Yesterday morning I kicked off Thanksgiving with a turkey trot 5K race in Chesterbrook, PA.  This was my second year running the Seven Summits Turkey Trot and I’m pleased to report that I finished nearly 2 minutes faster than last year!  Also, I had a fantastic cheering section… Matt and Piper came to watch!

The park was covered in snow from Wednesday’s storm and the weather was a brisk 34°, but the paved course was clear and I was dressed warmly in my new birthday tights and vest (thanks Mom!) so I didn’t mind the conditions.  The race began at 9:15am and I took off with 553 other runners, eager to put down a good time on the relatively flat course.

I completed the first mile in 7:24 which is actually a little slower than I was hoping to go out.  I remember thinking that I wanted to go faster, but my legs felt sort of stiff and heavy and just didn’t want to pick up the pace.  (I guess due to the cold?? I warmed up but then stood around waiting at the start for a long time.)  Mile 2 was a similar effort at 7:36 and Mile 3 ended up a little slower at 7:54.  (In mile 3’s defense, however, it was all uphill!)  Despite the slow down in mile 3 I still managed to cross the finish line with an official time of 23:40, just 8 seconds slower than my personal best!

Matt and Piper were waiting for me at the finish line.  Piper had kept herself busy during the race greeting dozens of people and meeting a few other spectating dogs (even one GSP!) so she was quite content to curl up on my lap on our drive home.  All in all this was a great way to start off the holiday and I definitely hope to keep doing turkey trots on Thanksgiving mornings in the future!

My next two races are both in West Chester, PA next weekend.  I will be running the 2 mile Jingle Elf Run on Friday night and the 5 mile Brian’s Run on Sunday afternoon.  Hopefully my legs will feel a little quicker for the short distance on Friday!  🙂

Miles since last post:  95.1
Days since last post:  19
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.87
2014 TOTAL MILES: 1620

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