Hi! Coming at you today with a recap of the Turkey 10 Mile race in Creola, Alabama.
This is a super low-key race and people tend to either love or hate it. I happen to fall in the love it camp! Low key is the way to be. It is a flat, out and back course with a couple turns to break up the monotony. I always enjoy out and back races because I love feeding off of the energy of other runners after the turnaround. Everyone encourages each other and it’s pretty much just the best thing ever!
The race starts at 8:00 a.m. in Creola, Alabama, which is about a 45 minute drive for me. I got up at 5:30 a.m., had a cup of coffee, pumped (gotta love that #motherrunner life) and got dressed in time to leave the house by 6:30 a.m. I ate a banana and a bagel in the car on the way to the race. I still had to register for the race when I got there, so I cut it a little bit closer than I meant to. Thankfully I had time to register, go to the bathroom and get in a quick warm up. I only had time for a one mile warm up, but given that my training hasn’t really been endurance focused, I wasn’t really needing to do several miles before the race anyway.
The conditions on race day were pretty much perfect! It was 42℉ with 80% humidity. There was a slight wind, but nothing crazy.
The race plan was to start a bit conservatively and try to pick it up as I went. Pace wise, it looked like this:
- Mile 1 – 4: I planned to ease into it and settle into a good rhythm during the first mile. The goal range was 6:20-6:25.
- Miles 5 – 7: I planned to drop the pace down some with a goal range of 6:15-6:20.
- Miles 8 – 10: I planned to drop the pace down a little bit more if I could. No specific ranges here! Just whatever was left in the tank!
This was my first race with double digit mileage in almost three years. I felt really good about the plan going into the race. I was actually planning to do a ten mile race in Louisiana six weeks ago, but then … life … happened and I wasn’t able to go. My pace plan for that race was going to be 6:30s, 6:20s, 6:10s for each third of that race. Over the course of the last six weeks I made some very tangible fitness improvements and it was cool to see that pre-race when talking through the race plan with my coach.
My paces for the first few miles were pretty much right within the goal range. The splits were 6:22, 6:18, 6:18, 6:20. I moved into second place overall (first female) during the second mile and stayed there the rest of the race. The first place male put about 20 seconds per mile on me in the first two miles, so while he was in sight, we were by no means working together. I tend to always find myself in no man’s land during races, but I’m used to it at this point, so it’s no big deal.
I was feeling super comfortable during the first four miles. On one hand, I knew that I could just keep it right there and have a good race, but on the other hand, I wanted to push myself and see what happened. I had to make a conscious decision to drop the pace down. I ran mile five in 6:11, which was a tad quicker than I meant to, but I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that I still felt very comfortable after speeding up! This was definitely a good sign of things to come.
As I mentioned above, the best part of the race {in my opinion} is right after the turnaround. Not only are you halfway done, but also you start to meet the other runners head on. The energy is palpable! My pace dropped down fairly significantly in miles six through eight, which wasn’t specifically in the plan. I got and gave so many cheers. I was loving every minute! Miles six through eight were 6:04, 6:05, 6:02. Whew!
Around mile eight you make the final turn back towards the finish. I was still feeling great, so I decided to go with it and let it rip. Miles nine and ten were 5:57 and 5:42. Holy Moses. I was NOT expecting to see 5:anything at the end of this race! I had a pretty massive negative split. The first half was 31:29 and the second half was 29:50. I got an extra 26 seconds by not running the tangents well. That is always something I need to work on.
My overall time was 61:45, which is a lifetime PR (as opposed to a postpartum PR). I’ve heard that women can get faster in their late 30s and early 40s and also can get faster after childbirth, but there’s no way to know for sure if that will be the case. After today’s race, I am really starting to believe that my fastest days might be ahead of me. I’ve had a few glimmers of this in training, but being able to execute a good race seems to solidify the belief a bit more.
I really enjoy the 10 mile race distance and this race in particular. I am definitely digging the Thanksgiving vibes after this year’s Turkey 10 Mile! The bottom line is that I’m just thankful. Thankful to be healthy. Thankful to be alive. Thankful to run. Thankful for any of you who are taking time out of your day to read my ramblings.
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving week!