10 K Turkey Trot Race Recap

I had a great race, PR, and birthday today!

This was the first time running the Vancouver Turkey Trot, and my 3rd 10K race since I started running just over a year ago. The race starts and ends in Granville Island, going over the Burrard Street Bridge and around the seawall.

I woke up before my alarm at 6:25. I was having major tummy troubles because I was a massive pig yesterday, so after I forced down a banana with peanut butter at 7am, I decided to take a zantac just in case.  So glad I did too because my stomach was fine all day!

I arrived at the start line at 7:30 to pick up my race chip but the race didn’t start until 8:30 so I hung around inside and waited in a long bathroom line-up until about 8am. Then I went outside, locked in my Garmin to the satellites, and went for a slow 1 mile jog with 2 strides at the end.  By the time I was done everyone was already queuing up so I got in the chute about halfway down and did a bit of stretching while we waited the last few minutes.

One of my big goals was to start out slow and not be carried too much by the momentum of the crowd. I managed pretty well with a 9:46 first mile, right on target.  Unfortunately just before our big uphill in mile 2 I developed a side stitch.  I focused on breathing and was able to keep it at bay, if not gone for the rest of the race. I wish I could figure those out, I swear it must be nerve related cause I almost always get them during races and never on regular runs.

I was feeling good after the uphill and we were coming into the part of the course that I was most familiar with.  Around the 4km mark I started checking in every kilometer to see how close I was to my target (my goal pace was 9:20min/miles for – 58:24). Turned out I was actually ahead and placed a few miles a bit too fast so I tried to slow down a bit to save some oomph for the end.

There was one water break on the course just after the Plaza of Nations, at around the 6.5km mark.  I grabbed a gatorade and walked for 15 seconds or so and downed the whole thing.  I felt pretty good from there until about 8km where I really started to drag and was ready for it to be over.  The stitch wasn’t bothering me but I was out of gas and my hip flexors were tight and stiff.  When we came around the corner and I could start seeing the finish line I did manage a bit of a sprint. It was just in time to see my boyfriend and my parents – easily identified by the Tinkerbell Happy Birthday balloon. Awesome.  We will all be princesses and fairies forever.

Gun time – 58:33. Chip Time - 57:15.7 Yeay!! Not only did I beat my previous 10K PR from the sun run of 59:09 I beat my goal of 58:24.   It feels so good! Plus it feels like my speedwork must actually be working.

Race Stats:

• Time: 57:15
• Distance: 6.2 miles
• Pace: 9:13
• Average\Max HR: 168/182
• (Plus my warmup of 1.1 miles @11:50 pace)

I will definitely run this race if I am in town for thanksgiving next year.  As usual, the volunteers were great and it was well organized, though the after food wasn’t really anything exciting.  Sadly it is unlikely to be on my actual birthday for awhile, but maybe 7 years from now! ha.

And in case you are wondering about the playlist, it did good. I didn’t get through it all but it was entertaining. Turns out I can only listen to about 20 seconds of NKOB. I guess some things never change.

So full of red wine and fun birthday food it hurts.

healthy meal idea of the day:

I love soba noodles, here is a Soba Salad with a Soy-Wasabi Vinagrette