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Turkey Trot 5 Miler

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Well now that I am done eating my weight in Thanksgiving dinners I can finally post my Hermes Cleveland Turkey Trot recap. Also, I baked 60 poticas (nutrolls) this week and snuck in a little Call of Duty Black Ops 2. Productivity at it’s finest.

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Wrapped and ready to go.

Thanksgiving Day weather was predicted to be in the high 50’s,  possibly hitting 60. Due to the race starting at 9:30, it wasn’t quite that warm at the start…or finish. However, that is probably the only bad thing that you can say about this race. P.S. I love Hermes races; they are the bomb! (They didn’t even pay me to say that. That is the beer talking, but I would have said it anyways.)

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Runners staying warm in the Galleria in Cleveland

I was brave on 2 accounts. 1.) I wore capris instead of full tights. I really wanted to wear my new running skirt, but I wimped out. 2.) I went without headphones. I normally race without headphones, unless it is a boring course. However, since the IT band monster attacked, I went back to racing with headphones. They are like my safety blanket when it comes to running. This was my first race back without head phones. Spoiler Alert- I survived.

After a perfect 1.5 mile warm up, I took off a layer of clothing but kept my gloves (with hand warmers) and even went without a running headband. On my way to the start I also saw a runner pooping. I have to say I am pretty impressed with her balls to do so in public on public property; her form was also impressive.

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LOVE these shirts this year.

On my way to the start line, I ran into #dirtyrunner friend Anna, who has been running, teaching spinning, and doing Insanity. Obviously we are friends because she is as crazy about working out as I am. Rumor has it her run was fueled by Christmas Ales (yes plural).

As I got towards the front of the start line, I noticed it was starting to get warm already. I was fine in what I was wearing but was suddenly wishing I had a running skirt on. This could have been the last running skirt of the year! Side note: I don’t normally shop on Black Friday but I scored this sweat skirt from Attica Athletic for half price. They are half-price until Monday and they have lots of different colors (they do not include shorts underneath, which is nice because then you can wear the skirt with capris or tights!).

Bubblegum

Once the race started, I took off at a speedy 6:15 pace. I kept telling myself “Slow Down! Slow Down!”, but I was getting passed like crazy. There are so many talented runners at the Turkey Trot. This is probably because they get 9,000 runners instead of the couple hundred runners I am used to. After 1/2 mile, I slowed down and my first mile was 6:58.

The first and second mile are both flat. Second mile was a lot slower at a 7:29 pace. I wish that second mile was a little faster because that’s probably the easiest place to make up some time; mile 3 is hilly.  On Mile 3, even with the hill down around the Browns stadium and up E. 9th (my least favorite hill combination) I managed a 7:36 pace.

After that last hill, I needed a break and was totally feeling my death face coming on. I tossed my favorite pink gloves at this point (don’t worry I went back and found them after the race). I told myself to slow up my pace, catch my breath, and really pick it up the last mile. Mile 4 was 7:45. At this point I was doing the math in my head and making sure I would make it in in my goal time of anything in the 37 minute range. I picked it up as best as I could for the last mile and fought back the urge to puke the last half mile, pulling out a 7:32  for my 5th mile.

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“Fatigued” face

I crossed the finish line in 36:53, a 7:23 pace, 26 out of 733 runners in my age group, and under my goal of “anything in the 37 minute range.” I originally thought I beat my time from last year’s Turkey Trot. Last year I ran a half marathon a couple days before the Turkey Trot and ran a 36:19. Also, I wasn’t coming off an injury last year.

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One of us dresses for summer and one of of dresses for winter.

I was extremely happy with this year’s time even if it wasn’t as fast as last year’s. I was so happy with my time that I did a 7.5 mile cool down. 14 miles on Thanksgiving morning is not a bad way to start the day. It gave me an excuse to eat 75% of the canned cranberries.

Anyone else run a race on Thanksgiving morning?

Next race on the calendar is a Lakewood/end of the year favorite, The REINDEER RUN 5K!!!! Just a little excited. Also, it is not the end of the year race for me this year.


Tagged: Cleveland, Hermes Cleveland Races, Racing, Run Love, Running, Turkey Trot 5 miler

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