Turkey Trot - 5 Miler

I've never run a Turkey Trot before but when I found out there was one starting just 2 miles from my house I couldn't pass it up. I was hoping for a solid effort that would provide a good gauge of my fitness.

I ran an easy 2.5 miles to the start. The morning was cool and calm with temps right below 40 degrees, great racing weather. The race was bigger than expected with I'd guess over 200 and I quickly signed up in a well organized registration area. There was a band of high school guys rocking the whole area and it made for a good pre-race atmosphere They played a lot of Red Hot Chili Peppers and they weren't to bad in a garagey sort of way. I am sure all of the neighbors loved it.

The start was very abrupt and I quickly found myself about 20 people from the front. I expected to reel in 10 or so within a 1/2 mile but I was surprised that there were only a couple that went out to fast. I settled in at about a mile and made it my mission to try and pass the five or so guys that were shooting range. I deleted my splits but I think the mile markers were inaccurate anyway so they are irrelevant. It felt like steady effort and I think I paced things well.

By 3.5 miles I was able to pick off four of the guys ahead but the last guy remained tantalizingly out of reach. I'd gain on him and then he'd pull away, never really getting closer than about 20 yards. It gave me something to focus and forced me to keep pace over the last miles which finished with an uphill right before the line. 30:37

I was slightly disappointed with my time. I predicted a 30:28 in my last post and really believed I was going to hit that or maybe a little faster. I guess I am being a little neurotic about 9 seconds but that is the way runners are right? In any case it lets me know where I am at and helps me decide realistic workout paces for marathon training. In the running calculators my finish time lines up very closely with the 5K I ran several weeks back and the Philly half-marathon. All these races predict around a 2:58-3:00 marathon. If the past is any indicator I know I want to be in 2:50-2:55 shape to have a good chance at breaking 3:00 hours. I have some work to do over the next 3 months.

Happy Thanksgiving!