City of Bloomington 3 Mile Turkey Trot at Miller Park

I went back to my hometown (Bloomington-Normal, IL) to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents, brothers, sister-in-law, nephew, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. And their seven dogs. My family has been taken over by members of the canine variety.

Otis and Roy

Post-turkey naps with Emma and Pa

(Not pictured - Jo, Hannah, Daphne, and Daisy.)

I was very thankful to spend the day with my family. I haven’t seen them enough in the last few years. Especially this crazy guy!

Nephew Nilo
The only time he holds still for a picture is in his car seat!

In keeping with my Thanksgiving racing tradition, I ran a turkey trot for the third year in a row on Thursday. I was very excited about this race because my dad ran too! And because it was my first race in costume! And because it was my first race since spraining my ankle (however, I still can’t go an entire post without mentioning that)!

It was cold!!!

This was my dad’s first race since his days as a track and cross country star in college. He trained for the race by completing the Runkeeper beginner 5K training plan.

Our race was a 3 miler. There were a lot of turns, but none of them very sharp, so they didn’t slow us down at all. The course was, for the most part flat, and on wide streets in and around the park. It was a great course, although it measured a little bit short, which I ended up being grateful for in the end…

We experienced a little bit of wind, and it was pretty cold.  The lake in the park was partially frozen.

The race was untimed – but free – so no places were given out. A lot of very fast runners showed anyway (the first person crossed in 14:10, I heard). My impression was that a lot of cross country runners were home for the holidays. I saw a lot of cross country team sweatshirts from nearby colleges and high schools.

I went out very, very fast (having lined up near the front with all the cross country runners). But then settled into a rhythm by about the half mile mark.

By about end of the first mile, I had formed a nice little group with about a half a dozen other runners – a few high school cross country runners and a few thirtysomething old farts. I stayed in the back of the pack, using them to block the wind. The pack was going a little bit faster than I had planned, but I decided to stay with them.

The group broke up in the last half mile of the race when a few runners started to kick. I kicked with them and crossed the finish line – dying – in 19:19. The course was a little bit short, so it was an average pace of 6:51.

I was very happy with an average pace that began with a ‘6.’ I was projecting a little bit slower pace, since it was colder than I’m used to, and I didn’t do a proper warm up. I also think I’m in a little better shape than I thought I was. What a nice surprise! The ankle held up very well. No pain during the race, or after.

two little runners

~Kristen