Race Report -- Nellis AFB Turkey Trot 5k

This morning Tony and I showed up to run the Nellis AFB's Turkey Trot 5k*.

This was my first run of any kind since Silverman so I planned to make it a "fun run." It was fun all right!

I ran a 30:45 which was good enough for 3rd place** in the 40+ age group which meant I won a 15 pound frozen turkey!!!!!!!!

AND I might add 9:53 minute miles!

Being that I was expecting to run between 11 and 12 minute miles for this event I was THRILLED! Perhaps I am really a 10 minute mile girl now?

Or could it be the nice cool weather combined with the nice FLAT course out at Nellis? Whatever it is, I'LL TAKE IT.

It was a small field of runners competing and I started out at a pace I was sure was too fast. Would have been tempted to check my watch at mile marker 1 but I left my watch at home! On purpose. I have been diligent about my recovery and following Coach's instructions to do very little.

When the pace started to feel a bit too fast I just let my mind wander back to Silverman and figured the pace would be what it would be. Worked like a charm!

I wanted to feel good during this run and I did. I did not push hard except for the last few hundred meters when Tony came back to pace me (he finished in 25:xx) and I turned up the heat to finish strong. I was quite surprised to see 30:45 on the clock as I was honestly expecting to see a time somewhere between 33 and 36 minutes.

This tells me that 1) my recovery from Silverman is going well, 2) I really enjoy running (most of the time), 3) the course at Nellis is a good course for me! It was out at Nellis where I set my blistering (for me) 5k PR time of 28:32 back in September.

I am still mostly on recovery and not doing much in the way of exercise but yesterday I went on an 8.25 mile hike out at Lake Mead -- the first part had lots of steep hills. I was feeling it after let me tell ya! Planning on another hike this coming weekend (about 6-7 miles), then back to some semblance of structured workouts starting next week.

Honestly I'm not at all anxious to get back on my bike and I don't miss swimming. LOL!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving week!


*I'm not sure why they had it on a Monday except that most of the runners probably live/work on base so after the race they shower up and just go to to work. Since Tony's and my schedules are flexible we can run over there do the race, have some coffee and then return home.

** I'm pretty sure I was 3rd out of 3. I was not expecting them to award turkeys to the top three winners. When I saw the table full of turkeys I immediately wondered how many were in my AG and thought maybe . . . . . . YES! I got one!