Turkey Trot in Jax

Thanksgiving is not complete without a Turkey Trot. In Jacksonville, they have a really big one (1/2 Marathon and 8K) but my sister told us about one in Ponte Vedra Beach that is much more low key and didn't start until 9am. This was way more up our alley.

Original plan: Marty push Logan in the 5K
Reality: Whoah it was cold! We weren't really expecting that - I mean I'm not a total idiot and did check the weather before we left but when I woke up that morning the 'feels like' temperature was 30 degrees. We opted to leave Logan at the house since he did have 7 babysitters available and he didn't have to freeze his little tushy off.

Original plan: Run hard enough so I can stuff my face at dinner.
Reality: Oh crap, now that Marty isn't pushing Logan I'm going to have to actually try so I can beat him. I kid, I kid. We got to Mickler's Landing and did a long warmup where we ran into our friend from NC, Frank. Frank taught Logan to say 'No way!' when we all did Lake Logan and when Logan see's a picture of Frank this is exactly what he says.

It was a small race and as usual there were lots of kids who sprinted for 50 yards and then died/weaved around. I never seem to be able to start off fast so there was lots of carnage to move through. After about a half mile I found myself in a long line of people and directly behind the first place female. It was an out and back with a headwind going out. I didn't want to fight the headwind by myself so just stayed put even though the pace felt super comfortable. And it was flat! We never get that here and it was a nice treat. I heard a bunch of watches beep and figured this must be the mile mark (there weren't any mile marks for this low key event. In fact, upon check in we had to sharpie our name/age/sex on our number and were told to remember our time. it was a nice change from triathlons and most other road races). So the watches beeped and I looked at mine and saw 6:33, which was definitely a little slower than I wanted but I really wasn't expecting too much. My running has been SO inconsistent. Around that same time Marty moved up right next to me and then accelerated a hair so I got right behind him and he took us past the line of runners. Thanks, baby!

We hit the turnaround at just under 10 minutes and Marty accelerated again - ooooookay I guess we're doing this. But after a very short time this actually felt better to me than our going out pace so I pressed a bit more and sort of dropped him. I totally DID NOT do this on purpose!! I was just trying to see what my legs could do. I was with another runner at this point and we pushed each other for most of the return trip. I can't tell you how nice it was to have a tailwind and flat road.

I hit the line in 19:25 for a good negative split, 1st female, and 3rd overall. No overall awards though - I did win a $15 gift card to Publix which is actually a great gift because I love Publix, but I gave this right to my sister to help defray the cost of food she was cooking. On a complete tangent, we are getting a Publix very close to our house and I can't wait!!! I kill for their cake and cupcakes.

About the awards, they had some kids races and they did their awards first and they got chocolate turkeys! I was very excited about this and thought for sure since I won I would get one. So I was a little disappointed when I just got the gift card. I never claimed to be very mature.