Naperville Turkey Trot: Not So Bad!

I came, I saw, I turkey-trotted.

I carb-loaded last night, even though, let's be honest, you don't really need to carb-load for a 5K. Not when you average an 8 minute mile for a 5K anyway. But I did and I do believe it helped. My cousin's fiancé was going to run it this year with us, so he made a delicious pasta meal with chicken.

And I had two glasses of wine. That helped, too.

So this morning, I woke up at 5 AM, stared down the snow, and got ready to run. I was going to be sporting my tights for the first time this season! It feels good to be wearing pants again. My legs look sooooooooo much better, let me just say. And I was going to wear my personalized Brooks Marine Corps Marathon long sleeve shirt, along with my fancy-schmancy Brooks jacket, also from the MCM. By the time we left to head to the race, it had stopped snowing. Just cold rain this time.

Of course, all the great gear in the world won't stop your knee from hurting. I did my best to warm up and stretch when we got there and planned on running as slowly as possible. Honestly, I was just hoping to finish. I didn't even think I'd be able to run 11 minute miles. Walking seemed to be in my near future.

My cousin, her fiancé, and parted ways at the start. They were planning on run 7:30's. Ha. Even at my best, I don't think I'd be running that fast!

As the race kicked off, I felt pretty good. The upper part of my right calf, just below the knee, felt sore...and wrong. That's the only way I can describe it. And the outside of my right knee hurt too. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my Garmin...9:30's! That's not bad, even for me on a slow day! I remained at that pace until the last half mile, when I kicked it up just a little bit to 9:15's, and finished in 29:17 (according to Garmin anyway...official time was 29:21).

My cousin and her fiancé finished around the 24 minute mark, so, great for them!

After we got home, I drank the free sample of EAS Myoplex whilst I stretched. It didn't taste bad at all. Very much like chocolate milk, only not as sugary. However, it smelled like ass. Seriously, the smell was bad enough where I nearly didn't want to try it. EAS says it's good for recovery and it was only 210 calories for the whole 14 ounce bottle. I might just stick with chocolate milk, though. Probably cheaper!

And then I ended with a lengthy foam-rolling session. Oooooooooooooooooooouch.

So happy Thanksgiving everyone! I think we're all thankful for running. And we're all thankful to be able to run so we can partake in the Thanksgiving feast with little to no guilt.