Double the Turkey, Double the Fun

I'm pretty certain there are more races in the Chicago area on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year.  And most go by the same name.  It seems just about every town around hosts a Turkey Trot.  So this year, I decided to double the fun by running two of them.

My town, Elmhurst, has been home to the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot for 27 years.  It is one of the biggest in the area, and one of the best.  It's a huge family tradition for many families, including my own.  My wife (pictured on the left above) and I have run it every year since we moved there.  It's great to get in a good run before sitting around eating all day!

It's also a great spectacle.  I took it as a sign that I failed to start my watch at the start of the race.  Time is irrelevant.  Fun is the key in this 5k.  The boys from the York High School swim team demonstrated that, even though it was a pretty chilly demonstration!

They changed the course this year from one that wound through neighborhoods and the prairie path, to one that goes through the downtown shopping district, past the college and other landmarks in Elmhurst.  That helped draw a huge crowd of 7600 runners, and raise a bunch of money to help feed the hungry in Dupage County.

Turkey Trot number two was actually a couple days later, on Saturday.  The Schaumburg version featured both a 5k and a half marathon.  Figuring it would be a good warm-up for the Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas half marathon I'm running next weekend, I signed up.  In fact, most of my regular group of running partners also decided to run it.  

The dynamic at the start was a story in itself.  I enjoyed a little too much holiday cheer at a late dinner the night before, so I figured on running easy just to get some miles in.  Everyone else had reasons not to run hard as well, including the fact none of us warmed up or even stretched before the start.  So we talked about going out together at 8:00 pace and keeping it there most of the race.

Then the gun went off and that flew out the window immediately.  I ran the first mile with my friend Mark (second from the right in the picture) in 7:40.  The next was 7:20.  So I quickly revised my goal and decided to stick with the 7:30 pace for a while and see how I felt in a few more miles.  I told Mark to go ahead, and I clicked off the miles on my own.  It felt pretty easy.  Once I got to about 9 miles, I realized I was on target to hit my goal time for the race next weekend (sub 1:40).  So I figured I'd go for it, and worry about next week's race next week.

I kept doing the math in my head after every mile, and realized I was going to need to keep up the pace to break 1:40, but at 12 miles, I knew I had it in me.  I crossed the line in 1:39:37, and felt pretty good. Nothing like cutting it close.  My friends Greg and Mark were practically already showered and dressed by the time I finished, but I was happy anyway.  We all enjoyed running the course that winds through the trails in Busse Woods, just east of the madness going on as Christmas shoppers crowded into Woodfield mall.

And after gorging myself on turkey all weekend before Saturday, I celebrated a good race later that day by grilling a nice steak!  The 'run to eat' club sounds like a great idea to me!  And I'm sure the celebration will continue this weekend for the Vegas half.  I targetted that race some time ago to wind up my season before the holidays.  A couple fun Turkey Trots are a nice addition to the end of that season!

See you on the roads......

 

 

 

 

Gift Ideas for the Runner in your Life

I'm probably violating some sort of man code here by talking about christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, but hey I work for the station that made Oprah a star right?  I rarely watched, but I do know that her annual 'Favorite Things' show was always one of her most popular.  So in the spirit of the mighty Ms. Winfrey, I'm offering up a few of the gift ideas that have caught my attention this year.

I'll admit I got the idea for this entry after being called to duty at the last minute a week ago as a model for the Fleet Feet Sports fashion show.  The store puts on the show to showcase some of the latest in running clothing and gear, and it has become quite popular.  Last year they filled up one of the Second City theater's stages.  This year they doubled it, by holding two shows.  Store owner Dave Zimmer did a nice job as emcee explaining what's new this year.

They dressed me in Adidas, including shoes, running pants, shirt and jacket.  I actually own a pair of the running pants already, and like them a lot.  They are loose fitting, warm, and look good.  But the jacket was what really got my attention.  Bright yellow, it's sure to get the attention of drivers, who in turn will be much more likely to avoid you!  It's also light, durable, and comes with an attached hood.  I haven't worn a running jacket with a hood for years, but I have definitely had runs in weather when I wished I had some protection for my head.  I really like it.

The jacket that stole the show, however, was the Nike Vapor Flash.  Talk about visibility.  Most jackets and clothing have a few stripts of reflective materal attached.  With the Vapor Flash, the entire jacket is made of reflective material.  And to prove it, everyone got a flashlight on their way into the show.  At one point, they turned off the house lights, and everyone directed their flashlight at the stage where the models wore Vapor Flash Jackets.  It was like they were lightbulbs.  i wold definitely feel safe running at night in this jacket.  Here's a link:  http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-416205

And speaking of Nike, I also really like the design of their GPS watch.  Nike didn't invent the GPS running watch, but they have definitely improved the design.  These slick watches are lightweight, stylish, and dependable.  During a race earlier this summer, my Garmin watch was acting up, and virtually useless, while my friend's Nike watch worked flawlessly.  I became sold on it that day.

If you are buying a gift for the runner who already has everything, I've got the idea for you.  I'm one of those runners whose running gear takes up more space in his closet than his work clothes.  Yeah, I probably need to get rid of some of it!  But the folks at Sugoi found something I didn't have, and definitely want to hold on to.  Before last week, I'd never tried leg warmers.  I either wore running pants or shorts.  But there are days when you it's a little too warm for pants, but a little too cold for shorts.  Those are the days when the leg warmers are the perfect compromise.  They keep your legs warm, but not restricted like they can sometimes feel in running pants.  They could also serve an an 'under layer' for some of these extreme cold days we know are coming in January and February.  Here's a link:   http://www.sugoi.com/usa/run.html

So those are some of my favorites this year.  Good luck with the shopping!

See You on the roads........

It's a Non-Contact Sport!

Non-contact sport.  At least that's what I was thinking as I was sprawled out on the sidewalk, with blood dripping from my hands and knees Monday morning.  The photo shows a small sample of the injuries.  It's probably a little graphic, so please accept my apology.  It had been about the most casual run I've had in a while.  After dropping off the kids at the Y, I took off to run an easy five mile out and back down the Prairie Path. 

It was a nice morning, a little cloudy, with a perfect, cool fall temperature for running.  I was less than a mile from the finish, when I suddenly tripped over a small rise in the sidewalk, and in a split second found myself eating concrete.

As soon as I felt myself going down, I stretched out my hands to try to break the fall.  Gotta try to protect the face ya know.  But that didn't work very well.  I went airborne, and landed pretty hard.  In the process, I cut up my hands, scraped my knees pretty good, and was unable to stop my chin from hitting the sidewalk with a thud. 

I rolled over into the grass and lay there for probably more than a minute, just wondering how I could possibly fall like that with noone chasing, or tackling me.  Then I started to think that this is what happens to runners as they get older.  Then I tried to get up, and painfully realized the old age thing is probably true. 

I managed to jog back to the Y to pick up the kids, but they stared at me at the front desk like I'd just been on the wrong end of an encounter with Mike Tyson.  I hadn't realized I had blood dripping all over my chin as well.  It was then that it occurred to me that I didn't even have a good story to explain my injuries.  I hadn't chased a wild coyote through the woods, or taken a spill while negotiating rocks through a mountainous pass.  No, I tripped on the sidewalk.

Fortunately, in a crunch, (though it feels funny to admit it) I can put on a little makeup at work to cover up the cuts on my face.  But the open cuts on my hands are pretty hard to cover with band-aids, so I can't shake hands for a couple more days.  Fortunately, you don't notice my hands so much on TV.

It was an ugly reality check after a pretty relaxed weekend at a camp ground in Indiana with my two oldest kids, for a father/daughter weekend.  Coincidently, the group I was with included some talented runners who were also there with their daughters.  But Running was the last thing on our minds as we bonded with the girls while enjoying horseback riding, archery, and a host of other activities.

 I will recover from the injuries.  It may take a bit longer to recover from the embarrassment.  Stay safe out there, and watch out for the killer sidewalks!

See you on the roads.

 

Sweet Reward

I've been around running for most of my life, and have seen a lot of races.  But I've never seen a race grow as quickly, and explosively, as the Hot Chocolate series.  It starts with their slogan:  'Will Run For Chocolate'.  Well, yeah!  Who wouldn't?  Really, isn't that one of the benefits of running, to be able to indulge, without guilt, in our favorite foods?

Saturday marked the 4th running of the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k races in Chicago.  The folks from RAM racing started it with a run along the northside lakefront path.  In the first year, I believe it caught them by surprise, drawing more than 10,000 runners.  That forced some last minute changes to accomodate the large crowds.  Last year, the field doubled in size to more than 20,000 (if memory serves) and they moved it to Grant park.  For the route, they started south using a good portion of the lakefront path. 

This year, they claim to have doubled the field once again, with an incredible 40,000 runners participating.  But that's not the most incredible part.  This year, that have taken the race to other cities for the first time.  Already, they have sold out the race in Washington D.C. with 20,000 runners for December.  In Dallas, the race is in February, and I'm told they may get 50,000 runners!

In Chicago, Saturday morning, it had that 'big race' feel from the moment I arrived downtown at 7am to find lots of traffic in the loop, which is pretty unusual on a weekend morning in November.  Then as I made my way over to Grant park, it seemed like crowds of fit-looking men and women in colorful jackets and tights had taken over the city. 

There are a few other huge races downtown in Grant Park, including the Corporate Challenge, Shamrock Shuffle, the Rock N Roll half, and probably others that escape my memory right now.  Obviously, the marathon is bigger than all of them.  But Hot Chocolate is approaching the field of runners who sign up for the marathon.  But this is almost entirely local runners.  It seriously seemed like most runners and even occasional runners I know were signed up for this race.  And there was huge contingent of local media runners as well.

And after some growing pains, it's appears like the race organization was up to the task this year.  They had an unfortunate problem starting the race on time because a truck got stuck under the el tracks on Wabash at Randolph, along the route for the 5k, but that was out of their control.  So they quickly made a couple changes to reroute the course.  I am told, however, the revised route may have been a bit longer than 3.1 miles.  They have a few weeks to get the course certified by USATF after the fact, but it's possible they might have to adjust the times accordingly.  It's unfortunate, but organizers had little choice at the time.

As for my race, I was using it as my weekend long run, but still trying to run a strong pace.  I figured 7:15's would be a good goal.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cool at the start, and standing around in the starting area for a long time cooled me off from my brief warm-up.  So I went out the first mile in about 8:00.  My friends and I were running together, and we picked it up after that, running 7:15 or better for most of the rest of the race, but it's tough to recover from a slow start like that.

Not that it mattered much.  It was still a good enough effort, and nice enough morning to justify gorging on chocolate after the race!  Why not?

See you on the roads....

 

 

 

 

Be Careful Out There

It was one of those tragic stories that too often fills the newscasts these days.  A young coach and teacher from Manteno was killed in the early morning hours Tuesday.  He was remembered throughout the community as a strong role model for the young men he coached in wrestling and football.  I never met Cory Blanchette.  But when I saw a picture of his family, including four young children, I got a lump in my throat.  His children appear to be close to the ages of my own four children.

Blanchette was killed when he was struck by a car while running.  He was on a rural road in town at about six in the morning.  The coach, no doubt, was getting a workout in before starting his work day at school.  It could have been any of us in the running community. 

Running in areas where we share the road with cars is always dangerous.  But this time of the year it is much more so.  It is still dark these days before the time changes, until well after 7:00am.  That means runners out on the road can be incredibly difficult to see.

I don't know too much about the circumstances in Blanchette's death, but we reported that a 21 year old Dolton man was driving southbound when his Monte Carlo hit Blanchette.  While police are still investigating, they did not initially issue a citation to the driver.  Here is a link to one of the stories that aired on ABC-7:  http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8415363 

The driver may not have been at fault.  Again, I don't know how visible Blanchette might have been as he ran along the road, but I've personally noticed plenty of runners and cyclists out in the dark who are nearly invisible until you are right upon them.  I also know plenty runners who find the only time in their day to get out is early in the morning, or in the evening after work.  If you are going to do that, you should make sure you are as visible as possible. 

My evening work schedule allows me to do most of my running in mid-morning, so I don't often run in the dark.  Most of the night running I have done recently has been during those round-the-clock relays, such as Madison to Chicago, and Hood to Coast.

The rules for those races are pretty strict when it comes to lights and reflective gear.  Even though the road is usually crowded with runners taking part in a race, organizers enforce rules that call for runners to wear head lamps, reflective vests and 'blinkie' lights.  I usually wear light colored clothing with reflective strips, and carry a small flashlight as well.

When we are running on our own, not in race, many of us might be tempted to skip out on some of that gear.  That would be a mistake.  Here is a link to a safety guide I found for night running on the active.com site: http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Your_Guide_to_Safe_Night_Runs.htm

Distracted driving is a big issue these days, and it is a real issue for runners at all hours of the day.  I have lots of friends who have had close calls, or been hit by cars whose drivers went through intersections without bothering to notice the runner (who has the right of way).

It happened most recently to my friend and long-time runner Dave Zimmer.  he was out on a training run for this weekend's New York marathon when a driver on a cell phone failed to look as he made a turn at an intersection.  He plowed right into Dave, who dove onto the hood, and fortunately was not seriously injured.  This happened in broad daylight.

As the owner of Fleet Feet Sports, Dave advises other runners on safety and equipment.  If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.  It's something to think about.

Be safe out there, and I'll see you on the roads.....