Jessica Harbison Weaver's Page

Indianapolis Jingle Bell Run 5k Race Recap/Results

I did it, I finished my first winter race! It was the Jingle Bell Run 5k to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. I actually found that ironic that we were doing a race for Arthritis in 23 degree weather! Since my rash and steroid fun on Monday I only worked out on Tuesday (I know, ugh). I haven't made my goal of going to the gym three times a week until after the first of the year but at least with the race and working with my trainer I worked out twice last week.

Oops, I'm a bad runner for not working out more this week. Although I blame the prednisone, it makes me SO lethargic all the time! I woke up this morning and was ready to go right back to sleep.

My official Jingle Bell Run 5k results:

Place    Age
Overall  Grp  Name                     City & State     Sex Age  Pace     FINISH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1306   88  JESSICA XXXXXXXXXXXXXX    INDIANAPOLIS IN    F 26  11:32    35:50.0

I loved that this race started at the Indiana State Museum, the hubs and I actually got married at the Indiana State Museum back in September of 2008. It was really neat to be there with him and see it all decorated for the holidays!

I was amazed by the amount of people who wanted to run a 5k in freezing temps! The holiday cheer was so great and it made me want to do this race again next year for sure. I also made a note that next year I have to wear a costume!

Here I am before the race regretting my decision to come outside and try to get acclimated to the cold before the start! I ended up shedding the jacket during the first mile and my hat blew off. I had quite the wardrobe malfunction there and lost about a minute due to messing with my clothes. Next time I'll toss the jacket to my hubs and hopefully get a winter hat of my own (I was borrowing the hubs' hat).

There I am all in black crossing the start line. I was number 351. I look SO boring compared to everyone else without a Santa hat. I did wear jingle bells on my shoes though so I wasn't a total Scrooge!

I appreciated the grinch costume that guy wore - he looked like a Grinch PIMP! haha! He even had grinch gloves and shoe covers!

The best costume of the day though was the strand of lights that were all connected with the plug at the end! Such creativity, but I'm sure it made it hard to run!

When we got home all I wanted to do was snuggle with the dogs. Mario wasn't so sure about the jingle bells on my shoes though. I think he thought we had brought home a cat or something!

All in all I think the Jingle Bell Run 5k was a good race, I wish I had about a minute faster time but I'll take it for not working out much this week AND being on Prednisone!

How have your holiday races been going? Any of them colder than the 23 degrees I ran in yesterday?


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Deserving Dinners Part Two

I ran this last month, but the deadline is fast approaching for the December Deserving Dinners. Please nominate a family in need in your area!

Something pretty cool that the Indianapolis, IN Whole Foods sent me recently was information on their Deserving Dinners Contest. Since this isn't just specific to our store I figured I'd pass on the information to Let's Get Fit readers. So if you know of any needy families in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska or Toronto please nominate them to win either Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner!
Whole Foods Market locations across the Midwest are helping make the holidays a little better. Thirty-two stores, from Omaha, Nebraska, to Detroit, Michigan, are holding sweepstakes where people can nominate families to receive a FREE holiday dinner for four people. The sweepstakes will have two rounds of entries to enable people to nominate those deserving to win either a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday meal. Each store will provide four families with a traditional holiday feast with all the fixings.

The meals will include:

• 10-12 lb Turkey
• Harvest Salad
• Maple-Roasted Autumn Squash Soup
• Country Mashed Potatoes
• Traditional Herb Stuffing
• Green Beans with Roasted Shallots & Fresh Herbs
• Roasted Cinnamon Dusted Butternut Squash
• Fresh Cranberry Sage Compote
• Turkey Gravy
• Traditional Dinner Rolls (one dozen)

How to Enter: Entry forms (including rules and regulations) are available at in-store kiosks at all Midwest Whole Foods Market locations, and at each store’s website at wholefoodsmarket.com. (All entries will be made online; no paper entry forms.)

When:

Christmas Sweepstakes
Entries accepted: Dec. 1-11
Winners announced: Dec. 14-18

Be sure to nominate a needy family in your community to spread the cheer this holiday season!



Note: I was not paid for this entry, I just think this is a really worthy cause! … Continue

A Very Itchy Situation No More!

Praise the lord, my neck is getting better! I just hope it can calm down for tomorrow's big excitement. I've got something tomorrow at work which could pay off in a big way in the future. Please keep your fingers crossed that it all works out okay!

The steroids for the rash are making me crazy already - I think I might have the "roid rage" since they make me very crabby and distracted! I also don't have a lot of appetite, for instance yesterday I had two granola bars; a handful of all bran crackers; a laughing cow cheese; a plate of crackers and veggies at the office pitch-in; a multigrain roll and lots of Diet Dr. Pepper. Ugh! I also worked out with my trainer so I had very low net calories for the day which was not good at all! One added bonus to the steroids for my rash is that I can't drink alcohol so that limits my holiday calories at parties!

Last night I had a hair appointment and I took the plunge into getting a chop and highlights. Here's a good close up of the highlights (apologies for the dirty mirror in our plum bathroom):

I also fit into my skinny pants today no problem so I thought I'd take a progress pic showing off the new hair. It's amazing how different the length of hair makes, I look like I lost a few pounds in my face!
I'm really happy with my progress lately, you'd never know that the number on the scale was in the upper 180s with the way my clothes are fitting. It's so weird! I'd love to be 160 ultimately (that's kind of my happy weight) but it's amazing how well my current clothes are fitting AND it's the holiday season!

How are you doing with moderation during the holidays?


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