Friday, November 28, 2014

Turkey Trot 5K Recap!

 This year's shirt.  Some people wear fancy clothes for Thanksgiving dinner, but for the past five years, I've proudly worn a Turkey Trot shirt!

Yesterday marked the fifth time I've run our local Turkey Trot 5K race!  What once seemed really odd to me - waking up early on Thanksgiving morning and going for a run - now seems quite normal.  Lazing around in my jammies while watching the parade on TV?  Not in this house, not anymore.  I like our new tradition - it's a fun way to start the holiday!

It was a cold morning, although Jeff took it to the extreme with his gear:
That's a Brooks Heater Hog shirt he was wearing...which he regretted about half a mile into the race.  The earwarmer, buff and gloves came off fairly quickly once we started running, but he was stuck with the shirt since that was his only layer.  

Several of my USAFit peeps were running this race:
Amy, Andi, me, Julia, Diane.  Bonus shot of a rare tree actually changing colors in the background - we don't see that very often around here.

Our traditional shoe picture:
Such fun colors!

We lined up to start and got one last picture:
Excited and ready to run!

And then we were off!  Jeff, Amy and I started out together.  I wasn't on fresh legs - I ran 4.5 miles the day before - but I was feeling pretty good.  The race was really crowded...it sold out with 1,500 participants, and it felt kind of chaotic and congested for quite a while.  It's a family-friendly race, with both a 1 miler and a 5K, so there were a lot of kids, strollers, and dogs on the route, along with the usual runners.

We did 1:30/1 intervals, and were trucking right along.  Mile one chimed on my Garmin and I saw 13:31.  We kept on and soon enough mile two chimed in - 13:35.  Huh.  Although I hadn't started the race with a particular goal time in mind, I started to think that maybe I might finish in under 40 minutes, which hasn't happened for me in a 5K in quite a while.

I started picking up the pace - Jeff kept up with me but Amy dropped back.  This route was mostly uphill, but shortly after mile two, there was a nice long downhill stretch and I just went for it.  I flew down, ignoring my intervals.  It was super fun!  Of course, once we finished that downhill we were back to running uphill, ugh.  I went back to my intervals and kept moving forward.  We were close to the finish when my Garmin chimed mile three, at 12:16!!!  Holy crap, I haven't seen a number like that in FOREVER.  I was excited and happy, but then I saw I was at 38:40, and I knew I probably wouldn't hit the finish line in under 40 minutes, dang it.  I tried, but nope - I finished in 40:31.  So close!  If I'd only pushed it a little more in the beginning, maybe it might have happened.  Oh well...it was fun to try.

We hung around the finish area for a while afterward - post-race treats included a mini tart from Cafe Eccell, which I will never turn down.  Julia and I also had to get our traditional sweaty picture with Dan (former co-owner of the running store):
 
I passed Dan on my way to the finish line (he was directing runners) but I was too focused to do more than wave...normally I would have moved over for a high five, at least.

Then we went home and got busy with getting the turkey in the oven, because we were already hungry.  Our oldest didn't make the trek from North Carolina home for Thanksgiving, but we still managed to eat dinner together, thanks to the wonders of Facetime:
 Making a face while eating...some things never change!

9 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a fun race! YaY for almost getting under the 40 minute mark next time I bet you do! I love runs like that reminds me of why I love to run!
    Running or jogging in my case is my happy place I love how it makes me feel with all the endorphins. It was cold here in Florida too down in the low 40's with a wind chill so I worked out inside with a jog on my treadmill and weight training after wards lately I love to feel strong!
    Thanks for sharing your day with us.

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  2. How cute and cool is that that your son is still with you even not in person. Yes, the internet and all the gadgets these days do have advantages.

    Looks to me you had a great race, congrats on a great time! It looks like you also had a lot of fun together (as usual).

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  3. Yay for face time!

    They had a local ALS 5K run in my town yesterday. Despite the snow, it was still on. I saw on my way to the gym that someone was going down the path with a snow shovel to clear a space for the runners. Dedicated peeps, that's for sure.

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  4. Way to go on your 5K Shelley! I think it was a brilliant idea to use Facetime at your dinner. Although, I don't think I would want anyone to watch me eat :-)
    (I hope this comment didn't publish twice)

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  5. Yay turkey trot! Love the facetime too :-)

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  6. What a great way to start Thanksgiving! A reminder about what your life is today… and what a great time you had. Heck, 31 seconds? That's nothin'!

    Love the FaceTime at dinner. I've never tried that.

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  7. Congrats on your turkey trot. That is a nice tradition to have. We hope to do one some year together.

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  8. Congrats on the trot. I LOVE the picture with all the shoes!!! Belated happy thanksgiving Shelley!

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  9. Good job on your turkey trot success Shelley - congrats! Ah .....FaceTime! We use it to "visit" with our kids & makes me feel at least I can "see" them while we're so far away. Have a great week.

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