156 Mile Month, New Races & Quitting Cold Turkey

So now we’re in December. Around here that means it’s almost time for the Dallas Marathon. I am not running the Full, but I am running the Half. I think I’m in pretty good shape for it. I finished November with a bang, including a 13.1 mile training run.

I ran this one solo. It was windy and lonely.

The next day I ran another 6 or 7 on the trails with friends. I had to leave right after to get to yoga class, so I was missed out on the groupie…

Imagine me in this picture.

So for the month of November, I ended up going 156+ miles! I think that’s the furthest I’ve gone in a month…Even more than when I was training for the Dopey Challenge. I think the most I did then was 140+.

With my Dopey Medals.

I’ve found that having that many miles on my feet is really helping to get faster. Especially in “short” races like the 5k I PR’d in on Thanksgiving. I feel like it’s much less of a struggle to maintain a faster speed.

Something smelled fowl.

Speaking of racing, I have some new race news. I sneakily snuck in at the beginning of this post how I’m running the Dallas Half Marathon in Mid December. That’s new. I’ve only run this race once, but it was a few years ago and the course is cooooompletely different now.

A few years ago. I’m a baloonatic.

Aaand I’m also running a 5k this weekend! It’s the Rudolph Run in Allen, TX. I’ve never run this race, but excited to. Only weird thing is that I will be wearing a GoPro camera on my head. Hopefully it won’t mess with me too much. I wore one during the 10k portion of the Dopey, but I was just jogging that race. You can see the video HERE.

With the GoPro camera (& Mickey ears/hands)

Annnnywaay, I hope everyone had a good American Thanksgiving. I enjoyed many leftovers, until I finally ran out. It was sad to have to quit cold turkey.

Me about to quit cold turkey. (Yes, I went there.)

On a side note, things have been crazy around these parts. I know I’ve been somewhat missing around the blog world recently, but I have a good reason. I hope to explain in my next post. I appreciate y’all that have been checking in on me. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to most of you yet, but I will. Hope you’re awesome!

How bout you? Got any races coming up? Gettin your miles in? Ever run with a camera on your head?

-Scott

N. TX. Turkey Trot 5k Recap ~ New PR*

This past American Thanksgiving, I joined a bunch of friends & family to run the North Texas Turkey Trot. There was a 1 mile fun run, a 5k & 10k. I knew the 10k was a two lap course, so I opted for the 5k.

Stop looking at me, swan turkey.

And good news, I set a PR!

That Ironman behind me was aghast at my speed!

But this was incredibly frustrating. Why was a PR frustrating? Because the course was short. It was flippin short.

Yay, feet in the air!

I did some comparing of my GPS data to their course map, and I see what had happened…

My detective work.

After the one mile fun run, they forgot to adjust the 5k/10k course to add an out and back. This left us ultimately .15 mile short for the 5k and .3 short for the 10kers.  Bummer.

I remember at one point during the race I looked at my watch and saw it was at 2.75 miles. “Time to drop the hammer!”, I told myself. I picked up the pace, only to turn the corner and see the finish line…da fu???

My look of confusion at seeing the finish line so early.

I finished at 20:04. Good for a PR by a minute and a half…But at 2.95 miles instead of 3.1.

“official” finish time

The finish area was pretty funny ~ all the runners were comparing their watches. We knew it was short. So after a few minutes, I decided to run on my own until my watch said 3.1. And I still set a new PR ~21:15! I just wonder what it would’ve been on an actual race course.

Here’s my last three 5k’s:

Sept: 21:33    Oct: 21:34    Nov: 20.04 21:15

As punishment for a short course, I ate his cousin.

In the end, it was still a competition, and the course was the same for everyone. So I’m happy that I finished 5th in my division and 37th overall…out of well over 3,000 runners!

Anyway, after I was done, I went back to cheer for others. Including my parents who were doing the 10k!

Dad headin to the finish.

Warning: Rant Ahead

This race also had a ton of novice runners, which is great, but it also means a bunch of weaving. I REALLY appreciate the fact that they actually had pacing corrals in this race. But most of the newbies saw these as merely suggestions and still worked their way to the front of the starting line.

All the 10kers told me that there was nobody at the 5k/10k split to tell you which way to go, so it was cornfusing, and people kept going the wrong way then had to turn around. That, and when the 10k merged with the slower 5kers on the 2nd lap, it lead to more weaving.

Not only that, but if you look at the course map, I counted 26 turns…in 3.1 miles. How is that possible?!?! Are there no straight roads we could run?

I hope they get better organized for next year.

We snapped a pic while mom was looking up her time.

Anywhoodle, I’m glad several friends won medals. And since I was two spots from the podium, I had to live vicariously through them…

Ann won her 10k division. Pepsi didn’t race, but brought her smile and hat.

And we celebrated at our annual post race tailgate…

Mixing Everclear with Crystal Lite just like the pilgrims did at the first Thanksgiving.

I took the opportunity to make a 6 second video of the festivities…

So in summary, it was a fun time. I just hope they fix the course and get better organized as they go forward.

Peace out suckas!

How bout you? Race on Thanksgiving? Should I count the “official” PR on a short course? Do you tailgate after races?

-Scott