My first turkey trot. I think this should become a tradition. It had a start time of 9 am, so I got to sleep in just a bit longer. The course was around Red Mountain Park in east Mesa. 10 kilometers long, which is a first for me too.
There was over 21oo runners, when I was expecting around 800. I was pretty impressed at seeing the sea of bobbing heads in front of me at the start. The weather was perfect, maybe in the high 60's and sunny. I got there in plenty of time to register and saw Maria and Hank, the TnT coaches.
Since it was Thanksgiving Day morning I went out of my way to thank every cop on duty directing traffic as we ran. I, also, gave every kid a high five that wanted one. My plan was to run at a nice even pace for the first two kilometers (1.67 miles) and then take a walk break. After that I just took walk breaks as needed. I wanted to finish in 1 hour, 20 minutes or better. When I checked my nike+ (ipod) for pace time my running pace was at a 1:04 finish. I was fine with that since I knew that my walk breaks would add time. I was feeling fine throughout the entire race. At each mile there was someone yelling the overall time and I had my HRM and Ipod giving me time too. So, I was pretty happy, even though I don't have a way to keep my splits. I guess I'll have to memorize them in the future.
This race I didn't talk with anyone. I just kept my nose to the grindstone and did my best. Which turned out to be better than expected. I finished in 1:10:53, a pace of 11:25. A time I am very happy with at this stage of my running.
I did try to sprint the final 400 meters, but like the New Times race I started too soon and couldn't keep the pace. I think I need to wait until the last 200 meters or less.
All in all, I was very happy with my first 10k event.
Thanksgiving Day Dinner: Turkeys shake in their boots when they see my wife. She made a great dinner for my two kids, my father in law, mother in law and I. Turkey, stuffing, real mashed potatoes, real cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and homemade whipped cream for the pie.
Friday, November 24, 2006
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6 comments:
happy thanksgiving!
WOW, Pat!!! Great 10K debut. You are really runnin' well. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Later.
Great 10K!! I hope to be in town to run that one next year. A walk in the mountains was as close as I got to turkey trotting. Anyway, great job!
Congratulations on the 10km, that is a great effort. Once you have reached that milestone it is hard to look back.
sounds like a great race day and what a wonderful way to top it off with a scrumptous holiday dinner. good job!
Congratulations on your first 10K Pat. 1:10 is pretty good for your first time out. Your times will only be coming down.
Don't get too worked up about sprinting at the end. At this point you're doing well just to keep your focus around the whole course. 6.2 miles is a long way to race, especially your first time.
Great run.
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