Yes, fun. Something my mom always texts to me whenever I am stressed out and nervous about an upcoming race is "Remember, this is supposed to be FUN," a reminder that while I am focused on being competitive and fast and pushing my body to its limits, fun should not always be put on the back burner.
In addition, doing a spur-of-the-moment 5K - this time, the Morris Township Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day - takes the pressure off. Instead of always trying to get a PR, it is possible to simply show up to a race and do the best that I can. With that weight off of my shoulders, there was no need to get thrown by the freakishly cold 17 degree temperature and the chilly 13 mph winds. I just had to run my best race for that day.
The first mile was mostly flat, and in my effort to chase warmth, I knocked it out in 5:49. But then there was Kitchell Road.
With an incline of about 150 feet in the span of around a third of a mile, Kitchell Road is an exercise in hill training and enough to put a huge damper on the race of all mere mortals. Superhumans like the winner, William Mitchell, somehow destroyed the course in 16:13 (a 5:14 pace). I, on the other hand, took 6:09 to get through the second mile, thanks to that killer hill. So by the time I made it on to Spring Valley Road and then South Street to the finish, my turkey was cooked and my energy gobbled up, as I hit the third mile with a 6:02.
All things considered, averaging a 6:00 pace on a difficult course on what was pretty much the coldest Thanksgiving ever - in a race for which I did not even specifically train - felt darn good. Coming in 17th place (out of 1,459 overall and 717 males), second of 306 masters (age 40 and up) and first in my age group of males age 40 to 44 was icing on the cake (gravy on the turkey?).
In addition, doing a spur-of-the-moment 5K - this time, the Morris Township Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day - takes the pressure off. Instead of always trying to get a PR, it is possible to simply show up to a race and do the best that I can. With that weight off of my shoulders, there was no need to get thrown by the freakishly cold 17 degree temperature and the chilly 13 mph winds. I just had to run my best race for that day.
The first mile was mostly flat, and in my effort to chase warmth, I knocked it out in 5:49. But then there was Kitchell Road.
With an incline of about 150 feet in the span of around a third of a mile, Kitchell Road is an exercise in hill training and enough to put a huge damper on the race of all mere mortals. Superhumans like the winner, William Mitchell, somehow destroyed the course in 16:13 (a 5:14 pace). I, on the other hand, took 6:09 to get through the second mile, thanks to that killer hill. So by the time I made it on to Spring Valley Road and then South Street to the finish, my turkey was cooked and my energy gobbled up, as I hit the third mile with a 6:02.
All things considered, averaging a 6:00 pace on a difficult course on what was pretty much the coldest Thanksgiving ever - in a race for which I did not even specifically train - felt darn good. Coming in 17th place (out of 1,459 overall and 717 males), second of 306 masters (age 40 and up) and first in my age group of males age 40 to 44 was icing on the cake (gravy on the turkey?).
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