Our Towne Bethlehem Turkey Trot race report.

Well, no suspense here. I've already shouted-out about my race result. So, now, let me tell you about the race.

I was feeling pretty uncertain about the whole thing because my left hamstring/knee/calf had kept me off of running for a full week before the race. But, after that week of resting and icing and foam rolling, my leg was feeling better and I was confident that running a 5K wouldn't be a problem.

I met up with Bridget and Janis early Thursday morning and we were off to the race. For a new turkey trot (just in its second year) it was pretty crowded but the packet pick-up was well organized and we were in and out of the line quickly. We found Bridget's friend, Cortney, who was visiting from the DC area and hung out until the race started. Here we all are:

Keep your eyes open, Happy Runner! Ugh.
(That's Cortney, Janis, me, and Bridget)

I ran a quick mile warm-up and my legs felt fine. I lined up in the big crowd, chatted with another runner who was just coming back from knee surgery and then, 15 minutes late, we were off!

The course is quite flat but extremely twisty. In fact, just past the start line the course made a sharp left turn and that caused a bit of tripping and bumping but soon the pack thinned out and I was running a nice comfortable pace.

Let me point out that the Our Towne Bethlehem Turkey Trot is a very low-key, sorta old school race. There were no mile splits. No chip timing. Just a start line and a finish line with a clock. Record your own time, runners!

That was fine for me because I had no goal other than to run well. But, I admit that I peeked at my Garmin a few times. Toward the end of the first mile I saw my speed and told myself to pick it up. Sure, I was feeling the pain in my hamstring and knee a little bit but, otherwise, I felt great and was running a flat course, so there was no reason not to try to run faster.

So I did. After a 7:28 first mile, I ran the second in 7:08 and the third in 7:09. I picked up the pace at the end, running 6:51 pace.

Funny, I had just recently written about how I have a hard time running negative splits! Not on Thanksgiving!

I crossed the finish line in 22:05 -- Garmin time and clock time. A HUGE PR! (My previous best was 22:51.) But also an asterisk PR, I'm afraid.

As I said, this race was old school, with no chip timing. And, they didn't compile the results. So, my time is my time but I am the only one who knows for sure what I ran.

In other words, I'm placing it in the "unofficial PR" category. I know I ran 22:05 but there is no official record of that time. So, unofficial it is.

After I crossed the finish line, I grabbed a banana and some water and then went for a mile cool-down jog. I met up with Bridget and Janis, who both ran great races, and we headed home.

My leg feels more-or-less OK after the race. I still feel the pain on and off, but it is not even close to as bad as it had been. I'm still icing and stretching and foam rolling, but I am also running. On Sunday, I had a great 5-miler and then, yesterday, I ran another solid 5 miles while pushing my toddler in the jogging stroller. Today, my leg feels fine.

Overall, I'm happy that I didn't bag out of the race. After all, I would have missed out on a nice PR!

But let me ask: Would you count a non-chip timed PR as a PR?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Felice