Trotting for the turkey...

Ah, the holiday season is upon us.  Eating, drinking, being merry, and eating some more, possibly drinking some more.  Yes, I mark the beginning of this season with the first turkey trot I run and don't look back until ringing in the new year.  Today is that day and I'll be starting the season with the Naval Support Activity Annapolis MWR Turkey Trot 5k...it also marks the first time running with Brie since the end of September.

I headed over to Greenbury Point a little early to get in a couple extra miles (trying to tick away at that goal as much as possible).  Eh, hold on, first I had to turn around (I was only a mile from home) and head back home to grab the tire pump (really just grabbed the whole running stroller) because Brie's was't working.  Then I headed to Greenbury Point.

I was surprised to see the number of runners already gathering when I arrived around 8:20am.  Usually these races are very small so I am happy they are finally getting the word out, though that doesn't help me in my quest to finally win one of their great door prizes.  But I disgress....since I was a little later than intentioned, I decided I would just run a mile and a half or so.  I tend to forget how long the Greenbury Point trail is. 

So, at 8:30ish, I hit the trail at a nice clip...my nicest clip all week, almost back to normal.  And settled in for a pounding warm up against the head winds coming off the bay.  Yowzer, were they something.  As I approached the "short cut" route, I looked at my watch and realized that if I wanted to catch up with Brie before the run, that I couldn't take the whole path.  So I headed back and screeched into the parking lot at about 8:45am in time to see Brie just getting the jogging stroller out of her vehicle. 

We pumped up her tires, with a little help from her little one, made a last trip to the restroom and headed to the starting line.  Sort of.  We actually missed the start, but who cares, its a fun run.  Once we had the jogging stroller situated, we headed out onto the course.  Since we missed the start, we didn't feel compelled to back track that .05 miles to the actual starting line and just began from where we were.

While catching up on the latest and greatest news, we noticed that runners were already doubling back toward the starting line which would mean these guys were super super (like world record) fast unless they changed up the 5k course some.  And yes, they did.  Rather than going all the way up Greenbury Point Road and turning around at Kincaid, we looped back to the trail and finished up there.  The wind was still brisk, but it was a beautiful day out on the bay...and I love the Bay Bridge.  We even passed a few runners. 

All was good until we rounded to the finish line.  Brie's little one wanted to race the last little bit, so we stopped, got him out of the stroller and waited for him to say "go."  Not five feet after the last little burst, the poor guy trip, fell and broke open his lip on the pavement.  He's a tough one though and we were soon eating the turkey sandwiches, waiting to learn that once again we didn't win the random prize drawings.

In all, it was another fun event, with great folks and the opportunity to exercise.  Who can complain about that?  It also meant a great start to a fun filled day of volunteering, tailgating and Navy football.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.93
Time:   48:23 (average pace of 9:49)
Location:  NSA Annapolis, Greenbury Point
Feeling:  finally getting back on track