Turkey Stuffer Recap

Who doesn't love a good run before you get ready to stuff your face (and belly) full of goodness? I'm all about getting an extra hard workout in prior to indulging. Thanksgiving morning I woke up around 630, grabbed 1/2 a bagel with almond butter and jam and put on the running gear.

Here in the NW, it was gorgeous out and not too chilly. I opted with capri spandex and a long sleeve tech shirt for the race, no gloves or ear warmers needed. I got to the race about 20 minutes before the start and got right to work on that perfect warm up. After about 13 min of nice easy running, I made it back to the pool where the race started and ducked in for a quick bathroom stop. And then it was race time!

Being a family oriented race, I made the mistake of not starting near the very front. From experience, the more community/family oriented the race, the more likely it is to have non runners or slower pack runners at the front. So the first few minutes was spent dodging some people, but after that I got into my rhythm.

I headed out a bit fast, hoping I could hold it. When I reached the first mile marker at 7:25 I thought, "crap, that's going to hurt me." And when mile two hit and I was still holding that pace, I was shocked. Mile two is where things really started to hurt. I just had to tell myself not to let down, no matter how it hurt. As we rounded the corner to the finish line, I heard someone pass me saying "if we hurry, we can still be in the 22's," which prompted me to mentally say "no way!"

I managed to push it without throwing up and finished in 23:01 according to my watch. Official results still aren't in, but I'll tell you this girl was happy to have a PR of a minute or so faster than my previous PR.

I'm crediting the great race to: taking it easy the night before and not going to my bootcamp class, my perfect warm up and those bootcamp classes I have been doing. And the fact that mentally, I kept telling myself "Do not slow down. This pain is nothing compared to the last six miles of a marathon."

How did your turkey trot/stuffer/run go? Did you survive Thanksgiving?

After getting home and showering, man friend and I headed to see my family and grandparents. I succeeded in having just one small plate of Thanksgiving goodness, not going back for seconds and thirds like the man (but hey, he has a little more room in his stomach than I do and a bigger bod to feed). I was completely satisfied with that one plate! Then a few hours later, he and I shared a plate of three desserts: coconut cream pie, marionberry cobbler and of course pumpkin pie! Yum.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Congrats lady!!! that's a HUGE PR-breaker for a 5K :) veryyyy nice!
Sadly, no t-day races for me, but did get in some good runs otherwise :)

"this pain is nothing compared to the last 6 miles of a marathon" - um, this terrifies me. haha....just sayin'....
Amber said…
Sounds GREAT, I'm so jealous of everyones amazing Thanksgiving feasts!! Good work on the 5K, I have never done the 5K distance (racing). It sounds fun though!
Lisa's Yarns said…
Wow - that is an awesome time! Congrats on the PR!! It felt so good to get a run in on Thanksgiving morning. I def felt much less guilty about my big plate of food!
Oscar Yeager said…
I'm a firm believer in starting as close to the front as you possibly can get away with.

I've had race directors yell "Anyone who can't run 5-minute miles, please stay away from the starting line, and move to the back."

But that is B.S., and I ignore them. Who the hell can run a 5-minute pace over a 5K anyhow? We only have a handful of locals around here that can even run high-fives, and there is still plenty of room for high sixers like me.

Don't handicap yourself if you're interested in a good finishing time to be proud of.

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