Decided to move this over from RWOL:

I hope you don't mind a quick story first [If you want to get to the RR, just scroll down a bit =]:

Race #1: I didn't really start running until this summer when my cousins decided that we would run the Firefly 5k in Chicago all together. So I recompleted C25k. Unfortunately, my cousins didn't really train as well as they could have. So I ran the first ~.75 miles with them, then decided to just run ahead of them. I passed a bunch of people but finished in 30:03, which was 3 seconds above my 30 minute goal. =P. This was on September 15.

Race #2: Decided to do a run at school with one of my friends. Really, really small. I think there were 20ish people? I finished in about 29 minutes. There was a crazy hill in the middle. And since it was a loop that we had to go through twice... We had to go through that hill. Twice. Nice. This was on September 30.

This Race: [The actual RR]: I've tried to sign up for a bunch of different runs with my cousins, but they haven't really been committing to anything. So then I decided I would just sign up for one myself. I was planning on running one this weekend, so last night I checked to see if there were any that were coming up/close by. And then I just decided to do one that was... oh you know, the next morning [today]. Since I hadn't run in almost a week, I went to the local track to do a few quick laps ~2.5 miles. I felt fine, so then I decided that I would definitely do the Turkey Trot.

This morning I got up at 7. On the website, it indicated that there were about 150 bibs left and that registration opened at 7:50 and the race started at 9. Drove over, got there quicker than I thought, and got there right when race-day registration opened. I got a shirt too! [Though now I'm 100% sure that it won't fit... oh well]. Registration went smoothly. I hung out in my car for 30 minutes since it was a bit cold. I contemplated putting on the longsleeve tech shirt they gave me underneath my shirt, but then decided against it. 

Got out of my car. Ran a little to warm up. Not too many people around 4-500 maybe. I lined up in the middle. There were a ton of kids running it too. 

Race started. Pretty easy going out. The only problem was that since it was on a trail through the woods, it was also open to the public. This meant that a few bikers were also on the trails. Most of them were respectful, though a select few were outright rude as we tried to go around them. Minor complaints though. 

It was strange not having someone to run it with, but in the end, I think that just helped me concentrate on the race itself. I was able to pick people to keep up with and eventually pass =]

Times according to Garmin:

Mile 1: 8:58

Mile 2: 8:43

Mile 3: 8:21

For a time of 26:31 and a distance of 3.07

Ahhh! After having run the past month mostly on a treadmill. I was surprised that I killed my PR by that much. This is the first time I've consistently run under 9 minute miles too, which is honestly something I never thought i would do. So overall, fun race, great day. Good decision made on impulse haha. 

Thanks for reading =]

Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245697218#

Congrats on the PR.

Congrats on the PR!  And with negative splits, too!  Way to go!

Congratulations, Tenniskid, that's awesome.   Some people tend to do really good training on the tm.  Your cousins are like most people--- it takes a while and sometimes numerous tries before running "takes."  Glad you've stuck with it, and have found how motivating races can be.   Glad you had fun!

Really terrific times - congratulations!

Congrats on the PR!