Trottin' Turkeys
I did my second Turkey Trot this year. I had two goals which conflicted.. to have an enjoyable run with my sister, and to beat my last year's time. Laura's schedule hasn't allowed her much time to run lately, so I've outpaced her a little, but I told her I'd run with her. Coach Tracy suggested I run 3 miles with her, then push it in for the last 2 miles.
We spent the first 3 miles just enjoying ourselves and tossing back and forth the stuffed turkey (uh.. a beanie baby.. not a real turkey), heckling people, being overwhelmed by the number of people, going at a moderate pace. We got to mile 3, and I was feeling guilty (I hadn't mentioned to Laura the possibility of going faster), so I didn't say anything. Shortly after the 3 mile marker, she said she wanted to get some water at the next waterstop, and I asked if she minded if I went ahead and pushed on at that point. I couldn't tell if she minded or not, but she SAID she didn't, so I did.
I picked up the pace, and passed a lot of people. Of course, I chose the hilliest section of the course to go faster.. and boy, was it unpleasant. I passed several TriZones folk, so it was nice to chat briefly and remember not to kill myself. The last hill was very painful, then a sharp downhill across the finish line, dodging people who were inexplicably walking across the course in front of finishers.
It was much hillier than I remember from last year. I also, as I mentioned, didn't hydrate or anything to prepare, and I never took water from a waterstop, so it was 5 miles of full-on dehydration! I felt a little nauseous as I neared the finish line, which never happens to me, but my throat was full of.. goo. Ick.
Anyway. I didn't beat my last year's time.. I was 20 seconds slower. Not too shabby. I didn't see every mile marker, so I couldn't get a time for each mile, but the first 3 miles took us 34:50 (so, average just above 11 minute miles), the 4th mile (not entirely All Out, but mostly) took me 9:17, and the last mile 8:46. No wonder I felt so bad at the end.
Then.. turkey!
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.
We spent the first 3 miles just enjoying ourselves and tossing back and forth the stuffed turkey (uh.. a beanie baby.. not a real turkey), heckling people, being overwhelmed by the number of people, going at a moderate pace. We got to mile 3, and I was feeling guilty (I hadn't mentioned to Laura the possibility of going faster), so I didn't say anything. Shortly after the 3 mile marker, she said she wanted to get some water at the next waterstop, and I asked if she minded if I went ahead and pushed on at that point. I couldn't tell if she minded or not, but she SAID she didn't, so I did.
I picked up the pace, and passed a lot of people. Of course, I chose the hilliest section of the course to go faster.. and boy, was it unpleasant. I passed several TriZones folk, so it was nice to chat briefly and remember not to kill myself. The last hill was very painful, then a sharp downhill across the finish line, dodging people who were inexplicably walking across the course in front of finishers.
It was much hillier than I remember from last year. I also, as I mentioned, didn't hydrate or anything to prepare, and I never took water from a waterstop, so it was 5 miles of full-on dehydration! I felt a little nauseous as I neared the finish line, which never happens to me, but my throat was full of.. goo. Ick.
Anyway. I didn't beat my last year's time.. I was 20 seconds slower. Not too shabby. I didn't see every mile marker, so I couldn't get a time for each mile, but the first 3 miles took us 34:50 (so, average just above 11 minute miles), the 4th mile (not entirely All Out, but mostly) took me 9:17, and the last mile 8:46. No wonder I felt so bad at the end.
Then.. turkey!
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.