Chester County Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

Nutshell: I got a 5K PR (finally!). Now read on for details...

Ryan and I spent Thanksgiving in his hometown, just outside of Philadelphia. His dad and I were registered to run a local turkey trot that morning.

So bright and early, we were outside, waiting in line to register...


They gave us disposable timing chips for the race, and no bibs (that's odd)...


Now, funny story time. Right before we left the house, Maggie saw us getting ready and started getting really excited. I went to pick her up so that she wouldn't run outside when Ryan opened the door. But apparently right as I went to pick her up, she get so excited that her bladder exploded all over the floor, the rug, and... you guessed it... me.

Of course I only brought one running outfit, so I was stuck in pee-covered clothes for the race. There was a small trail all the way down my side. It's hard to see in this photo, but she got it all over the side of my white jacket...


Now back to the race. It was 8am, and we were ready to go...


It was a pretty big race. There were 800 people racing...


Some people showed their holiday spirit with awesome turkey hats...


The race had NO microphone or loud speaker or anything, so suddenly and with little warning, we were off!


Ryan watched the guy in first place near the finish line...


But as soon as he saw his time on the clock, he stopped running and walked across the finish line...


That makes me SO angry. What a sore loser! Er... winner. Sorry that 15:35 isn't a good enough time for you!

Gurrrrrr.

Anyway. My race went well. Ryan's dad split off from me right at the beginning (I just couldn't keep up). But after that, he must've slowed down, because I could see him in front of me for the rest of the race.

It was crowded, but not too much so. It was mildly hilly, but there were just as many awesome downhills as there were nasty uphills. The majority of the race was run through a golf course (and believe it or not, there were people golfing on Thanksgiving!).

A short while later, Ryan's dad neared the finish line...


He finished in about 28:10...


Only 20 seconds later, I finished.

But there are no photos.

Ryan said he was looking for my headband... but I had taken it off and wrapped it around my wrist. So I ran right by him and he didn't even notice.

That makes me laugh, because I saw him... and even waved and yelled his name.

But he just totally missed it.

Here is my face when I explained it to him...


Oh well.

Mile 1 - 9:14
Mile 2 - 9:17
Mile 3 - 9:16
Total Time - 28:33

It was a great race overall. I PRed my old time by over 30 seconds, and Ryan's dad did great for his first official 5K ever.


Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

Weight Loss Month 2

On Sunday, I hit my 2 month mark for trying to lose weight. I totally forgot to do an update and photos at the 1 month mark.

The first 2 1/2 weeks were great. I lost almost 7 lbs.

After that, it got kinda bad. Ryan and I went on vacation, we went to a wedding in New York, we had a bunch of events and parties and whatnot. My eating got out of control.

And my weight slowly crept back towards where it started.

So as of this past Sunday, I was holding steady at 164.8 (4.8 lbs lost). Here are my photos...


It's only 5 pounds, but there are a few minor changes. In the front view, it's hard to see any difference, but I think my face is a tiny bit thinner in my cheeks. If you enlarge the side view, you can definitely see a small change in my stomach (especially at the thinnest part).

I know it's all minuscule, but I'll take what I can get! I'm really trying to use these photos to motivate myself to get back on track.

You and me, food. It is so on!

Jingle Bell 5K Race Report

We arrived at the park around 1:40pm for a 2:00pm race start. I was cursing the organizers of this event, because their website had zero information. It didn't say what time you were supposed to arrive in order to check in. It didn't say whether it was a road or cross country race.

It didn't say anything. It just said the race started at 2.

Of course, my luck... I arrive, and they don't have a bib for me. I'm on the list... but no bib. That's odd.

So they handed me a spare bib, 2 jingle bells, and my bag of goodies, and I was ready to go.


I attached the bells to my shoelaces so I could "jingle all way" to the finish line.


The race was relatively small... about 150 people. So I had no problem getting up near the front for the start of the race.


I mentally prepared myself and got my Ipod ready on my "5K" playlist.


My efforts were fruitless, because my battery ran out about 3 quarters of a mile into the race.

Gurrr...


The following photo doesn't show anything. It's just funny because it looks like I have to go to the bathroom (click to enlarge)...


In reality, I was just anxious and a little chilly. Chalk it up to bad photo timing I guess.

A few minutes after 2pm, and "Ready, Set, Go"... we were off!


Maggie was there, and she cheered me on as I ran past...


The first mile and a half were interesting. I don't like racing and not knowing where I'm going (stupid useless website). We ran up a hill, then around a neighborhood, then headed back the way we came.

Around the 2 mile mark, we ran back down the hill and passed the spectators again.


At this point, I was doing good (under 10 minute miles), but my lungs were hurting pretty bad. I definitely did not train enough for this race.

The last mile was a little bit like "is this over yet?". I felt like I was getting passed by a lot of people. I knew I was slowing down. I knew I wouldn't PR (although, didn't plan on it anyway... but it would have been a nice surprise).


I pushed to the finish...


And came in around 29:35 (I forgot to stop my Garmin).


Overall, it was a good race, but a little hilly for my tastes.

Next time, I'll make sure my IPod is fully charged. That was my own stupidity.

You know what else was stupid? Not staying for the awards ceremony. Remember my last triathlon... where I got 3rd place but didn't know it?

D'oh. I did it again.

According to the results website, I got third place in my age group! I tried to send an email asking where I can pick up my medal, but I'm not sure if I sent it to the right person (seriously... what a stupid website).

So, it wasn't a PR, but it was a great race nonetheless. Only 2 weeks and 2 days until my "A" race (at least where 5Ks are concerned). As soon as this soreness in my legs goes away, I'll get right back to training!

I'll Be There With Bells On

I did something a little crazy (for me, at least).

I just signed up for a 5K...

... that is on Sunday.

That's the least amount of notice I've ever given myself when it comes to running a race. Plus, I haven't done a 5K since April, 2009.

Wow.

So on Sunday, I will be running the Jingle Bell 5K. You may recall that eons ago, back when I first started running, and still lived in Illinois, I ran the Jingle Bell 5K with my mom. It was my mom's first 5K ever (yay!).


The nice thing about this race is it's in the afternoon. I don't have to miss church, and I don't have to wake up too early. This makes Kelly a happy girl.

The most important question of all is: am I ready?

The answer is undoubtedly "no".

But I'm okay with that. I just started to get back into the swing of things recently, so this race will act as a training run. I'm not going to aim for a PR or anything. I'm not even going to set a goal time. I'm just going to go out there, do my best, and have fun.

I'll be back next week with a race report and an update on my weight loss efforts!