in E's car, patiently waiting the start time. This gave us ample time to try on the ONE Santa beard we had between the five of us, equip our heads with ear warmers AND Santa hats, and answer the question, "E, where's your shirt?" 

As we left the car and stopped at the port-a-potties along the way, the rain picked up even more. Hooray. This led to a lot of shielding our electronic devices from the evil moisture that threatened to take their very lives (I'm being dramatic... it wasn't a downpour, just really annoying. And chilly.). When the race started, we were off... around 4,000 people dressed in matching Santa shirts, bouncing along the path which was littered with beards, hats, puddles, and lots of mud. After mastering the art of dodging and weaving, I fell into a good pace, only to be completely stopped when the path of the race turned sharply back toward the beginning. That's a lot of Santas to turn on a dime, and it didn't work so well. 

This race was fun, though, because in addition to water stops, there were also chocolate stops (complete with cups full of M&M's and Hershey Kisses) AND a cookie stop. They were so bungled, I neglected to stop at either station, but it did make me smile. Smiling's my favorite. 

Being completely oblivious (which I am to many things in life), I was totally unaware that the miles were marked on the course path. I think I was so focused on not tripping anyone and not tripping over anyone, I forgot to pay attention to much else. It WAS nice to see the finish line, although, a lot of the Santas came to a dead stop once they crossed instead of continuing to move. 

I didn't get my PR, but it wasn't really about that. It was just fun knowing that somewhere in the pack were my four other Santas doing the same thing I was. Miraculously, we all found each other at the end (past the live reindeer and giant inflatable Santa) and went out for a soggy, muddy breakfast together. It was a fun winter run to do, despite the nastiness of the day. 

Speaking of nasty day... TODAY. Ick. Motivation is lacking, but there's much to be done. :)