Thanksgiving Pie Run 2013

Busy week, but I managed to go on a couple of brisk walks with my husband to knock out a handful of HBBC 2013 points.  But have to admit that running in single digit temps in the mornings just hasn't been appealing.  I know you just wear the right gear and suck it up, but I found every excuse in the book not to.  Thankfully, my sister had mentioned doing the Thanksgiving Day race that is fairly popular here in Jeff City.  So I took the race entries over last night and pre-registered (in record time - no line, no crowd SO AWESOME of JCRRC).  Then this morning we got up and got going (after a minor hiccup with her leaving her running shoes at home in WI - thankfully mine are only a half size smaller and she said she could make them work for a 5K).

We got to the race, parked and stood in line for the portopots.  Before we knew it the 10K folks were off and we moved toward the start line and then we were off.  Sis wanted to know how much I could run and not walk.   My first goal was the first mile.  After a half mile, we played a game counting the folks we passed.  We tried not to be rude and count out loud.  And a few repassed us and we took them out of our count.  This is a big race with a lot of folks that aren't necessarily "regular" runners so you always have some people that go out too fast (plus all the kids that do the sprint at the start and peter out a half mile in).

We hit the first mile in about 11:45.  Not a bad pace and generally sustainable.  But there was some superelevation on a curve that was making my legs scream (slope on the road).  Then, my legs (shins, ankles, knees, butt) never really stopped talking to me.  I was never particularly out of breath.  We chatted about exercise physiology stuff (sis is PhD) and what research says about training and so on.  I carried on a conversation the whole time.  I just felt like I couldn't make my legs go any faster.  But I kept running.

Second mile was slower - 12:27.  But I was still feeling like I could keep "running" (and yes, I realize this is a relative term at that pace).  So I kept pushing on.  As we closed in on three miles, I felt myself picking up the pace ever so slightly as I just wanted to be done.  I don't really have a finish "kick", but I did the best I could once we hit the last straight away.  Last full mile was 12:13 and then the 0.16 mi was 10:22.  So not overall awful paces, but not great either.  We did pass 50 people in our game though.

I was annoyed that I finished what I think is damn near my slowest 5K in a couple of years having "run" the whole way and not walked.  Garmin says it was 38:03.  I guess I am better at my usual approach - run until my lungs hurt and then walk until I catch my breath - because I ran this almost 4 min slower than last year.  Boo.  But I did enjoy the time with my sister.  We shared half a donut and got some water bottles and then sat in the car for a bit because the finish line was between us and the exit (no wonder no one parks over there).

Came home and took a couple pictures.  One of the two of us for Facebook and one with the Daily Vitamin F Thanksgiving Virtual Run bib. Now for turkey time!

Me and my sis post Pie Run