Thanksgiving Turkey Trot

Ever since I started running 5k races several years ago I've wanted to do a Thanksgiving Day turkey trot. Thanksgiving just seems to be the biggest 5k race day of the year. There are races everywhere! This year I did one! Rob and I signed up for the "So Others Might Eat" 5k race in DC. What better way could there be to start off Thanksgiving Day than to go for a run to raise money to provide food for others?

We had to get up early to make the trek down from Baltimore. It was a really cold morning so we were well-layered. My training has been suffering lately since I've been a bit sick and its super cold out and I've been busy helping Laura pack and busy making Christmas presents. And when I have run, I've run slow and steady instead of running intervals. I'm trying to train in a different heart rate zone. So, with all that considered, I really didn't think I'd be able to run a fast race. We ended up standing around at the race start for quite a while because the race started late, so by the time we began running I was pretty cold. I started running fast mostly to get blood moving to my feet again. And Rob got ahead of me right at the start so I was partly running fast to see if I could catch up with him too.

When I hit mile 1 and they called out the time, I realized I was running faster than normal. Again, when I hit mile 2 I was still way ahead of my normal split time. In the last mile I started to get really tired, but I could see the finish way up ahead and so I was able to push myself all the way to the end. I was very, very happy with my time. Despite inconsistent training, being sick and getting very overheated while running (I wore enough layers to keep me warm before the race, but too many layers for running) I beat my own personal record!! And so did Rob!! We both did awesome!!

Previously my fastest time was 26:54 (view full race history here). I finished the Turkey Trot in 26:12. That's an 8:26 pace. Its the first time I've maintained a pace below 8:30 for more than 1 mile.

This was only Rob's second 5k race ever, but he was already feeling like an old pro. His first 5k time in our 4th of July race was 27:14. He finished the Turkey Trot in 24:59. That's a huge improvement and a new personal record for Rob as well.

Division/Total...Name..................Age..Hometown............Net Time.....Pace
=========================================================
64/468...............Cherie Jones......33..Reston VA..............26:12.........8:26
84/332...............Robert Burton.....35..ELKRIDGE MD.......24:59.........8:03

We're signed up for an indoor triathlon in February and I'm sure there will be many more races come spring, so stay tuned.