Turkey Day 5K - Boise Fun Run!

I'm so glad I decided to join my friend, Renee, and her family for a 5K fun run on Thanksgiving morning! It was a rather chilly morning, but that didn't stop 1500 people from getting out there to get a little exercise.  I figured from the beginning that I wouldn't get a PR for this race.  I haven't been keeping up on regular running since before the Chicago run almost a month ago, and while I knew I could very well run 3.1 miles, I didn't think I've be able to run it in under 31 minutes.  I have several goals for running and one of them includes running a 5K in under 30 minutes; I had a sneaking suspicion that just wasn't going to happen.  I vowed to just have a fun run for the morning and be glad I could actually run 3.1 miles.

We got to the start line with a few minutes to spare.  We nestled ourselves into the crowd and before I knew it, we were off!  I didn't have to maneuver around too many fanny-pack ladies and didn't have to worry about ANY strollers, since everyone with a stroller was lined up at the back!  I love it when people listen to instructions!  I lost Renee and her family pretty early, since we all run at different paces.

I noticed on our walk to the start line that my Garmin wasn't matching up; it indicated we were walking at 11:00/mile pace when we were clearly NOT doing so.  So when I arrived at mile marker 1 and my Garmin wasn't matched up with the marker, I wasn't too surprised.  I attributed the problem to the taller buildings downtown.  By no means do we have sky scrapers in Boise, but downtown is downtown and there's no denying the fact that some signals were lost during the run.  Mile 2 - still not match up.  I honestly didn't look at my Garmin all that much for pace, other than to try to keep myself under 10:00/mile and to see if it indicated I was running ridiculously fast or something.

I passed Josh waiting on the sidelines around the one mile marker.  He wasn't too thrilled to be out there but it meant a lot to have him there cheering me on. 

It must have been around mile 3.5 when I met up with a kid (probably age 11 or so) and his dad.  The kid was determined to stay in front of me, but he was obviously struggling with keeping up with dad.  The kid turned to look at where I was several times and each time he sped up to keep me from passing him.  Man, if the kid keeps up that determination, he could be a star!

I rounded the corner to the finish line and was astounded.  I thought I had another few blocks to go, but it was only a block away!  I looked down at my Garmin and realized I could totally finish in under 30.

I crossed the finish line in 28:30. 

I met up with Josh a few minutes after that and gloated expressed my happiness with my time.  Some of Renee's family members were already there and she followed shortly thereafter.  I sent Josh on his way to get started on the turkey for dinner and I waited around for the raffle.  I didn't win anything, but the prizes were enough to make me want to get in on the action a little more next year!

It got downright cold after the race while we watched other people win prizes and I still had about a 1/2 - 3/4 mile walk to the car and I knew it would take more than a brisk walk to get myself warmed up, so I decided to run back to the car. I felt loose and fast.  I didn't have my Garmin turned on because I just wanted to GO (and get warmed up!).

I got to the car and drove to my parents' house to get our Thanksgiving day meal prep going and watch Josh cook like a mad man outside.  What a wonderful day full of blessings.  We are truly lucky to have such great family, friends, and good health!