Turkey Trot

Yesterday (Thanksgiving) I ran an 8K Turkey Trot. Figures my first 8K (and first Turkey Trot) also coincided with our seasons first snow. Waking up there was a dusting of snow on cars parked on the street ... but nothing stuck to the ground. All is good!

Since it was about 10 degrees colder than what I have ever run in before, I put on lots of layers and head out at 8:15 to meet Patti. The race started by the Lincoln Park Zoo, and you could park in the lot for $14. Since Patti and I are such smart city-dwellers we decided we would find street parking for free instead. So we drove around and around, along with about 100 other cars filled with other super-smart-city-dwellers ... until we finally sucked in up and parked in the lot. Then, with about 5 minutes until race start time, we still had to walk several blocks to go pick up our race packs (most importantly our bibs and chips). Eventually, we did start the race - about 15 minutes late. There were 100 or so others in our boat, so we werent too concerned. Thank goodness for chip races!

And this is where the snow came back into play. For the majority of the course we ran straight into whipping sleet. I couldnt decide between running with my eyes closed, or getting my eye poked out - so instead I decided to run with my head pointed to the ground and my eyes squinted tight. That was fun. In addition, the race was an 8K "run and walk" and since Patti and I started late we were running in and out of all of the walkers. It was a bit like an obstacle course ... especially when the course narrowed at points. Eventually we finished, at which point we began freezing (sweaty body + whipping freezing wind = nasty experience). So we grabbed our free bagel and banana and ran for the car.

Overall it actually was a fun experience, and it got me running on a day that most of us find challenging to try to squeeze in a run. After the race I went to Jeff's family for a turkey lunch ... and then drove to my cousins for a turkey dinner. Thanks goodness I dont have to eat turkey again for another year ... I am stuffed :)

Training Log
Time:  50:35 time  Distance:5 miles   Pace:  10:11 min/mi
I didnt run my watch during this race and instead just pushed it at a moderately comfortable level for the full 5 miles. I have a feeling we ran a bit faster in the beginning because we were trying to get out of the massive group of walkers ... but who knows. In the end I felt great, but definitely got a good workout in. I was a bit winded and today I am feeling a little sore. Luckily, I got to eat a bunch of food and have a couple of glasses of wine to reward myself later in the day.