ORN: 5.5 miles total: 4.5 mile race, 35:17, all running, 7:50/mile
Thanksgiving is a day of reflection for me. We have so much to be thankful for in this country and I personally have been exceedingly blessed.
On the running side of life, I felt a need to get in some speed work, some intensity as I dial down the mileage during the taper. So, last weekend I registered for a 4.5 mile race run each Thanksgiving in Indy. On my regular run on Monday, the soreness I had on the 20 miler last Saturday flared again, causing me to cut off the run. It seemed to be just inflammation, so I didn’t run again until today, Thursday, hoping the rest would take care of it.
I rolled out of town at 6:30am on Thanksgiving morning for the 60 minute drive to Indy. The other seven cars on the road at that hour allowed for a nice quiet drive in the dark. I got to the site 90 minutes before the gun, scored a good parking place, got my packet and relaxed in my car. The temps were in the mid-30s with a solid north wind and some drizzle. I wore shorts anyway. This weather could be similar to what we’ll see for Rocket City in two weeks, so I viewed it as a trial of sorts. After running and stretching on a track next to my parking place, I headed to the start area.
This race has exploded in its five year existence, with 5,000 runners this year. Hardly a little Turkey Trot any more, it’s a big event. I ran it two years ago and was interested to compare how it would be this time around. We started on time and headed on the route through the neighborhoods of this older part of Indianapolis…it was very refreshing to not be in the suburbs.
My objective in the race was to see if I could string 8:00 miles together. I set the Garmin to help me pace myself early and it seemed to work. Mile one clicked at 7:43 so I backed off a bit. The next two were at 8:06 and 8:05. I amped it up a bit at this point, doing mile 4 in 7:41 and the last half mile in 3:43. Amazingly, I finished 25th of 115 in my age group, way better than my usual mid-pack placing. I also ended up in the top 20% of the overall participants. It was a good race.
On the drive home, I wondered just why I enjoy races so much. That’ll be a topic for another post sometime.
We gathered four generations together later in the day for our Thanksgiving meal. It was a special time, yet we missed our son David who has one more month to go in Iraq. We made some videos for him and you are welcome to view our Thanksgiving Greetings to David in Baghdad and see his 17 month-old daughter Berneice Eating Pumpkin Pie.
Happy Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.
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10 comments:
Sounds like you're in good shape. Super splits. Baby that soreness. Mine flares when I do hills.
Nice race Joe! Hope your day was happy. We are thinking of David and all the others over there.
Great job with pacing. Sounds like you are more than ready for Huntsville. Enjoy the taper.
Nice job at the Dash. I really enjoyed the event, too.
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and an even better weekend ahead :-)
Great name for the race and well run to boot.
My speakers are on the fritz but watching the pie eating and walking sure brought a smile to my face.
Way to go, Joe! Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Great job on the Dash, awesome pace.
Sounds like you are ready for Rocket City.
Sounds (and looks) like you had a great Thanksgiving! Nice job at the dash.
Joe,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. What awesome videos you made. I had chills and a few tears.
Great job on the race. It's taper time now.
Waddler
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