A good Turkey Day!

Yesterday was my first ever Turkey Trot. I assume that is the un-official name given to any race on Thanksgiving morning. There were a lot of people there for the run. I haven't seen the official tally, but I think it was more people that I'd run with before. I really liked how they had signs at the start for expected pace. I lined up at the front of the 9 minute/mile mark, exactly what I ran for the first mile. That first mile was crazy: With all those people running together, and so many of them having lined up in the wrong spot, it was mayhem while everyone sorted themselves into the proper position in the pack. However, it seemed to settle down after that, and I certainly got into a groove. I got my splits at each mile, but didn't think to look at them, only my overall time. I did a lot of math during my run: how fast was that mile, where am I now, will I beat my target time of 52 minutes, and most importantly how long will it take me to run that last tenth of a mile. That's right, I calculated the last tenth of a mile, forgetting that it was actually 6.2 miles. At the 6 mile marker, I thought if I kept up the pace I might actually beat my super goal time of 50 minutes. 50 minutes came and went, and I still couldn't see the finish line. I was livid with the race organizers and totally lost focus when I probably needed it most, and it shows in my final split (although I still think the finish line was off!)

This morning i'm sitting at my computer, drinking coffee, remembering the race. I had a blast, and if nothing else got in a good hard workout to make up for my two plates of Thanksgiving lunch. When I strategize for a race, I always base it on a 10 minute/mile pace. I think it is time to adjust my strategy!