Jingle Bell run 2011!

I had so much fun doing this race!  The weather was very cold, but very sunny.  The temperature was in the low 20s!  I was really nervous that the cold would affect my running, but I was fine.  I think the energy of the other runners really helped.
 
Since my friend lives in Davis square, we parked at her house and walked over.  I got there early so my and my personal photographer (aka my bf) sat in Au Bon Pain while we waited for the start.  We met up with my friend from college and her boyfriend.  At about 10 minutes to the start, we walked over to the starting line.  I couldn't believe how many people there were!  It was so crowded!  We saw some really funny costumes, people really go all out for this thing.

I finally found my coworker, Tracy, through the crowd.  It was a good thing I found her because she had some antlers for me to wear.

When it was our turn to start running, there were so many people around us we couldn't really get going.  I thought it would thin out as we moved on, but we spent the rest of the run weaving in and out of people.  Like I said, the energy of the crowd really helped me forget about the cold.  It was great to see people cheering on the side of the roads.  Someone even had a sign that said, "GO AMY!"  It wasn't for me, but I pretended it was. haha.

I lost Tracy in the first mile, but I stayed with my college friend.  We kept a pretty good pace throughout the course.  I'm really glad I did all the training I did because at the very end of the race had a giant hill.  It was really tough!  That was where I lost my college friend, but I found Tracy at the top of the hill and we crossed the finish line together.  The end of the course was a full on sprint for me!  It felt great to cross the finish line.  I saw my bf on the sidelines and that put a smile on my face.  I also saw my brother (remember him and his gf were running it too?), and he told me "good job".  I didn't see my brother at all during the run but my bf got some pictures of them crossing the finish line.  Go Mike and Yulia!

 When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 37 minutes, but since I didn't start running when the started the clock, it wasn't an accurate time for me.  According to my nike+ I ran 9 min miles, but according to the official results I did 10 min miles.  Either way, I'm very happy with my results!

My very first medal!

 I definitely want to do another race (but not until the weather is warmer) :)

Oye's and last workout before the 5k

Friday night I decided to take my bf out to dinner.  He recently started a new job and has been working a lot, so I thought he deserved a treat.  I even let him pick the destination!  He suggested we go to Oye’s, an Asian fusion restaurant in Reading.  We haven’t been there for a while, so I was pretty excited for it.

Since I’m really boring, I always order the same thing: miso soup and Pad thai with tofu.  But this time I ordered the Pad Thai with tofu AND Shrimp.  I know, I’m so interesting.  The bf ordered yaki udon noodles (which I had no idea what they were), and crab Rangoon.  

I rate Oye’s 3.5 out of 5 peas.  The food is great, the atmosphere is lovely(they had a live jazz band last night), but the service is not always the best.  

Saturday morning I headed to the gym for a workout.  I ran a mile just to loosen my legs up from Friday's run with cement filledsneakers.  Then, I hit the arc for a 20 minute cardio workout.  After that I used some ab machines, and the hip abductor machine.  After the machines I stretched, and then did a few core exercises such as the plank.  I made sure not to over do it because I wanted to be in tip top shape for the 5k!