Thursday, November 27, 2008

2008 Mesa Turkey Trot


Rain was in the forecast and as I went to get the paper in the morning the ground was wet. But, the sky was clear. Here's a picture of the start of this years Mesa Turkey Trot. Three races were on the schedule. A one and two mile untimed fun run, followed by the 39th running of the 10k race.


The course is a nice one. A two mile loop around the park on closed streets, then about four miles thru a neighborhood and on Power Road, a busy thoroughfare that is half closed. Thousands of runners make it a fun race.


My plan was to do 10 minute miles. All six of them and to finish strong to come in under the 1 hour and 2 minute mark. Maybe get under 1 hour. In 2006 I did this race in 1:11. Last year was my PR of 1:07:59 at this race. This would be my fourth 10k race and I was hoping to PR.

You can see it was overcast at the start. But, I didn't think it would rain on us. I shedded my sweatshirt and left it at the start. I felt sluggish in the beginning, but was running in the 9's, so I just kept at it and figured I'd find out what I had. Lot's of traffic, so I ended up weaving in and out and around runners, strollers and walkers. My first mile was done in 9.41. A good time for a 10k race.
The road we start on has lots of desert shoulder to run on and lots of runners where taking advantage of it. The problem was that they were also off course and not running the full 10k. I kept on the street and stayed on the course. No big deal. My second mile was done in 9.32. I was actually getting faster. I figured I was banking my time for later. A lady passed me with a jog stroller. Music blaring. Not my choice of artists, but it was nice to hear. Too bad she was faster than me. I never saw her again.
Mile 3 was done in 10.49. Took a quick walk break around 2.5 mark. I was congested a bit and that left me a bit winded. Mile 4 was done in 11.04. Another walk break and I ate a GU. Vanilla Bean. I've been eating a few more carbs, so running out of gas was not a worry for me this time.
Being well rested, I cranked it up a bit and ran a 10.37 and a 10.34. I actually ran some 8 minute fartlek's in between some walk breaks. It's nice to run that fast late in the race, but I can't sustain it for a long stretch. I was playing leap frog with about 20 runners.

The last portion of the race is in Red Mountain Park. It has a beautiful lake and lots of grassy areas. I kicked in in gear and did the last .2 at a 7.59 pace. It's tough to do because you're running on a concrete sidewalk (see picture) and there's not much room to pass people.
Today, for the second race in a row I PR'd. My finish time was 1:04:36. I bettered last years time by 3.23.

The New D Tags


This race used the new disposable D Tags. It comes on your race bib and you just loop it onto your shoe laces. No need to collect them after the race. Mine is still on my shoe.



Here's hoping that any of you with races today had a great day and a great race. And for everyone I wish a Happy Thanksgiving and lots of good health.



19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems like every time I visit, I'm congratulating you on another PR. Good for you! Happy Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Nice PR! (And nice legs!)I need to tame my inner speed demon, she keeps eluding me.

Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS" said...

Very nice job Pat.

K80K said...

Congrats on the PR. Dad is still wearing his D-tag from the Baltimore Running Festival 5K over a month ago.

Darrell said...

A chip timed 10K is neat.

Congrats on chippin away on that PR.

I'm sitting here hoping the turkey and pumpkin pie will digest by the time I have to run again on Saturday.

Irene said...

I like how they chipped this race. More shorter distance races should offer that.

Congratulations on your PR! You've really been on a roll! Way to go!

Happy Thanksgiving!

J~Mom said...

Congratulations!! You have come back stronger then before!!

Anonymous said...

congrats!! happy thanksgiving!!

Greg said...

Great job not only achieving your goal, but getting the PR as well! I love those new chips, they're easy to attach, easy to remove, and because you keep them, easy to save.

I hope you didn't eat more than you burned during the race! Enjoy your holiday.

The Boring Runner said...

Nice work on a new PR! I too ran a PR at the Mi Amigo race. I think that the rain earlier that morning really helped to cool it down.

I loved the disposable time chips. They were much better than having nothing (duh) but were also better than having the stupid reusable chip that they sometimes have at other races.

http://adamrisu.blogspot.com/

Jeff said...

Sweet double PR!

Those tags are awesome -- no more warnings of a rediculous fee for forgetting to return the 2 cent piece of plastic.

Kai said...

Way to go on that PR! Great pics, too, it looked like a beautiful day for running!

Anonymous said...

Good job on the PR! Sounds like a fun race.

Viv said...

Hope you and the family had a great Thanksgiving!

Super job on the PR! Quite the chunk taken off :-)

MNFirefly said...

Congrads, Pat!

Glenn Jones said...

Great race report Pat! I ran this weekend in a downpour here in Southern California....

Marathoner in Training said...

Great job on your time. I hope the rest of the weekend was just as exciting.

Unknown said...

Great job with the PR! That's a big improvement over last year's time, too.

SuperDave said...

Great job on your 10K! another PR - you seem to be doing alot of those lately. Over 3 mins off of your old time is great! It seems that we run close to the same pace. Those 10kers can be tough.
Good running too ya.