Turkey Trot Race Recap and Lessons on "Running"

I love automatic PRs!!! This Thanksgiving I completed my first 10k. I have been looking forward to this race for sometime as it is another runners rite-of-passage here in Reno. It has only been going on for about 15 years, but it is probably one of the most popular races in the Reno-Sparks area. there were 1200 people alone running the 10k. There were hundreds more running the 2 mile. I am actually surprised that a race on a holiday is so popular.

Anyway, like most races I was worried about how I would run. I was fughting a cold and I had some crazy bumps on the bottom of my foot that felt like rocks in my shoe whenever I put pressure on it. In addition to that, I always put a lot of pressure on myself, even though I know I shouldn't. Even though this was my first 10k, I already had a time I would like to come in at in my head. My goal was 55:00 minutes. That would put me in just under 9:00/mi which according to the writers over at Livestrong:

 "completing a mile in nine minutes or less is running" 

and I'd like to consider myself a runner, so running was what I was going to do. I arrived at the race about 45 minutes prior to the start. I was excited that my hubby came with me to cheer me on (and also get some race pics of me).

Pre-race pic

It was super chilly (32 degrees). I was a little bummed to find out that they were not doing a chip start time, only a chip finish. Which means when the clock starts, it starts for everyone no matter when you cross that start line. I didn't want to line up in the front because I knew I would end up in some insanely fast persons path and probably be trampled annoy the crap out of them. So I lined up in the middle near the frontish. One of the girls I run with on my Tuesday and Saturday run group, Amy, was running the race (this was also her 1st 10k) and said her goal was to keep up with me. (I'm not sure where she got it in her head that I was even remotely worthy of a goal of hers). She lined up with me before the start and we took off together. There was only about a 10 second delay from when the gun went off to when I actually started running. It was a good and wide course, so I didn't feel like I was trapped behind a lot of people. I got out the crowd pretty quickly. About a mile into the race, she slowly started to get faster and before I knew it she was ahead of me. I really wanted to speed up too, but I was trying to stay modest and not burnout later.

What seemed like an hour later, we passed the 2 mile mark. I felt like I was going to loose it there. That was the longest 2 miles of my life. I was already exhausted feeling, and somehow really cold and hot at the same time. I actually thought about giving up right then and there. I knew I'd regret it later if I quit, so I kept on keepin. After mile 3, things feel into place. I actually forgot I was running and allowed my mind to wander. I was feeling relaxed and good. The race did a few out and back turns so I was basically able to see everyone in the race. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces along the way. Before I knew it, I was at mile 5, my watch said I was at 4.82. I picked up the pace a little bit and was able to hold on until mile 6 again 5.82 according to my watch. Here I was at mile 6 thinking I only had .2 miles to go. So I gunned it as fast as my legs could carry me. I was flying by other runners.

Thinking I'm almost done.

After a time, I realized I still did not see the finish line. I looked down at my watch and I was at 6 miles. Now according to their mile markers I should be finishing. But nope, the course was actually a little over a 10k (6.28mi to be exact) and they were just horrible at placing the markers. I still had .28 miles to go, and I was out of gas. So...as you can probably guess, everyone I passed during my preemptive sprint to the finish, passed my up while they were sprinting to the true finish.

No biggie though, I still finished. Not with as much finesse as I hopped, but I finished nonetheless. And the best part is, I hit my goal! I finished in 54:38. Amy (you know the one whose goal it was to stay with me) finished in 53:34. All in all, I thought it was a good race. I think I could have gone slightly faster throughout the entire race, but I think it went well my for first. I even got to take some post race pictures with a giant turkey!

Amy and I with the Trotting Turkey!

Splits: 8:39 / 8:48 / 8:55 / 9:01 / 8:58 / 8:35 / 9:01 (the final .28)

Overall time: 54:38 

357/1223

Blogging is not a Talent of Mine

Okay, so I am probably the worst blogger in the history of blogging. I have noticed I have really only been posting when I have a race recap, or once a month, whichever comes first. I started writing this blog so I could keep track of my training and I don’t know, maybe look back down the road in a few years and reflect on how my running obsession began. But, according the frequency of my entries, it doesn't look like I’ll have much to reflect on. I did the same thing when I tried to keep a journal when I was younger. I wrote in it about once a year and it was always about some new boy I had a crush on. I digress. I think one of my New Year’s Resolutions this coming year will be to blog weekly. Anyway, a lot has been going on in my little world of running. I scored another 5k PR in the Trick-or-Treat 5k on October 29^th. It was a little short of a full 5k (I think it was 3 miles on the dot), but I will take a PR anyway I can get it. So…my new PR is 25:19 (8:07/mi)! I can almost take the sub 25 minute 5k! I wont get a chance to try out another 5k for some time because 5k season in our area is definitely over.

I am only signed up for one more race this year, the Turkey Trot. It's one of the bigger races here in Reno with over 1,000 participants. It will be my first 10k ever and my longest race to date. Because it's my first 10k, I'm not taking it too seriously. I just want to get a feel for the race distance. Best part about this race, is I get a free sweatshirt, rather than a t-shirt, AND it was only $25 to sign up!!! This could potentially be my last race for a while. My hubby and I are looking to start a family pretty soon. I really hope to keep running throughout pregnancy, but I think racing will be out.

How many times can I change subjects in one post? Three. I'm changing subjects again (but that's what happens when I have a lot to say and don't post enough). I have started running with a new group last week. Northern Sierra Endurance Training, they are a free running/training group here. I love free! They typically meet on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Saturdays and have 3 different distances you can run depending on what you're training for. I met up with them last Tuesday and Saturday. I ran with this group once before a few months ago and I was scared to go back. The group took off at a pace faster than I could keep up with. One of the guys in that group didn't want to leave me behind, so he ran with me the entire time. I felt bad because I knew I was holding him back. This time however, there were 2 newbies to the group who were running the same distance I was, so we agreed to stick together. They were a perfect pace for me! I decided to make Saturdays my long run day rather than Sunday, so I chose the 8mi distance. There was one other guy who was running that distance and he didn't want to run by himself, so he said he'd run at whatever pace I wanted to. He forgot his glasses, so I was appointed navigator. Bad idea!!! I have never ran a new course without getting lost! And true to form, I got us both lost. I missed a turn somewhere (there were over 16 turns to make total) and we had to backtrack. So our 8 mile run, turned into 9.25mi. Oh, well. He had good spirits about it. I felt good about this run because the last time I ran more than 6mi was over 3 months ago. We averaged 10:07/mi while talking, with hills. I know that may not be a fast pace for some, but it was a fast training pace for me to be able to talk all the way through.

All right, enough of the chatter.

Do you still have any races you are signed up for the rest of the year?

Finally, a 5K PR!!!

Seeing as how I am transitioning from a sprinter running no more than 400m to a longer distance runner. I always thought the 5k race, would be my race. It's short enough for me to keep some speed. I haven't really sprinted since high schoold and my fastest 400m as of late was 1:10, which according to McMillan Running Calculator hsould put me at a 19:48 5k (yeah right, in my dreams). My fastest 5k to date was 26:27 which I ran 4 months ago. I suck at running distance, and I would love to one day achieve a 19:48. I have done numerous 5ks since June and have not PR'd. But finally today I ran a little faster.

My company sponsored a team for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. For some reason everyone at work thinks I'm this great super fast runner. I told one person, I run about 4x per week, and he thought that meant I was really fast. I have tried to explain to him many times that I run slow during those 4x per week. Somehow word got out and one of my co-workers (he is an MMA fighter) decided to make a competition out the Race for the Cure. As an MMA fighter, I knew he was way more in shape than I was. I kept trying to talk myself down to anyone who would listen, but for some reason no one would listen and thought it would be some great race between him and I. Yeah...not even close. He finished in 18:52. However, boosted by the little competition I was able to PR! It did have a few more switchbacks than I would have liked because it was all in the parking lot of a hotel, but it was flat! Gotta love flat! I finished in 25:41! Not super fast by any means, but super fast for me. I averaged 8:17/mi! My splits were 8:03 (starting too fast like always) / 8:28 / 8:28 / 6:59 (final .11mi).

The Joy of Racing

I am going to be very sad once this racing season is over because I have really taking this racing thing head on, some might even say obsessed. I have only been consistently running since February and my first race was March 17th. Since then I have ran 10 races and I still have at least 3 more planned for the rest of the year. A lot of people say they run for sanity, health, etc. Is it bad to say that I run to race? Racing is so exciting to me. The competition, the atmosphere, the goal of trying to better myself. I think Oprah Winfrey said it best when she said:

“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it”

This quote is so true. This is why I love running/racing. How I compete at a race is a direct correlation to how I’ve trained. Unlike in other team sports where you are depending on others, it’s only you. I’m not saying I don’t love team sports (because I do), but there is no one else to blame. If I don’t do well, it’s all on me. I consider myself to be a very independent person, and running is a great independent sport.

On that note of not blaming anyone or anything for my perceived failures, I have yet another race recap to talk about.This past weekend I participated in the Race to Benefit the Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit 5k and 10k. This was the inaugural year for this race, and like most races, I couldn’t resist the allure of a free technical t-shirt and cheap entry fee ($25). This was a very small race with only 162 people doing the 5k and another 79 doing the 10k. I opted for the 5k. Since this run was put on by the Reno Running Company, they were giving away gift certificates for AG winners 3 deep. The course was definitely not flat by any means, so I knew I would most likely not PR, but since it was such a small race, I thought I had a shot at an age group placement. This race started about 15 minutes later than it should have. One of my friends and her husband were running in the race so I lined up with her near the middle back. The race started about 15mins late (better late than never I guess).  The first .75mi was downhill. I should have taken the opportunity to use the downhill and go out really fast, but again my fear of going out too fast got the better of me. My first split was 8:14. The course was a lollipop shape through a neighborhood. It wasn’t pretty or scenic, and like I said previously it was not flat. The next mile was 8:41. Since this was a lollipop course, I would have to go back up that huge downhill in the beginning of the race. It was tougher than it should have been. I struggled the entire way up, but still managed to eke out an 8:44 for the final mile and 7:35 for the last .1mi. My friends husband was already done and relaxing by the time I got to the finish line. This was his first 5k and he still managed to place first in his age group and 12th overall. My results…not so good. I placed 32nd overall and 4th in my AG (for the 4th time, will it ever be my time to get an AG placement). However, upon a closer look I noticed something about the girl in 3rd place.

Place	Name	City	Bib	Age	Chiptime	Guntime	Pace
1	Lauren Tomory		308	26	20:28	20:29	6:36
2	Eleanor Su	Reno	215	23	23:03	23:05	7:26
3	Hayley George	Witon	119	26	26:52	26:55	8:40
4	Lynsey Day (me)	Reno	104	28	26:48	26:57	8:41

Do you see it? She had a faster gun time than me, but I had the faster chip time. Normally I wouldn’t put up a fuss, but there was a gift certificate to my favorite running store on the line, So I went up to the women who was posting the results and asked her if they were going by gun time or chip time. She wasn’t sure but said I should go talk to the people doing the timing. I went to them, and they said they were pretty sure it was going by chip time. So I told them that my chip time was faster than the girl in 3rd place. They told me to go talk to the race director. I found him and asked him the same question. Chip time, or gun time? He told me they were going by gun time because he didn’t think it was fair that if someone showed up 5 minutes late to the race and crossed the finish line after everyone else should deserve an award. In the nicest way I could I said, “So, even though I was on time for the race and ran the course 4 seconds faster than the girl in 3rd place, but obviously started behind her, I don’t deserve 3rd place in my AG?” He just said that they were trying to be as fair as possible and that awards should be given by who crossed the finish line first. Seriously??? Had I known that, I would have started up at the front. I have to say I feel pretty cheated out of an AG and a gift certificate. I was a good sport and still clapped for her when they called her name.

So, 26:48...not my best, but also not my worst. I guess that is about my average for a 5k. My Garmin put me at a 8:30 pace because it said I went a total of 3.15mi. I honestly don’t think I will be running in their 2nd annual race, but it was still a race, and I still had a great time.