A tale of two turkey trots (Part 2)

Confession time: I got cold feet...

…literally and figuratively. I didn't run my turkey trot this Thanksgiving. I signed up a few days before Thanksgiving, but in reality, I hadn't been running a lot, I was unprepared to deal with the cold, and to top it all off, I got sick. Even though I wasn't feeling well the night before, I planned to race and I even had my racing clothes all laid out. But on Thanksgiving morning, I wasn't up for it. I'm going to be honest: part of me was afraid of racing when I knew I wasn't ready. But a part of me was actually not ready. I made the right choice not to run, but since Robyn and I had already named our blog posts "A tale of two turkey trots," I knew that I'd have to report back here. In the end, my entry fee helped support a local food bank so all was not lost.

Feeling bummed that I couldn't follow through on my turkey trot, I've rededicated myself to running. During the holiday season when it's often hard to stay motivated and people worry about overeating, Runner's World sponsors a run streak, where runners run at least 1 mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Years. I'm in on this, and hopefully it will keep me outside in the cold while I build some milage before my spring training cycle starts.

To kick off my run streak, I needed to get a little silly. I wanted to conquer the cold, but unfortunately I hadn't brought enough layers to stay warm on my run. So I threw together the silliest outfit I could find with a little help from my family,  and headed out for a photo shoot with my dad pre-run.

Pictured here: Mizuno Wave Riders, my mom's old Smartwool socks, my new Oiselle Lesley Knicker, my brother's oversized soccer warm up top, and my team's new headband. I looked ridiculous but it gave me enough giggles to get in a good run. I ended up ditching the top layer less than a mile into the run. The general rule of thumb for cold-weather running is to dress for up to 20 degrees warmer than it feels. I've known this forever, but I needed a reminder that the cold isn't that bad or intolerable. This was a great run on some of my favorite trails and it completely set me straight for the rest of the month.

Going forward, I'm excited to say that I think I've picked a marathon training plan and a marathon for the spring! I'm thinking the Cox Providence Marathon in early May. It's a fast and flat course, not too far from me and it has pacers. This is an important aspect for me for my first marathon, so that I'm not running for hours and hours on my own. The training plan I've picked is a Hal Higdon program. It's the Intermediate 1 plan. There's no speed work, but the long runs get up to 20 miles. Since this will be my first attempt, I'm going to focus on just finishing, and then I can reassess to see how my training can help me get to the next level.

So even though Thanksgiving was almost a complete bust, I haven't given up. I'm not a speed work kind of gal, so I would much rather stick to a plan that has me running far than fast. Especially for a marathon, I have to be committed and willing to do the work. For now, I'm just building up my base of miles, but on January 1st it's go time.

Happy holidays and happy running!

Rachel "loves all kinds of streaking" Runner