I Don't Believe in Santa Claus but I Ran his Race Anyway

Yesterday was the 31st annual Santa Monca-Venice Christmas Run. It feaures a 10k and 5k that are basically a Christmas celebration catered to crazy runners like myself. The race features Christmas music, Santa, and unique running get up. I often see runners dressed up in unusual ways, but this was the only time I remember seeing people running dressed like Santa Claus.

My favorite was a shirt that said, "Dear Santa, I can explain..."

I thought that running a race would be a good way to celebrate the season and get back to my normal self after pregnancy. The race even benefits homeless pregnant women and their new babies.

I love racing! If I had all the time and money in the world, I would race every other weekend. My favorite part about running is breaking my personal records. I cut off 11 seconds in my 10k with a chip time of 43:58 and placed 6th in my age group running against members of the USA track team. During the first half, I even broke my 5k record by 16 seconds with a time of 21:20!

My second favorite part about racing are the bathroom lines.

I kept thinking that should have brought my dog. He would have looked real cute in antlers: And even though I don't believe in Santa Claus, I made sure to have my picture taken with him just for Steve's benefit.