Feaster Five Re-Cap

For me, Thanksgiving is about spending time with family, drinking lots of wine and eating fabulous food.  Thus, it was pretty surprising when I did something this Thanksgiving that I never thought I'd do...run a road race!  In Andover, the Feaster Five is a major road race that takes place every Thanksgiving morning.  When a co-worker mentioned it to me, I thought I'd sign up for it, especially since the runners pass right by our house.  I managed to convince Bret to do it as well.

It was a beautiful but chilly morning on Thursday.  We were bundled up and ready to go!

I've run the course a handful of times on my own and it is a bit challenging.  There is a pretty steep hill in the first mile.  The rest of the course is mostly flat but after the third mile, the home stretch is another steep hill.  The first hill actually went really well.  I think I was encouraged by all of the runners around me and they helped push me faster than I would have run on my own.  The last hill was a bit challenging.  I was definitely tired but I probably could have pushed myself a little more.

Overall, I thought I ran at a pretty good pace even though the race was a bit of a mess.  Walkers, runners with strollers, runners with dogs, families running four or five across made it an obstacle course to tuck in and out around them.  Parts of the course were really narrow to make room for the 5-mile race so it got a bit hectic.  Still, I was happy with my end time of 35:04, especially since I was running 36-37 minutes on my own.  I wish that I had pushed myself a little harder to get under 35 minutes, but I guess this just gives me a goal for next year!

Bret's bib unfortunately tore during his run and as a result, his time never got recorded.  He was definitely bummed, especially since this was his first 5K.  He faithfully ran with me the entire time but I know that he could have easily run faster than me if he wanted to. 

I originally ran my first 5K in April because it was an item to cross off on my 30 by 30 list.  I never thought that I would keep signing up for more.  I definitely never thought that I would have run three 5Ks in a year, or that Bret and I would ever run a race together!  While I still wouldn't call myself a runner, I've definitely started enjoying challenging and pushing myself with each race.  Bret and I are already talking about doing another one in Andover in April. 

For Bret and I, running the 5K together might be a new Thanksgiving tradition.  Tell me, how was your Thanksgiving?  Was it filled with old traditions or are did you start any new traditions?