The Festival Foods Turkey Trot is a race my entire family has participated in since 2009. The race itself has only been going on since 2008. Now in its 10th year, I have only missed 2008, 2010, and 2014. Not to bad actually. In 2009, there were only 771 finishers, when in 2013 the race saw 2,839 finishers! This year there was 2,447 finishers. The race has become not only a tradition for my family and I, but for our entire community. Its a well organized event on a day in which pretty much everyone is around and has no plans. The race doesn't have many "frills," with a reasonable entry fee, you get a long sleeve t-shirt, a small pumpkin pie, and a chip timed race bib. After the race, they offer donut holes, bananas, and water. You can choose from three different events on race morning, a 5 mile timed run, a 2 mile walk, or a two mile "dog jog," which is (obviously) dog friendly. This year was Sarah's first year ever doing the 5 mile run, now that she has been consistently running for about the past year.
Training For This Race
I feel like I should just take this paragraph out of my race reports, until I actually run an event in which I follow a specific training plan for.
Prerace
Sarah and I woke up around 5:45ish with the goal of leaving our house by 6:45. The race started at 8am and with an expected crowd of over 7,000 total participants, so I wanted to get there early enough for a decent parking spot and ample time to warm up. We ended up leaving around 6:50 (I can handle that) and were parked by 7:10. After getting the stroller set up and kids all bundled up, we headed out to the start area to meet up with my parents. Around 7:30 or so, I was able to break away to start my usual warm up. I ended up cutting it too close for my liking, but ended up ditching my warmup outfit to my mom, who was in charge of the stroller and the kids while Sarah, my dad, and I all ran. I made it to the front of the start line literally seconds before the National Anthem was sang.
Nutrition Plan
An hour before the race, I took my usual Anti-Fatigue Caps, Endurance
Aminos, and then took my Fully Charged about 10 minutes before the start
of the race.
Miles 0-5
With a race this size, the start line can be pretty crowded. And with that comes the wanna-be sprinters, who are more of a hindrance than anything else. They usually take off faster than a sprinter at the start of a 100m race, only to fade into a brisk walk after the first 100 yards or so. Keeping this in mind, I kept to my normal race strategy and just started slow and easy and found my grove by the first mile marker. I had no real chance of placing overall, nor a chance of winning a Festival Foods gift card, which are awarded to the Top 5 overall males and females, respectively. So, my goals were pretty simple, set a new Personal Record. My current best time for a 5 mile race was 29:57. I wasn't completely sold on the idea of running a sub 30 minute race, especially with how little I've been training. But, what the heck, lets go for it. After the first mile, I checked my watch and saw a 5:52 mile, perfect, under 6 minutes and I'm on pace for a PR! I felt great at that point, so I just tried my best to keep focused and stay comfortable at that pace. I continued to tick off miles and pass most of the guys who go out unrealistically fast. By far the toughest part of the race is a steep hill that goes up from the river at about mile 4. First off, you're already tired and want to be done, but now you still have a mile to go and a steep short hill in front of you. I took it easy up it, with the hopes that once I was to the top, I would still have a bit in the tank to make a strong push at the final mile. I felt good once at the top and just continued to focus on making at least one more pass before crossing the finish line. I ended up passing the guy who was just in front of me doing the final kick within the last 25 yards or so. I ended up placing 19th overall out of 2, 447 finishers and 2nd in my age group with a final time of 29:40.
Post Race
Immediately after the race, I began to jog the course backwards to find Sarah and maybe run with her during the final mile or so. I ended up getting to mile marker 4 and never saw her. I have no idea why or how I missed it, but I did. I ended up just jogging back to the finish line and found her, along with my parents and kids. We didn't stick around long at all and just headed home to shower up and start enjoying the holiday!
What's on Tap
I've got some big ambitious goals for next year and and tentatively going to start training for these goals in early January. So my plan now is to finish running through November and then take it a little easier in December before taking on my 2018 goals. My plans for December are to run 1-3 days a week with a day of cycling or swimming mixed in and maybe even some strength training....and of course some days off.
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