I spent my Thanksgiving holiday in San Diego. Although it was a very brief visit, I was excited to return to one of my favorite cities in the country — other than NYC, of course. Last time I was there was 15 years ago when I had a slight detour trip to Tijuana, Mexico — crazy place! The city is absolutely beautiful, as the weather is your typical spring temperatures, and the people are stunning! As it is one of the most athletic/fit cities in the world, I was eager to prove my athleticism by signing up for the Turkey Trot on Thanskgiving Day.

A mere 5K usually is a training run for my longer distances; but when it’s an actual race, I find myself wondering how to attack this quick run for a personal best. The first mile was absolutely the hardest. My legs felt like rocks, my breathing scarce, and I was determined to make it to the finish line before my goal of 25 min. or less. The race was over in 25 min. and 52 seconds, which surprisingly was my personal best pace: 8:20/mile! The best part of the whole race was finding out I was actually fifth in my age group. I wish they gave you updates on where you are in the race so you get motivated to run harder and faster to the finish line.

Regardless, I am very happy with the results even though I came back home under the weather — I know I came down with something from that day. How do I know? Well, right after the race I went into a sneezing frenzy. That afternoon I had heavy congestion, ear pressure and all the works. Over a week has gone by and I’m not getting better. As I go into the weekend with my green tea as my ally, I wish everyone safe and healthy travels!

— Banu Yilmaz, advertising director