Flouting any possible notions of good sense, I ran a race on Friday and then another one today.

My (somewhat weak) justification for this was that Friday's race was 1.) Free and 2.) Only two miles long.

Nevermind that I only just graduated to three mile runs in my training.  Or that doing this jumped my mileage significantly.  Or that I'm coming off of a knee injury and anyway running at race pace two days in a row is never a good idea.

Fortunately, my whole life could serve as testament to the fact that you can do completely idiotic things that turn out just fine.  My knee isn't hurting.  My legs are only a little tired.  Life is good.

Friday's race was a "Jingle Bell Jog" on campus.  It was the first one they had ever done, and somewhat amateurish in its execution.  Nevertheless, the weather was fabulous and they drew a decent crowd.  I ran it fast enough that I'm not entirely convinced that they measured it right - 2 miles in 17:30.  

The worst part of the race?  My academic advisor beat the crap out of me.  She started somewhere behind me, and she still smoked me by thirty seconds at least.  Keep in mind that she's 60.  I'm 37.  I already get enough grief from the woman.  I mean, I already know she's smarter than me.  She has just under a billion publications on her CV.  Does she have to beat me in a race, too?  It seems unfair, somehow.  Maybe I should switch my ambitions.  Instead of trying to be a serious academic, I'll just set my sights on beating my grad students in local races.

Fortunately, she has the sense not to do two races in a row.  At least, she wasn't at the Reindeer Run. I was able to chug along in that race without reflecting on my various inadequacies.

I didn't come anywhere near to Shaving my 5K.  This was supposed to be my "smooth" time, taken down from my "stubble" time earlier in the year.  I ran 28:14 at the beginning of the year, and did this race in 29:27.  However, the Reindeer Run was a nice little race.  There were a few hills, but they didn't do that evil trick of finishing uphill.  They used a kind of "chip" timing I've never seen, where they waved a little paddle over your race # in the chute.  That meant you only get the gun time, not the actual running time you get with a regular chip and two pads.  For small races, I don't really mind that.

I did manage to beat the twelve year-old who kept running full out, then dropping to a walk, then passing me again at a full sprint, only to drop into a walk again.  He must have done that six or seven times before he finally dropped back behind me for the last time.  I'm glad I beat him.  I hate losing to small children.
 
Hey, you take the victories you can get.