Turkey Trot

Today was the annual Turkey Trot at the Independence Dam State Park. I can't remember how many years I have participated in this run, but I know it's been quite a few.

Today was one of the coldest I remember. It was 20 when we left the house, so I'm not sure how much it warmed up, if any, before the start of the race. At least there was no snow/ice this year like there have been in past years. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the roadway was clear.

The field was quite crowded for this particular race. They had the most participants ever!

It was a fairly uneventful race. I ran with my friend for the first half (the first two miles). Curt was at the turnaround point. Then I felt warmed up, so I took off. I know I passed a few others in my age group on the way to the finish line. It felt good to run. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and I felt energized. I was amazed when I saw the end of the course.

When they read the names in my age group, the 3rd place finisher had a time slower than mine, and my name was never read for any of the other places. I went back to the table, and they had forgotten to record my time. They thought they lost my card, but they did find it ... But the person who they originally said was 3rd place was not there, so I did end up with a medal. I don't care if I don't place, but when I do, I want the hardware :) There were new people doing the statistics this year and there were many more people than in the past, so there were bound to be errors. I've done better than 3rd in this race before, but my time today was just as good. There are just a lot of fast women in this age group (50-59).

Now it's time to make bread and turkey.


Gotta run ...

First November Outdoor Run

I guess I didn't keep my resolution -- I have not been running very much the last few weeks. I did get on the treadmill a few times. It's just been so busy. I know that's not a very good excuse, because when I'm busy I'm usually more stressed, and that's when I really need to run! Plus, I've put on about 4 pounds, and I need to get that off.

Today was a chilly, windy, wet morning, but I decided I really wanted to run outside. The annual Turkey Trot is in less than three weeks, so I figure I need to get used to running outside in the colder weather, anyway. It was about 40 degrees outside when I started, with a light drizzle. At least it is not snow - yet! I ran the back way to the high school and back as many streets are still torn up. I ran up the hill by my house and then did a short Riverside loop, and ran up the hill a second time. On the way out to the high school I was running into the wind, and about two miles into the run I started getting diaphragm cramps again. I just backed off my pace a bit and was able to recover. Most of the way back, except for the loops, I had the wind either at my back or at a side angle, so it wasn't as bad.

I ended up with 6.05 miles, so I feel good about that. I was a little cold and damp, but my weather gear did keep me mostly warm. This run was a good way to start my weekend.

Gotta run ...