Since there are so many racing opportunities available on Thanksgiving, the last few years I’ve decided that it almost feels almost like a must for me to run some kind of turkey trot. I chose to run the Mighty Gobbler 5K in Troy, Michigan for the second year in a row. Running the same course would be a good way to compare my results and see if I improved. Most of all, the convenience factor was my deciding choice. The race takes place a couple miles away from my mom’s house which makes it really easy to head over there afterward.

The race takes place just west of Somerset Mall near the old Kmart headquarters. The headquarters have been empty since 2006, and demolition finally began just a week before the race. That provided an interesting apocalyptic backdrop!

Packet pickup took place at Luthern Church of the Master which is right next to the massive parking lot where the race was based. I chose to get my stuff the morning of the race over an hour before it began. That gave me plenty of time to check in with Greg Sadler, my favorite race photographer, as he set up his gear by the finish line. I usually see him at events hosted by Epic Races, but I lucked out because he ended up shooting this non-Epic race too! I didn’t have very good finish line photos last year and knew I could count on Greg to do an excellent job.

It was in the 30s which was a bit chilly and I knew I definitely needed to do a warm up jog before the race. There was a mile race that started at 8:30, so most of those people had finished by the time I headed out 15 minutes later. I jogged for a mile and tried to pick up the pace a few times because I remembered how much the cold had bothered me last year when I tried to run fast. I am definitely much more of a long-distance, endurance kind of runner and don’t especially enjoy the all-out pace of a 5K. Temps in the 30s wouldn’t be a problem for a longer distance race, but huffing and puffing as fast as I could for the 5K last year led to pain around my diaphragm. I hoped I could avoid that discomfort this year!

There was a large crowd for the 5K – over 900 people.

As I warmed up 10 minutes before the race, I was kind of shocked to see that a bunch of cars were still pulling into the parking lot. Arriving that late would stress me out SO MUCH! It was a reminder that turkey trots tend to draw a different crowd than many of the races I usually run. Thanksgiving is the most popular day for running a road race and it’s cool to see how many families come out to run together. A lot of people don’t seem to really know where they ought to line up based on pace though, which can make the starting mile a little messy. I know that kids like to take off really fast so I should stand behind them, but I was fairly close to the starting line otherwise. At 9:00 we were off!

I try to be patient knowing that I may have to weave around people at the beginning of a race like this. I had wrongly assumed that a group of kids in front of me would be much faster than I would be. I heard them joke about how they ought to form a line, inferring that no one could get around them if they did that. I know they were being silly and having fun, but they were so bunched together that it made it difficult for me find a break in the the crowd so I could get around them. I kept telling myself that a lot of people are just there for fun, to be patient, and once I got away from the start I’d be able to settle into my own pace.

I had to do a bit more weaving throughout the first mile as I caught up with people who probably started faster than they could maintain for the whole race. Eventually I got into a better rhythm when I made it into the neighborhood where the majority of the race took place.

The race is nice and flat and a few people were scattered throughout the neighborhood to cheer for the runners. I was thankful that I didn’t have any diaphragm pain this year. However, I have been dealing with a cold and the congestion added an extra level of annoyance while breathing so hard!

Now and then I like to push myself and realize that I have some speed in me that I don’t tap into very often. I usually end up surprising myself by going faster than I expect during a 5K. Last year I didn’t do any speedwork to prepare for the race and still did pretty well. This year I did a few speed sessions in the weeks leading up to the race and was curious to see if it would help. Maybe I needed more than a few sessions to make progress, maybe the cold made it challenging for me, and maybe being sick made it a little more difficult. I didn’t end up going any faster, but I still ran a decent race.

My official time was 22:44 – nine seconds slower than last year. I didn’t improve like I had hoped to, but I was satisfied with getting so close to what I had done last time.

I got my picture taken with one of the turkeys that lined the finishing stretch after I got my medal.

When I finished the race, both the cold air and the cold I was suffering from really hit. I’ve been okay while running lately, but a coughing fit often hits as soon as I stop. It was especially bad after having run so fast. I collected water and a Clif bar that I took back to my car as I tried to take deep breaths. I don’t do cool down jogs after racing very often like I probably ought to, and I suspected it could be a wise thing to do this time. Trying to run while I was struggling to breathe might seem like the WRONG thing to do, but once I calmed down enough, doing an easy jog helped me settle down. Coming to a complete stop after running really hard doesn’t feel great. Easing into the end of my running for the morning was definitely helpful and the coughing was minimal after that.

I hung out for the awards ceremony since I had placed third in my age group. That was good for a glass and a pair of gloves with the Mighty Gobbler logo on them!

I headed out to my mom’s after the awards and it was especially nice to get there just a few minutes later. It’s pretty rare to have a race take place so close to home!

I still feel like I have a lot of untapped potential in the 5K. I need to do speedwork more often if I want to see what I’m capable of. I don’t know what the ideal conditions are for me but it would probably help if it was 10-20° warmer! It was good for me to get out there and try to run fast to give me a little motivation to attempt doing that more often. It was also nice to be a part of the Thanksgiving tradition of running a turkey trot. I’ll get back to my comfort zone next weekend when I’ll run a half marathon!

– Janet

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