On Thanksgiving morning, as part of my strategy to have a healthy turkey day experience, I dragged my super-supportive boyfriend out of bed to come cheer for me as I ran my first post-injury race.
I had to dig up all my Winter running gear because, y’all, Colorado Springs is COLD. This might just break the record for the coldest race I’ve ever run. Having fully embraced the sunny California climate, this was a bit of the shock to my system.
Also, there’s less oxygen than I’m used to. At 6,500 ft. elevation, it’s definitely harder to breath, but I didn’t think this would be too big a deal. I mean, this is a 5K, not the Leadville 100.
It’s not a big deal … UNLESS you have to run up a giant hill and just flew in from your sea-level abode. Do you know how many hills are on my running routes in Roseville? It rhymes with hero.
I made it up the first hill okay, but by the second hill, I was breathing hard and starting to get dizzy. A man running just behind me flat-out collapsed. It was just past the half-mile mark, but for me, it was time to walk. I spent the rest of the up-hills run/walking to avoid any actual altitude sickness.
It’s a Turkey Trot, so I was far from the only person walking up the hills. At some points, I was forced to walk just because the wall of walkers in front of me was so dense, and the course narrowed to a sidewalk at one point.
The course is out-and-back, which means I got rewarded for all the uphill running in the first half with a fun downhill run in the second half. I love these kinds of courses – easy negative split! It was fun to take off toward the end.
I didn’t push myself super hard, so wasn’t too tired, but it definitely took a while to catch my breath. At the end, there was a giant mass of people wandering around, seemingly aimless. I finally had to ask another runner where the water table was. On my way, I spotted a food table and grabbed a banana. There were also bagels (of course).
The crowds up and down the course were great, and many runners joined in cheering (especially for all the parents running uphill with baby strollers – talk about dedication!). There were also about a dozen dogs barking out their motivations, and jumping around in excitement at all the running targets people.
All in all, it was a super fun experience that I highly recommend if you find yourself in the Colorado Springs/Pikes Peak area over Thanksgiving.
Did you run a Turkey Trot? Give me your race recap!
