The 2013 Turkey Trot was the first 5K I was able to run in full without stopping (and gasping and generally dying from running). It was also the first Thanksgiving I stayed “home” for nearly my entire adult life. It was also a proud (and awful!) moment. And here I am, a year later, running a full five miles. No stopping, no gasping. No dying! WHO AM I?!

I’m glad my friend and neighbor snapped this, as I didn’t take any pictures this race.

I really enjoyed this course, except for that last mile loop up-and-back around Heinz field. It felt the longest, and there are a lot of people (and cars, wtf) darting between two lanes of runners and just resonated as chaos in my brain. I hated knowing the runners on the other side were almost finished, and I had no idea where the turn around point was (even though I looked at the map before the race, my brain was not processing the length). Not to mention, the course ran long (again!). I wasn’t really sure where my point would be to quicken for the finish line either.

I have pacing problems though. I seriously could not believe my pace time at my first mile (I use MapMyRun for mile updates on pace, splits, etc.). But once I was in the 9:30 zone, I was not slowing up until I finished (or my body gave up). A race is when you are supposed to challenge and push yourself a little, right? Or a lot. Overall though, my body felt good, and a couple days later, I’m ready for another couple miles.

Finished: 48:59
69th in my age group

I don’t have anything else planned for November, but that’s 4 races completed in one month!
East Nash Dash (4 miles)
EQT 10-miler (10 miles, duh)
Hot Chocolate 15k
and Turkey Trot (5 miles)
Total mileage for November: (lots of race mileage, and not a lot of training… yikes) 35.01 miles

I don’t anticipate my training changing much until January (when half-marathon training starts), since December is a cluster-you-know-what.

Next up: Christmas Story Virtual 10k on December 6.