2015 Alexandria Turkey Trot

Scroll all the way down to the end of the post for the tl;dr version.

Training

I’m in the final weeks of my Hansons marathon training plan.  My goal race is the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 6th.  I’ve been running about 80 miles/week since mid-October but entered my taper after my long run on Sunday.  The training has been tough.  Although I’ve run this mileage level for several marathon cycles, I’ve never done so much running at goal marathon pace.  Lately, that goal pace has felt unrealistic and I’ve been struggling to figure out what my actual marathon pace should be for CIM.

Despite being a taper week, the training plan had a tempo run consisting of 16 miles w/10 miles at goal marathon pace on Thursday – Thanksgiving.  I had misgivings about running such a tough workout during my taper, but I’m trying to follow and trust the plan.  As Thursday drew near, I realized I had a 10 year streak of racing the Alexandria Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.  I decided I wanted to keep that rolling and would run the race as part of the tempo workout.  I’d run 3 miles easy, run the race, jog a mile to the running trail, do another 5 miles, and finish with 2 miles easy.

Goals

Initially, I thought I should just run the race at goal marathon pace rather than racing it all out.  The goal of the taper is to rest the legs, so running that hard would be really stupid.  But, a few days before the race, I decided I wanted to race it.  I had serious doubts about where my fitness was and a race could help me with that.  Besides, the Hansons weren’t giving me much rest anyway.  Is a 5 miler that much harder than 10 miles at goal marathon pace?  Plus, this was shaping up to the be first year since I started running that I didn’t set a PR at some distance.  Not that a PR was guaranteed at the Turkey Trot, but I felt like I wanted to try.

My 5 mile PR is 33:56 (6:48 pace) at last year’s Alexandria Turkey Trot, so it’s also my course record.  The race is pretty competitive.  The best I’ve done is 4th in my age group (which for this race is 10 year increments).

The Course

The course is in a neighborhood called Del Ray in Alexandria, Virginia.  It’s absolutely flat.  There are very, very slight changes in grade but nothing that can be called a “hill”.  There’s one water stop at mile 3.

The Weather

Temperature (National Airport): 46 at 8:50am, 51 at 9:50am. Winds were out of the northeast at the start but only 3 miles per hour.  Pretty ideal racing conditions.

Pre-Race

I went to packet pick up at George Washington Middle School the evening before.  It was very quick.  I was in and out in about 5 minutes.  I’ve done race morning registration and it’s also a breeze.  The race gives runners the option of purchasing the shirt.  I opted not to get one this year.  I have too many running shirts as it is.  But, typically, it’s a cotton long-sleeve or, for a small up-charge, there’s a tech shirt option.

For some reason, I woke up early – around 6am.  Unfortunately, I was out of coffee and the Starbucks across the street wasn’t open yet.  I got in the car and had to drive TWO WHOLE BLOCKS to the Dunkin Donuts for my caffeine.  Of course, I also got a glazed donut.  Breakfast of champions.  I fussed over my race outfit for a while.  Since I was doing 16 miles total, I thought about wearing tights and/or my SPI-belt so I could carry my phone and some Honey Stingers.  In the end, I decided to just wear shorts instead.  I wouldn’t want to carry all of that stuff during the race.

I left the house at around 8am.  I was going to park about 2 miles from the race start and jog from there.  I thought I should start my warm-up at 8:15am.  I started to get a little anxious when the drive took me longer than I thought it would.  I parked close to the neighborhood where I owned my first condominium off of Slater’s Lane.

I started my run at 8:20am or so.  I was running pretty fast due to nerves but I felt alright.  I got to the race site early so I decided to run the full 3 easy miles that the workout called for.  Still, I finished at a little before 8:50am.  I ran into a dear friend that lives in the neighborhood, which was great.  It also calmed my nerves a little to talk about life stuff rather than thinking about the race.  There were a couple of announcements from the race director, I ate a few Honey Stingers, a woman did a jazzy version of the National Anthem, and then we were off!

The Race

The race started straight up Mount Vernon Avenue.  I took off and immediately felt a little sluggish.  It was like my feet were stuck to the ground.  About a quarter mile in, I looked to the left and saw my old apartment.  Years ago, I lived in a tiny 400 square foot efficiency in this neighborhood.  I started running back then, running from one telephone to the next a few minutes at a time.

A lot of runners passed me during the first mile but I chalked it up to novice turkey trotters starting too fast.  I resisted the urge to check my Garmin, though.  I tried to find a good rhythm and settle in.  I was going to run this race by feel to see where I was fitness-wise.  There are a fair number of people out cheering along the course which was nice.  I saw a woman who looked like she could be a masters runner ahead of me.  I decided to keep an eye on her.

The course makes two quick lefts at Uhle Street and ends up going south on Commonwealth Avenue.  I got to the one mile marker.  The split seemed fast but I don’t dwell on it.  I focused on the woman ahead of me that I thought might be a master runner.  I sped up hoping to catch her but she was creating more distance between us.  The course was slightly downhill, too, so I was motoring.  By the time we crossed Braddock Road, she was gone.  But, another woman in a pink shirt was running just off my left shoulder.  I was aware of her but not consciously trying to hold her off.  Still, she would come close to passing me and then fall back.  Almost pass…  And then fall back.  Just before taking a right on Chapman Street, I get passed by a woman in a blue shirt.  I think she was the last woman who would pass me.

The next mile marker was at the end of the block just before the course turned left onto Russell Road.  I saw my split and thought it was fast.   My legs felt good but I decided to reign things in a little.  There’s still a lot of racing to go.  I’m running close to the gutter and do a shoulder check to make sure there isn’t anyone trying to pass me.  I don’t see anyone, including the Woman in Pink.  Another block and the course goes right onto Linden Street.  Despite meaning to slow down, I found myself speeding up on the very slight downhill and passing quite a few runners.

The course made a left onto the southern part of Mount Vernon Avenue and then a quick left again onto Maple Street.  In years past, this is where I’ve faded but I felt pretty good this time. At around this point, I found myself running next to a guy in a red shirt and blue shorts. He seemed to be running my pace and his leg turnover was similar to mine. I tucked in behind him for a while.  At the end of the block is the only water stop on the course.  I usually don’t take fluids in races under 10K so I pass on it.

The course turns right back onto Commonwealth Avenue going north.  I noticed the guy I was pacing off checked his watch.  And, it seemed like he was slowing down.  Remembering the idea of drafting is to share the work, I surged ahead but not too much ahead that I didn’t think he could follow.  I was trying to signal to him, Let’s go!

At that point, the course is looping back on itself so I can see the mid-pack runners coming down Commonwealth Avenue.  Through the music from my headphones, I heard my friend yell something to me.  I looked left and caught a glimpse of him.  I said something back but I missed him.  The downside of racing with headphones is that I miss moments like that.

The crowds are really great at this part of the course.  This is about where I usually want to quit but the cheering keeps me going.  I’m reeling in runners one-by-one.  With all the marathon training, I know I have the endurance to keep up the pace.  By about mile 3.5, Red Shirt/Blue Shorts pulls along side me.  We ran side-by-side for a quarter mile or so before he starts slowly pulling away.  Good for him, I thought but I’m not going.  At one point, I found myself thinking,  See, this is comfortable.  THIS could be your marathon pace.  Hahaha!  I love it when my mind writes checks my body can’t clear.  The course went right onto Oxford Street.  I saw my split is close to 7:00 pace and I’m a little dejected.  How did I fade so much when I was running so strong?  I chalked it up to the slight uphill.  I slowed down a little to conserve energy for the home stretch.

The course turned right onto Mount Vernon Avenue.  It’s a slight uphill.  My legs and lungs were burning.  I was running as hard as I could.  Then, I realized… I still had 8 miles for my workout after the race!  I took a little speed off and just tried to run fast but still comfortable.  I told myself that this is how the marathon is going to feel next week and when it does, I can not stop.

With maybe two hundred yards to go, the course went into the middle school parking lot towards the finish line.  I narrowly passed a guy on the right with about one hundred meters to go and then he suddenly sped up trying to hold me off and out-kick me.  Oh no.  I put in a monster kick and flew through to the finish line. If my GPS data is to be believed, I finished the race running 5:40 pace!

Splits (by mile marker):6:49, 6:39, 6:48, 6:57, 6:38.

Post-Race

The sprint at the end had me pretty fired up.  Inside, I was all:

I looked at the time and was happy with it.  I hadn’t checked my PR but I thought it had to be close to one.  I also scanned the crowds for the guy that I shared the work with on Commonwealth Avenue so I could congratulate him on the race but couldn’t find him.  I grabbed a water, walk to the intersection, and started the rest of my workout.

Result

My time was 33:47 (6:46 pace).  I was 13th woman overall and 1st female master, which I think means I won a little money.  It’s my best showing at this race ever and I’m so happy I decided to run it.

Epilogue

I’m very happy to have a PR for 2015.  But, since I must worry about something, I’m a little concerned about racing so close to my marathon.  I think 9 days is enough to recover but I guess I’ll know next Sunday.  Out of curiosity,  I plugged my time into the McMillan Running Calculator and I get a 3:18:32 (7:35 pace) marathon finish time.  It’s giving me confidence that I can run a PR at CIM, if not sub-3:20.

Abridged version

I did this race as part of my last 16 miles with 10 miles at goal marathon pace workouts for my California International Marathon training.  I did 3 easy miles, rested about 10 minutes before the race, and then ran a 33:47 (6:46 pace).  I was 13th woman overall and 1st female master.