Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year because it’s about food, loved ones, and gratitude. This year things were switched up a bit in my household; this allowed me to get a later start in the kitchen and created an opportunity for me to participate in Turkey Trot Miami on Thursday morning. I decided to go for the 10K because 10Ks are more fun than 5Ks, right?
Packet pick-up was straightforward, although there was a bit of a line when I went around 1:00pm on the Wednesday before the race. There were start line corrals that required a colored wrist band for entrance and I was worried that because I registered late, I would have a later start. Thanks to prior registrations for other Chronotrack/Athlinks races, however, I was automatically given a wristband for corral B (8:30 to 10:30 pace per mile).
The race location at Tropical Park is close to my house so I thought an hour was enough time to get to the race parking lot. I was wrong as traffic was so backed up I worried I wouldn’t make it to the start line in time and ended up parking at a shopping center that was about a 10-minute walk away. To give you an idea for how bad the traffic was, a decision was made to delay the start time from 7:00am to 7:15am to give people more time to park and pick up bibs.
I went into the race not feeling too well to my stomach and mindful of changes I need to make to my running form (thanks Jaguar Therapeutics!). First two miles felt strong, but way too fast for what I wanted to put out there that day. I slowed it down A LOT for miles three and four and then got a killer side stitch that hung out with me from miles 4.7 to 6.2.
There was a point - soon after the 5K course split from the 10K course - that I thought, “I would be really good if the race was done; I should have just signed up for the 5K.” I did what I always do when thoughts like this creep in and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I was very happy when I finished, even if my finish line picture tells a different story.
All in all, Turkey Trot Miami was a fun race. I wish parking would have been a little smoother and that the tent with Tito’s Vodka and cider was better announced (there was no signage that I could see), but it was great to finally do a race that had been on my bucket list for six years. Plus, I got to see and hang out with some of my favorite runners after the race.
Next up for me is the Islamorada Half Marathon on December 9th. This half will be my 33rd and I’m looking forward to having lots of fun running my favorite distance.
Interested in reading more about my running adventures? Read my Chicago Marathon 2018 recap and my Miami Beach Halloween Half recap.