A cold crisp foggy Thanksgiving morning for the Boars Head Turkey Trot this year. Emily, Ella and I piled into the car early this morning and headed out for the race. We arrived ~30mins before race time allowing us to get little bit to eat and for me to do a quick warm up run. Emily and Ella met up with another family to walk the race as I set out to see if I could break 30mins in a 5K Race.
The starting line was pretty much a free for all with people crowding to try to get a good start. This was a different feeling from the controlled start in Richmond. I held back a bit to think about my race strategy and waited for the starters gun. Once the crowd started moving, I began to work my way through the mass of people trying to get some open running room. I started the race very fast, doing the first 1/2 mile in under 5mins and first mile in 7:47. At that point I started to worry that I could not keep this pace, as the last 2.1miles have significant change in elevations. I continued to push hard up the hills and trying to take advantage of the downhills. The 2nd mile showed up quickly and I my time was just over 15mins. This pace was far ahead of my expected 18min target. Knowing that I only had 1mile left I work to keep the pace and luckily the the last mile is all down hill. As soon as I could see the finish line I reached for my last kick to see if I could pick up some more time and pass a few people. I pulled a few runners with me as charged to the finish. I completed the Race in ~25min and very surprised on how fast I actually ran.
I told Emily before the race that I thought I had a 60% chance of finishing under 30mins. I can't believe that I actually crushed my stretch goal of 27mins. I think I need to reevaluate my goals and confidence in my running. As others have said I am just a "Sand Bagger." I guess I need to target a low 20min for my next 5K time.
After finishing the race I grabbed some water, bagel and banana. I then started to walk the course backwards to find Emily and Ella. I found them at mile 1.5 and we then walked the remaining 1.7miles together. It was a great way to start Thanksgiving day!
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