I ran short of the finish line, yet I'm running again!

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https://www.solanoturkeytrot.org/

I have not learned my lesson.

Barely two months ago, I did not finish my treadmill half-marathon. This should have convinced me that I'm not ready for a race, but here I am again, paying and confirming my attendance at another one. I signed up for the Solano Turkey Trot, an outdoor run/walk event to be held at Solano Community College. 

I first saw an announcement about it at work, but I dismissed it (I thought that I had to be in a turkey costume for it). Everything changed on a relaxed morning when I wasn't rushing after school drop-off. As I was leaving for a physiotherapy appointment, I bumped into the moms of two of Donan's friends. They had both signed up for the 5K run and invited me to join them. Just like that, my initial decision of no changed into count me in. I doubled down.

From treadmill to the great outdoors

Now back to reality: The 5K run/walk lasts for about 90 minutes. I haven't run outdoors for over 10 years, and so I don't have a recent benchmark. My last 5K run time was just under 43 minutes, way back in 2013. 

Logically, my heart-rate-based training should lead to success. I have been running on a treadmill for 10 months now, slowly building my endurance, regularly clocking in 1.5 miles (a little less than 2.5 km) in 25 minutes if I were on a 60-minute 2G class at Orangetheory. Based on the math and my DriTri Sprint experience, I should be able to finish this turkey trot in under an hour, probably even beating my last benchmark.

However, treadmill running (jogging in my case) is in a controlled environment. It's forgiving on the knees and feet, the surface is even (though sometimes inclined), and there's no wind factor that can slow me down. A road race is different: lots of people, a morning breeze, and possibly uneven pavement. My biggest challenge is not the change in environment, it's the mental adjustment to running outside again. 

Wish me luck at the Turkey Trot! Any tips for running a 5K outdoors after a long break?

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