Race Report: Cleveland Turkey Trot

Sometimes, it's more fun to hang back and talk to the giant turkey running beside you.

In this case, I mean that literally.

I ran the Cleveland Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning and had a blast. This was my sixth race since I resumed this insanity in May. In the other five I was all about the time, how fast can I go? Can I PR? How many women are in front of me? (In only one case was there the correct amount: 0).


A number of factors aligned to show that I would not be racing this one:
A) I was fighting off a nasty cold
B) My big race is a week from Saturday
C) I wanted to stick with my little sister, this was her first race since having a baby (note to self: Stop calling her "little". She's a mom now.)
D) There were 2,000 people there so there was no way I was going to win

The race started at 9:30. After a relatively hectic morning, which included hitting up everyone in my house because neither of us had any cash to park, we pulled up at about 9:20. Parking was a pain, there was a long line to get into the lot so we parked a good half mile away (we didn't need that cash after all). We met up with my college buddy, Evelyn, as the bullhorn was going off. Yay for chip timing, we stood back to avoid getting trampled then jumped in with the fray.

Wet turkeys

With the exception of my first 5k which took place in 90 degree heat, I've lucked out with the weather for all of my runs. Even the Mohican one, where I secretly hoped it would rain so I could relive my high school cross country days of running through the mud.

This good luck, it appears, is about to run out. Forecast for the Cleveland Turkey Trot Thursday, according to Accuweather:

5 miles of rain and cold, it must be wintertime in Ohio, yipee I can wear my new jacket!

Climbing hills

If there's one thing I've learned from the Mohican race Saturday, it's that if I want to keep doing this insane trail running stuff I've got to run more hills. 

I've been pretty good about running them once a week on the treadmill, but when it comes to picking a route for my longer runs I'm all about the flatness.

This is what I did today, stepping it up a bit. The last four weeks I was doing the same, one grade down on all.

1 mile @ 6 speed and 5 incline

2 x 1/2 mile @ 5.5 speed and 7 incline

4 x 1/4 mile @ 5 speed and 9 incline

Walking .1 to .25 miles in between. 

Usually I finish in just under an hour, and it burns a ton of calories. The intervals also help break up the prolonged agony I've come to equate with running on the treadmill.

I've been doing some reading though, and Runner's World suggests more of a rolling hill approach, so maybe I'll try that out next week. This article also has some interesting tips on form.

I really need to make it a point to find more routes around here with a hill or two, most importantly so I can practice running down as well. Horns Hill is two miles from my apartment, though I don't know if I'm that crazy. Also I've gotten a few tips from people in Granville. I hear the Denison campus is a doozy, and probably safer to run at night too, which will become a factor very soon.

Back to it

This was a bit of an off week... I was down for a couple days with a stomach bug and was definitely a bit dehydrated on my runs Friday and Saturday. I managed to get in all 8 miles of my long run in today, just had to stop a couple extra times. Took a little detour so it ended up being 8.5 miles.

It was a beautiful fall day and it was really nice to be outside. I ran the bike trail starting in Granville and heading out toward Alexandria.

Even before I started feeling ill Tuesday my runs were a bit slow. I barely managed hills Monday and just couldn't force myself beyond a mile Tuesday. Friday I felt strong going 4. Lizzie the greyhound came with, that was her longest distance yet and she was a champ. That made for a total of 17 for the week.

It was kind of an off week in general. I did boot camp at the gym this morning and then the long run so I'm really sore and have a nagging pain in my shin, time to find the ice pack and absolutely taking tomorrow off!

I added Cleveland's Turkey Trot to my upcoming races. It's a 5 miler, I may do it with my sis. It looks like a blast.