2010 Thanksgiving Day Pie Run

This race had a huge turnout and I am guessing over 500 people.  We arrived around 7:35, picked up our numbers, and got a voucher to pick up a shirt next month since they ran out.  I ran the course with Hugh to warm up.  Temp was around 34, but quite windy.  When we got back, I decided to change to a lighter jacket and take off the pants since I was getting a little warm.  The race started 10 min late so a big improvement over last year.  There were some issues getting people in the proper position for the starting line.  There were no markers that I could see on the ground so we weren’t sure where to stand.  

I signed up for the 5K this year but wasn’t sure how fast I could run due to my deconditioning over the past few weeks.  Today was my 3rd day back running after 13 days off so I had no goal in mind other than to not run so hard I would hurt myself further.  I wasn’t sure where to line up so stayed back a little.  When we took off, I realized I should have been up closer since I passed probably 100 people. 

Within the first half mile I see Paul S. ahead of me and catch up to him.  I talk to him for a bit and then go ahead, but then realize that I am sucking a lot of air and going too fast.  I slowed down a bit and hit first mile in 6:22.  We run out to a cone to turn around and head back.  I saw a lot of Columbia runners ahead of me coming back before I got to the turnaround.  There was actually a 5K in Columbia for the first time on Thanksgiving, but a lot of us opted to go to Jefferson City since it is a well organized event and on a certified course with both a 5 and 10K and they give away a lot of pies. 

After the turnaround, I feel like I can run a 6:40-something pace and mile 2 is 6:40.  A couple guys had caught up to me, but stayed with me.  About 2.8 mi, I leave one of them behind.  At this point we are on the trail headed to the finish.  I sped up and passed a couple more guys before the finish but there were also 10K runners and I didn’t notice which race they were running.  My third mile was 6:39 and last 0.19 mi at 6:09 pace for a total of 20:50 (6:32/mi).  I probably ran the first mile a little fast for the shape I am in, but was happy that I held on the 2nd and 3rd mile.  I was glad I wasn’t running the 10K at this pace which would have been impossible today.

I found Hugh who finished less than 1.5 min behind me and we ran a 3.4 mi cool down after he ate his doughnut.  I couldn’t eat at that point and was glad when we started running since I felt I really need to wind down.  When we were done I ate too many doughnuts, we waited for the awards (didn’t win anything), and didn’t have my number drawn for a pie either.

I didn’t feel like the medial tendon injury is what slowed me down since it felt pretty good while I was running.  I can be thankful that I am just out of shape to run that fast.  I will see if I can get my 5K back under 19 soon.