Bring on those calories!

Thanksgiving morning Billie and I (yes she was 4 weeks -to the day-postpartum) ran the Thoroughbred 5K Classic. I was so excited to run. Last year on Thanksgiving my sister-in-law and I ran the Smoke The Turkey 5K in Toledo and it was such a great experience on Thanksgiving morning that I wanted to do it again. This year we were in Kentucky to spend the holiday with Jonathan's family so we found this race which is in its 24th year.

I think a lot of families like to do Thanksgiving runs together. It really is a fun time and a great atmosphere! This race was actually pretty organized (other than not being able to find water after the race), but there were a lot of people in a small area! The race was held at Keeneland (for those of you not from Kentucky, Keeneland is Lexington's horse racetrack.) and we ran through the rolling hills from barns to beautiful countryside. It was a beautiful day and a really pretty course, but a little narrow for over 2000 people. Usually runs kind of thin out part way into the race, but not this one. It was like we were running shoulder to shoulder with people the entire way. (Not my favorite.) But oh well. We had a good time. And yes, since we ran and burned those calories, there was no guilt for having a second helping of Thanksgiving dinner:)

Here are some pics:

Before the race

A mass of people from Jonathan's parking spot.

We were surprised J actually saw us in the crowd! (See how many people?) We'd be running and someone would just slow down or stop to walk right in front of us and we'd have to dodge them... Crazy!

We always have to do an "after" picture! Beautiful Kentucky white fences in front of one of the horse barns.

Billie placed 65/100 in our age group finishing at 32:21.

I placed 67/100 in our age group finishing at 32:21.

If you ask Billie, she will tell you that she was slow. But she's just used to finishing way before me:) She didn't seem slow to me so we ran together the whole way. Plus we had to do a lot of weaving at the beginning which slows you down and takes a lot out of you. We even kicked it in at the end and sprinted as best we could (sprinting is hard to do when you're dodging people) and stepped over the finish line at almost the same moment! I'm so proud of her! I'm pretty sure I'd be using the excuse that I just pushed a child out of me 4 weeks ago, so no, I will not go run 3.1 miles, but please bring on the Turkey! But not Billie! She's a champ! Hopefully this will become an every-other-year tradition (for the years we're in Kentucky and not Toledo). Now we get to start training for our half!