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Let’s talk Turkey… trotting that is.

I love the idea of Turkey Trots but rarely make it to an actual one due to either distance or time.    I was stoked to hear that the Oakland Turkey Trot offered a virtual option.   Don’t get me wrong- as race day grew closer I wished I could join the party.   Everything they were posting on Instagram made me wish I could drive to Oakland on Thanksgiving.  The swag, the mural painting, the fun- man, I wish I could go!

My bib and swag arrived a few days before the race.  Talk about swag! I’ve run much larger races and received way less.  Oakland knows how to treat their runners right!

Race morning- Thanksgiving Day

The advantage to a virtual run is I could run anytime I wanted to; for me that was around 12.  Woo hoo!  No early wake up call and perfect temps.  Actually I overdressed as I had been sick during the week before and thought it was colder than it was.  Oops.

I was going to run my normal 5k route from my house but flip the beginning and the end so I could have a nice downhill finish.    Since I had been sick and this was a virtual race, I treated this more like a hard push run than a race.  I walked the first 5 minutes of mile 1- crazy right? But my later start meant I was already pushing it with family plans.  

From then on, it was a comfortable push tempo pace, enjoying the fall colors in my neighborhood.   I added in a hill in the middle to take out a hill at the end but still had around 300 ft of elevation over the 5K.  I don’t live in a flat area.   I walked another block or so during mile 2 due to an off leash dog.  When the lady grabbed the dog in alarm, I wasn’t taking any chances so I slowed way down until I was well past them.

All in all, I finished the 5k in 33:33 which made me laugh at the perfectness of it.  It also reassured me that had I actually raced it, I would have likely subbed 30.  Don’t have to worry about off leash dogs during races and I usually warm up first. 😛

I still wish I could have joined the epic party up in Oakland but I was glad I got to participate in anyway.

Did you Turkey Trot?