Posts Tagged ‘Turkey Trot’

A year after not being able to run a race on Thanksgiving Day, I’m very grateful today to have hit the hilly streets of Lynchburg for my second 5k in less than a week. There has been no greater feeling of success than coming back from my injury this year.

Similar to last week, my main goal was to run hard, not give quite that 100 percent race effort and think about how I’ll approach my “A” 5k next week in the Christmas Classic.

About a half mile was on cobblestone streets. That was, quite simply, very rough.

There’s really nothing to “report” from today besides a few notes:

• My chip time was 24:54. I would have liked to have been closer to 24 minutes, but with a jam-packed beginning I just rolled with the crowd, weaving in and out way too much, thus having nothing in the tank for the final uphill finish. Or maybe it was my 4th beer last night that left me without as much to give today.
• I am very happy to have been 176th out of 1,395 finishers, and 17th in my age group out of 55.
• My Garmin, which I know is slightly off with elevation issues, said this race had 270 feet of elevation gain. That’s nuts for such a short run. Here’s the elevation data:

• I overdressed. It’s the first time I’ve done that in a race. By the time the race started (10 minutes late), it was in the low 40s and there was no need for a long-sleeve shirt. It made for too big of a distraction in the second half of the race with that being hot feeling.
• My sister ran her first race today, finishing in 36:40. I’ve been dropping hints for a while now for her to sign up for the Monument Avenue 10k in Richmond. We’ll see what happens.
• Lastly, I got to talk to Taco’s owner. Taco is a local running celebrity, and I’ve seen him several times this year. His owner says that Taco runs about 20 miles a week. And no leash is needed for this awesome dog.

As a follow up to my sort of “what’s next” post the other day, I put the wheels into motion this week to finish up 2011 strong. For the first time ever, I’ll be running three races three weeks in a row.

While they’re “only” 5ks, my goals for each are different, but all will have the same underlying similarity of figuring out what a realistic goal for the Shamrock Half Marathon will be in March.

Turkey Trot
For $20 and a long-sleeve moisture wicking shirt, plus running for a good cause, why not run this? It’s a new course this year in downtown Lynchburg, so no matter what happens, it’s a course record. And coming off two 5k PRs earlier this year, I want to see where I stand with that distance and speed.

I’m expecting a large crowd, so most of all I just want to have fun and an excuse to have seconds on Thanksgiving. This race is more about setting me up for the next race a little more than a week later.

Christmas Classic
This will be the first race I have ran five times — three of those from my pre-blogging days — with one of those being a 10k that no longer exists. My main goal will be to beat my course record of 24:34 from two years ago on a cold, rainy, almost snowy day.

This is my home course — the loop route includes streets I have ran on dozens of times since I moved back to Bedford two years ago. I feel like there’s no better time than now to make it the best Christmas Classic yet.

Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis
The final leg of the 5k trio takes me to Roanoke, where I fully expect to run a race purely for the fun of it. It’s free through a workout program at work and I’ll be running with co-workers that I’d really like to see push themselves in this distance.

That said, this is going to be a very crowded race and it’s all about bringing awareness to a great cause, ending the year with a fun run, and giving a push to co-workers. I won’t be setting any goals for this other than to have fun.

The greatest feeling in the world with running is beating a goal. Today all I wanted to do was run a couple of 8-minute miles and finish around 16 minutes in the 2-mile Turkey Trot in Warren, Ohio. Since I haven’t really done much speed work lately and the fact that I haven’t done all that much running since the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, I didn’t know what my body would do beyond a mile if I pushed it. The other night my friend Travis and I ran a 7:33 mile as part of a 5-mile run, but I really wondered if I could sustain that for two miles.

Turns out, I can. Today I finished in 14:54.7, a 7:27 pace. In fact, I was actually about 20 seconds faster than that, but since this was not timed with a chip from the beginning, that little bit of extra effort wasn’t “official.” This race did use chips to record the finishers, but there was not a chip timing mat at the beginning. With 1,200 people, and many people starting at the front that shouldn’t have been, a chip mat at the beginning would have been nice to record the times more accurately. Not that I’m complaining — this was actually a very well organized race and all for a good cause. And the long-sleeved shirt is nice too.

Anyway, this short race felt great. It was a nice, cool, somewhat damp start to the day with temperatures in the low 40s. It was actually raining when I warmed up for a mile, making me want to just go into my car, drive back to my in-laws’ house and go to bed. And after yesterday’s awful car ride, I was just exhausted. But I did it, and I’m so happy with the results. In addition to being happy with my time, I was 127th out of more than 1,200 runners and walkers and finished 6th in my age group out of 34.

The real question I have now is can I sustain a pace like that for next week’s 5k? And can I sustain that pace and improve on it this winter to have good races next year? I certainly hope so.

Earlier this year when I ran two races two weeks in a row, I walked away satisfied, but hurt. So now I’m doing it again, but it’s a far cry from a half marathon and a 10k back to back. Instead it’s a 2 miler and a 5k.

Next week I am heading to Ohio to visit the in-laws for Thanksgiving. It’s the second time I’ve been there for Thanksgiving and it will mark the second time that I’m doing the local turkey trot there. I’ve entered the 2-mile race to give myself a speed test. There is a 5-mile race too, but I don’t quite feel up to running 5 miles fast right now. I’m sure I could do OK, but it probably wouldn’t be a boost to my confidence. Four years ago I ran this race in 16:18 in some crazy pouring down snow and extreme cold. It was wild, but fun. This year it’s looking like it’ll be fairly cool in the low 40s with a chance of rain.

I’m pretty sure I can pump out two miles in about an 8-minute pace, so I’m aiming to break that “record” for that distance.

On Dec. 5 I am making the return to the Bedford Christmas Classic, a race I have done three times — two 5ks and a now defunct 10k — before my blogging days. The course is simple — Bedford, Va.’s loop. But it’s not easy. The first mile and a half isn’t bad — it’s mostly downhill. After that a big hill smacks you in your face and separates the field. Every year I’ve done this race it’s been cold — low to mid-30s — but I’ve had fun at each one. My 5k times were 24:51 when I first started running in 2004 and 26:51 the following year when I had let myself get out of shape a little bit. It was that race that kind of sparked me to get in better shape and run the Virginia Ten Miler the following year.

Right now, even though I know I’m not in the shape I’d like to be, I would love to go out and set a course record and PR for a 5k in my 30s (24:45). Now that I’ve been back in Bedford for almost a month and ran the loop several times, I think I can do it. I’ve been running faster by default with Duke and a couple of times with my friend Travis, so I think in race conditions I can step it up. I’ll see how next week goes with the 2-miler first. I need to pass that test before jumping too far ahead.

No matter what, though, it’s nice to be signed up for these community races. In an odd twist with my 5k experience, when I run the race on Dec. 5, that will be my first 5k since last October — more than 400 days. And in looking back at my post, that race was my first 5k in 420 days. I guarantee I’ll run another 5k before March 2011.

It wasn’t much, but for the first time this week I went for a run in Bedford today after work … and I ended up tackling a street that had two big hills that I completely forgot about. I was with my dog too, and I think he also forgot what it was like to run on hills. I actually was hoping to run last night, but some heavy rain disrupted that.

It was a nice change to hit these hills and I’m looking forward to more in the coming weeks to help me get back into the shape I want to be in this winter. I haven’t mentioned races in a while, but the 8k in a couple of weeks in Richmond is out — I just don’t have the time with my moving/living situation or money, nor am I in shape enough to do it like I would want. I’m sure I’d be able to run it fine, but I’d be slow and I can run 5 miles somewhere else for free.

My hopes now is to do a Turkey Trot when we visit Ohio at Thanksgiving and the Bedford Christmas Classic in early December, a 5k that I did when I lived around here before. Otherwise, I don’t have much focus on racing — I’d like to just run some hills, get in shape and then focus on, I hope, the Shamrock. If I can build a good base and then start putting focus on that in mid-December, I’ll be able to do what I want to do for that race … a PR.

* * *

The first couple of days in my new job have gone well. As you know, I don’t talk about work on here too much, but I really feel this is the right thing. It hasn’t felt weird to be back in the Lynchburg area at all — of course it’s only been a couple of days and I’m without my wife and son for a few days, so my main focus has actually been to get to Friday afternoon and get back to Richmond to see them. Once they’re around, it will feel “normal.”

With being sick, having a baby, experiencing strangely cold weather and catching up on work, this month has definitely been off when it comes to working out. Last week was pretty much a rock bottom with the sickness, but instead of worrying about “starting over,” I’ve tried to resume some normalcy this week.

It hasn’t been all that much, but I’ve gone to the gym a couple of times to get some short workouts in, including a good 3.4-mile run last night. I felt pretty good. Once all this snot is 100 percent out of me, it’ll be even better. A few more hours of sleep this weekend will certianly help too. Tomorrow I plan to resume my mini-duathlon with some sort of run-bike-run routine. It’ll probably be short, but it’s a must.

I haven’t decided on the Turkey Trot next week. We’ll be visiting family in Bedford, so I’d do the one in Lynchburg. I need a few more good runs before doing it. I certainly won’t be trying to set any records, but I’d like to still be able to hit around 24 minutes. We’ll see …