Jingle Bell Hell

A few weeks ago, XLMIC invited readers to participate in Jingle Bell Hell, a virtual race with a few simple rules:

First rule... You do not talk about Fight Club.

(er... wrong movie... let me try that again...)

Jingle Bell Hell Rules of the Road:

Image source

• Must be at least 5K in total length...no maximum.
• Must be done on a challenging course (and if you hate treadmills, that means it could be on a treadmill) because the idea is "Hell" ... that is the important part.
• Must be done between Dec. 8-16, 2011... any time of day or night. This gives you two entire weekends to choose from.
• You must laugh at least once... can be an evil laugh, a laugh of futility, any kind of laugh but laughter is a MUST.
• Email me a link to your Jingle Bell Hell recap so I can post it and we may all share in the fun... please include something about when, where, why regarding the laughing part and what made the run your special brand of Hell 

So I went into the humid Holiday Half Marathon last weekend, thinking it would be my Jingle Bell Hell. I hate running in the heat and humidity. A humid half is my personal version of running hell. (Yes... I know... I live in Florida. It's a sore subject.)

But, aside from a small chuckle over something amusing Hubby said as he paced me for the last two miles, I didn't laugh. I was too tired to laugh. I was too tired to even remember what it was he said that made me chuckle... Jingle Bell Hell fail.

Then yesterday, I had a second shot at Jingle Bell Hell (aka the Ho Ho Hustle). The course itself wasn't particularly challenging, so I didn't think it would count as hell.

But...

An elf kid spat on me.

(Gross as it was, I sort of chuckled over that. So the spitter earned points for hell and for humor.)

And then... knowing my first mile was on pace to break my 24 minute 5k goal, I ran my hardest. But my legs were losing steam. With about a quarter of a mile left to go, I looked at my watch and saw 23:00 flash past.

No matter how much speedwork and strength training I've done this year... No matter how fast I sprinted... I could not cover the remaining quarter mile at a 4 minute per mile pace.

My goal was lost.

My heart sank.

I gave it all I had, and it still wasn't enough.

That is my hell.

After the race, as I explained in the race report, I bitched and moaned about how disappointed I was in my performance.

Hubby's response made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe.

This 5k failure turned into a Jingle Bell Hell winner!

(I was dressed in Grinch Green, too. Very appropriate...)