Hello! I ran the Lexus Lace Up Riverside Reindeer Run – half marathon this weekend. And I hope that makes Santa happy enough to get me all the running gear of my dreams for Christmas! Let’s talk about the race… yeah?

I ran the half marathon and my mom ran the 5K. There’s also a kid’s race. Neither of us ran that one.

I’ve done this race before so I knew the course and I knew it’s super festive! I love an excuse to dress up for a race so I was all about it! I was going to borrow a Sparkle Athletic skirt from my friend Kelly but I didn’t have time after all and last minute had to tape a few things together and hope for the best.

I bought a dining chair cover from the 99 cent store to try and make it work as a skirt. I cut the top off and pinned it to stay around my waist. And I figured my running belt would help it stay on too.

It worked okay. Half way through the race I suddenly felt like it was riding up in the back so I kept pulling at it and trying to re-adjust. Well, that isn’t fun and it’s especially not fun to pull at your clothes when you’re trying to run 13.1 miles. At one point I was pulling it down because I thought it had bunched up in the back and realized – nope. I just pulled it completely under my butt. Fantastic.

I messed with it a bit to try and just get it to ‘good enough’ (my motto) and tried to ignore it for the rest of the race. I considered just taking it off all together but figured that would be more trouble.

Moral of the story: get it together Monica. Okay. Thanks.

And I wore my fancy new Ugly Sweater Running Shoes from Brooks!!

 

 

The race: It’s a fairly quiet course with a lot of it on a bike / pedestrian trail. I would love to run here for training runs.

There are a few steep hills that I walked. When running is slower than just walking up a hill – I walk.

The Lexus Lace Up Race Series is well organized and has a lot of perks for runners. They were giving out Santa hats or Reindeer Antlers when you got your bib! There are food trucks, fancy water and a nice post-race party area. AND – FREE race photos. That would be the best part if it wasn’t for the fact that I look like a sick kangaroo marching to its death in most of my pics.

Let’s see all the impressions I do while trying to run…

 

Living my best life as a speed walker.

 

Pretending I’m playing the drums?

 

 

‘’

Wondering why I didn’t wear gloves as I try to jam my hands in my sleeves.

My impression of a depressed kangaroo with honey on their hands?

 

Marching over to give someone a piece of my mind.

Or maybe I’m marching over to tell you that I really like this race series. I feel like it’s put on my runners. By that I mean – organized and the perks are ones that runners really enjoy. The fun, the food trucks,  the post race party, and pics – all of it are definite benefits I appreciate.

Lexus Lace Up Reindeer Run

Riverside Half Marathon finish time: 1:50:32

I ran all 4 of the Lexus Lace Up Races in the series = Irvine Half, Ventura Half, Palos Verdes Half and Riverside Half.

After the race I went to get a bonus medal for completing all of them. And someone at the booth said to check at the booth right next to it…

As a total surprise I got another medal for finished 7 races in the Cal Half Series. I didn’t even know that was a thing!!?! Ha!

So I was asking a ton of questions because I wasn’t familiar with them at all… It’s the California Half and Full Marathon series – they partner up with different races all around the state. There are different levels of challenges – 4 races, 7 races, 10 races, 15 races and the most you can do 20 races!!

 

 

 

And I really love the Riverside Run medal! I feel like this would completely work as a Christmas ornament.

And the best part of the whole thing…

Santa’s there and the whole race is so festive and fun – it really gets me in the lil holiday spirit.

And that’s my last race of the year!!

Now I need to figure out what’s next! I want to start planning my race calendar for next year. I didn’t really plan anything this year and I definitely didn’t improve or chase down goals, which makes me a lil bummed at myself. The main thing is to move forward and get it done for the future.

*Stay tuned for the race discounts I have for you coming soon*

Question: Are you doing a holiday run or race?