Turkey Trot 2008

Yesterday I participated in the race that started it all--the Turkey Trot. The 2007 Turkey Trot kicked off a running year that included 13 races, many new PRs, and my first half-marathon. But more important, that first Turkey Trot gave me a reason to run, and running gave me a firmer hold on sanity!!

It's funny how much my perspective on running has changed in the past year. I remember being so worried about the 8K distance last year. Would I even be able to finish it? Would I come in last? (The answers to those questions were "yes" and "no.) I didn't bother picking up a timing chip at last year's race because I couldn't figure out what the point would be. Now, I'm hesitant to run a race *without* a chip because I can't figure out what the point to *that* would be.

I went into yesterday's run planning to have my first true "fun run" in months. I knew it was going to be crowded, and I didn't want to frustrate myself by trying to set a new PR in a mob of people. I had a good race. The weather was beautiful. My Nike+ was consistently showing a nine-minute mile pace. The crowds were a little frustrating just because people don't tend to have a lot of common sense. For instance, if you are running and then decide to come to a dead halt, it makes better sense to move off the path before doing so. Otherwise, a whole lot of runners are going to crash into your back. And don't even get me started on the person who was running and talking on her cell phone. That just falls into the category of "Please don't!"

Anyhow, I finished having so sense of how I'd done. I'd changed the music on my ipod at one point, and that automatically pauses the timer. Not only that, but the mileage readout was not matching up. The Nike+ was dead-on for the first mile. But by the time I finished the race, the Nike+ was reading 5.25 miles. An 8K is only 4.98 miles. The Nike+ has been pretty freaking accurate lately, so I don't know what happened. Long course?

In the end, I did set a new PR. I ran the race in 52:04. My last 8K (in July) time was 52:52. Honestly, I do have to wonder if the course was long: I'm fairly certain I ran much of this race at a sub-10-minute-mile pace, but that is not reflected in my chip time. Oh well. I *crushed* the time I set at last year's Turkey Trot, which was a whopping one hour and four minutes. So I've basically cut 12 minutes off my 8K time. That's like 2+ minutes faster per mile. (I'm not a math person so it's possible my calculations are off somewhere!) I'll take it.

Last year I felt like I'd run SO far after finishing the Turkey Trot. This year, not so much. I've got a nine-miler planned for tomorrow (which will be the longest distance I've run since the half in September). As for the running year ahead, the "M" word has been floating around this house lately.... (It would probably be a good idea if someone tried to put a stop to that right now!)