Thanksgiving and a PR!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends near and far!  I won't keep you long today, as there are many more important things to do today besides blogging. We've already had round 1 of food here and I'm so grateful that my dress is a wrap around, nice and adjustable for all the goodies I just ate. Let's cut right to the good news, shall we? My family and I ran a Turkey Trot 5k this morning, benefiting the local YMCA. As I was wondering in my previous post, I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach the race. I still feel some post-marathon awkwardness, I really wasn't sure what my body would be capable of. Turns out, a heck of a lot!

I had no clue how fast I was going, I felt pretty out of touch with my body for the first mile. Turns out it was 7:47. Oops. I started to think this was going to get really ugly, really quickly. I'd never run a first mile that fast in a race.  I slowed down for mile 2, not on purpose so much as my body forcing itself to regain control. There was no way I could safely sustain that pace, and after some of the race reports I'd been reading lately I was concerned that I'd be joining the league of pukers. I reached the turn around, still plugging away.  Either there was no marker for mile 2 or I totally missed it because the watch had gotten all the way to 10:00 and I knew I hadn't slowed down that much.

The course was a flat out and back that I'd run once before so I knew what I had left in front of me.  I didn't focus on trying to speed up on the last mile, rather just told myself over and over again to maintain. Just maintain, you've found your edge, now finish.  I honestly could not believe my eyes when I crossed the line. 24:33.  A PR by just over 2 minutes. Once the urge to puke passed, I caught my breath and had a celebratory fist pump. Everyone else in the family had yet to finish so I turned right around to cheer them on at the line.  I just checked the race results online and was also shocked to see that I'd done well in my age group for the first time ever.  Usually I'm mid-pack, but today I was 9th out of 89. 9th!  I can't believe it!  I'm really happy and still not convinced that it was me who ran that fast. I'm so glad that I was able to add a PR to my list of running accomplishments this year.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday today. Enjoy your fun runs or well-deserved days off, I'm looking forward to reading all your updates.  I think the faux turkey and all the trimmings has sat long enough, I am now going in search of pie........