Turkey Trots, Jingle Jogs & Indoor Tris

I did both Thanksgiving races this year. The Southeast YCMA Turkey Classic, a 5 miler, was a beautiful day. Last year I ran in my woolies and this year I ran in my skirt! Gotta love Rochester weather! My PT and I did this one together. He has not run many races and seems to have a different strategy than me. We started together in the middle to back of the pack. Normally I start my race faster and than slow down a bit as the race goes on. He on the other hand starts at the pace he plans on running the entire race. For most of the race we ran together and this actually forced me to be a much more consistent runner - which is of course good! Ron pulled ahead on the last half mile and finished ahead of me, but I am still really happy with my finish. I pr-ed with a finishing time of 46:27! AND I felt great finishing!

Thanksgiving morning dawned and I was actually pretty well rested. The weather was beautiful - and once again, I was able to wear my running skirt - this time I rocked the camo one. Unfortunately, I was unable to find my trusty running iPod and had to run with the iTouch, which is too heavy and pulls down my skirt if in my pocket. A few minutes before the race, I noticed that my iPod was giving my the low battery warning. Needless to say, I was a little thrown as the race started. I felt like I was running alright, but didn't see a mile marker until mile 3. However, when I crossed the finish line, I discovered that I had pr-ed once again, finishing at 39:06! So: Two fall races, pr-ed both AND didn't feel like I was doing my best during either race. Strange, but awesome!

The Jingle Jog course on the other hand has become my nemesis. I will admit that I did not get enough sleep and did not eat enough the night before. The weather was deceptively warn at my house. Luckily I checked the forecast and dressed appropriately! I didn't pr this race and actually thought I was gonna hurl as I crossed the finish line. BUT I did discover that even a bad race/run is still much better than no run at all. When I got home, I felt better and actually grabbed my puppy Sam and went for a little one mile jaunt - which made it a pretty cool day, even if it wasn't an awesome race!

The night before the WeTri, I went to the annual caroling party. This year, I did not make responsible choices - ingested more than a couple of drinks and stayed up until 3 am. Obviously, I was not feeling too awesome when I woke up at 7:30 am! But, I couldn't let my choices the night before get in the way of competing! I ended up in the pool next to one of Rochester's fastest runners. I know the swim isn't her strong event, but also that she has been practicing. I was definitely feeling sluggish, however there was no way I was going to let her beat me! I ended up completing 33 lengths, 6.8 miles on the bike and 1.69 miles on the treadmill. If I had just completed 1/2 length more, I would have come in second in my age group! However, that does mean that I came in THIRD PLACE!!! Which is of course awesome!!! Let's see if I can improve even more for the YTri at the MetroCenter in February. . . .