I will get this posted! Since this doesn't require a physical voice I can do this. Mace is still asleep, thank goodness with all the coughing I have been doing, so I have a little mommy time. (He should wake up anytime now since I just said the previous statement!)
For Thanksgiving we were going to NC to visit our closest, in distance, family members. I looked for a race in the area of where they lived and noticed that the Southpark Turkey Trot was celebrating its 25th anniversary and they mentioned a "special medal" on their website. What do I think, NEW BLING! I love getting the racing bibs, and the shirts but the medals gives it an extra little, YEA factor. I earned it. I feel powerful and it is a heavy reminder of what I accomplished to earn. The medals for Disney are what really got me interested in running in the first place. Who wouldn't want a heavy beautiful medal with Mickey on it?
Anyhew. I had been telling Matt all week that it was going to be cold. Really cold. 22 degrees cold! That morning he didn't really believe me I guess until he walked out side and turned back and said, "I don't think so! Are you crazy!?!" I said, "I already paid the fee and when we start running we will warm up anyways." He then contented to mutter how insane I was for wanting to run early in the morning, a holiday morning nonetheless, in the freezing cold. I continued to remind him that he was supporting me and he was happy to support me, but from a nice warm place. Anyhew he was cold and hungry, and grumpy. I don't blame him. IT WAS COLD!
~My first racing tutu! Thanks to Race Junkie!~
We arrived at the race location, 30 minutes early, because I thought it would take longer to arrive. We picked up our racing packet and shirt and high tailed it back to the car to stay warm. Matt didn't turn on the heater so that we would "acclimate" to the cold instead of going from super heated and warm to freezing again. I threw on my new race shirt under my running shirt as I forgot my running jacket at home and my running shirt was short sleeved. I was freezing but it was the perfect amount after I started to get warm. We watched the first race line up from our car and then it was time to head to the potty and then the starting line.
The website said that they limit the race to 11,000 people. It didn't look like that many people but there were a ton. And the was no announcement to get in the pace groups which were set super far apart. I read on another blog that there were about 10, 000 people running that day, there were various race distances. But it took us a min 15 second to get from our pace group, which wasn't even my pace because we were back in the 9 min pace group, because that is as high as it went, to cross the start line. There were a ton of people. And because we were "in a fast pace group and I am slow" I pulled Matt to the side of the street to allow people to pass us easier. People quickly passed us and we were in the back of the pack. As we rounded the first turn the first runners from our race were making the turn to the neighborhood part of the race.
Love the Back!
The race was pretty flat. Compared to Charlottesville area that I am used to running. I was wishing for more hills because that is where I tend to make my speed back. I stated thinking though that this is good practice for the FLAT Disney World race. I guess I have grown the love hills! We kept up a pretty good pace it felt like. We were walking/jogging and I was trying not to push myself too hard. the first water stop we took our water and the volunteers were saying that there was ice in it. I was wondering when it was so cold, why they added ice, but they didn't add ice. The water had iced over on the top! It was hard to get the water down but we needed to conserve the water we were carrying so down it went, burning all the way. At about 3 miles, we came to an area with evenly spaced light poles and I did my run 2 posts, walk 2. I finally felt my toes defrost by this point so I felt like I got my stride, thankfully! We ran through very pretty neighborhoods but at this point I stopped looking at the houses and focused more on making it at the time I wanted. 1:15 or faster. 1:20 was acceptable but I wanted 1:15. So we started to push more as I knew we only had about a mile left. At the entrance to the mall near the finish line we didn't know which side to run on for the median as so many people and cars were trying to leave. So that was a little frustrating. People were still trying to finish a race, don't block the course. We crossed the finish line holding hands, no pix! And I looked at my phone and I finished in 1:10! I was faster than I thought that I would be. I am still running a 14 min mile at 16 weeks pregnant. I was so happy with how I did! I couldn't believe it! I am running the same pace that I ran for the 10k in Oct and 30 second slower per mile from the 4 miler.
I am so proud of my body for doing what it did, IN THE FREEZING COLD! There were a ton of people milling around at the end. We got some more frozen water and gatorade. On the way home though we stopped by Starbucks, which was PACKED to get some hot coco to warm us up all the way. (That is when I started to feel my fingers again).
Note to self: get gloves, and long sleeved shirts! And maybe carpis that retain body heat! I WAS FREEZING!
It was a good race. I wish that the pace markers were closer together and that they included the slower paces too, like 10 min mile and above! Also for them to make an announcement at the beginning that it was about to start. Other than that it was well organized and an easy and beautiful race! Maybe again next year, if we are in town!
