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This past weekend was one that I had been looking forward to for a few months.  The back to back race weekend that promised to be filled with lots of running, and lots of fun.  It did not disappoint.

Saturday December 1^st was the Santa Shuffle where Valerie, Alana and I had committed to run the famous Mount Royal in Montreal.  I woke up Saturday morning to the disturbing news that I would be running in -20 degree weather.  At that moment I was ever so slightly regretting the decision to participate in the mountain run and was very much looking forward to a nice hot shower even before I had stepped foot outside.  The good news is that although it was a cold and tough run Valerie and I ran side by side through the whole event and crossed the finished line with Alana, Mom and Dad all cheering us on. There was no official timing at this event for some reason, but we finished in approximately 35:20. 

  

Sunday morning my alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 5:45am and I headed out to meet Alana and Ryan for our trip to Burlington Vermont so that we could participate in the RiRa Santa run.  Just 24 hours after the freezing Santa Shuffle and I was now standing amongst 2000 Santa’s getting ready to run in full head to toe Santa gear with temperatures in the range of 10 degrees.  With the weather being much more comfortable and having just completed what I thought was the toughest race of the weekend the day prior I was set to take off and enjoy the festive atmosphere.  Not even half a kilometer in and I realized that I may have been ever so slightly unprepared for the race.  By my estimate at least 4K of the 5k race was up hill.  I am not just talking about a slight incline.  The hills in this race were by far more exhausting than those we faced on Mount Royal the day before… and that was a Mountain!  My legs felt like led, I was overheating from the damn Santa suit and I was tired, but I finished with an official chip time of 34:57. 

The next race is a little more than a week away, but I am comforted by the fact that at least the course will be flat.  Although, I did commit to doing a 10k… indoors on track… without my GPS watch… without my iPod.  Wish me luck!