Crystal Lake Thanksgiving Day 5K
Comments (16) You know it’s a good day for a 5K when you wake up and find SNOW on your car!
We didn’t let the snow/rain/cold temps (low 30s) deter us! I was super excited to be running our first Thanksgiving Day 5K – especially since the entry to this one was practically free! All you had to do was donate some food. And it looks like they got a lot of donations – I think there were at least 300 runners there.
For being an inexpensive race, I thought it was still well organized. They still had bibs, registration, the trail marked, and people helping along on the trail. There were no pace signs at the mile markers, or water stations, but that was fine with me.
The 5K was held in Lippold Park in Crystal Lake (about a 30 minute drive for us), on a crushed granite path. Crushed granite path + 3 days of rain + a little bit of snow + runners on crowded trails = SUPER SOAKED SHOES. A few times we stepped in puddles that went OVER our shoes and had the fun feeling of water squishing between our toes as we ran. No worries though, we brought extra socks and shoes (My idea of course. Even though I will probably never be a mom, I still think I have the mom instinct)!
Check out how muddy my pants got! I think my shoes are ruined. Wah.
And the close-up!!!
Our goal was to get in under 30 minutes. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to because we were focusing so hard on not stepping into ALL of the puddles, but our final time was about 28:40! We even had negative splits. I never really felt like I was struggling, but doubt I could have gone much faster at the end.
Even though the race was crowded, muddy and cold, it was still a lot of fun. I’m so happy to be getting back into the game, and being able to run with Steven. It might be a silly goal, but I would like to work on my speed, as well as endurance this winter. Do you have any winter running or exercise goals?
Distance: 3.09 | Time: 28:40 | 1: 9:49 | 2: 9:11 | 3: 8:52 | 4: 00:46
Data is happy it is Thanksgiving and is going to celebrate by resting his butt on my head. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Themocracy