Tis the Season... for running races (Pt.1): Turkey Trot 2012

I realized today that a) it's been a pretty good while since I last posted and b) I've done (now) 3 races that need to be reported on... So, I'll try to do my best at recapping the last two months, and races, in a timely and logical matter... I'm going to break up the 3 race reports into 3 posts...

So here's how it went...

Now that I have a big boy job, and live 13 hrs away from LA, and didn't have much time off for Thanksgiving, and didn't have cash to fly home, and didn't... well, you get the idea... I made the decision to be a holiday orphan and stick around Columbia for the the long weekend... This was a first for me, and in all honesty, I wasn't happy about it... (insert whiny sniffly homesick kid voice)...

Training had been a mixture of duty and obligation, and less of desire... Maybe it was the weather change, but the month of October was rough when it came to consistency... and November wasn't all that much better... Again, maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the fact that I now have a full time job and don't get "student" breaks that I'm used to (like Fall Break, etc)... I was having a really hard time holding it together and staying motivated to stay healthy...

November saw somewhat of a jump in consistency, but a complete stoppage in swimming... I simply have no desire to go to the pool anymore... Whatever, I'll get back to it when it counts...

So, November had been a pretty decent month... I was chugging along pretty well-- getting up super early to run or hop on the trainer before work (a trend that continued for a few weeks)... I was hitting all paces while running, but not without some serious aches and pains as a result... I just kept telling myself to trudge on through, and that all the pain would pay off later... and in the end, I guess it kind of did (or has)...

My friends Keith and Nikki Ellis had offered to take me in for Thanksgiving since none of us were going to be able to make it home for the break... Keith and Nikki have been great to me since meeting them this summer... They're both avid runners and knocked off their first marathon this past October up in Greenville... So, needless to say, they're always looking for a race to do and therefore, so am I...

I get a text from Keith a few days before:

Keith: "Hey, we're gonna run the Bodyshop Athletics Turkey Trot in the morning, then you're more than welcome to come over for lunch and dinner after the race."
Me: "Ok, sounds good... What's the distance of the race?"
Keith: "I think 5 or so miles... not too bad... then we can eat!"
Me: "Yeah, sounds good... I'm in."

You know how there are those people in your life that always seem to get you into some sort of pickle, but you just can't say no to them?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Keith Ellis... :)

I talked to Kendrick a few days beforehand about a pace plan, and he just said to run fast, but comfortable... I figured I could knock off 5 miles in under 45 minutes.. I had been crushing some 8:25 intervals prior to the race, so I figured if I could just get a decent warmup, then I'd be fine...

Race Day:

Wake my ass up early and head out to Lexington, which is about 15 minutes away from Columbia... Pre-register? No, of course not, ain't nobody got time for that... End up getting to the race site super early so I could register and get a good warmup in before the race started... Temps were pretty cold, so I knew my knees would be hating me come race time if I didn't limber up...

As I'm registering, I politely ask, "So what's the course? Is it around this neighborhood?"

Lady: "Oh no, it's on the golf course, on the cart path, you can't get lost at all"...

Great.... a golf course... 

I suddenly remembered Kendrick telling me a long time ago about how great of a workout it is to run at a golf course, because it's up and down, up and down, up and down for the entire thing...

Get in a quick 2 mi warmup, and it's race time...

I knew that the first mile or so was all downhill (I ran a mile out, then back for my warmup)... and I knew that I could totally gun it and post up an awesome first mile split, but that surely, the rest of my race would suffer because of it... So, as usual, I try to play it safe on the first mile, knowing that after the first one, I still had 4 more to go...

Post up a fairly quick, yet somewhat conservative 8:39 first mile... I knew I could be running faster, but just kept telling myself to chill out... Running fairly smooth, following the cart path (which was horrible by the way-- terrible pavement, sharply crowned, etc), and just tried to keep the person ahead of me in my sights...

Next 2 miles went off without a hitch at 8:31 and 8:20 respectively... I was feeling pretty damn good by this point... hurting just enough to know that I'd be done in another 16-18 minutes, so I decided to pick up the pace a little so as to leave nothing in the tank when I crossed the finish line...

Wrong move... Mile 4 started off a looong climb, then a bit of a downhill, then more climbs, which got steeper and steeper as I inched towards the 5 mile mark...

I was spent... physically exhausted and my HR was through the roof... If there's one thing I have gotten really REALLY good at since moving to Columbia, it's knowing when I'm about to blow up... I get in this "panicky" state where I can feel my heart beating through my chest, my legs start to get heavy and achy, and I have weird visual distortions (i.e., when I look up to the sky and clouds, it looks like they're moving away from me at hyper speeds, or when I stop and look down at my legs, it looks like they're literally melting away)... I guess this is all caused by dehydration (spikes in HR usually are), which would make sense, because I didn't carry any fluids with me on the run, and only took in a cup or two of water on the course...

Anyway, I managed to limp across the finish line in a decent'ish 42:23... Held an average pace of 8:39/mi, which for me, might as well be 6:00/mi... Super fast for a "longer" race (i.e., anything over a 5k off the bike)...


I can't say I'm extremely happy with this race, but I can't say I'm totally bummed either... I'm really trying to appreciate how far I've come, and, that I've actually stuck with training, racing, and this lifestyle that I got into 3 years ago... I'm also trying to stick to the mantra "Do what you hate, and you'll get better at it", which is precisely why I'm targeting my first marathon for March of 2013... I've got to find a way to lick this thing!

Me and the Ellis' post-race... Very very thankful for these two... 

Thanks for reading...