Happy Thanksgiving! And good night to all your crazies who are going out in just a few short hours to conquer Black Friday Madness.

As I mentioned in my recent post, I signed up for the TreesGreenville 8k Turkey Trot. This would be my first sanctioned 8k event and I had a goal to run it in under 1:03 (12:36 pace). Over the past few months, my tempo runs have been holding steady at around 11:30-12:30 pace. I have a hard time with sprint work. I have never been a fast person, even in my best sport of swimming, I am a distance swimmer. The only fast thing I do is talk. It’s true. Ask anyone… especially that section on Report Cards for Teacher comments.

So I woke up this brisk Thanksgiving morning at my Future-in-Law’s and I was a little nervous for the race. I figured that I would wear my RnR Savannah official shirt, because I may as well look like a badass runner. Plus any excuse to drum up conversation with others and have them ask “Oh, did you run the half or full?”… I am all for saying “oh, I did the full” like its something I still talk about everyday no big deal. 

 

Since we got into town late yesterday, we had to arrive early to pick up our packets. Finn is sick, so his cousin’s wife (Emily) came out for the fun and ran as him. Sadly, I didn’t take any photos of any of us there. But here are the “long” lines at packet pickup. Bonus to small local races. 20 porta potties = no line. Love.

My friend Brian from Clydesdales Can Run ran the 8k as well (check out his musings and running, show B the love). So Emily, Brian, and some other Clemson cool kids waited around in the cold for the race to start. I decided to ditch the long sleeve and show off the RnR love. I also made a peer pressured discussion and to run without my fuelbelt. I always run without. I drink a ton of water when I run. Turns out, I missed it about as much as Reese Witherspoon missed Ryan Phillippe. Yep. Not at all.

The race is out and back and VERY hilly. The first .75 is straight down hill. My first mile was 9:45 and my second mile was 9:52. What? Who is this runner? Once I started up the 3rd hill, I realized maybe I went out too fast. I started to need a mental strategy around mile 4… going up another blessed hill. I had been following behind Brian the whole race and trying to trip catch him. Finally. It wasn’t that I caught him but we needed each other to tackle the last mile and get under our own goal times. I mentally tied a string around his wrist and made him drag me. Thanks, Brian for dragging me those 5 miles. If your legs are more tired than a standard 8k, this is why. You are welcome.

We barely talked that last mile. I like to run each mile for that mile. I kept thinking back to November 5th… wondering how I ran 26.2. Then I remembered how much slower my pace was and that I was doing 4:1s. Then I kept looking at my garmin and how I was rocking this run!

Garmin time 0:55.56 (Garmin said avg pace was 10:56… but pace calculator is 11:11). Kept all my miles under 12 minute pace! Only walked for a total of two minutes… going up two hills. I am so very happy to have pushed myself hard. Dug deep. And prove to myself I can do it!

On a side note, next year. I need a costume. I felt naked not wearing something funny and Thanksgiving themed. I guess I will have to really amp up my game for the Reindeer Run.

So Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day with family, friends, and tradition. We enjoyed a great feast and some football. I was pleased that I kept my eating in check and got my one bonus point for Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge for eating 7 servings of fruit and veggies!! 

QOD: What are you thankful for?

Yesterday I went to one of my favorite places in Savannah, Fleet Feet and got my shop on!

They are always running (pun intended) fun promotions…. so I brought 12 cans of food for the Food Bank and got 20% off my ENTIRE PURCHASE! SCORE! Hurry now! 

Simple math even VTB can do it!   5 cans = 10%. 10 cans = 20%   ROCKS!

Besides my new kicks….. Asics IGS GT-2170, I also got this sweet Nike run skirt with the attached capris. Now, I always run in capris. I am so scared my thighs will catch fire in shorts despite slathering them in glide.  I can’t wait to go for my first run in this adorable find! And to add even more to my collection…. thoughts??? Finn says I need to get the really cute ones like this and this. Can you say Christmas list! #prepontherun

I think my new shoes and sweet skirt, will help me kick it on the Greenville 8k Turkey Trot! Gobble. Gobble… let’s work that wobble

 I have a goal for myself to run it in under 1:03…. stay tuned! I hope to update on Thanksgiving before Finn’s Family Annual Shindig! It’s always a fun time with his family. Last year, my dad ended up in the ER after the football game. Don’t worry, his finger has finally realigned!

This is what I felt like on Sunday.

The Inaugural Savannah RnR was amazing. All of the neighborhoods we ran through really came together, cheered everyone on and pumped up all 23,000 runners.

Friday was the Pasta Dinner for the DetermiNation Pasta Dinner being held at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center. What a fabulous evening of singlet decorating, wearing rock & roll wigs/guitars, and mixing with our fellow runners. The amazing display of “make-your-own” pasta bar was DELICIOUS! A gorgeous display of toppings to cover two types of pastas, three sauces, salads, rolls, and of course— cookies! 

 Since people spent longer than expected trying to get to the Center to pick up their packets at the Expo, I figured we would leave before the roosters get up. And no, just because I live in GA, it does not mean I have real roosters. We got downtown at 5:15am and literally saw one other car on Broughton Street. No runners near the corrals. So we headed over the Mulberry Inn (LOVE this hotel, check it out— Used to be 2nd US Coca-Cola Bottling Plant) to meet up with our DNation runners out of the cold! Thank goodness!

After a few team photos and a potty break, we braved the cold and got into our corral, #15! It was so fun to see all of my Fleet Feet Savannah C.R.E.W. training group in the same corral. We were all so excited! The race kicked off promptly at 7:30am!

As we inched our way up to the start, it was great to see people I knew! Hi, Erica, Larry, Karen & Jeff!

And we’re OFF! We ran down Bay for about 2 miles and turned into West Savannah neighborhoods. The community there was all outside cheering and so excited to have us there! I kept all my throwaways on; gloves, head warmers, and socks turned arm warmers until about mile 5 when I started to get naked take off piece by piece. It was quite a chilly start!

We ran through the industrial area, which I think is great because Savannah is the 2nd largest export port in the Nation. So why not show off what we got!

7 miles into the race, we were back into the Historic District and let me tell you, Liberty Street did NOT disappoint. I felt like the elite athlete I am! People cheering, signs (‘Worst Parade Ever’, ’26.2 is Awesome, because 26.3 is Crazy’), and handing out high fives like they were hotcakes. Fast forward to this mornings run, one of the girls in my group was giving out those high five hotcakes and accidentally smacked someone in the face….. BAM!

source

Another great area of the course was Gordonston, a neighborhood I have not been much because I have no friends like to hobnob downtown. What a show they put on! There were woman twirling their hula hoops, the cheerleaders on the hairpin turn were great, and the band that Savannah Morning News sponsored was AWESOME. Thanks for a great show…. but sadly, us full marathoners had to peace out from the halfsies… but even that part was great! I was running near some peeps I knew, so they had a group cheering for us and we got on the ramp to the Truman. So empowering! THANK YOU!

Round about Daffin Park and Historic Grayson Stadium, home to the Sand Gnats it happened. Like a ton of bricks. I hit my wall. Seriously? At mile 14, my wall? Ugh. I had a huge cramp in my side… as soon as I got to the really motivating Savannah State University Campus, I swiped that salt packet and it helped. Slowly peeled back the layers of the wall. It took about four miles.

Mile 18-26 were fine… and I enjoyed the music and the course. Even the Truman wasn’t bad at the end! I found that even if you help a complete stranger on the course for 8 miles get through their own mental wall…. sometimes they don’t thank you.

Our ACS coach, Sean, found me at mile 24 and ran with me until mile 26. He was great to talk to and get my mind off of the pain. He is always so positive and gave me some tips to really kick it in and how to feel great for the remainder of the day!

Mile 26- 26.2 was my favorite! I saw my dad— still with his goofy hat on— right at mile 26. He was yelling “Go get em” and “I’m so proud of you”…. I still get a tear in my eye. Then I rounded the longest corner ever! And I saw my friend Stephanie who flew in from Arizona, my friend Mei-Mei (who totally surprised me by coming down from VA and I kept yelling– “Mei… Mei… Mei” in disbelief), and my awesome fiance- with his medal around his neck!

Official time- 6:15:55

Oh.. and when I crossed….. the announcer said “Congratulations- what a great way to spend your birthday. Celebrating with 23,000 people”. I almost cried!

I did it! No throwing my princess crown on the ground because I hurt my knee at mile 15 and DNF’d. I am a marathoner. Yes, this was my second attempt. Sometimes you can’t help what happens. But you can always try and hold your head up high. I don’t think my first attempt was a failure but a journey to 11/5/11.

Next up on the blog…. talking about my goals for the next few months and my 7 races. Get ready for more activity on here and a more active VTB! LET’S GO!