Festival Foods 5-mile Turkey Trot

I got a text message this morning around 6 a.m.

"Good luck and stay dry. 39 and lots of rain."

Ugh, not exactly the most ideal conditions for a turkey trot, but I'd deal with that when the trot started 2 and a half hours later. I went back to sleep, hoping the weather would get nicer.

Alarm goes off, I get ready. Throw on my black running pants, a long-sleeve tech shirt and layer another shirt over the top. Look out the window and I can still see raindrops falling in the huge puddle that's formed in my parking lot. I grab my gloves, ear band and coat and head out.

The plan was to run the 5-mile Festival Foods Turkey Trot this morning. And honestly? The entire time I was driving over to the race site, I was trying to convince myself it was in my best interest to forgo the 5-mile run and opt for the shorter 2-mile version. Ultimately I couldn't talk myself out of the 5-mile run.

I got to the site, grabbed my T-shirt, pumpkin pie (which I later donated to my family's Thanksgiving feast since I don't like pumpkin pie) and race bib. I then met up with Jess and her hubby Scott, who were both running the 2-mile run, and we waited for the start.

And while we waited? We tried to keep moving, but we still got cold.

Finally it was time to run.

The first mile was a bit crowded as the 5- and 2-mile runners were all running together before the split. But it wasn't an uncomfortable crowded. After the 2-milers split, the runners stretched out a bunch and I settled into a nice, comfortable pace. Just me, my running shoes and some tunes out for an early Thanksgiving run.

There were no mile markers on the route, so splits? Not gonna happen. We ran through a neighborhood along the river, over the bridge and through the college campus before hitting up the lone water stop about 2.5 miles in. I glanced down at my watch at this point and had just clocked 25 minutes. Not bad. About the pace I've been averaging lately.

But the second half of the race? I had to deal with Mother Nature, who decided it wasn't going to be a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot without a bunch of steady winds (although thankfully the rain held off). Wind that we spent the entire second half of the race running directly into.

Needless to say I think that slowed me down a bit.

Even so I think I kept up a pretty steady pace for the first four miles. But I could definitely tell I haven't done a lot of 5-mile runs lately, because that last mile? Brutal. I definitely slowed down. When I made the final turn and the finish line was in sight, I still had enough of a kick to put together a decent sprint to the finish line and (finally) passed this group of three women I had been running behind the entire second half of the race.

Official time? 54 minutes, 55 seconds. Would have liked to see it closer to 50 minutes, but given the wind and the cold, I'll take it.

After I was done, I grabbed a drink and headed back home to take a short nap before heading out to my family's Thanksgiving feast.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday!