I ran it like a Turkey

I've felt a bit disappointed since Thursday morning's Turkey 10k, I feel like I had a dismal run. I was really looking forward to it, I've been keeping up with my runs, cross training on my bike, taking walks with the kids, as well as on the treadmill at high inclines. I'm a slow runner, but I've started to push myself to be faster. For this 10k, I wanted to pull about a 9:30 minute mile.

Things were going well, until I caught a nasty cold from my kids, and I was sick for the whole week before Thanksgiving. I started feeling better by Sunday, but I only got in a couple of walks in the few days before the race.

I was excited for the run Thanksgiving morning, the weather turned out to be warm (for Syracuse, it was in the mid '50's) with no rain or snow. It's always fun to get some exercise in before a day of indulging! I had on my new grey (not black for once) running pants that my friend Jen gave me (among other things) as a present for completing my first half marathon in September. I tucked some tissues into the waistband, since I still had a runny nose leftover from my cold. I had on my favorite socks (feetures) and a new playlist on my ipod. I met up with my sis in law Jeaninne, and we had enough time before our run to cheer on our Uncle Bill as he completed his 5k.

So we start out, I'm feeling good, I'm testing out my faster pace, I'm even snapping my fingers to a Black Eyed Peas song (Meet Me Halfway, a new running fave). There weren't any mile markers, but I've done this race before. It begins and ends at the high school, and it goes through fields, with one woodsy part. So I'm guessing that at mile three is where my problems started. I never got a stitch, none of my past injuries hurt, but my mouth was dry and I had to keep blowing my nose. I just started to feel tired. Really tired. I coughed a bit here and there, and my tissues were in shreds, so my black top started to look like slugs had walked across it (I'm not very good at snot rockets). I had eaten my usual pre-run meal of peanut butter toast, coffee and water, so that wasn't it. I kept pushing though. First I was thinking of how Boring the route was, then I was telling myself that this is Fun running on a Holiday!! Finally around mile five, I thought about walking, and I never walk. I thought, "how do you think you're going to possibly run a marathon next year if you have to walk.....in a 10K?!!" I looked at the time on my ipod, and realized I wasn't hitting my goal. *Side note, I have a sports watch, but I never wear it since I forgot how to use it. Which Mike reminded me of when I hinted about a Garmin for Christmas, so I need to figure it out. I grabbed some water at the water station, and started up the hill, with less than a mile to go.......and I walked. I was so mad at myself, but I walked for about thirty seconds, and I felt better, so I got moving again. My new goal was to make it under an hour.

I saw the turn that lead to the high school, and this dude had his car parked, with all the doors open, blasting heavy metal music, which for some reason cracked me up. I saw the finish, then looked away again, because for me, seeing the end always feels so close, yet so far, so I'd rather not know about it. I saw Mike and the kids at the side, with my brother in law and niece, so I gave them high fives, and finished in 1:00:28, and averaged a 9:45 pace. I missed my first goal, then missed my second, but not by much. I'm just chalking it up to a bad day, and I haven't had many of those lately, so I guess I was due.

We had a great dinner afterwards with the whole family, and we were happy that my Mother in Law just finished her chemo. She has a breather before her next round of treatment, so she's getting there. We brought the kids up to her house the next day, to go to a couple of Christmas Festivities in her town. The kids had fun at a candy cane hunt, they saw Santa and his Reindeer and did a Build a Bear type thing with Grandma. It was great to see her out and about, running into her friends and going out to lunch with us. For all my bitching about my crappy run, I just reminded myself once again, of how many things I have to be thankful for.