October 2017 – Zenaida Arroyo

It is hard to believe that we are close to the end of October and November starts next week. Also, hard to believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Oh, and my birthday is that same week as Thanksgiving. 🙂

I am excited because that same week of Thanksgiving, I only work Monday and Tuesday and then I am off the rest of the week. Thanksgiving is always a time to eat all of the food and spend time with family. It is also time to run in a turkey trot. This year I am looking forward to run the Art Van Turkey Trot in Chicago. I haven’t decided on whether to run the 5K or 8K. It’s been years since I’ve run in a turkey trot. Read along as I list the reasons why I am excited to run this race and why you should too.

1. This race supports the Greater Chicago Food Depository. What better way to start off the day than to help out fellow Chicago friends to ensure they don’t go hungry this holiday season.

2. It is a local race. That saves me time and money. I sleep in my own bed and drive to the race. I’ve never run this race before and am looking forward to runing in Lincoln Park.

3. FREE Race Photos. I never buy any of my race photos (too expensive and don’t like how I look) but I’ve noticed that I do like the FREE ones. Regardless, whether I like them or not, they’re still FREE.

4. It is a short race. There are two options in this race, 5K and am 8K. Whether it is 3.1 or 6.2 miles, those distances are still doable. Right?

5. A cool shirt and medal! New this year is that everyone that crosses the finish line gets a medal. Check out that cool blue color of the shirts! Love it!

EXTRA:
6. I get to wear some cool socks! I purchased these socks at the Shamrock Shuffle expo specifically to run a turkey trot. I am excited to wear them on race day.

Remember, if you would like to sign up, use TURKEYDAY2017 to save 10% off any race distance.

Any plans to run a Turkey Trot this year?

I’m linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 2.0.

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to the Chicago Half Marathon & Life Time 5K as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

I had originally signed up for the half marathon. However, with the unusually high temperatures in Chicago, I decided instead to run the 5K.

After my run on Saturday morning, I went to Soldier Field to pick up my packet. Parking was a deal for $5! Names were printed on the letters but I didn’t find my name. In fact many names were missing because I didn’t see any names with last names ending in A, B, C, D, or E (just naming a few as I know there were more but cannot remember).

Bib pickup and switching over to the 5K was fast and easy. Not much in the goodie bag.

I do like the shirt.

A reminder that it was going to be warm on race day.

It was a good size expo with many vendors.

I tried Rx bars but did not like the texture.

Almost bought these shoes.

Walked around a bit more and left to meet my friend, Claudia, for lunch.

I woke up early on Sunday morning to get ready and eat something. I also had some coffee. Then I drove to the race location. I got lucky and found parking right away. However, I was there very early so I still had to wait. The half marathon began at 7 am and the 5K at 7:45am.

I found my friend, Claudia, and we use the port-a-potties, took some pictures, and I wished her good luck as she was running the half marathon.

I hate it when vendors take advantage of the situation (I know they are there to make money) and charge a lot for food. That slice of pizza is very small which is the same one runners got at the end of the race.

I was planning to meet Heather prior to the race but that didn’t work out. I did see her once the race began and she was walking to start running.

Then I had to wait again. By this point I was hungry. It was also warm. At least now there were no lines at the port-a-potties but they were also SMELLY!

Finally time to run. It was nice to run in the shade. Miles 1 and 2 went by fast. There was a water/gatorade station a bit before mile 2. I drank some Gatorade and ran again. I was surprised there was a station so late into the race. I didn’t care too much for me because I was running a shorter race. The half marathoners still had a long way to go and shouldn’t have had to wait till mile 2 for water and Gatorade.

I saw a cute Mexican family with less than half a mile away. I could hear the music and the race announcer. I picked up the pace a little bit and finally crossed the finish line.

Done. Got my medal and some post race goodies.

Love free pictures. The bottom one cracks me up. I almost didn’t post it because my eyes are closed. But there is a story behind it. Next to me is my friend’s dad. At the beginning he told me he was going to beat me. Throughout the race I would pass him and then he would pass me. Around mile 2 was the last time I passed him. He surprised me when he caught up to me as we got closer to the finish line and I ran as fast as I could. We crossed the finish line together and I was laughing!! I still beat him by 7 seconds. 🙂

Free pizza. Would you pay $6 for that slice? I am a big fan of Home Run Inn pizza and realize that that picture of the pizza doesn’t look tasty. However, my complaint is the cost for that size.