Tom Lee emailed during the week to see if I was interested in running the Nutcracker 5K at UVSC. Since Larry and Wayne would be running the Death Valley Marathon, I decided to run the 5K. The registration materials state that each runner is required to wear a tutu (in honor of the Nutcracker Ballet), but it is not (thankfully) enforced, although most of the runners did wear them, even many of the men. I did not wear one. I was prepared for a very cold run, but with sunshine and the temperature in the high 20's it wasn't really too cold. I was glad I decided to not wear my fleece vest. I ran the first mile with Tom in 6:23. He then began to fall back slightly. I tried to hold the same pace and managed to run the second mile in 6:23, too. Both of these miles had some pretty good downhill portions in them. The third mile had some gradual uphill. The 3rd mile marker must have been misplaced (too short), because I ran the third "mile" in 6:21, yet the last "0.1" took me 1:06. I'm pretty sure I didn't slow from a 6:21 pace to an 11:00 pace during my kick. I think it is more likely I averaged 6:46/mi (6:21 + 1:06) over the last 1.1 miles with the gradual uphill. I finished in 20:13, a new PR (previous was 20:29), and finished 1st in the 45-49 division and 10th place overall. I received a blue ribbon and a small wooden nutcracker. I was very pleased with my performance. Tom finished in 20:59. It wasn't a PR for him but he did meet his goal of breaking 21 minutes and he won the 40-44 division and also received a nutcracker. Scott Blake (another WBR teammate) also ran. His goal was sub-24 but he finished in around 22:30, another new PR for him. He also won a nice pair of running shorts from Runner's Corner in the raffle. We all left winners. It was a great morning. | 