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Friday, November 27, 2015

Turkey Trot: not as bad as I thought

For 108 years, New Orleanians have been running the 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day - and like always, we joined in.
This race is usually a disaster for me. I either have a terrible race, or I get injured right after running it. Nevertheless, I doggedly persist in forcing this tradition on my long-suffering and darling husband, who really wants nothing more than a late wake-up, a cup of coffee, and a gigantic newspaper on Thanksgiving morning.
I was pleasantly surprised that I actually ended up with an ok race this year! I guess my expectations are now so low that almost anything pleases me.
We had neglected to pick up our packets early, so we showed up around 7:30 to find parking and pick up our shirts. That was pretty easy, but after running back to the car to drop our T-shirts off, we didn't have a lot of time for a bathroom run and a warm-up. I ended up getting in a mile easy warm up, but had no time for strides. I didn't feel like I needed a longer warm-up, because it was actually rather warm, although the skies were gray. It was blustery and humid, like a storm was coming, but it never did. It stayed warm, windy, and humid all day (the high was in the upper 70's. Boo. I want fall weather!).
I predicted my pace based on Tuesday's track workout. Assuming that I actually did run my reps at 5k pace, as I was supposed to, I used McMillan to predict a 5 mile time based on my slowest and fastest reps. I figured my slowest rep was the best indicator, and guessed I'd run about 7:05's. Maybe. If I could. I am feeling quite sluggish lately.
So, first mile was crowded like always, and I had trouble pacing (out of practice). Around a half mile in I realized that I was going too fast and slowed down to goal pace. But after that, the miles felt decently race-pace-ish at around 6:55. I wasn't working too hard, and I was staying pretty consistent, even with the variable wind (at times we had a nice tailwind; others, a rough headwind). During the last mile, I was smugly congratulating myself that I felt comfortable and was clearly speeding up since I was passing people - except my Garmin begs to differ; I slowed down. People around me must have just slowed, too. I ended up finishing  the five-mile race in 34:40. It's off previous years, but by now I know that's just not my speed anymore. I was happy with my results.It was almost exactly what my fastest rep from Tuesday's track workout predicted.
My only concerns with my performance were:
1. I can feel my short, slow stride and I don't like it. I hope track helps with this. My limited hip extension has been plaguing me since surgery.
2. Slow last mile and no kick - that's bad. I have to work on that.
3. I had that finish-line nausea that I dislike so much in this race. Racing more helps with this.

For once, I'm feeling rather confident about my running. I have room to improve, but I feel okay, and I am ready to work for some improvements. Now I need to schedule some races in.

18 comments:

  1. You mention your short slow stride, are you monitoring your cadence at all? Sometimes a shorter stride is better, depending on what your numbers are. Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. Way low :) I am just not explaining myself well: My legs can no longer extend as far behind me. I don't want to reach out in front of my center of gravity, of course, but I do want my back leg to be able to extend behind my body.

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    2. I deal with this regularly - if I get behind on my yoga, my stride gets much shorter, and my cadence too high (high 190s). When I've got good hip extension, my cadence is closer to 180.

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    3. Yes, this is what I meant! After hip surgery, my extension is really shortened.

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  2. Nice race! It's always nice to have a race go better than expected - cool that your workout predicted your performance so accurately. Hope the rest of your Thanksgiving was great as well!

    Completely unrelated...but some friends and I are thinking of doing the R&R New Orleans in Feb to get away from the New England winter...any insider info on that race? Mainly...is the course flat? Haha.

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    1. Flat as a pancake! Like, the elevation change is 35 feet, I think (and even that surprised me). That's my PR marathon - it's a great race.

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  3. Congrats on the race going better than you expected! I know how you feel about the stride because mine can be off too if I have just raced, just completed a speed workout or long run, or just haven't been doing enough yoga. I do get sports massages occasionally to help open up my stride more.

    I hope your other runs go well and this is the beginning of being injury-free and running successfully again!

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    1. I think my problem's mostly scar tissue, but thanks for reminding me to do yoga. I need to stretch those extensors out.

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  4. That's a pretty awesome time considering that you're just now getting back into speed work. Great job! I would have loved to have done the race, but I seriously have never felt more like a middle-age mom of 3 after running Big Easy Half last Saturday. I DO NOT recover quickly.

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    1. How was the Big Easy? I haven't done it. I think this is only the second year.

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    2. It was good. Except the bridge at mile 2. Yikes. I am not used to any sort of hills these days, so I definitely felt it. Can't complain though. I got 2nd place masters female and won $200. They have a NICE prize purse. Overall winners each got $1250!

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    3. Wha cash prizes?!?! That's super generous - I had no idea. Cash around here is rare enough, and it's usually like $50 or something. Congratulations on the win!

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    4. Yes! You need to do this one next year. I think the top 6 overall m/f got a $$$ prize.

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  5. Nice job! I am glad you are feeling better about where you are at with running. I think that is a great time considering where you are at with your recovery/return to running (or I would argue it's a great time period but I know you are used to being faster!). I also raced on Thanksgiving Day as I did a 10k which was fun. It was in the low 30s and snowing so it was a pretty time to run and as a crazy MN, that meant I just had to wear tights, a light long sleeve shirt, and hat and gloves, which is not bad for late November when I could be crazy bundled up (or not running at all due to sub-zero temps!!).

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    1. Um, COLD. Once this race was actually in the 30's - this year it was the 70's!

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  6. I bet your husband is secretly grateful that you drag him out to race it. After all he'll have burnt way more calories than reading the paper so eating too much Thanksgiving dinner won't mean having to go up a size in pants.

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  7. Congrats! Sounds like an overall positive result, even if you know you've things to improve on. (I am personally terrified to know what I would be doing in the 3-5 mile range right now.)

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  8. That's great to hear that you feel like your old self (but improved) again. Nice work on that Turkey Trot!

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