Turkey Trot 5K

The fog was just lifting as we approached the race start. Not a cloud in the sky. Lucky for us too, since it rained almost 2 inches yesterday alone. It could have just as easily been today.

Alex lined up with all the fast people, Matt and I maybe 10 feet back. This race is always a mess of people weaving all over the place, so I started up with the fasties. The race started with a barely audible "GO!" and we were off. Matt disappeared quickly, but I found that I wasn't being passed at all. The first mile, which I covered in 7:19, felt pretty quick and was actually the worst of the three, as far as how I felt. My heart pounded and I just tried to hang on to my legs. I kept even pace with a little boy, half my height. It was impressive how competitive some of these little guys were. When I came up behind another, he'd turn his head and sprint. A few hundred yards later, he stopped and walked, gasping for air. When I caught him, he'd repeat it. The first boy kept my same pace the entire race, just a few seconds ahead of me.

I never saw the mile 2 marker, but I think it was a 7:35. I wanted to walk, so as a compromise, I slowed to a minor recovery pace. Ok, I lied, mile 2 was the worst. Oh well. Alex was just finishing up his final lap and heading to the finish. I cheered loudly but had no idea whether he heard me or not.

My final mile was easier than the second one, but probably just in my head. Almost done. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can stop, I told my legs. I am so not trained to run 5Ks. At the Mile 3 marker, I hit the lap button on my watch, previous 2 miles in 14:29, 7:15 each?! WHAT? (I later learned that the Mile 3 marker was set out 0.1 mi too soon). On the final turn, I catch sight of Alex. He's shouting for me to finish strong and sprint it out. On the slight uphill grade, I focus on the finish banner, ignoring my body entirely. I sprint toward the finish line, rocket right ahead of the little kid I have been trailing the whole race (sorry buddy!) and spot a woman just a little bit ahead. If you have been following me for awhile, you know that if there's a chick just ahead of me near the finish and I've got even an ounce left, I'm going to try to RUN HER DOWN.
Just moments before the finish line, I've closed the gap to just a few feet. She doesn't notice I'm there until someone shouts out that I'm sprinting up behind her. She picks up her pace just a little (and it looked like it was effortless for her!) and finished less than a second ahead of me.

As I stop my watch, I realize it : I've got a PR. A 28 second PR. I've been feeling kind of crappy all week, and I still did it. 23:20 and an average of 7:30/mi.

Here are some finishing photos for the boys :

Alex, 17:13. (5:32/mi)

Matt, 20:10. (6:29/mi)
Alex won his age group, and therefore a coconut pie. Then there were raffle prizes. He won another pie and a hat.

We spent the afternoon eating Alex's prizes and watching the Packers beat the Lions. This is one of two days a year that Matt is NOT a Packer fan. I almost felt bad for cheering so obnoxiously when my team (read: NOT Matt's) scored a touchdown. I did offer to get Matt some tissues though :)

Pretty awesome day! Tomorrow, we're hitting the trail for some backpacking in the mountains. Pray for snow! :)

(Finish line photo credit : Yoon Kim, Six Rivers Running Club)