Well, I have now run a turkey trot in three states: Arizona, my home; Washington, my in-laws, previous home; and now Iowa where my in-laws currently live. I wasn't planning to run a Turkey Trot, but well, I'm a runner and I did a Google search just to see if there was one, and there was! I asked my husband if he would do it, too, and being the runner that he now is, he agreed!Weather: Iowa is well, cold. The day before the race, it was in the 30's, with gusty winds up to 49 miles per hour (or something like that. I did not run or walk outside. Rather, my kind mother-in-law bought me a guest pass to the Meskawki Recreation Center, where I ran a mile and walked 2.25. (It was a cross-training day on my plan, and having done some Nourish Move Love strength workouts before I left, I figured this was good enough.)
Thursday morning, the low was 21, and the high was 33. The winds were supposed to die down, and I prayed they would. I got up at 5 am thinking I would go run two miles before we left at 7:00 am, but with sunrise not until 7:13 am, and country roads, that did not really work out. So I did my physical therapy exercises and tootled around until 6:30 am when I woke up my husband. I drank coffee with RNWY and scarfed down a banana and decided I had time to run, and went for it. With a tank top, running shirt, thick fleece, headband and two pairs of gloves, I felt mostly warm, well, except for my hands. They were cold already. I wondered how that would go.
The Race: This was a somewhat unofficial turkey trot, starting from the rec center, going down to a stop sign, and running back. Entrance was two cans of food per person, and they gave out hooded sweatshirts and track pants while supplies lasted. Talk about swag! There was also a raffle, with tickets given for every can of food brought.
My husband and I chilled and ate our fruit leathers and walked towards the doors around 7:45 AM. (I also used the bathroom twice and took a few sips of water from the water fountain.) Around 8 AM, we walked out front and they gave us a brief course preview and then told us to go. One man (whom the rec center director had identified as "faster") took off from behind and quickly went to the front. A man and a woman (who had driven an hour to this race because they like it so much) were out in front of me. I figured I could not catch them, but then.
Mile 1: My plan was to run half-marathon pace, which once again was 7:40/mile. I wasn't sure how that would go with the cold and everything, but I figured I would try. I looked down at one point and was in 7:30/mile range. Sweet, I thought. Well, that did not last long. While I felt like I was cruising, I steadily watched my pace falling. I did pass the man and the lady in front of me. I heard them talking about her sticking with him, but then I watched him surge ahead of me. "Did you drop her?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said. "She wanted to run alone." Or something like that.
Mile 1 was 7:46/mile--not quite where I wanted it, but good enough.
Mile 2: I heard footsteps behind me for most of the last mile. Remembering the first place female trophy I had seen when we signed in, I told myself to keep going. At the same time, my legs were cold, and I could not go much faster. Eventually the footsteps came around me. It was a young boy, and he was racing! We turned around at the stop sign and then started back up the hill. I had noticed we had run down a hill and was not sure how that would be going back up. The answer was slower. I hit 7:54/mile here.
Mile 3: I was once again able to get sentences out, but I felt like I did not/could not go much faster. (Thankfully I did not feel like I had hit the wall, rather that I was cruising and could not feel my legs through the cold to go much faster.) While I could not remember exactly where we would turn, I knew that we would come out on the flat eventually, and we did. I was at 8:11/mile here.
Mile 3.1-3.33 I watched the guy in front of me turn. (The first guy was long gone!). Not sensing anyone else around me and not thinking I could pass anyone, I just held on. I tried to sprint to the end, and I guess I did, clocking a 7:31/mile for the last bit.
Results: I came in third overall (behind the first two men) and first for the women. I thought that would mean a trophy, but I was not sure. I hung out for a while and congratulated the men in front of me, and the kid who came in not much behind me. (That kid has a future!) I stood outside for a while, went inside to grab a water bottle, and then came in to cheer my husband to the finish line. The second two ladies came in and the press and rec center director took pictures.
I went inside and got more water. Then they gave me a trophy, and told me to get a pie. Sweet! This is the first time I have won a pie. (I chose blueberry since I heard from my mother-in-law that someone else was bringing an apple pie.) We grabbed a few snacks and headed out.
After the race: I ate another fruit strip and drank a second 10 ounce water bottle in the car on the way back to the house. I needed to run five more miles to hit my total for the day. It took me a bit to get out of the house, but I got on the fitness trail and was enjoying my run. It was nice in the sun; cold when the wind blew.
Around 3.7 miles, I somehow slipped or tripped. I went down hard, but wearing two pairs of paints, two pairs of gloves, and a thick jacket, I thought I was okay. I picked myself up and kept running, When I got home, I noticed I had ripped the hand of one glove, and bled through my two layers of pants on one knee. I showered and found a lot of bruises, but overall was okay. That was a praise. Having read in my devotional that morning about God's goodness, I tried to name the good things from the day and not let my fall sour things. Thank the Lord, he helped me.
Concluding Thoughts: I guess we will call this day a cruise and a bruise. While I did not hit my prescribed 7:40 pace, I did get to run. I got a new sweatsuit, a trophy, and a pie. While my bruises hurt, they will heal. So for a Thanksgiving Day run and gun, I think I got a pretty good deal!
.jpeg)
.jpeg)