01 02 03 corral b.: race recap: turkey day 5k 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

race recap: turkey day 5k

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now that thanksgiving was almost two weeks ago, i think it's about time to do my turkey trot recap. you may recall that i was on the fence about doing the 8k or postponing my registration. well, i ended up doing neither of those...
the logo on the shirt
thursday morning, i decided i would leave my garmin at home and run for fun. it was set to feel like 17 degrees at race start, and i realized that i wasn't prepared to run in that cold of weather. i decided to wear my warm running leggings, insulated long sleeve, a cotton hoodie, beanie, and some blackhawks gloves my boyfriend left at my house, hoping they would do the job.

this was the first race that was close to my house, and for that reason, i decided to do race day packet pick up. i figured getting there at 8:30 would give me plenty of time to get to the corrals by the 9:00 race start. wrong. they had a weird system (read: slow) for finding bibs, and by the time that race start happened, about 100 other 8k'ers and i were still in line. by the time i got to the corrals, they were closing off the start to line up the 5k. they said i could still go through, but i'd be about 10 minutes behind the group. running by myself? no thanks; i opted to do the 5k instead.

when the race started, it began to snow ever so slightly, and i knew my cold weather stamina was really going to be tested. i felt great the first mile; no ankle pain or tiredness. however, i was so. friggen. cold. my hands were in so much pain by the first mile marker, despite my gloves, and my face was being eaten away by the wind. remember when i said no pictures existed? turns out they managed to get one, which perfectly shows how cold and miserable i was.
me at my most attractive; look at my red face!
it got to the point where i really couldn't take the pain in my hands anymore, and actually shoved them in to my shirt to keep them in my armpits for a bit. despite looking stupid, it helped a lot. my face was also hurting, and i spent the second mile attempting to cover my face with my hoodie. that didn't work so well, and after a bit, it started to hurt to breathe (my fault for not running in the cold weather prior to the race). i was doing walk/run intervals to catch my breath, and eagerly awaiting the finish line.

finally, we were heading south toward the end and i heard somebody reassure their child there was only a half mile left. i just wanted to be done, so i took off as fast as i could and crossed the finish line, freezing but happy. this was actually the first race where there wasn't a medal for every finisher, and i was glad, because it meant walking right out of the finisher's chute and in to the sun. they had a clif bar area with samples, and i grabbed one before getting my stuff from gear check and heading home for a hot shower. i checked my time once i was home, before remembering that i was supposed to do the 8k; i didn't have a valid time because they reset things at the start of the 5k, so my chip wasn't recognized. womp womp.

so what did i think of the turkey day 5k? it was fun to run with so many families, but it made me sad that i was running alone. also, i think they need to forgo their odd bib system to help people get to the start on time instead of waiting 30+ minutes in line. but! they did have really fun race swag: a turkey beanie and long sleeve shirt! however, until i get myself some much needed cold weather gear, late fall/winter races will not be on my calendar.


aside from the race itself, i did enjoy getting a run in before eating tons of holiday food. i went up to my boyfriend's mom's house and had bruschetta for an appetizer, and then a full on vegan meal: terriyaki tofu steak, mashed sweet potatoes, lemon-garlic spinach salad, and apple cranberry relish. so good. but of course, my favorite part was dessert: maple pumpkin mousse. it tasted just like the insides of pumpkin pie. i definitely used the race as an excuse to have a second helping!

do you like cold-weather races? 

-b

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