Gobble Gobble

11/25/2010 6th Annual LARS Turkey Trot 5K
Official time: 39:01

I should confess up front that I'm still in a bit of an exercise funk and have not become reacquainted yet with my motivation. But I'm still trying!

Thanksgiving morning was cold and rainy. I'd been up late the night before, preparing food in advance. I got up early in the morning, after not nearly enough sleep, to prepare still more food. The thought of bailing on the race under those conditions was mighty tempting!!!

At the last possible second, I decided that I really did want to run the race after all. I threw on my clothes and rushed to the starting line with less than 10 minutes to spare. My expectations were spectacularly low: with only 2 runs under my belt since my 10K, and such gross weather conditions, I fully expected to struggle just to finish in a vertical position.

Luckily, the atmosphere was festive and my fellow racers were cheerful and friendly, which helped offset the cold and rain. I also rather enjoyed the novelty of running through the town where I live for a change - the course took us through downtown, along the river, and even near my church and past the field where my son played soccer this fall! There was one brutal hill that I'd planned in advance to walk, and walk I did. I knew if I tried to run it in my current shape, I'd probably be toast for the rest of the race after that! Walking up the hill and catching my breath afterwards allowed me to run the rest of the race in good form!

Overall, I'm pleased with the experience and I'm glad I didn't let the weather and lack of energy keep me away. I didn't stress about the race and just ran for the enjoyment of running! I walked when I needed to and still finished with a respectable (for me) time. Running on Thanksgiving morning really was a blast, and I plan to do more Turkey Trots in the future! Maybe next year I can drag my whole family out...there were a bunch of kids in this race (and most of them beat me...hahaha).

It was back to laziness for me for the rest of Thanksgiving weekend, but then I managed to get up and run yesterday. It was a short run, and a bad one, but I'm glad that I ran at all. It looks like I'll be doing mostly treadmill running now that the days are getting so short, so I'll have to readjust to that. I still hope to get outside on the weekends though!

I still have not managed to drag my butt back to the pool. It's getting harder now that it's cold in the mornings. Getting out of my nice warm bed to go outside where it's cold and then swim in a cold pool sounds thoroughly unappealing. I don't even know how to talk myself into it. Maybe I need to bribe myself with some kind of treat after I swim. Hey, bribery works on my kids...why not me too? :)

Tomorrow is another run day, and then Friday maybe I'll finally make it to the pool. Or not. I'll keep you posted.