2017 Lake Havasu Turkey Trot
Today was the annual turkey trot in Lake Havasu City. All week long the weather has been beautiful, cool and no wind. This morning we woke up to cool and crazy windy. It's too bad becasue it probably kept a bunch of people home. Anyways, I showed up and got signed in and bib on, then headed out for a 2 mile warm up with some strides thrown in. Even though the numbers were fewer than normal, I noticed a handfull of faster runners that showed up this year. A few of them are from out of town, but come to this race often. Dan was there as usual. He always wins and today was no exception. One other runner (last name of Ryan) from out of town I knew I could not beat, so the goal was 3rd place but there were a few other runners there that have beaten me before.
The race started into the wind for the first third of a mile then turned with the wind at our backs until the end of the second mile. I started off in 4th place. Dan was way out ahead then Ryan, then a fast local kid who really took off after we made the turn to have the wind at our backs. I hit the first mile in 5:52 and felt really good. Third place was maybe 20 yards ahead of me and pulling away. Then he suddenly started coming back to me as did Ryan. I kept running what felt comfortable and passed third place dude without changing my pace a little more than half mile into the second mile. When I went by him I could tell he was done. I was now closing on Ryan which is crazy becasue he usually beats me by a good 2 minutes. Mile 2 clicked off in 5:51 and I was still feeling good. Then we turned straight back into the strong wind for the last 1.1 miles and it felt like hitting wall. I was still closing on Ryan though and this gave me hope. About a half mile into the third mile I was within about 10 yards of Ryan. He heard me back there though and kicked it up a notch. I was giving it everything I had but I just couldn't find another gear to speed up with him. He gradually pulled back away from me. I knew I was on pace to have a good time though and I kept pushing as hard as I could to the finish. There are a few little hills at the end and combined with that strong head wind, my legs were tying up. Mile 3 was 6:08. Then I just had that final uphill 0.1 miles to go and mercifully I crossed the finish line exhausted, but with a new PR of 18:22!!! It was a 1 second PR, but at the age of 46, I'll take it.
So I finished 3rd overall and 2nd in my AG and with a new PR. I guess, even though for the last 3 weeks I have been lazy with my running and terrible with my eating (I gained 5 lbs.), all that long running training for my 100K DNF paid off today.
| 