Turkey Trot, 2013 edition

I was supposed to finish a post about my postpartum exercise program and get it up Wednesday, but I was too busy and it didn't happen. I'll get it finished next week. In the meantime, I'll just say that I have been doing some exercising and am working on getting back in shape.

TLM strapped to Mr M's chest, LMS (I have no idea why she pulled her hat down so far), and me

Yesterday we continued our tradition of running a 5k Thanksgiving morning. This was my 7th race of the year and 2nd since giving birth to TLM. It was also the 4th year in a row running our local 5k Turkey Trot. Mr M put TLM in the Boba carrier and he and LMS walked the race while I {mostly} ran the race. I've been easing into my running by gradually adding more running minutes to the time I spend walking on the treadmill, but I haven't had the time since starting up again to get my running mileage up to a full 5k.

Even though I wasn't fully ready, I wanted to run as much as I could. I've been confined to running on the treadmill in the basement for the last year or so and I've been missing running outside. Because of the lack of training, I didn't have any expectations or goals in this race, other than to finish and see where I'm at. And to have a good run :)

It was below freezing, so the race had a chilly start, but I warmed up by the first mile marker. I managed to run the first 1.6 miles before I had to stop and walk when the first hill got to be too much for me. In this course, the first half is flat with some downhill portions and around the halfway point the uphill portions start and continue through to the finish. This makes for a nice first half and a tough second half.

I felt pretty good overall and even with several walking breaks, I was able to finish in 35:36. Here's how I did the last three years:

2012 37:58 (pushing LMS in the jogger)
2011 32:44
2010 35:05 (pushing LMS in the jogger)

So I was faster than last year, but slower than the previous two years. I'm happy with the result, though, because I haven't run a race since the 4 Miler at the end of August (I walked the Halloween race with LMS, so that doesn't count) and am definitely not race-ready. It felt good to be running in a race again and it was good to see that I'm not as out of shape as I was afraid I might be.

I need to work on my endurance, but I expected that since I did not focus on endurance while pregnant.  My focus was just staying mobile :) I've slacked off on my hill work since the June 5k, so I need to re-incorporate that into my workouts so I'm better able to run the hills. Even though I had to stop and walk several times, I handled the hills better than I anticipated, so I'm happy.

not too far past the 1 mile marker (i.e., before the uphill portions!)

it's a beautiful course with lots of trees all around

Previous races this year:
New Years Day 5k
DisneyWorld Half Marathon
Mud Run 4 miler
June 5k
Women's 4 miler
Halloween 5k

What's a Thanksgiving tradition your family has?