November 14th 10K Turkey Trot

So the Annual 10K Turkey Trot has arrived in Yuma Az. Liz, Caroline and I decided we would all get matching shirts and do it together. Liz is a very fast walker, so when we walk together I sometimes have to jog to catch up with her. We try to walk at least 2 nights a week doing up to 5 miles a night. I thought that is was getting me ready for the 10K but I was sorely mistaken.
Registration was between 7:15am and 8:15am on the day of the race. You could have registered earlier but where's fun in that (we forgot to). So I picked up Caroline and headed to the bank so I had cash and then we were to swing by and get Liz. I regret to say…I made us late. There I said it. I thought that it would make me feel better to say it but not so much. We showed up at the park where the 10K was taking place and we hurried to be sure we could still register. They still let us. Why would they turn away 3 girls with the cutest matching shirts you had ever seen? We got our numbers and we got in line to start the race. We decided we would walk for 5 minutes and jog for 2 minutes. I did ok I could have done better if I had did a little more running previous to the race. We each took turns pushing Jordan in the stroller. I got to the point the running was getting really hard to do. I am not complaining I am just letting you know what a terrible runner I am. (I have set some goals to do better) So I decided walking fast was good enough. At least I was finishing the race. Liz since she is such a fast walker got further ahead and finished before us. Caroline and I had noticed that there was an older man behind us but we didn’t pay him much attention. We thought he was awesome to be doing a 10K at his age. We later noticed that he was getting closer and closer. Close enough that he was gaining a lot of ground. I was determined not to let him pass me so I started to walk faster and faster but it didn’t seem to be working. As we rounded the last corner I started running as fast as I could, there was no way I was going to let this old man beat me. Well as we got closer to the finish line I was feeling that I wasn’t going to be able to beat him. Caroline kept encouraging me and we crossed the finish line before him. I was so proud of myself. I completed my first 10K in 1 hour and 29 minutes. I gave the old man a hugged him and thanked him for the motivation. As they were giving out the medals they announced that he got the gold in his age group…the 90 years old and older. Holy cow! I cried. He is an amazing man. I also found out that he has been doing these races for years. I look forward to seeing him on December 5th for the next 10K and I hope to have a better time.