Pitt Turkey Trot

Everyone in my family (minus Ty) wanted to run the Turkey Trot 5k in Pittsburg. It would be the Thursday after my Sunday half-marathon so I planned to just run it with Elise. The race directors posted these really cute blankets and said they would go to the top 3 overall male and female finishers as well as the top finisher in each age group. I wanted one of those blankets so I decided if I felt recovered enough from the half, I would go ahead and race the 5k. I had communicated everything to Ty, but I guess not really with the rest of the family. I felt a little fatigued on my run the day before the race, but no pain in my bone spurs, so I decided it was a go! We looked at the race course and it was open to traffic with some traffic barriers on the main street. I wasn't comfortable with Elise running the race without an adult with her so my dad said he would run with her so I could race. Carter didn't want to run so he spectated with Ty.

Ty didn't want to be in the picture since he didn't run the race so he took it for us.

The race stared at 8am, less than a mile from my parents' house so I planned to run to the race start as my warm up. We weren't sure how parking would be because they had over 400 people signed up for the race and Pittsburg is a small town so Thomas decided he'd drive over to my parents' house (he lives in Pittsburg now) and run over with me. I knew the race started at 8, but planned everything like it started at 7:30 by mistake so I got up 30 minutes earlier than I needed to. I made sure to do yoga before the race to help with my tired legs. I had some kind of weird tummy bug the Tuesday/Wednesday before the race and my stomach was still hurting a bit. I ended up dry heaving a little on the warm up which wasn't reassuring, but I felt totally fine during the race. I guess the warm up got that all out of my system.

Me and Thomas ready for our warm up to the race start.

I always get a little worried looking at other runners before a race when I have my sights set on an overall finisher place, so I was glad we didn't arrive at the race start with much time to spare. Thomas and I went up in the corral together and I saw Julie, a girl I ran against in high school, and we said hello. Then the race was off. There were quite a few women ahead of me but I knew I had plenty of time to pick them all off. By the half-mile mark I was in 4th overall female, as far as I could tell. I wasn't positive there weren't other women ahead that I couldn't see. There was a woman way out in front, a younger looking girl, Julie, and then me. I was confident Julie would catch the girl in 2nd and I was hopeful I would be able to as well. Usually younger runners go out a bit faster than what they are capable of in the first mile, so I was hopeful. I was a little discouraged that if they didn't take the overall finishers out of the age group results, Julie was in my age group so I wouldn't win my age group to get a blanket either. I knew I had to get in the top 3 if I want to ensure I would win a blanket. That blanket was a big motivator for me! I went through the first mile in 6:49 and I was shocked! I did not feel like I was running that fast! 

Taking off at the start of the race.

I knew from running a Turkey Trot after the Route 66 Half that I usually fade a bit in the 2nd mile when my legs are tired from a previous race, but am able to rally really well the last mile. Luckily for me, the females ahead of me were also fading in the 2nd mile. We hit the halfway point of the race on the Watco trail and all the sudden the woman who had been way out in front was right next to the girl who was in 2nd and Julie was right with them. It didn't take them long to overtake her and I knew by how much she was fading, that it was a matter of time before I caught her too. I went through the 2nd mile in 7:08 which was more the pace I expected to run for the whole race so I wasn't discouraged it was slower and I don't remember if I even saw it during the race. With a half mile left in the race I caught the lady in 3rd place and she started to go with me which I didn't expect since she was fading so much. I wondered if she slowed enough during the 2nd mile, she'd have a lot left and make me really work for it. I encouraged her to come with me, but after a few steps she fell back behind me. I was really gaining on the girl in 2nd place and felt confident I would likely catch her as well. I didn't want to leave it to a sprint at the finish because younger girls usually have a pretty strong kick! I passed her with a quarter-mile to go and encouraged her to go with me, but she didn't even attempt to. I went through mile 3 in 6:51! Then I took off sprinting as fast as I could. I told myself that girl would be sprinting behind me and I may have missed a woman in front of Julie so I had to go! I ran the last portion of the race in 5:53 pace!

As I walked over to Carter and Ty they told me I was 2nd overall female, I got my blanket! I cheered on the girl in 3rd and talked to her after the race, she was 13 years old! I drank some water and then ran back out on the course to find dad and Elise so I could run it in with them. I saw Jeremy with his dog, Moneypenny, and cheered for him. When I found dad and Elise they were way further up in the race than I expected! Dad said Elise only walked 3 times during the race! She wanted to walk with about a tenth of a mile to go and he encouraged her to keep going because once they turned the corner she would be done. She did such a great job! After they finished, I ran out to mom and ran/walked to the finish with her. I was thrilled about how my race went and it was fun to tell her about it. We all wore our turkey hats and I told her I had 3-4 people compliment my hat as I was running. There was one family that came out onto their porch to cheer and said they liked my hat. Mom said no one had complimented her hat and a race volunteer heard her so she complimented mom on her hat!

Elise was cold and wanted to go sit in the car to wait on the awards ceremony. Dad took Elise to the van to warm up. I went to the truck to change out of sweaty clothes and Carter went with me to show me where Ty had parked. When we got back Thomas, Jeremy, and Ty thought it would be fun to check Toast, a restaurant that opened just to serve Turkey Trot participants after the race, to see if they had coffee. There was a long line so we turned back. While we were walking back over from checking out the restaurant, they started the awards early so I missed getting my overall award and picture. Elise didn't get out of the car fast enough and missed her award and picture as well. I was most excited about her getting her award, so I was really bummed about that! 

Thomas finished in 20:53 and knew there were quite a few guys around his age ahead of him so he wasn't sure if he placed in his age group. When they didn't call him for his age group, he assumed he hadn't placed. When we got home and I looked at the results to see what he would have needed to run to place in his age group, I saw 24:12 had won his age group and he wasn't listed in the results. If you typed in Thomas' bib number, he had a time but for some reason wasn't included in the overall results. We've never had that happen so had no idea to check to make sure he was in the results, we were bummed he didn't get his award. He was 16th out of 386 overall and 1st out of 14 in his age group. I was thrilled with my time of 21:31 which was only 11 seconds slower than the 5k I ran in September, even with a half-marathon on my legs! I averaged 6:54 pace! I was 20th overall, 2nd out of 220 women, and 2nd out of 24 in my age group. Jeremy finished in 27:08 which put him 82nd overall, 58th male, and 5th in his age group. Elise finished in 29:33, 9:30 pace! She was 125th overall, 46th female, and 3rd in the 12 and under age group. Both the girls ahead of her were older, 11 and 12. If the age group had been 10 and under, she would have been first! Mom registered her under the name Elise Hurford on accident. Dad finished right with her in 29:32. He was 124th overall, 79th man, and 2nd in his age group! Mom ran/walked, but mostly walked. She finished in 49:08. She was 312th overall, 167th female, and 2nd in her age group. It was a great way to start our day and we are planning on doing the Jingle Bell 5k as a family next weekend.

This race was exactly what I needed after the half-marathon. I was a little bummed with that race and felt like I didn't run as well as I was capable of running. Then I ran this 5k and ran so much faster than I expected. I was absolutely thrilled! I figured I'd be able to run under 23 minutes, but definitely didn't think I'd be under 22 minutes, let alone so close to my most recent 5k time. It was the spark of excitement I needed to make me feel really positive about my running again! It was worth the hype/obsession with winning one.

I absolutely LOVE my blanket!