On Thanksgiving, I ran 10K race at the eighth presentation of the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. This annual event, is becoming a big draw in the Bay Area on Thanksgiving morning and actually ended up being named the largest timed Turkey Trot in the nation this year by Race Results Weekly. The main events drew 12,023 finishers for the 5k and 7,912 for the 10k. This was my second SVTT and definitely is a annual tradition for me now – a good way to burn some calories before the afternoon feast!

The weather was perfect: clear and cool. I still wore shorts though, but sported my long sleeve tech shirt from this past Sunday’s Big Sur Half Marathon for warmth. I also wore my lite Lululemon running gloves, which are just right for Bay Area “winter” running.

The course was changed slightly from last year due to issues with finish line congestion and the improvements really made a huge difference. The races started further down Santa Clara Street and the organizers used a self-seeding, corral system – though there were still walkers in front of me (I lined up toward the front of the 8-9 minute pace corral.). After weaving around people for about the first mile, things improved. I’m not sure how/if this can be fixed, so it is what it is.

The finish line change allowed people to run the finish, which was not possible last year with the convergence of the 5 and 10k runners and the proximity to the finish line festival area entrance – the change solved the problem. Things still were crowded heading to the festival, but not as bad as last year and volunteers kept people moving.

The festival looked nice and very organized (tons of water, bananas, etc staffed with volunteers), but I didn’t really stay too long. I did stop and check out one tent about an upcoming race and got to meet and talk with Bob Anderson, founder of Runner’s World Magazine for a bit. He is putting on a race called The Double in Pleasanton next month (hmmm.)

I will say that this years SVTT was excellently staged and the volunteers throughout the course and really the whole event were abundant and very energetic. The free parking was an added benefit! Hats off to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation, Applied Materials, and especially to race founders Carl and Leslee Guardino!

My Race

Results:

• Garmin time: 47:57 at an 7:39/mile pace
• Official time: 47:55 at an 7:43/mile pace

This was an “A-Game” race for me. My goal was to certainly set a new PR (sub-53:30), with a stretch goal of finishing under 50 minutes or a sub-8 minute pace. BOOM – I killed the stretch goal!

I didn’t realize until Monday that this would only be my second 10K, as I’ve been focusing on half marathons for a while – thus the gap between 10K races. I paced myself and finished feeling really good. Even with the “weaving in traffic” aspect of the first mile, I ended up with near negative splits (7:57, 7:41, 7:44, 7:43, 7:41, 7:19, 6:49.) I may have been able to push a little more on miles 4 and 5, but didn’t want to mess things up for the Honolulu Marathon.

Here are some photos I shot:

Lining up!

GOAL: Try to stay in front of as many of these people as I can!

The finish Line. Awesome running weather!

I saw a few costumes, but this one was my favorite. I saw him cross the finish line…dragging the ball, of course!

Pre-race & race-day fuel: With this a short race, I didn’t do any specific, pre-race carb loading. I just followed my normal fat/carb/protein ratio goals and ate a GU before the race and drank 12oz of GU Brew during the race.

Wrap-Up

Bottom line: Great day. New PR! Proved to myself that I can do sub-8 pacing for shorter distances and feel OK.

Post-race meal: After the race and saying hi to some friends at the festival, I booked to McD’s and brought home some pancakes for my wife and I…that’s my standard, two-order feast!

GIDDY-UP!

Training Journal – 11/18/12:

• Current plan: Honolulu Marathon Training Plan
• Today’s session: 12 mile long run @ 8:39 – 9:59 pace
• Comments: I did 12.34 @ 8:32 pace
  

Weekly mileage: 11/19-25/12:

• Running: 36.4
• Bicycling: 0
• Total: 36.4

This past Sunday, I ran the tenth presentation of the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay. This weekend was also pretty special in that it marked the first anniversary of my running a race. Last year, I did the Pacific Grove Lighthouse 5K as my very first race – having started running in September 2011. One year later, and I’ve progressed to the half…in three weeks, I take it to the next level and run my first full marathon!

The weather was perfect: clear and cool/mild. The rain that was forecast blew through in the early morning, leaving the entire day with awesome running conditions! I did carry some insurance though, as it was a bit cloudy at start time: I walked to the start line wearing my rain parka and checked it just in case.

The course is an flat run through Monterey and Pacific Grove – with most of the run along the coast. There was one “uphill” portion heading from the coast up to downtown PG, but it really wasn’t much to stress about in the overall scheme of the course. The course is all about the scenery – truly beautiful…even better when the weather is crystal clear! [Sadly, I will admit that I really don’t pay attention to the scenery while I run as I basically zone out. I just know it’s beautiful from visiting the area and driving the course A LOT!] Course management and volunteers were excellent. It was cool to see people from the local area hanging out and cheering runners along the way.

The finish line was very organized and had the usual post-race supplies (water, fruit, etc.), as well as minestrone soup and beer for finishers. I stuck to water and my Picky Bar – I’m just funny that way – plus, I planned to head back to the hotel and eat breakfast with my wife!

My Race

Results:

• Garmin time: 1:48:28 at an 8:15/mile pace
• Official time: 1:48:30 at an 8:16/mile pace

Bottom line: I went out too fast. Again. I had my pace plan taped to my water bottle (1:47:00 @ 8:10 avg pace), but got caught up in the excitement and simply ignored the plan. I even looked at the plan frequently: “Hey there Plan, how ya doin’. What? Yeah, I know, but I think I can keep this up. C-YA!”.  I actually did pretty good until about mile 10, averaging a 8:06/mile pace. Then I started to pay the price. Even with 10 “pauses” (yup, I know how many), I still managed a decent time and pace. It just smarts to know that if I had followed the plan, I know for sure I could have had a new PR. Oh well, there’s always another day and we often learn from our mistakes…for me, sometimes it’s repeated mistakes.

Anyway, not one to take too many photos during races, here are a few I did take:

At the finish!

Home Stretch!
I always wonder if other people cringe when spectators yell, “You’re almost there!”?

How could anyone pass up running along here?
(TRUTH: I took this later in the day while on a walk with my wife…)

Coastline pano shot!
(Also taken later in the day)

Yes, the medals are ceramic! My wife said I looked like I was going to cry when this hit the
hotel-room floor! I emailed the race organizer and received a replacement medal on Tuesday – how awesome was that!

Pre-race & race-day fuel: Same as usual – 48-hour carb loading period (at +550 calories/day and at a carb level greater than 80% each day) and 5 GUs and 20oz of GU Brew on race day.

One cool part was seeing the elite runners heading back to the finish as I ran toward the turn around. Even cooler was knowing that the lead female was one of the co-founders of Picky Bars (Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce) and that her husband (Ben Bruce) was the lead male. After Ben blew by going the other direction, I kept an eye out for Stephanie. When I saw her, I yelled, “Go Steph – Picky Bars!” and I did see her smile. My wife was watching the race on Canary Row and said that when Ben got to where she was, he did a quick look over his shoulder, saw how much of a lead he had, and gave it his final kick.

By the way, it was pretty cool having my wife along the course. I passed her on the way out and back, so I got some good vibes going and coming!

Wrap-Up

Bottom line: Good day. Had fun. Learned a lesson (again). I’m still feeling confident for Honolulu!

Post-race meal: After the race, my wife and I went to Johnny Rockets for lunch. I broke form and actually had a hamburger!

I was smiling too!

Giddy-Up!

Training Journal – 11/21/12:

• Current plan: Honolulu Marathon Training Plan
• Today’s session: 7 mile easy run @ 8:37-9:37 pace
• Comments: I did 7.08 at 8:08