2013 Lincolnwood Turkey Trot 5k Recap

Uh... did I just go 2 weeks without posting?  Woops, my bad.  Totally unintentional, as I came down with a really bad flu this past week.  And as has already been the case once this year, why wouldn't I have a race on the calendar right after being so sick?  Yes, the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot was this morning.  I've spent the last month or so upping my distance and doing speed work in hopes of getting a really good time at today's race (probably not a PR, but I was aiming to run my second fastest 5k of the year today), but spending the majority of the week on the couch meant that there would be no time goals today. To be honest, after feeling so crappy, I just feel so glad that I was able to get out there and run at all today. And even more so that I was able to have so much fun running with Kim!

For as long as today's race has been showing up in the weather forecast, I had been watching the predicted temperature drop more and more, down from 40 to 30 to OMG the coldest weekend in Chicago in.... I don't know how long.  But damn, I was not expecting it to be 11 degrees out when I woke up for a turkey trot!  Did Chicago weather forget how to do fall?  So on top of being a little run down/out of shape/probably dehydrated after being sick all week, it was also really f*cking cold out there today.  But I'll stop complaining, because although it was really cold, and although my legs just finally started warming up a few hours later, running in that kind of weather feels pretty insane badass.  Besides, I ran my hottest, most humid race with Kim this year, so it makes sense that we would run the coldest one together too (I think the spread between races is about 65 degrees!).

As far as race logistics go, I'll say that I loved this race so much more than a downtown race.  Living on the north side, Lincolnwood was barely a 20 minute drive for us.  And there was plenty of free parking to be found pretty close to the race site.  Bob and I met up with Kim and her friend, and Erin and her husband in the heated sponsor tent about 15 minutes before the race. There were a few fire pits set up outside as we walked to the tent, so it was cool that the race organizers tried to keep everyone warm in the extreme cold.

We headed to the start line just before 8:45, wished luck to Bob and Erin, and did some warm-up jumping jacks.  Noticing absolutely no line for the bathrooms, I ran over real quick as the race was starting, and Kim and I started a couple minutes late.  We ran past tons of walkers, but unlike other races, the course was pretty wide so no one was really in our way.  In fact, there was no point along the course where it felt congested, which was pretty impressive considering we were just running along neighborhood streets (but maybe that's because we started late?).

The "slow" sign is no coincidence :)

I knew I wasn't going to be going very fast, and I didn't even look at my watch until we crossed the finish line.  I wasn't going to PR or come even close, so I decided to just enjoy the chance to catch up with Kim. After all, this is the running weather we look forward to all year!  Just kidding, 30 or 40 degrees would have been a little better.  Not to hark on how cold it was, but when I stopped at the water station, my water was turning into ice as I was drinking it.  And we both slipped because water that had spilled as people were throwing their cups away was already making the street icy.  So I responsibly put mine in a trash can... that sounded like it was full of ice!

We finished in 38:43 with an overall pace of 12:24.  Not my fastest or slowest 5k of the year, so meh, whatever.  I finished 69th in my age group, which is a little amusing (because I'm immature).

Sparkly turkeys at the finish line (I think they were also leading pre-race stretching)

We hung around the finish line to wait for Bob and Erin to finish the 10k.  Turns out we could have seen Pete finish a couple minutes after us, but he was probably a blur going so fast, so we missed him.

Bob could have tried to stand out a little more

The post-race spread was pretty impressive too.  In addition to the usual water, they had coffee (courtesy of our beloved Stewart's), hot chocolate, pizza and hot dogs!  We took our sweet time to get back over to the sponsor tent, and there was still a ton of food left. And no one scolded me for putting ketchup on my hot dog, which was much appreciated. I can't say enough what an awesome job the race organizers did!

The race shirt was a really nice long-sleeved tech tee (that's in the washer now, so woops, no picture to post) and we also got a nice bag and luggage tag.  Considering I only paid $24 by registering early and using a coupon, I'd say the race cost was more than recouped.  All in all, I would definitely do this race again!

WRCE and friends at the Finish Line

What's next for me?  I'm running another Turkey Trot with my friend Melanie and our husbands on Thanksgiving day, and there may be one more race this year.  Otherwise I'll be looking forward to the S-No-W Fun Run in January, and probably starting to train for a spring half in February.

Note: All pictures courtesy of Erin's husband, Jason, the Wurst Photographer Ever