Sunday, November 9, 2008

Race Report: Ann Arbor Turkey Trot 5K (2008 Version)

37 degrees and spitting rain.

In other words, a fantastic day for racing!

This was the third year in a row that I ran the Tortoise and Hare Ann Arbor Turkey Trot. It was at this race in 2006 that I commenced Phase II of my running life by finishing-- without walking!-- in a time of 32:58. Last year, with substantially more running under my belt, I finished in 25:01. This year, having already broken my 5K PR twice, run another half marathon and my first marathon, I didn't really know what to expect. I haven't run a 5K race since June. I've backed off from the high mileage weeks I was putting in before the marathon (though I ran 28 miles last week, which isn't exactly skimping on the miles) and I haven't been concentrating on speed work (my warm afternoon of 800s notwithstanding). I just wanted to get out and have a good time and whatever happened, happened.

The first thing that happened is I saw one of my RF501 training group partners, Ted of the Blue Shirt. I miss seeing everyone from the group every week now that the training season is over so that was a nice surprise.

The local high school cross country teams were out in full force, as they always seem to be for this particular race. Indeed, one of the standouts from Saline High School won the women's race with a time of 18:21.

I inserted myself into the pack close to the front because this was one of those races with a chip mat only at the end so the closer I was to the starting line, the more accurate my time would be. It was astoundingly cold so I bounced up and down in place to keep limber.

I did the first mile in 7:30 and held that pace or even slightly better for the rest of the race. This was a novel development, as I am overly prone to going out too fast and then fading with each successive mile. I didn't feel that drain this morning. I felt strong for the duration and cruised to a time of 23:10 (Garmy said 23:04, but whatever) which was good enough for third in my age group. Immediately after the race I saw Kara, another one of my RF501 comrades, who totally rocked her 5K (you go girl!).

I improved my time over last year's by 1:51 and ran my second-fastest 5K ever. Not bad for a Sunday stroll in the park. I also shaved my Shave Your 5K Challenge Stubble Time (23:19) by nine seconds, which was, let's be honest, my primary goal today. Even if I fail to reduce the stubble any more for the rest of the year, I can say I pared 9 seconds off my stubble time.

Final stats:

23:10 (7:28/mile average)
3/33 age group, award-worthy, though I don't know what I won since I didn't want to stand around freezing my ass off waiting for the 10K to finish
86/376 overall (I don't know about my place among the women)
Second-fastest 5K time ever!
2 friends/fellow runners encountered
ZERO: Race T-shirt, as I was not one of the first 600 participants because I uncharacteristically did not preregister (adopting a "wait and see approach" to the weather situation) and therefore, doing race day registration and becoming participant #662, I did not receive a race shirt, which really irked me for two reasons: one, because THERE WERE BOXES OF THEM STILL LYING AROUND AFTER THE RACE, and, two, because this year's shirt was a technical tee in a choice of colors, which was a vast improvement over last year's lackluster heather-grey cotton tee which is the most boring race shirt I have in my collection.

Additionally, I think that as an age-group award winner I should get a goddamn race shirt on principle.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on an awesome time!

I'm running my first 5K after my half-marathon and all that training I did for it on the 22nd. I ran a 27 min. one earlier this summer after no training at all for two solid months, so I'm excited to see how I perform. I hope I do as well as you did!

Fritz said...

Huh... you beat me. I ran a 5K this Saturday at Kensington with a time of 23:20. Nicely done!

Any other races in your near future?

Anonymous said...

Great job! Getting back to a 5k after a little break probably felt great!

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Great run! But I would've probably bailed in weather like that. We're spoiled down here on the coast.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Awww, Sarah, seriously! It's sweet you list the number of friends encountered in your stats. And didn't even offset it by listing how many d*ckcheeses there were. Perhaps zero? Is that possible?

I'm running a Trot on Thxgvg day - a race I also ran last year. My time was so slow that modern math has not yet invented numbers high enough to give it a value, so I can only say it took "a long time".

But a 23:10 in freezing rain! Mucho Properoz to you, Sister!

P.S.: These kids who run six-minute miles ... what are we gonna do about them? They're a menace to ALL of us! You had a chance to take a few of them out ... Did you? Just give the agreed upon sign - nothing incriminating ...

tfh said...

Congratulations-- that's a beautiful time. Who knew, back in 2006, that you would one day be an official Winner of this race, age-group wise?

Too bad about the shirt, though.

BeachRunner said...

You rocked the trot, Sarah. Congratulations on a great race.

B. Kramer said...

A turkey trot this early? Anxious are we?

Congrats on the race and the place. My one AG award was voided by not sticking around. Oh well.

Nitmos said...

I stayed in and watched TV. You raced. You win. You should get a T-Shirt for that. I'm tired of short sentences. That is all.

Jeremy said...

Nice race! Way to go! All of those miles for the marathon certainly paid off in full!