Trot Trot Gobble Gobble!!

Today is the type of day where you (or maybe just me?) want to go outside, raise your arms straight out, and spin around in circles. Preferably in a field of daisies ;) Yes, the weather is that amazing in Florida today.

Which made for an AWESOME 10k Turkey Trot this morning!

I got in to Tampa last night and it was rainy and humid. My mom and I just hung out and watched TV — the most inspiring and tear jerking “Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now?” special was on and it was so awesome. I don’t have a TV in DC, and I miss it! :)

This morning, we were up bright and early for the race (my brother got in late last night!). It’s so fun being back in Florida. I didn’t grow up here — my parents are just here for my dad’s job right now — so it’s still a novelty to me :) I love being by the ocean and the smell of the salty air.

 

Anyway, it was looking ominous on our drive this morning:

And then all of a sudden… it started to clear!

I am obsessed with when the GPS looks like this:

Nothin’ but water all around :) Apparently we need to update the time on that… it was 7:30, not 8:30!

Here’s me and my brother before the race — so sunny out (squinty eyes!)!

It was PACKED! They had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR races there this morning! Yes, FOUR! A one mile fun run/walk, a 5k fun run, a competitive 5k, and our 10k. Intense!

Anyway, after some confusion I was able to find the starting line, where Megan and I met up! I never thought I’d find her, but then there she was! It was really fun to see her :)

And then we were off! This was probably one of my favorite races I’ve ever done — the weather was awesome, my legs felt great, my knee doesn’t hurt anymore, it was nice and flat, not too crowded, and there were fun bands and spectators along the way! There was a band of old dudes in their front yard playing the “8 6 7 5 — 309” song which was amazing, hehe. The only thing that sucked was that there were no chips! So I just had to go by my watch.

I felt great the whole time, enjoying the weather and the scenery, and was able to maintain an average of about an 8:40 pace! I sprinted all out at the finish and clocked in right at 53 minutes. Hooray! A new PR! My only other 10k was about 55 minutes — it was a couple months ago, the week before the Army Ten Miler when my knee was killing me and my friend Ashley and I were trying to take it easy in preparation for the next weekend.

Megan and I met up again afterwards for some picture taking fun :)

She finished in about 51 minutes! Go Megan!! Here we are showing off our respective times ;)

My face matches my shirt ;)

Speaking of shirts, check out the cute shirts we got! They are awesome wicking material, no lame cotton here! I love the turkey tossing the water bottle, haha.

Now I am rushing to make a sweet potato creation to bring to our friends for Thanksgiving today! As usual, I’m kind of randomly throwing things together and hoping it comes out tasty. I’m thinking a simple, not too sweet dish… we’ll see ;) My mom is skeptical, haha. Stay tuned! The sweet potatoes are almost done boiling :)

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! I hope you’re all enjoying a day full of family, friends, and good food :)

Did you run a Turkey Trot this morning? How’d you do?? :)

I’ll be back later with a holiday recap and my final mashed sweet potato recipe!