Just like that, Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we are all starting to get ready for the holidays. This year continues to be unlike any other, and this week was a rough one for several reasons. But I did run a 10 mile turkey trot virtual race on Thanksgiving, which was a fun distraction.
Weekly Run Down: Thanksgiving Week and 10 Mile Turkey Trot Virtual Race
- Monday: Strength Training and 3.5 Treadmill Miles
- Tuesday: 4.8 Stroller Miles + Core/Glutes
- Wednesday: Rest
- Thursday: 10 Mile Virtual Race (plus w/u and c/d- 11 miles total)
- Friday: Strength Training + 3.8 Miles
- Saturday: 7 Miles + Core
- Sunday: 3.7 Miles
10 Mile Turkey Trot
I signed up for this a few weeks ago through one of my local running stores. It was only $10, and we have the choice between a 5k, 5 miler, and 10 miler. Of course I like my longer distances and I haven’t done a 10 mile race since 2016, so that sounded good to me.
All week I was stalking the weather because there was a 90% chance of rain in the morning on Thanksgiving. When I woke up on Thursday, it wasn’t raining! Instead it was warm and windy. Who would of thought I would be doing a virtual race on Thanksgiving in 58 degrees?
I ran .7 miles as my warm up, and did my first 3 miles in a hilly section of my neighborhood. I figured I would get the hills out of the way early. Then I went to a flatter area, where I would repeat some sections, and unfortunately there are alot of turns there. At once point when I looked at the lap pace on my watch it showed a number that I knew was incorrect. I pushed hard to make up for it, but when I looked at the map later it had cut off a part of my run, which ultimately made me add time onto that mile.
I held a steady pace for the first 8 miles, and then really pushed it for the last 2. I ended up finishing 20 seconds slower than my PR from 2016, so I was happy with that. I know I could have run faster on a real course and in better conditions, and I also wasn’t giving 100% of my race effort to this. But it was definitely challenging!
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving at home with just the 3 of us. It was a really nice day out so we played outside, and also got to FaceTime with our families. I made my first turkey ever, and it came out ok! We also learned that Grayson loves cranberry sauce and biscuits.
A True Break from Work
I took off all week except Monday because I really haven’t taken vacation time this year and I have days that I will lose. On Tuesday it was tough to not look at my E-mails or follow-up to stuff that came through. Then on Wednesday morning I got a text from a co-worker that we weren’t supposed to log into our laptops until further notice. There had been some ransomware attack to the school system that was being investigated.
I went on Twitter and saw that they were closing all schools and offices. Our website was down. We had to delete all apps and E-mail accounts from our phones. Everything was completely shut down. Well that’s one way to truly take a forced break from work!
Next Steps
There was a press conference that afternoon with not much information. We have been 100% remote so this is a huge issue (it would be no matter what). Everything we do right now requires our network and being able to stay connected virtually. Our schools system has 175 schools and hundreds of thousands of students who need to learn. What are we going to do?
At this point all I know is they are closing schools Monday and Tuesday. It sounds like staff will be working (somehow??) and maybe they will have more information for us soon. Seriously 2020, I think we have all had enough at this point!
You may also like:
Just Another Week in 2020
When In Doubt, Run It Out
How Not To Run A Virtual Half-Marathon
Race Recovery and Thanksgiving Week Things
- Did you do any real or virtual races on Thanksgiving?
- If you celebrate Thanksgiving, did it look different for you this year?
- Are you ready for 2020 to be over?
A few weeks ago, there was a big ransomware threat to healthcare systems. We didn’t shut down but my company was proactive regarding email. We aren’t allowed to access our home email at work any more either. I wish these people would stop hacking into everything!
Nice job on that 10 miler! I’d love to run anything close to that fast!
It’s crazy all the hacking that’s going on, and I think they’re taking advantage of so many people working remotely this year.
Thank you!
Even though I wasn’t able to truly race it, I got my virtual 5k in on Thursday and it was very satisfying. My company doesn’t have a PTO policy, it’s just “get your work done and take vacation whenever you want”, and that’s kind of been a disadvantage this year because until this Thursday I haven’t truly taken a day off. I’m loving the 4 day weekend!
Even though it has been very nice to be at home…yes I am so ready for 2020 to be over.
Glad you were finally able to take some time off this week! We just have a few more weeks of this year to get through…
Yeah, 2020 can just pack up and leave (or take a very long walk on a very short plank). We had some issue at work recently as well…they had to shut down overnight and reboot some stuff (I’m extremely tech-challenged, so I don’t know or even understand all the lingo LOL). Our Thanksgiving was the smallest ever, but as nice as it could be with the conditions.
I feel bad for all the tech people and leadership who had to work all week dealing with this stuff. I have no idea when/how we will be able to access our stuff again.
Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving even though it was small!
Glad you were able to take some real time away from work, but oh boy- what a situation with the ransomware!! Yikes…I hope everything gets sorted out!
I haven’t taken any really time away this year other than our Boundary Waters trip. I really need to. It’s so hard, but so good for mental health and had it been a normal year, I would have had real vacations and time away!
Nice work on your virtual 10 miler!
Thanks! Yes, its so good to take real time away from work! Usually if I got on vacation I feel like I can step away from everything, but when I’m at home its hard not to check up on things!
Oh man, that’s awful about the cyber attack on your school network. Hopefully they can figure everything out soon to get everyone back online.
Great job on your 10 mile Turkey Trot, and I love your socks – so cute!
Thanks! I know, it’s so crazy. They are working around the clock to get things back up and running.
Really nice job on your 10 mile race! I’ve never done a 10 mile race.
We were warm, too — although not as warm — still, I wish I’d worn a skirt. Oh well.
Oh no on the ransomware! That’s scary.
Thanksgiving was definitely different. Not having to travel or host was actually a nice break, but sad, too. And I still pretty much did it all — my husband mixed up his stuffing, but I cooked it for him — it was still a tiring day! Or maybe that was the 6 miles talking. 🙂
Haha! I found the cooking to be tiring too, even though it was only for the 3 of us. I said it was good practice in case we ever host for real one day!
Great job on your 10 miles!
That sucks about the hacking. At least you were forced to stop checking email. Ha, I am guilty of checking it too often too. However, I don’t respond during my off hours.
Thank you! Yes, it was nice to be forced to take a break but now I am starting to worry about how we are going to get back to work this week. It’s a terrible time for this to happen!
that is a speedy 10 miler! It’s hard to PR on a virtual race. My last 10 m run was the Cherry Blossom virtual in March. cant’ believe it! I am glad you got some time off from work. Hope your school stuff gets figured out. Farirax county had a huge hack at the beginning of virtual learning it was quite the mess
I heard about that one! It seems like the cyber attacks have increased alot this year. Of course, when we need our networks the most.
Oh, I heard about that hacking! I hope they get things up and running for you soon. Ransomware can be crippling. In the good news department, I was so glad it wasn’t raining Thanksgiving morning. I didn’t have time for a long run, but I did have time for a run! Congrats on your 10 miler! And on cooking your first turkey! My Mom usually makes ours, but this year my son did it all himself.
It was kind of nice to cook the turkey without any real pressure! And now I know I can do it if I ever need to again. Yea, this cyber attack is a big mess. I know they are trying to quickly get things back up but I have no idea how long it will take before we get access to all our stuff again.
Oh my goodness, when I heard on the news about the Baltimore school system’s ransomware attack I immediately thought about you and wondered if you worked for that system. I hope everything works out, especially for the students’ sake. They’ve had to deal with so much already.
Isn’t it fun seeing what new foods our little ones like? I’m with Grayson on the biscuits, but I can take or leave the cranberry sauce. LOL
He definitely has a sweet tooth but is also a carb lover lol!
Agreed about the students having been through so much. I mean even if we were in school buildings this would be a huge issue, but obviously during the pandemic its even worse.
Great job on your 10 mile trot. It’s so hard to really push the pace and execute a race strategy virtually. What a bummer on the cyber attack. It’s all gotten so out of hand. Our Thanksgiving was definitely different but it was kind of nice too just having the four of us.
It’s really just been a crazy year! Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving even though it was small.
Yes this year Thanksgiving was different – just the two of us but also because everyone lese was sick. We chose to go with Italian take out and totally ignore that it was thanksgiving.
I did two virtual trots…just for fun. So glad I have running.
Congrats on your 10 miler. That is the perfect distance in my book.
I’m ready for the pandemic to end. Don’t think it will be over when 2020 ends unfortunately
I’m sure it won’t be over when 2020 ends, unfortunately. Hopefully 2021 will be a better year overall though.
Ok. Who DOESN’T like biscuits and cranberry sauce, I would like to know! Glad your turkey came out well!
Great job on the 10 miler. I went for five and was quite happy with that.
I know a few other people in your district and it is a MESS. I hope they get it resolved.
Well he didn’t even want to try mashed potatoes and stuffing so I’m glad he at least liked some of the meal!
Yea, its all pretty crazy. Students come back tomorrow so hopefully the teachers have what they need to get back to teaching!