It's monday after Thanksgiving, and like everyone, I'm in the midst of a bit of a holiday hangover. The long weekend brought lots of food, drink, and fun. Oh, yeah, I did get some running in as well. That is what eases the guilt about the other over-indulgences.
In fact, it's become a tradition to get the running part out of the way early in the weekend. Thursday morning for the last twelve years in Chicago, has meant running the Turkey Trot in Lincoln Park. It's an 8k. The perfect distance for me. A 5k is nice, but I finish feeling like I need to get a few more miles in. A 10k is also nice, but it might be just a little more effort than I feel like to start a holiday! For some reason, I have always run this race pretty well, despite the fact that I have never focused my training on it at all.
Several of my friends always run this race as well. Mike Adamle (ch. 5 sports) always dresses in a Turkey costume. It's difficult to run in, but Mike always manages. It really brings a lot of fun and spirit to the run. As you probably know, Mike is a former Northwestern and Bears running back, who in his mid-50's is still an exceptional athlete. I believe he managed to run 8 minute pace even with the costume!
Another friend, Christine Martello ran her 8k P.R. at this race. She runs with the corportate team from CNA that does really well in a lot of local races. They let me run with them occasionally, even though I'm not an employee!
As for my own race, it went well also. Taking advantage of my fitness level from marathon training, I ran a 'race p.r.'. It wasn't the fastest 8k I've ever run (we raced that distance in college cross country), but it was the fastest I've run this particular race: 33:15. That works out to be about 6:40/mile pace. It's a far cry from the 5:30/mile days in my teenage years and early 20's, but I'll take it. As you get older, I've noticed, your goals and expectations change quite a bit. So does the amount of time you have for training!
This year was also great because of the weather. Sunny and in the mid-50's. I can hardly imagine a better day for running. I have run this race in snow some years. Last year I never took off my sweats because it was so cold. So, this was one more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!
This was just one of a number of Turkey Trots in the area last week. Two prominent ones I'm aware of are the Dan Gibbons run in Elmhurst, and the Edison Park race. They surely were blessed by the great day as well, and congratulations to everyone who enjoyed those runs!
I'm sure the weather is going to change eventually, but that's ok. It's fun to run through the neighborhoods and park to see the Christmas decorations everywhere. So we'll have plenty more to talk about in the next few weeks.
See you on the roads.
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